I am flying to Italy in April, and the only airlines I can find that fly nonstop from JFK to Rome (and back) are Delta and Alitalia. Each day there are 2 flights - one is operated by Delta, codeshared by Alitalia, the other is operated by Alitalia, codeshared with Delta. Is there any reason for me to choose one over the other? I'm not thrilled with what I've heard about either airline, but I'm even less thrilled with trying to talk my travel partner into anything that isn't nonstop. By the way, I found it interesting that the cost to book a round trip ticket ranged from $500 to $1000 MORE if booked on the Alitalia site, for the SAME PLANE. Thanks to anyone who offers up some advice.

Alitalia and Continental also fly non-stop from Newark. You may want to consider those as well.

If I were going to book that far out, I'd be skeptical of Alitalia considering their financial situation. The last I read, the government still had not found a buyer. While it would be logical to assume that any purchaser would honor tickets, it seems very unclear as to what their situation will be in the spring.

I'd also look into rkkwan's suggestion at EWR.

I like Delta alot, so I would book the Delta flight.... I fly them extensively internationally and haven't had any problems with them at all.....

Delta is using their 767-300 for JFK-FCO next April. They don't have personal video screens, if that's important to you. AZ's 777 and CO's 767-200/400 do have them.

Am I trying to book my flights too early? I was thinking that I should have my flights in place before I made my hotel reservations, but maybe that is wrong. Especially since right now I have a room offering from my favorite hotel choice in Venice, and I'd hate to lose that while I wait for good flight prices. I haven't been to Europe in 30 years - don't know a thing about flying there. No nothing about Alitalia, except that it is not very reliable. Is it bankrupt? Since the flights are codeshared, should I expect that Delta will pick up the flight if Alitalia goes belly up?
Newark (EWR)is not very convenient for me since I live on Long Island, so I have been limiting myself to JFK.

You could consider American Airlines from JFK. They have service to Rome, and will inaugurate service in the spring to Milan.

Delta's fine, and I wouldn't worry whether I were flying on Delta or Alitalia equipment so long as I'd booked through Delta---if Alitalia goes under Delta will still get you to Rome. Alitalia will serve free liquor en route, whereas Delta will give you one free alcoholic beverage with your meal (assuming you're flying coach).

To JohnatLC - I wish it were so, but when it comes to nonstop flights out of JFK, Delta and Alitalia are the only options.

AA does fly JFK-FCO non-stop in April.

You are right - I apologize. Until 4/10, American's flights to Rome are only on Tues, Fri, and Sun, and thus did not come up on my searches. Beginning 4/10, the flights are daily.
Thanks for the push - now I am investigating mileage awards.

Delta in JFK can be a NIGHTMERE! However I would book Delta before Alitalia. Delta has beefed up its international service and from what I hear it seems pretty good.

I just flew ALitalia to Sicily in early October. They lost the luggage for 8 people on our trip. 5 got it back on the 4th day......myself and one other took TWENTY-ONE DAYS to get back to us and one is still "Lost". I will never fly Alitalia again - ever!! I spent my whoele trip in Sicily without clothes, medicines, documents, etc. They were 100% uncooperative in trying to help - offered no stipend while in Italy and have not responded to many many requests from me once I got home for compensation. They don't even answer their phone in NY - just let it ring. Don't waste your money with Alitalia - they will find a way to ruin your vacation! Do a search on Google and see how many passengers have had vacations ruined by them. I read this stuff beforehand but thought it would never happen to me.

Oh - my - God - If that happened to my husband he would probably never travel again! It turns out that the flight I want to Venice is a Delta flight, so hopefully I am ok there. If my luggage gets lost coming home it is not as much of a disaster. But the flight I want home from Rome, which leaves early afternoon instead of the 10:15 AM Delta flight, is an Alitalia flight that Delta has bought 20+ seats on. Unfortunately, although Delta has sold only a small number of seats, they claim that all their cheap seats are gone, and so if I buy the multicity ticket from Delta (and thus have a small - probably very small - bit of protection if Alitalia goes belly up), I would be paying $1600+! If I go out with a Delta ticket and back home with an Alitalia ticket, the same flights are about $1200, and it drops further if I throw in the towel and go home on the early flight.

Can anyone tell me what the story is with Alitalia?

What's the story with Alitalia? Well, it is still a state-own airline when many of its European rivals have been privatized and have to compete on merits. Alitalia doesn't have to. They have strong unions, and Italy has relatively weak governments with most prime minister lasting a few months. So, it's not competitive and the government has give them money year after year to fill their hole. It has not made any money in years.

But now, the EU won't allow this kind of subsidies anymore, so the government has been trying to privatize the airline for years. But it can't find anyone who wants it. It literally begs AirFrance/KLM to buy it out, but they won't. It's been holding auctions to find new owners, and may be able to do with next year.

Alitalia used to be one of the larger airlines in the world with services to many continents. It certainly hasn't kept up, and doesn't go to Asia anymore, for example.

So, that's the story of Alitalia. Ask yourself if you work for such a company, do you really care if someone comes to you and tell you they've lost their bags? You earn a good salary from the Italian government, and right now you basically can't be fired. But if the airline does get sold next year, then you probably will lose your job anyway whether you deal with this passenger without bags in front of you anyways. So, why would you care?

rkkwan's comments are pretty much on the mark. As a further follow up, I read a couple of weeks ago that LH has indicated it's no longer interested in buying all or part of Alitalia, so who knows what the ending of the story is going to be.......

Are you booking an open jaw flight? when i was looking into booking our FLL-ROME VCE-FLL open jaw trip, the fares at both delta's and alitalia's sites were crazy, so i booked it for $740 at atiflights.com which is the partner website to europeandestinations.com . of course we're flying dec 15-23 i'm sure that makes a difference too.

Just an update - LH announced yesterday that it was "reviewing the situation" and hadn't decided whether to make an offer for Alitalia. The saga continues.

Confirmed news is that Aeroflot won't be bidding. So, it's basically LH, AF/KL and AirOne.

Yes, AF/KL pulled out last time, but was invited back after the Italian government makes more concession.

Right now, they say they'll get "non-binding" bids next week. Whatever that means...