Flying Alitalia?

[cpl100]

Last year I had read a lot of disgruntled/unfavorable reviews for this airline so I flew (with a stopover) Luftansa. Going back to Italy in the Fall and Alitalia has the only non-stop service from my city.

 

Wondering if people would share their experiences about this airline. I would love to fly non-stop but don't want a miserable experience. Concerned about space issues, seat comfort, food issues and reliability.

 

Thanks ever so much!

[happy 2 b cruising]

Last year I had read a lot of disgruntled/unfavorable reviews for this airline so I flew (with a stopover) Luftansa. Going back to Italy in the Fall and Alitalia has the only non-stop service from my city.

 

Wondering if people would share their experiences about this airline. I would love to fly non-stop but don't want a miserable experience. Concerned about space issues, seat comfort, food issues and reliability.

 

Thanks ever so much!

 

We also had a direct flight out of Miami to Rome on Alitalia. The plane was very dirty, one of the bathrooms was broken. The seat in front of my husbands was broken so when the lady reclined she had her seat on my husbands lap (which didn't seem to bother her). Also our T.V. was broken. With all that said, it was a direct flight and arrived on time. We

are now traveling on Delta to Venice with impossible connections since there are not any direct flights from south Florida. These connections have been changed 7 times by Delta since we booked in July and we still have 3 months to go. As I said it is a Catch 22!

[twin123185]

Two weeks ago I flew to Rome from JFK. My story no one needs to hear but the short version - I flew to Rome on Lufthansa stopping in Frankfurt for a few hours and the return was non stop on Alitalia. Lufthansa was a thousand times better in all areas but there is something to be said for a non stop flight.

 

 

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[Elmartellama]

If it is not a matter of price, just go with a non-stop flight!

 

I've never travelled with Alitalia for a long haul flight, but it can't be so bad to prefer a connecting flight 5 hours longer!

[LondonTowner]

I would also go for the direct flight. I have flown Alitalia and it wouldn't be my airline of choice. However, I would rather fly direct than have a 5 hour stop over. I would take something to eat as my experience with Alitalia is their food is fairly inedible.

[Twickenham]

I'm going to swim against the tide here - a non-stop flight holds no appeal to me, if it provides an inferior product, especially if at the same or higher price. I've never taken Alitalia, but after reading multiple bad reviews I wouldn't even consider flying with them.

[CathyCruises]

I'm going to swim against the tide here - a non-stop flight holds no appeal to me, if it provides an inferior product, especially if at the same or higher price. I've never taken Alitalia, but after reading multiple bad reviews I wouldn't even consider flying with them.

 

I agree. Non stop misery has no appeal. We have found that if you do connecting flights through less busy/appealing airports, you actually get better seating and great service. For instance, we were booked on LHR to San Francisco via Detroit. Plane was only 1/2 full, we could spread out, the flight attendants loved to chat, it was really great. I'd do that again in a heartbeat vs. flying on a lousy plane.

[diesel1973]

6 of us flew n/s Chicago to Rome then to Venice. On time,as comfortable as other airlines,good service and food was OK.Return from Rome n/s was same but in a brand new plane. Have flown them in the past numerous times and would again. Beats missing a connection and possibly missing cruise. Airline travel has degraded everywhere so our expectations are not as high as in the past.:):):)

[cpl100]

Have narrowed it down to either flying Lufthansa with a stop in Munich (2.5 hours layover) or flying non-stop via Alitalia. Alitalia is actually cheaper.

 

Any ideas on who is stricter with baggage? I have read the 'rules' but who sticks by them in the strictest sense?

 

I just can't make up my mind.... :(

 

I wish there was a non-stop great airline!

Edited March 3, 2014 by cpl100

[twin123185]

After flying both airlines and both with a stop and non stop a few weeks ago. I vote non stop! I did prefer Lufthansa but Alitalia was just fine

 

 

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[Twickenham]

Have narrowed it down to either flying Lufthansa with a stop in Munich (2.5 hours layover) or flying non-stop via Alitalia. Alitalia is actually cheaper.

 

Any ideas on who is stricter with baggage? I have read the 'rules' but who sticks by them in the strictest sense?

 

I just can't make up my mind.... :(

 

I wish there was a non-stop great airline!

 

Where exactly are you flying to, and where from? There could be a way of getting a non-stop then train combo, for instance, or other possibilities.

 

FWIW, I've heard excellent things about transferring in MUC.

Edited March 4, 2014 by Twickenham

[24butterfly]

Last year I had read a lot of disgruntled/unfavorable reviews for this airline so I flew (with a stopover) Luftansa. Going back to Italy in the Fall and Alitalia has the only non-stop service from my city.

 

Wondering if people would share their experiences about this airline. I would love to fly non-stop but don't want a miserable experience. Concerned about space issues, seat comfort, food issues and reliability.

 

Thanks ever so much!

 

About 6 or so years ago, we flew Delta to Milan, picking up Alitalia to Rome. Delta go in early, so there was no gate at the time....Anyway, finally there is a gate, but they offloaded the luggage and put it in a storeroom.........When we got to Rome--the inevitable happened: stupid Alitalia 4got to load Delta's luggage and e ere studk! Luckily we had insurance, but we were leaving on a cruise in a couple of days. They swore that the bags would be there the next day. No such luck. Even the concierge from the hotel called, the bags would be there at the end of the day. 3:00pm comes, they say we have 1 bag, so we hop a cab, get to the airport, and after 20 or so minutes, we are allowed to look in a room. There was ONE BAG. (We had 2) this is after they swore that the bags were on the truck being delivered! 20 minutes later, I make the rounds again, of which there are at least 2 or 3 rooms of luggage, plus alot of luggage sprawled outside the rooms, unclaimed...All of a sudden, out comes this cart, and the last piece we needed actually fell off their cart and caught our attention.

 

I won't fly Alitalia. Ever. We've never had luggage lost or delayed b4 in the 30 or so years we were travelling--but everytime we have since gone, I have held my breath!

[kuldalai]

One will note that every time the Holy Father flies Alitalia he first kisses the ground when he gets to his destination !!!

[cpl100]

Where exactly are you flying to, and where from? There could be a way of getting a non-stop then train combo, for instance, or other possibilities.

 

FWIW, I've heard excellent things about transferring in MUC.

 

We will by flying from Logan Airport in Boston.

[ginger and professor]

We have flown Alitalia several times. We fly business class and our experience has been great. The food and the wine were good and the service has always been fine.

[rebeccalouiseagain]

The airlines that I have enjoyed most to Europe have been British Airlines, Air France and AerLingus. If you don't mind spending a day or two in Ireland- AerLingus has reasonable flights and it's a gorgeous country. We have done that to save money twice and the plane was very comfortable and we flew on a tuesdays and (this was in summer) and it was not a full flight. Just a suggestion.

 

I've done US Air out of Philly several times and it was comfortable but there were no movies on a couple (broken screen).

 

The worst was American Airlines out of JFK- avoid! Left over two hours late. Switch us to a smaller plane than expected and I lost my reserved aisle seat and was mushed by the window. The plane rattled and it scared me to death. Paid only $399.oo for the roundtrip ticket- so I guess you get what you pay for!

Edited May 23, 2014 by rebeccalouiseagain

[marymcgol]

We are flying from Boston to Rome in September and decided to go with Aer Lingus. Price was marginally less than non stop Alitalia, but real reason was that we decided we would prefer to break up the 9 1/2 hour return flight with the ability to get out, walk around and stretch our legs. On the way to Rome, we are stopping in Dublin for a couple of days and on the way home, if we went with Alitalia, we would have ended up getting into Boston later than on the Aer Lingus connection. At the end of a trip, we would rather get home earlier!

 

Mary

[rebeccalouiseagain]

We shook off our jetlag in Ireland and it was wonderful. Hotels are cheap! They speak the language and they have good buses that you can use to get around. Highly recommend it.

 

This is where we stayed and I loved it.http://www.portmarnock.com/ 25-30 Euro cab fare to the hotel. Nice little scenic drive.

Edited May 24, 2014 by rebeccalouiseagain

[pieshops]

We saved just under $3000 dollars for the 4 of us on Alitalia non stop from JFK to Milan. As long as the plane takes off and lands safely I could care less what happens in between for that savings.

[twin123185]

Yeah $635 from JFK to Milan is awesome. Hopefully Emirates won't have to pull out or I fear prices would rise dramatically like Rome pricing.

 

 

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[GeezerCouple]

We just returned from Italy, and flew in and out of Rome, non-stop on Alitalia.

 

We were not sure what to expect, but it was very good both times.

(The food wasn't great outbound, but was better heading home. Note that the website says no food service: not true! But we brought sandwiches and some other snacks both times. Note that Alitalia serves only Pepsi products, so we brought a few bottles of Coca Cola with us, purchased after passing through Security.)

 

We selected Premium Economy, and for the modest extra cost, it was the best decision.

Our routing didn't have aircraft with Premium Economy ever day, so we had to adjust our schedule by one day to get aircraft that did have that class of service.

 

Having a non-stop was also a very, very good decision.

 

Our next flight to Italy will probably be to Milan, so we'll try to fly through NY, to get a non-stop for the long haul flight. We should then have the opportunity to choose a different carrier, to compare.

 

GeezerCouple

[Host Star]

We just returned from Italy, and flew in and out of Rome, non-stop on Alitalia.

 

We were not sure what to expect, but it was very good both times.

(The food wasn't great outbound, but was better heading home. Note that the website says no food service: not true! But we brought sandwiches and some other snacks both times. Note that Alitalia serves only Pepsi products, so we brought a few bottles of Coca Cola with us, purchased after passing through Security.)

 

We selected Premium Economy, and for the modest extra cost, it was the best decision.

Our routing didn't have aircraft with Premium Economy ever day, so we had to adjust our schedule by one day to get aircraft that did have that class of service.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Having a non-stop was also a very, very good decision.

 

Our next flight to Italy will probably be to Milan, so we'll try to fly through NY, to get a non-stop for the long haul flight. We should then have the opportunity to choose a different carrier, to compare.

 

GeezerCouple

 

I just booked non stop premium economy using miles.. was the prem. economy comfortable?

[GeezerCouple]

I just booked non stop premium economy using miles.. was the prem. economy comfortable?

 

I wouldn't say it was "comfortable" ... after several hours, but for the price difference there is NO WAY we would willingly fly in the regular economy seats. (There would need to be some emergency such that we couldn't arrange a flight/date with premium economy class seats available.)

 

The extra width of the seats was really fine, as was the extra leg room and foot/leg rests.

The degree of recline was not as comfy for sleeping as we expected/hoped.

 

Percentage-wise, the fare difference isn't small, but in actual dollars or Euros, it was well worth it.

 

However, those business class flat beds looked very, very appealing.

At this stage of our lives, we'd do that for any flight that was much longer than the non-stop to Rome from the USA East Coast.

(But when we were much younger, we'd probably have gone the regular economy class seats, to save the money. In those days, we went backpacking, too... and loved it...)

 

GeezerCouple