We will be flying from JFK to Milan-&gt;Venice and returning from Rome. Have read some negative reports (after i had already booked). Just wondering how these flight have been lately. I don't expect much from the food (read it's awful), I'm more concerned about safety and timeliness. Thanks. <BR>

I flew Alitalia in December of '99. <BR> <BR>My only complaint was the complete disregard for the "No Smoking" signs. <BR> <BR>Im usually not fanatical about such things, but it can be pretty cramped in a 747-200, and 10% of the non-smoking passengers lighting up does not improve the situation. <BR> <BR>-Tony

Don't worry so much about the airline. If you don't get a crying baby next to you or someone trying to smoke. I have traveled all over the world and my advice is relax and enjoy the flight. You are not going to be on there that long and if you can sleep some. Any airling can be a good or bad experience just depends of a lot of things and the luck of the draw. If you happen to have an vacant seat next to you, you would say the seats are not so cramped and the guy in the next row would say its the worst he's ever had it just so objective. Have a good trip and forget about which airline or this or that about such and such airline, Buck

does anyone know the size/weight restrictions for carry-on baggage on alitalia?

I took the same flight as you, and it was a hard flight, but not in safety or timeliness. The attendants were incredibly rude to me, and the plane was completely packed with people who also want to save money on a flight. I sat next to a family that smelled like they hadn't washed in days, and on the other side of me was a couple that decided to take their cat out of the box and sit it on their laps. When I asked the attendant to do something about it because I am extremely allergic to cats, he wouldn't do anything and told me to deal with it myself. After he visibly upset me, he did go over and tell the couple to put the cat away, but as soon as they left they pulled the kitty out again. And my earphones they supplied me were broken and wouldn't give me new ones, so I couldn't watch the movie! I'll never forget that flight, and will never fly AlItalia again. But just breathe deeply and keep calm- it will all be over in 9 hours.

I flew Alitalia with my parents from MIA to Milan and Venice and back from Rome. Alitalia is fine on its domestic flights but beware if flying it transatlantically - terrible seats, the WORST food ever eaten in the air, and the rudest, most obnoxious flight attendants I have ever encountered - as soon as the plane takes off they throw the food and drinks at you and sleep the rest of the flight. As an Italian-American this airline is an insult to be associated with anything Italian!

We flew ALITALIA last May from Miami to Rome. I was a little apprehensive because of the mixed reviews on this forum. The flight, though late in departing, was uneventful. We didn't see any one smoking during the flight, there was no livestock in the aisles, and the food, from what I can recall, was simply average. However, we departed Miami at about 2 a.m. so most of the people on the flight just wanted to sleep and forget about "dinner". The cabin attendants were not especially friendly, but they were not openly rude either. We chose ALITALIA because it was the only direct flight to Rome from Miami. Don't worry about your airline choice. It will be fine. Enjoy your trip!

We flew Alitalia last June from Boston to Milan...only real complaint...the seats were very uncomfortable...stiff as a board....service, food..like most airlines....nothing to rave about...<BR>but I wouldn't say do not fly Alitalia..<BR>Flights were on time going both ways...<BR><BR>Nancy

We just flew Alitalia because our tour company booked it. It is without a doubt the WORST airline we've flown out of several European trips. The flight attendants are extremely rude. For example, a passenger close to us asked for sugar for her cofee and the flight attendant said "You must wait; I don't have any." And this while she was serving food and coffee. Another passenger asked for a second bread roll and the attendant said no...only one was allowed. In Milan, the ticket attendant at the airport arrived 5-7 minutes late to her post and, while there was a long line of people waiting to check in at another desk, she went to another check-in desk instead and created chaos, leaving the dozens of people waiting at the other line literally stranded, without any explanation or announcement. She refused to let the people who were in that line, and there before her, to check in then, making them go to the end of the "new" line she started without any announcement. When boarding the plane, the staff announced, as usual, people flying with children or needing special assistance would be allowed first, then followed by people in the back rows and then finally by the people in the front rows. Then after a few minutes, before starting this procedure, they just let everyone in regardless of rows, disregarding the previous announcement. While this is only a small gripe, it continued to show the staff's lack of organization. On board, the food was poor. The seats were very uncomfortable. Unlike other airlines we've flown, there were no amenities to make the long trans-Atlantic flight somewhat more bearable such as eye covers, footies, wet, moist towels, extra water, and yes no more than one small roll per meal even though they had more available. Then we found out that the flight attendants are due to strike this upcoming Friday so obviously the flight attendants are unhapy with their conditions and pass off their unhappiness with poor or no service to its customers. I will NEVER fly Alitalia again.

I feel sorry for all the people who have reported bad experiences on Alitalia. I've flown the airline for thirty years and have also had my share of bad flights. However, in the past two years, I can report that I've taken a total of 16 Alitalia flights (of which 8 transatlantic and 8 domestic), and have had no major complaints: one flight was delayed, but due to a computerized part which signalled a false alarm, needing to be replaced before departure. Most flights arrived on time, a few actually arrived early. I never saw anyone smoking on any of the flights; cabin crew consistently behaved correctly; food was often not great (but sometimes was quite tasty). Economy-class seats (on the MD11M) actually reclined more than on some U.S. carriers (resulting in reduced knee room for the passenger behind). I find that Alitalia is useful for three reasons: they have the most nonstops from the most U.S. gateways, they have excellent connections at Milan-Malpensa to the rest of Italy, and their fares are low to competitive. I suspect that there are far more passengers who have had good to normal experiences (and who have not posted a report) than passengers who (naturally being motivated by anger and disappointment) have gone out of their way to share their bad stories. 15 out of 16 isn't so bad!

Have to agree with the above post. <BR>Feel sorry for those that have had bad experiences with Alitalia. <BR>I too have flown with them to many times to count both nationally and back and forth from the US. <BR>I can also say years ago, when I traveled with my pets, they were the ones that treated me the best. <BR>Other airlines would never assure me my dog was down below. <BR>Alitialia always let me know what was going on. I had cats to and never had any problems. <BR>I'm just glad I never had anyone that was allergic to them sitting near by. <BR>It would have been a longer trip for them (the cats). <BR>Also, Italians are much better when traveling with kids. <BR>My son once spilled his drink on the seat and I got up to ask for napkins <BR>(this is on Swiss Air) and the flight attendent got really upset. <BR>She was so rude. <BR>I couldn't beleive, you'd think I had asked her to clean it. <BR> <BR>Another really important thing, (not saying anyone here is doing this) among americans there is blackballing going on against Alitalia. <BR>I ran across a site recently that was all against Alitalia and asking everyone to make bad publicity and there were tons of people on that site agreeing. <BR>Alitalia has its good and bad stories just like every other airline. You can only believe from your own experience. <BR>Have a nice trip and feel safe, thats the most important thing. <BR>

Forgot to mention, that with so many posts of people saying others were smoking, I have never seen anyone smoke. <BR>If you have a problem ask to speak to the number attendent. <BR> <BR>

I have flown Alitalia several times and they are not great for a European airline but they are much better than any US airline( in every class, in every way). <BR> <BR> Safety procedures were much better than I have recently seen on Qantas (I'm not going to fly with Qantas again - they are running on borrowed time)

A little late, but I want to add my 2 cents... I have flown Alitalia round trip from New York to Italy on three separate occasions in the last 5 years. Each trip, where the airline was concerned, was an absoulte disaster. The worst of these events was when I was 18, probably too young to be flying trans-atlantic by myself from a strange, city, but I learned... <BR> <BR>I booked thru NorthWestern, and at JFK I discovered the flight was a codeshare with Alitalia. I was scheduled to leave around 5pm. Due to a litany of uncontrolable and unrelated circumstances, I spent the 9 hours proceeding the flight at JFK. When it was finally time to check in, I was told I had no reservation. I stood holding tickets, with seat numbers, and was refused boarding. Nearly 20 other people were told the same thing, and we slowly figured out that we had all booked on Northwestern - so Alitalia was oversold, and resorted to bumping all of the Northwestern passengers. <BR> <BR>The customer service situation was unbelievable - Alitalia refused to deal with me because my ticket jacket said Northwestern, and Northwestern claimed they could do nothing because it was an Alitalia flight. <BR> <BR>To make a very long story somewhat shorter, after several distressed phone calls to my mother and travel agent, I was finally told that I would be able to leave at 8am the following morning on a flight to Milan (I was ticketed to Rome). Alitalia refused to give me a hotel voucher, a meal voucher, a cab voucher or even a cot at the airport. I had to spend nearly $200 that night on hotel, meal and cab to and from the airport. <BR> <BR>The relentless smokers, absolutely unedible food and incredibly rude flight attendants on the trip to Milan did little to improve my impression of the airline. <BR> <BR>To top off my experience, I was not given a ticket from Milan to Rome. I had to take the train, nearly a 5 hour trip by myself with a semester's worth of luggage. <BR> <BR>Needless to say, that was the last time I flew Alitalia. <BR> <BR>If you can at all avoid it, do so. <BR>

Just returned from Italy and flew Alitalia from Chicago to Milan to Rome. I would say the flight was average. Flight attendants were friendly and helpful. Food was fair to good. Wine was very good Italian wine. Flight left on time once and 30 minutes late the other time. Not unusual considering the scarey flight situation. I would definitely fly with them again.

Alitalia. By all means take it, particularily if you like NW Airlines!<BR><BR>Have been on many international carriers, Alitalia was by far the worst.<BR><BR>Why do you think the Pope kisses the ground when he get deplanes his Alitalia<BR>flight?

We flew Alitalia in March and July. On time, pleasant crew, meals OK, bags arrived with us. Just like any other average flights. Would do it any time if a price was right. Try to focus on your trip and enjoy it.

Alitalia has reported on its USA website that it will discontinue its service into LAX at the end of March 2002, thereby ending nearly 18 years of uninterrupted service to Southern California. Too bad.

I have flown to europe about 14 times in the last 3 years. On a trip from Boston to Rome Air France lost my baggage at CDG (very common for CDG). Alitalia was my connecting flight to Rome. It was impossible to get through to any of the phone numbers in Europe. The people in NYC answered but were very rude. My luggage finally arrived 8 days late. I filed a claim twice and haven't heard back. When I call NYC now and leave voice mail nobody ever calls back.<BR><BR>Lack of any resolution to lost baggage problems are one reason this airline has a ** rating on epinions.com.<BR><BR>I will never fly ALITALIA ever again.<BR><BR>I am going to Italy in December. I would SWIM before I flew ALITALIA.

We flew Alitalia two years ago Chicao-Milan, Rome-Chicago. We switched our reservations from United when we realized we could save $300 per person for the same itinerary. We had really no complaints. On the flight over there were quite a few empty seats in the middle section towards the back so I was able to lie down and the pasta dinner was actually quite tasty. Throughout the flight there was a snack bar (self service) which was fine. On the return flight home, a day flight, we had window and aisle seats (not on a 747) so we were comfortable enough. Though the meal was not good, the snacks were available so we weren't hungry. The crew was okay. We actually thought we had done well saving the money!