Alitalia Airline recently?

Try looking up Alitalia on www.airlinequality.com. You'll get lots of feedback there. Alitalia gets 3 stars for economy, 4 stars for business class.

Thanks girlspy...

Good call, Girlspytravel.

Skytrax also will give you info on airport quality, lounge quality, etc....

Check out www.seatguru.com to see what their airline seat size is and what they fly.

Not my favorite airline for a number of reasons. One being I don't like having to check the strike schedules just to book a flight.

Strike schedule? No mention of that when I BOUGHT my tickets. I checked out the www.airlinequality.com and now I can look forward to a late flight (probably cancelled), worn ripped seats, broken toilet, lost luggage, gross food, nasty attendants that are missing the whole flight, pilots that have temper tantrums in front of and at passengers, and absolutely no customer service. I will cry for 12 or more hours and hopefully make it to Italy and then try to have a great time before I have to go back to Alitalia and be treated like crap. I will now be researching how to tolerate and survive this hell....trying not to cry....

ljc4creb - I flew Alitalia very recently and was not impressed. Although I had very low expectations anyway, so it was also not terrible. The food was bad, the beverage service was even worse. On a 7+ hr flight from Milan to Boston, the cart only came around twice, and I think the second time was because so many people were going back to get a glass of water that they got fed up with passengers milling around. The bathrooms were despicable, but the flight crew was very nice. Fortunately, they did not lose my luggage, and our flight was delayed getting into Rome by only an hour. If I had no choice and had to fly them again, I would still maintain my low expectations, and would defintely bring food on the plane.

It's unlikely all of those things or even most will happen. If you read all the complaints of everyone at once, it will sound bad, but so do most airlines on that web site.

ljc - where are you flying from/to. That can make a difference.

I am flying from Boston, then Venice to Rome to Boston.........still feeling ill.......

I give five stars for business to Alitalia. We flew to Milan and it was really a very good service. Arrived in time, but it is not only the food, the coffee, the icecreams on board, it is the elegence of its super confortable light grey seats, temendous distance between seats and also the very casual, but polite Alitalia personel on board. I really like it.Everything was so roomy , like there is like a bar space in business. A very nice experience.

Graziella....you are not talking about economy seats, right?

I assume you are making a connection Bos-?-Venice. You might be on a long distance flight with a new plane, like a 777 out of New York. You also could be flying on Delta plane and crew, even though it says you are on Alitalia. Like Delta/Alitalia Atlanta to Rome is a Delta set up.

TravMimi......sorry, I wasn't clear. Flying from Boston to Rome. Coming home, will leave Venice airport to Rome and then to Boston.

We flew Alitalia business class last July from JFK-Rome, Milan-JFK, and roundtrip from Rome-Athens. The transatlantic portion was very good, although the food was pretty bad. The Rome-Athens portion was terrible- torn seat cushions, bad service, and delays on either end.

So, it is looking like my first trip to Italy with my husband will be accompanied by our new friend Lunesta.

Wow....Weadles, Then we were very lucky. We also fly business Alitalia, Rome to Madrid, and although it was not as nice as the inter continental flight, it was a nice flight. In my experience much better than flying Air France from Paris to Madrid the year before., not any better or any worse than KLM, Madrid to Amsterdam.
There was a set back in this Alitalia flight, ALL LUGGAGE was delayed in ROME.I mean the luggage of every single person.

Al Italia was nothing special. Food in economy was below average and nothing to drink except water and some red liquid they called orange juice. I'd still take it because it's a direct flight NYC-Rome rather than make a connection. Delta codeshare on the way back was better.

Do they only codeshare with Delta from certain places?

ljc - they code share with a lot of airlines. You can research your flight number and it will tell you exactly what type of flight it is. Code share, type of aircraft.

sorry I clicked post to quickly.
To add to my above post. Don't feel so bad. The reason Alitalia scores so poorly in ratings is mostly because of their domestic and short haul flights, which are MANY. That's probably why people keep using them. Those are horrible. Half of the Alitalia fleet is old MD-80s need I say more. International is more in the low cost carrier class, so no better or worse than most of those, just worse than most major carriers. Perhaps you could pay and upgrade to at least an exit row seat.

we were Alitalia from JFK to Milano, and I must say that the staff were more, hmmmmm... shall we say, "poised" than most U.S. domestic economy class compartment flight staff. My well-intentioned wife pre-ordered the kosher meal for me for dietary reasons (thanks, honey!), but the upside was a wonderful dinner - served about 20 minutes earlier than the wife's! I didn't notice any real improvement in room, maybe a little less than stateside, but the de-facto wine bar gathering that developed in the rear of our flight to Milan would've been cause for great concern here

the really interesting part? flying with about 50% Italians to-and-fro. The quirky part? the check-in at JFK was a little off-putting, allowing pre-board check-in only 1 hour (am I imagining that?) prior to the flight at JFK. There was plenty of food & services on the outside of the security check, thank goodness.

oh well, I guess I get it know. I have learned so much from all of you, some things hard to take...but, I will going to Italy. Hopefully my trip report will be close to what I am dreaming about. Thanks.

re the drinks cart:

It's been a year or so, but I've flown them a lot. The crew will often make a pass and then have "open bar" left at the back of the plane.

Not a great airline but better than some of the transatlantic service on US carriers ... for me at least

Flew them two months ago, Newark to Rome and back (economy). Return was Delta codeshare.

Legroom and seat comfort were above average. Color of seats was soothing . . . famous Italian design I guess. Luggage arrived with us.

When the food service arrived, I simply informed them I was used to better. Instantly a waiter appeared with a chafing dish -- prepared perfect pasta cacio e pepe and veal milanese. Wine was Tignanello. When the desserts failed to please, they contacted an approaching jet from Austria and arranged a mid-flight pastry transfer. You simply have to know how to ask.

On the down side, we left Newark two hours late, but many flights were delayed.

ljc - the point is getting to Italy and they will get you there. You will have a wonderful time. It's 9 little hours. Don't fret a second, get back to planning the trip and all that good stuff.

We fly via Al Italia Atlanta to Venice and return Rome to JFK and go next week. I,too have heard negative stories aboaut Al Italia. This posting reference code-referencing and I checked our flights. They indicate they are operated by Delta - yippee! Does that mean what I hope that we will be on a Delta airplae with Delta staff?
Great tip, Fodorites! I love Italy but have been hesitant about this airline based on reviews....

We traveled Newark - Milan roundtrip in March 06 and when we arrived in Milan luggage for 4 of the 5 of us was missing due to our connecting flight into Newark being late. We had a busy trip and were headed for Venice immediately. We stayed 2 nights in Venice, no luggage. On our way driving down the Adriatic coast, Alitalia called our cell phone and our luggage was in Ancona (we had given them our route) so we picked it up a couple of hours later. They gave us forms to submit with receipts for the clothes that we bought and although it took about 6 months, they gave us $300 reimbursement (which was greater than the receipts we turned in - they rounded up). Food and service was good on the flights.

I think this post is a perfect example of what LoveItaly said on another post-people with too much information.....

THis is a question for Bella, I am glad that Alitalia settle with you, when we flew ROme to Madrid, all the luggage of the plane was left in Rome. I said this before, I did not say however that my husband's suitcase was opened and some items were stolen. We submitted to Alitalia by fax in Madrid a complain, and do not know what to do as a follow up. Did you follow up your request to Alitalia?, or simple waited six months. Will help me a lot.
What was stolen? Several things including a fairly new pair of men shoes, which BTW are not cheap...

We flew on Alitalia in October 2006. Dulles to Milan to Venice on the way over. Rome to Newark on the way back. We were in economy. We found the airline perfectly acceptable and, contrary to some of the other posters comments, the food was better than many of the other airlines we've flown. We did not lose our luggage nor did we have any delays. The orange juice that one poster referred to as "red liquid" may have been blood orange juice which is common in Italy.

Hmmm. Maybe ljc4creb won't have to despair. Things may actually get better if Alitalia privatisation saga progresses... ...heard Aeroflot is a potential bidder.

I've flown with them countless times over the years, although admittedly only within Europe, but never had a single problem.

P.S. People tend not to bother posting about totally uneventful flights.

I have never flown Alitalia but have flown many other airlines over the years. Most of them are about the same as the others, cramped seats in coach, mediocre food, decent but not excellent service and to many people packed into a small place. Just look at it as the penance you have to get through to get to someplace marvelous. Your vacation really begins after you get there and the flight is just the means of getting there so don't worry about it. Take essential items such as medications and a change of clothes, in your carryon so you will have them if your luggage is lost or delayed. Try to sleep as much as you can during the flight and just get through it. It is well worth it to go to Italy no matter what airline you are on. Enjoy!

Thank you to all who posted a few different experiences. I called Alitalia and my flight is codeshare with Delta and they said I would be on an Alitalia plane. It is non-stop.I just want to get to Italy and have my clothes with me. Those going soon, please let us know how things went.

If you are planning to earn frequent flyer miles from an Alitalia codeshare partner, be careful. I recently flew Alitalia from Paris to Milan on a codeshare with Air France, which I booked through AF using my AF frequent flyer card. However when I got my frequent flier statement the next month, it showed only 180 miles for the flight which in fact was close to 1,000 miles. Same thing happened for the return flight, too. Otherwise I had no problem with Alitalia service.

They indicate they are operated by Delta - yippee!

First time I've ever seen Delta and yippee in the same thought ... we all have different experiences but I'd much rather be on Alitalia than Smelt-ya.

ljc4creb - Relax and just concentrate on going to Italy. We're also booked on Alitalia, but out of Cincinnati. It is a code-share with Delta. Since it's the only non-stop flight we would probably have booked no matter what. At least with a direct flight, you don't have to worry about connections if delayed and your luggage has a good chance of arriving with you. Since Alitalia was $100 less pp we booked on them instead of Delta. There are so many factors when you fly that I don't worry about it. Our last flight home from Rome we were on American. Comfortable flight, lots of leg room, but we were surrounded by a Jr. High group going back home. It was not one of the more restful flights we've had.

BarbaraJ...It seems you picked Alitalia for the same reasons I did. My flight is overnight, non-stop, and was and still is the cheapest under these circumstances. The longest I have been on a plane is 3.5 hrs. I'll keep my expectations extremely low and just go.

ljc4creb,

I'm sure your flight will be as good or bad as any other flight. It's really luck of the draw for most of the international carriers, so you're smart to take the best price and schedule that works for you. I think we've had excellent and poor experiences on almost all of them. Anyway, hope yours goes smoothly!

Weadles...Thanks, my panic attack is officially over.

Interesting read on your experiences with Alitalia. My husband and I are JFK-Rome bound on 4/21 on Alitalia. I didn't have any choice in airlines as I booked with a tour group. I don't enjoy flying to begin with so perhaps I'll just take an Ambien and try to sleep.

graziella: Alitalia gave us the forms at the airport in Milan when our luggage was missing and when we retrieved our luggage 2 days later, we were provided with a form and address in the US to submit the receipts. I called once to follow up and then was sent a letter advising it would be an additional 90 days. Total process was 6 months.

I, too, will be flying w/them in July for our 1st trip to Italy. Florida to JFK-Rome. (Equipment is a 777) It is a Delta codeshare...whatever that really means. As long as they do not go out of business and can get us there safely, the rest really does not matter to us. We paid such a low fare, I really cannot complain. However, I am wondering about seat assignments. I booked through Orbitz and it says seats will be assigned at check-in....what's the deal with this? Is that what normally happens on Alitalia? Or is it just because I booked through Orbitz? With such a long flight, I really hope to at least sit with my family & kids....but hey, we have a 6 hour layover @ JFK...guess we'll be plenty early!

tinamidon - I booked online on the Alitalia site for a flight that was also Delta codeshare and also did not get seat assignments, either online or in the e-mail confirmation. That always makes me nervous so I called Alitalia immediately and they did the seat assignment for me.

My first trip to Europe a friend and I didn't have seat assignments - as it turned out the flight was overbooked. In that case we got bumped up to first class on the way over. Since then however, I always try to have seat assignments.

I also called the airline and booked my seats both ways. I at least wanted a window but wasn't sure what/where was a preferred seat. I'm still learning how to travel.

Just wanted to share an experience I had once on Alitalia, back when smoking was still allowed on planes. I was flying from Paris to Rome, and during the pre-takeoff announcement they informed us that the smoking section was on the left side of the center aisle, and nonsmoking was on the right -- no, I am not kidding! Of course nothing like this will ever happen now on Alitalia, but I still shake my head whenever I remember it.

We've flown Alitalia on a few occasions. They're okay if absolutely nothing goes wrong. Any problem and they are terrible.
In early October, they had huge over-bookings because they had sold larger planes and had switched to flying smaller ones. At Malpenza we and scores of others waited for hours (not an exaggeration) while only two harried agents toiled with out-dated software and wrote paper tickets to rebook through multiple layovers. At this end, getting our compensation was another trial. And pay attention to the codeshare, because you may think you will be on Delta, but you may be flying Alitalia.
Recently I read that Aeroflot was bidding to buy Alitalia. Having flown both, I like to book my worst enemy on that combination.

And I was once told by an Alitalia flight attendant that I did not pack up my tray correctly after lunch. She proceeded to demonstrate to me and others around me how it should be done. Funny thing was that it was my sister's tray which I handed over to the attendant. My sister remained silent, yet smirking - like the Mona Lisa. I was not happy.

Marianna - lol that's funny. Alitalia is good for some laughs and a few memories. My ex used to make the kids laugh because of the faces he made while eating.

We just had a great trip on Alitalia - 777s both way and seemingly plenty of room, good entertainment, nice staff - a big improvement over our last trip a few years back.

I recommend.

jjk, looks like you were one of the lucky ones.

ljc:

I went to Italy for the first time in mid-February and had the exact same post-booking experience as you. In fact, scoured enough web sites and reviews to send me into a full-blown panic attack. Of course, I got to and from Italy just fine and am here to tell about it

But here's my advice:

1. Check this web site regularly: http://www.summerinitaly.com/planning/strike.asp
There's actually an Alitalia strike planned for 4/18 (24 hours). Good to check that site as much as possible leading up to your trip.

2. I didn't see anything regarding your luggage but as best as you can do carry-on, you're always safer. I did however check bags on the way back from Rome as I purchased nearly everything I laid my eyes on and thankfuly no bags were lost. It was helpful that I was on a direct flight, certainly. If you're checking bags, then make sure to bring a change of clothes with you in your carry-on.

3. BRING YOUR OWN FOOD. I nearly starved the entire way over and learned the hard way when I about passed out on the damn plane. On the way back from Rome you'll have plenty of shops to purchase food from. Get yourself a sandwich or something 'cause trust me - energy bars just don't cut it after a while.

4. Don't get married to your seat assignment. Alitalia is notorious for changing planes (and therefore seats) at the 11th hour. This happened both ways to me, I think. It might explain why a few of you got the "seats assigned at check-in" message. When I called Alitalia, they refused to book me a seat. Thankfully my father has a friend who works for Alitalia and she arranged me a seat. Funny thing was, it got changed

I worried about everything too, but yo should be fine. Pack light, take only what you need and don't expect the friendliest customer service. This way, when you do get someone from the airline who is super-friendly (I did on a couple of occasions) it makes it that much nicer.

AntInNewYork, thank you. You made me laugh at myself. Buying the airline tickets was a "major" undertaking and after all the work finding hotels and getting nutty-excited about this, I felt totally slapped in the face. Like I said, keeping expectations lower than low and now I just have to tell my husband the great news. RE: the food, I thought you couldn't bring food or drink onto the plane and/or had to buy it past securtiy checks in the airport?

I think you can bring food through but not liquids (can someone double-check me please?)

In JFK I had a red-eye and only ate before leaving the house which wasn't smart. I should have tried to find something in the terminal. In Rome, there are places before and after security, so you'll be more than fine.

http://www.fodors.com/forums/threadselect.jsp?screen_name=AntInNewYork

The link above is to my trip report and if I remember correctly, I did go into some detail about Alitalia and the terminals. Also some tax-free information as well for when you make large purchases and have to deal with the paperwork at the airport.

AntInItaly, I just read your thread asking about Alitalia (just like anyone would not knowing). My mouth was open in shock from Pausanias or whoever that was with his/her responses. That is what you fear and have come not to expect here. If I had read that first, I may have never asked a question ever and that would be very unfortunate for me and others with the same questions. I feel people like to share experiences as much as helping. Perhaps that grouch is an Alitalia flight attendant.

LJC you must have been reading my first ever thread where I got absolutely slammed because I inquired as to the carry-on situation..is that correct?

The best part of that thread is what you didn't read.. there was another poster that was so nasty to me his comments were actually removed and I'm not at all sure by whom.

I got verbally smacked around on that thread but the good thing was that a lot of wonderful people came to my defense and I really appreciated it. Hence my still being here.

We flew Jfk-Milan-Budapest on March 9-10, returned on March 25. At the price we paid, we viewed the flights as our bus to Europe, so expectations were not high. That said, we had a nice plane and crew for both Transatlantic legs, and the Budapest-Milan portion was fine, too - a little more crowded on the return than the commencing flight. We (wife, myself, two teenaged daughters) were not able to sit together on the Transatlantic portions - and I mean four seperate seats all over the plane. Some would find that outrageous, but I told my family that traveling means flexibility (to a point, of course), and we all met interesting people on the way over and some of us did on the way back (I'm 6'2", 260, and was wedged in a middle seat between two other guys my size; the left-handed guy on my right, right-handed on my left, which made trying to eat a challenge for me at best!). Food was fine, still airline food, but tasty. Crew appreciates a little Italian spoken, like "Buon Giorno" and "Grazie", and a little sympathy expressed for their corporate situation also goes a long way toward breaking the ice. The beverages are in the back of the plane after the initial services, fine with me. If you are tall, negotiate with the person in front of you BEFORE they recline their seat; not only will you have crushed knees, but also it kills the viewing angle on the LCD screens, which need to tilt up more than they can - my only other complaint after seating arrangements. Checked luggage arrived safe at all destinations. Flight from Milan to NYC was delayed an hour at the last minute, but the time change had occured the night previous, and the crews were still catching up to the flights. All other legs arrived on time.

We only heard about Alitalia's troubles after we had purchased our non-refundable tix in November, so I found travel insurance to cover our investment (Alitalia was not restricted by them) and we just watched the news until it was clear that our flights were still scheduled. We had a pleasant trip, and found an excellent value ($1930.00RT NYC-BUD for four). Relax and have a good time!

Just returned from Italy and flew Alitalia out of JFK.
Service was good but bring your own food it was horrible and on such a long food, you need to eat.

Just got back two weeks ago. Beware - my seats were supposed to be assigned, but when I got to check in at Alitalia, they weren't. They said my husband and I couldn't sit together. The weird thing was, there were lots of empty seats on the plane and the flight attendants told everyone to move wherever they wanted just after boarding, so we did sit together. They also lost my vegetarian meal request. Luckily, I had no problem with carrying a little food on.

No tv screens on the 767 from JFK to Rome! A 777 on the way back - it had tv screens, but they were broken. Buzzed a flight attendant 3 times to try to get some water. Finally, flagged down one who was just walking by.

Lost my luggage on the way home, but got it back the next day.

Took off an hour late both times for seemingly no reason. All other flights were running on time.

To sum up: we were not impressed with Alitalia! But they did get us to Rome, and that was worth it.

From Miami to ROme the food in business was the best I had in a plane for a long time. Go figure...

Lilli, I am expecting your kind of trip on this airline. I want to cry and laugh at the same time, although I may just cry all the way over there. Is it really possible to sleep even with a "sleeping aid"?

L4, I don't recall seeing, but are you sure that you can't do carry-on for your trip? You'll save yourself a lot of grief if you can.

Don't worry about the seat assignments. If you have more heart than me, then just keep calling Alitalia until you get someone who will assign you a seat. The most important thing is that you get on the plane. Undoubtedly they will shuffle all of the seat arrangements and then you and 20 other people will walk around asking each other if you can swap seats. Again, so long as you're on the plane, you're good...

I'm just like you - plan, plan plan. But my trip to Italy helped me to let go of some of that as there's only so much you can do after a while.

Again, check to see if you can take solid foods on board, pack some Ambien and an IPod if you have one. Yes sleeping aids can work! Just don't count on the TV. Whatever did we do before we had TV's on the seats anyway? You entertain yourself-books, magazines, puzzles, chitchat with the person next to you, and try to sleep.

And daydream, daydream, daydream