Need experienced travel advice

We are going to do our first TA aboard Celebrity Constellation leaving Rome on 11/5. We will be meeting friends in Florence on 10/24 and travel with them before we go down to Rome to catch the ship. We would like to see the Dolomites so my bright idea is to take Choice Air arranged flights to Innsbruck (arriving 10/21) and then work our way down to Florence.

Choice Air has all kinds of different flight arrangements we can pick. All involve 2 stops, which means, in this case, using 3 different carriers. I'm worried about our checked luggage ever catching up with us. What's the minimum amount of time we should try to provide for connections? Are there any carriers we should steer clear of?

Thank you for your input. If you can think of anything else we should be taking into consideration your thoughts would be most appreciated.

Some idea of the routes would be nice, the possible airports, etc....

Also, while Choice Air's price may look inviting, without a lot more details, it is very hard for us to give you any solid advice.

We are going to do our first TA aboard Celebrity Constellation leaving Rome on 11/5. We will be meeting friends in Florence on 10/24 and travel with them before we go down to Rome to catch the ship. We would like to see the Dolomites so my bright idea is to take Choice Air arranged flights to Innsbruck (arriving 10/21) and then work our way down to Florence.

 

Choice Air has all kinds of different flight arrangements we can pick. All involve 2 stops, which means, in this case, using 3 different carriers. I'm worried about our checked luggage ever catching up with us. What's the minimum amount of time we should try to provide for connections? Are there any carriers we should steer clear of?

 

Thank you for your input. If you can think of anything else we should be taking into consideration your thoughts would be most appreciated.

As far as carriers to stay away from - I am not a fan of Iberia, and avoid them whenever possible. Regional is better than intercontinental in my mind. Air Berlin has some very tight seats in my experience since they're mostly a leisure airline, but I won't completely void them. Otherwise, they're all about the same, minus some major standouts such as Swiss and Austrian (which are wonderful).

Aside from that, yeah, knowing what airlines and airports you plan on using are key. For example, 50 minutes at Munich is VERY different than 50 minutes Paris-CDG. But generally, I would allow at least 120 minutes when entering the Schengen area because you'll need to clear immigration and re-clear security. Entering the Schengen area will usually mean the first stop you make in Europe (excluding UK, which is not Schengen). Schengen countries all share the same immigration system - Italy, Austria, Spain, France, Germany, etc. etc. Most of western Europe and some of eastern Europe as well.