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-   -   Alitala (https://www.fodors.com/community/europe/alitala-1474460/)

DarcieM Sep 19th, 2017 11:14 AM

Alitala
 
The only direct flight from Boston to Rome is with Alitalia. I've read some terrible reviews and would appreciate input from the Forum.

tmleafs Sep 19th, 2017 11:21 AM

Have never used this airline but I spoke with a travel agent about flights to Italy and she recommended not to use this airline not very reliable.

MmePerdu Sep 19th, 2017 11:38 AM

Alitalia is in bankruptcy. I discovered this after I'd booked flights in November and would not have if I'd done some homework. They say the flights will still go but if I were you I'd find another way, even with a stop, ones less likely to go bad on you.

Whathello Sep 19th, 2017 12:02 PM

Worst state owned air company ever. After Sabena of course.
I'll be glad to see them disappear. No customer service. No nothing.

Weadles Sep 19th, 2017 12:19 PM

Hop the shuttle to New York, and take DELTA.

goddesstogo Sep 19th, 2017 12:42 PM

Uh oh. We're flying Alitalia this Sunday (to Rome and then Turin) and then back from Rome to Toronto mid-October.

Too late to change plans. I guess I'll just have to hope for the best. :(

greg Sep 19th, 2017 12:42 PM

I think looking at these lists would give you a good idea:

April 5th, 2017 strike:
https://www.alitalia.com/en_it/fly-a...ike-5-apr.html
Do you see the AZ615?
https://www.alitalia.com/content/dam...g_5_aprile.pdf

May 28th, 2017 strike:
https://www.alitalia.com/en_it/fly-a...ke-28-may.html
BOS-FCO was spared.

June 16, 2017 strike:
https://www.alitalia.com/en_it/fly-a...d-flights.html
BOS-FCO was spared.

MmePerdu Sep 19th, 2017 01:20 PM

The alternative to the flights I bought were on Egyptair. I made a silly assumption that an Italian airline would be better than an Egyptian airline. I've since heard that Egyptair is very good. Silly, silly me. But I'm not really worried and know now what website I'll need if Alitalia goes under altogether before Nov.

DarcieM Sep 19th, 2017 01:56 PM

Thanks for all your replies. Will definitely not be flying Alitalia!

goddesstogo Sep 19th, 2017 03:27 PM

Well, we were considering a daytime flight but now I'm glad we booked an overnight flight. At least I'll sleep through some of it.
Oh well. Live and learn, right?

Guenmai Sep 19th, 2017 10:31 PM

As far as I'm concerned, they are terrible. I was left stranded at an international airport in Italy when I found out that my on-bound ticket to West Africa was null and void as Alitalia had issued me a ticket on a flight that didn't even exist!!! This was in the early 2000s.

I had flown, non-stop, from L.A. to Italy, on Delta, and then was to change planes, many hours later, and fly on to West Africa on Alitalia. When I arrived into the Italian airport, something told me to check to see that all was in order. I was then informed that the plane had left the day before and that there was no flight until the next day and that I was welcomed to sleep in the airport and try to get on a flight the next day as they were not obligated to put me up in a hotel. Huh? Say what? They screwed up my ticket and then took NO responsibility AT ALL. Plus, I had arrived into the Italian airport at around 6:30AM, from L.A., and was exhausted, but then was expected to sleep in the airport. Yeah, right.

Had it not been for the Delta office reservationist at that airport, I might still be stranded there and my luggage had also been lost in that airport. But, Delta spent hours trying to straighten the whole mess out and at the end of the ordeal, sent a whole bus for me to be transported to a nearby hotel where they paid for the room, paid for all of my meals, paid for my calls to West Africa so that I wouldn't lose my hotel reservation as I was on vacation there for Christmas time, and then sent a private car for me the next morning and transported me back to the airport, where they had a plane ticket waiting for me, and then put me on a KLM flight as the Delta reservationist REFUSED to even deal with Alitalia. So, I was flown to Amsterdam and then on to West Africa from there. At the end of my West African vacation, I was flown back to Amsterdam and then on to the same Italian airport where I had to pick up my international, Delta flight back to L.A.

The Delta reservationist informed me that had I tried to get on the next-day Alitalia flight to West Africa, I never would have gotten a seat as they had overbooked their flight by an obscene and just unreal number of passengers. I could have been stranded the entire two weeks of my vacation.

The day that I was dealing with Delta, trying to straighten out the mess, the Delta agent called over to the Alitalia reservation counter area and no one would even answer the phone. We stood and watched the workers at the Alitalia counter, chit chat, while being able to hear their phone ringing, but they never stopped talking to answer the phone. The Delta agent got fed up and hung up the phone. She even said to me, "Look at them standing their and talking and not even picking up their ringing phone!!!"

As for my most recent Alitalia nightmare, although I swore to never deal with them again, well, just 3 months ago, I unfortunately had no choice. I had to take them and landed into the same, Italian airport that I had been stranded in in the early 2000s. Yikes! Nightmare!

I was flying from L.A. to another European city and then transferred airlines and ended up on Alitalia on to Italy. Well, upon arrival into my Italian city, there was no luggage to be found. So, I had to stand in line and fill out a lost-luggage form. I was asked, by an angry desk clerk, how long I would be staying in the city and I mentioned 5 nights. The desk clerk got mad and informed me that it could take 5 days to find the luggage and why wasn't I staying longer? Huh? Stay longer as to what, expect lost luggage? I mean, really?

I was given a paper with either a phone number to call or a website to contact and enter my lost-luggage number. Since I didn't have a cell phone, I used my travel, Chromebook to try to access the website, but I couldn't even pull the website up as it wasn't even working. So, there I was stuck. I went on Yelp and looked up the reviews on the lost-luggage/delivery company service and it had gotten nothing higher than one star and a lot of irate comments.

Had it not been for my Airbnb hosts who took on the entire ordeal, and I mean it was an ordeal, I might not have ever seen my luggage again. But, he was determined to find it and on the evening of the second day, rang the doorbell and was standing outside with my large suitcase.

So, as for Alitalia, I am DONE and I mean really DONE. I had held out for about 14 years without having to deal with them. I would rather ride a donkey to my destination than have to deal with them ever again. Now, let me not write how I really feel about them. LOL!

Happy Travels!

Guenmai Sep 19th, 2017 10:44 PM

"Whathello on Sep 19, 17 at 1:02pm
Worst state owned air company ever. After Sabena of course.
I'll be glad to see them disappear. No customer service. No nothing."

I totally agree with both of those statements.

Back in the 80s, I flew, from L.A. to visit my Flemish friends, in Belgium, over the spring break period. One had contacted his brother and informed him of my coming. All were excited and expecting my arrival and his brother was a Michelin-starred restaurant chef and had prepared a gourmet meal for me at his seaside house. Well, I landed into Brussels airport and my friend and his wife were there, excitedly awaiting me although I was the last person to exit into the terminal and with no luggage as Sabina had lost it all.

My friends handled filling out the form and asked when the luggage would arrive as we were to drive to the seaside for a pre-Easter dinner. The Sabina agent then commented to them, "Do you think this is the only lost luggage that we have?" So, much for customer service.

We then drove the long distance to their small city and waited for the luggage delivery. Sabina refused to just leave it on their covered, backyard patio which would have been fine with me. Plus, they lived out in the middle of basically nowhere and it would have been safe. But, we waited and waited and by the time the luggage arrived, it was too late to drive to the house of my friend's brother and that gourmet meal was prepared for nothing as we never made it to dinner.

My Flemish friends said that Sabina stood for, "Such A Bad Experience Never Again!!!" And it was indeed, never again!

Happy Travels!

Rhea58 Sep 20th, 2017 01:43 AM

I too would never fly them gain....have taken 2 flights and
BOTH were cancelled.

progol Sep 20th, 2017 02:17 AM

Just for a different perspective, we flew them twice in the past 2 years without a problem. The seats are cramped, but no more so than any other airline, and service was adequate, no better or worse than any average airline. That it's in bankruptcy, of course, I've no idea how this will impact the airline or your flights, but our own experience was fine.

goddesstogo Sep 20th, 2017 02:39 AM

Oh thank you, progol.
I have to stop visiting this thread. It's getting me too stressed out.

ticino Sep 20th, 2017 03:37 AM

I am an AF/KLM frequent flyer with status so I have flown Alitalia a a lot, always within Europe as they used to have some sort of agreement. Last time was in December, as the agreement was cancelled. I really liked them. As good as Air France, better than KLM, so I always tried to combine AF and Alitalia. Never had a problem, well, actually yes, that they don't fly to Stockholm where I live.

Also liked Alitalia better than SAS and Swiss which I also use fairly regularly.

nochblad Sep 20th, 2017 05:30 AM

Alitalia for many years has and still is a Rome-centric and highly politicized airline and that explains just about everything.

Their biggest error a number of years back was to downgrade Malpensa and its intercontinental connections suggesting that everyone should transit via Rome Fiumicino. Northern Italy is the richest part of Italy generating, obviously, more business class (and general business) travel than other regions. When this decision was made many considered transiting via other countries and considered Zurich, Munich, Frankfurt, Paris, Amsterdam, London etc. When they experienced the superior service, zero strikes, better, cleaner and newer planes, etc etc they never returned to Alitalia.

Alitalia in time will be eaten up. There will be 6 big groups left in Europe - IAG (British Airways, Iberia etc), Lufthansa, Air France/KLM as European and intercontinental groups and Ryanair, Easyjet and perhaps Norwegian as low cost essentially European airlines. The consolidation in the US shows what will happen.

bvlenci Sep 20th, 2017 12:39 PM

I really have no choice but to use Alitalia for much of my travel. They're one of the few international airlines that serve the little airport near where I live. I haven't had any serious problems with them over the last 20 years. Their food is all right, but some other airlines have better. Some of their staff are a bit testy, but most have been professional and helpful. When I tripped over someone's leg in the aisle last year and fell flat on my face, they were more than solicitous.

The biggest problem has that twice they canceled flights from that little airport because of fog, and caused me to miss connections in Rome. However, that's not really their fault. The airport isn't up to snuff for takeoff and landing in fog.

I can highly recommend business class on Alitalia. Great airport lounge in New York, really outstanding food and service, and a seat that folds totally flat. We've used it three times when returning from New York. They often have really good prices in business class on flights JFK to Milan Malpensa, so we've flown in there even though there's no air connection to Le Marche and a pretty long train ride.

Last month I flew to the USA via Air Canada, and I must say that the flight was enough to make me swear off Air Canada, and to never again pass through Toronto. The flight took off 3 hours late from Rome. Two of the hours were explained by bad weather in other airports, causing equipment to arrive late. Fine, stuff happens, and they can't help that.

The third hour of delay was caused by the fact that their boarding cards were mostly not working in the scanners. The guy at security told me they always had problems with AC boarding cards, and OKed it manually. At the gate, they had to process more than half the passengers manually; we were in line for 45 minutes after they started boarding. The hostess at the gate blamed the Fiumicino scanners, but we had the exact same problem in Toronto. I don't think Toronto gets their scanners from Italy.

We got to Toronto 2 1/2 hours late, and had less than an hour to make our connection. Unfortunately we had to go to an AC desk to get new boarding cards, along with about 50 other angry transfer passengers who were about to miss connections. Of course, we missed the connection, to the last flight for Indianapolis that day.

We ended up having to spend the night in Toronto, which meant that we had to go through immigration and customs, which were both a zoo, almost an hour in long snaking queues.

The next morning, more long snaking queues for check-in, security, and exit passport checks. We were in line for over an hour, one queue leading seamlessly to the next. I felt sorry for elderly people. Some who normally don't use wheelchairs could surely have benefited from one in Toronto.

The last straw was that our flight was 4 hours late, but they kept telling us we'd be boarding in 30 minutes. Near the gate, there was no place to get anything to eat or drink except from a scantily furnished kiosk. We were on the road for 36 hours.

To say that the airport in Toronto was badly overcrowded is an understatement. They had signs saying they're expanding it, which can't happen too soon.

Alitalia is paradise compared to this trip. Of course, maybe this was a very unusual circumstance; I had never flown with AC before, and doubt that I ever will again.

My other worst European airline experience was with Lufthansa, returning from Mexico. Again, we missed a connection and had to spend a night in Mexico City. Lufthansa refused to pay for our meals and hotel room, even though I had bought my ticket through their website as a single itinerary. They also didn't give us any assistance whatsoever. They didn't have a help desk, and it was only due to the kindness of a janitor that we found their office and were able to get rebooked for the next day. They acted as though rebooking us was a big favor. Lufthansa is another airline I use a lot, and other than this one experience, I've usually had fairly good service from them. On the whole, I've found Alitalia staff more congenial than Lufthansa staff, although Lufthansa has better food.

None of my bad experiences can hold a candle with some of the experiences I've had with Chinese airlines, but that was quite some time ago. I'm pretty sure they've improved their game since then.

DarcieM Sep 21st, 2017 09:18 AM

After reading the positive reviews, I'm definitely reconsidering Alitalia--especially since the flight out of Boston is nonstop. FlightStats gives this flight very positive reviews. Definitely will wait some to book and keep further eye on the flight AND the airline. Many thanks to all of you for your helpful comments!

bvlenci Sep 21st, 2017 12:07 PM

Have a great trip, Darcie, and do tell us how the flight went.


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