Review of Vueling Airlines flight from Rome to Split in Economy

INTRODUCTION

Hello dear FlightReporters
The 3rd September my cousin get married with a croatian girl
In spring my family and all the other relatives were invited to the wedding ceremony in Split
All of us were offered two nights in Split, 2nd and 3rd September

Since only my father had been in Croatia when he was young, we decided to make a small vacation there after the wedding.
My aunt with her husband and another cousin of mine joined us for the following days visiting Šibenik and Trogir.
With the marriage scheduled for Saturday 3rd September we decided to arrive in Split the day before and stay in Croatia until 6-7th September.

BOOKING OPTIONS

The 9th May we booked the flight from Rome, making a reservation for us and my uncles (6ppl in total).
The best solution appeared to be flying with Vueling, leaving on 2nd Sept afternoon and return home in the morning of 7th Sept.

Of 5 nights we slept 2 nights in Split (hosted by my cousin), 2 nights in Šibenikand 1 night in Trogir. Since the latter is located 5 km from Split Airport we chose to sleep there the last night to avoid a too early wake up on the 7th Sept morning.

Vueling offers three fares: Basic, with under-the-seat baggage only; TimeFlex, with an additional cabin baggage to store in the overhead lockers; Optima, with a checked bag up to 25 kilos.

Since we needed to bring ceremony clothes we decided to divide the reservation in two:
-Three of us flying with Basic fare, adding the seat selection and the cancellation insurance
-The other three flying with Optima fare, adding the insurance only

We selected our seats in advance, 9D-E-F and 10D-E-F.

The overall price was 798€, 133 per person.

routing

Some stats:

First time flying into SPU

Before the flight

Vueling allows passengers to check-in 24 hours before the departure. Differently from other airlines (like WizzAir, from a recent experience of mine) the check-in was valid for both legs.

When I logged in on VY website I got noticed that FCO-SPU flight would have had a 15-minute change in its schedule. Definitely not an issue

The new schedule

I want to make an appreciation about Vueling online boarding pass
It contains all the information about the times (check-in, boarding etc.) and the baggages allowed by the chosen fare.
In my opinion this is really useful because sometimes, in my opinion, baggages allowances are not very clear, especially on low cost carriers.

I've no doubts to say it's one of the best I've seen in recent times.

On the left my boarding pass and my father's one on the left. I put them in comparison because I was on Basic fare while he was on Optima's one.

A few days before the flight my father and my uncle booked Aeroporti di Roma long-term parking, linked to the Terminal by a shuttle bus

Arriving at FCO and check-in

With the flight scheduled for 14:35 we left home around 12:15.
Less than 25 minutes after we arrived at Rome-Fiumicino "Leonardo Da Vinci" Airport

When we got at the entrance gate we read from the screen that the parking was full, despite the reservation. The agent at the barrier told us that the parking was in overbooking. Fortunately he told us that we could have use the multi-level parking, located straight in front of the terminal, for the same price. Definitely a good news, considering that a 20-minute shuttle bus ride is required to go from the long-term parking to the terminal

Vueling is hosted at Terminal 1, which houses ITA Airways and other European carriers

Our flight was reported to be on time

Due to a strike that day all LH flights had been cancelled

VY check-in desks are located at the far end of the terminal
There was no queue and it took less than 10 minutes to register our baggages

After having lunch landside we accessed the security checkpoint 15 minutes before boarding, scheduled for 13:55

At the airport

The security checkpoint was empty and the screening itself took 5 minutes
Some lanes were equipped with more advanced X-Ray machines that allows people not to remove electronic devices and liquids

Mandatory passage through the duty free

Our flight would depart from gate E14, located into Terminal 3
Since Croatia is not part of the Schenghen Area the passport control is required

The control took no time thanks to the e-Gates. By the way my uncles didn't bring their passport (not required to enter Croatia) and they're sent to a manned booth. The queue and the control required 10-12 minutes.

Boarding area E hosts all extra-Schenghen flights at FCO, while A area is dedicated to domestics and Schenghen operations

A bit of spotting

The apron between pier E11-24 (left) and pier A1-10 (right)
ITA Airways A320 in Alitalia livery and Ryanair Boeing 737 parked at pier A1-10

A couple of Vueling birds in the background

We arrived at the gate at 14:05, while the boarding was in progress

A negative note about FCO. The departure lounge is split in half by the passport control, with Terminal 1 closer to boarding area A and Terminal 3 close to boarding area E. This implies a long walking between T1 and gates E (and the contrary also). In our case getting from the check-in desk from the gate required around 1 km, a bit long if you're rushing for a flight…

We're among the last to get onboard
Our bird for today
Vueling Airbus A320-200, EC-MVM, delivered to Air Deccan in April 2006 (16.5 years old). The plane was later leased by Simplifly Deccan, Kingfisher Airlines, AerCap, AtlasJet and AtlasGlobal, before becoming part of VY's fleet in May 2018. It's equipped with 180 seats, all in Y.

I gave the flight report form to the Purser and made my way to my seat, 9F
Last passengers were getting onboard, load factor seems to be more than 80%

Pegasus Airlines A321neo parked next to us

Egyptair Boeing 737

easyJet A320

One minute after scheduled doors were closed

At 14:49 pushback started

Saudia A320 parked next to the Pegasus A321neo

Kuwait Airways A330

Heading to runway 25

Emirates A380 parked at the far end of pier E11-24

Turkish Airlines A321neo

Old Alitalia Triple-7s stored and Swiss A321

Lufthansa A321s

Poste Air Cargo Boeing 737F and ITA Airwas A320 in Alitalia's livery

ITA Airways A320

Another stored Alitalia Boeing 777

We took around 10 minutes to reach runway 25, generally used for departures

the flight

Almost half a hour after planned with start our take off run

In the air…

Runway 16R-34L with Focene town in the background

Climbing over Tyrrean Sea

We banked almost 180°
Tyrrean coastline south of Rome

Sky was painted with clouds

Fucino Valley, an ancient lake, in Abruzzo region

Ten minutes into the flight payed service was delivered
I got a sugar-free coke

We approached Adriatic Coastline over Pescara, one of the main cities in Abruzzo

Abruzzo International Airport (IATA: PSR, ICAO: LIBP)

Pescara city, cut in two by Pescara River

Francavilla al Mare, the town where my family has a vacation house

Ortona town with its harbour

Half a hour into the flight we started our descent, with the Adriatic Sea scrolling below us

Approaching Croatian islands, located roughly 200 kms from Italy

Solta Island with Brač Island in the background

Brač Channel

Split harbour and downtown, dominated by Diocletian Palace

Marjan Hill is visible in the foreground

Stadion Poljud

Kaštel Štafilić

Since the airport is partially surrounded by mountains direct approach is not possible, requiring a turn very close to the runway

Last moments in the air

At 15:51, only one minute after scheduled, we touched down at Split-Resnik Airport

Landing brake was very hard, maybe because the runway is connected to the apron with just two taxiways. Missing one would mean backtracking the runway, losing time

Vacating the runway

A private Citation CJ2

Blocking next to an AirSerbia A320 and a Croatia Airlines Dash 8-Q400

Such a short taxi

Disembarking the Purser gave me the flight report form, which was well-filled
I said "hello" to the Captain and thanked him for the paper

arrival procedures in split

The airport is not equipped with jetbridges
Moreover the terminal is so close we could reached it by walk

The terminal had been opened in 2019

WizzAir A321neo and easyJet A320s parked in the background

Last view of our plane

Dobrodošli u Hrvatsku, Dobrodošli u Split
Welcome to Croatia, Welcome to Split

Since two other flights had landed at our same time the passport control hall was full

Meanwhile we're able to spot our plane already boarding passenger to FCO, I guess neither cleaning was made

The immigration took around 20 minutes, even if the control itself was very fast
Baggages were already on the carousels

We got off the terminal around 16:30

Being 6 people we got at the taxi stand asking for a van
Despite the reported price to Split city center was reported to be 41-55 euros (+30% for the van) the taxi driver applied the Uber fare (120 euros) due to the high request at that time

It took around 20 minutes to get to our hotel, ready to enjoy Split and have a beautiful time at the wedding

Stay tuned for the return flight