Atlanta to Rome - Lufthansa or Delta?
 

I'm not a frequent flyer. We are trying to decide which airline to fly on a trip to Rome. Our choice is Lufthansa with one stop in Germany or Delta nonstop. Someone at work told me to fly Lufthansa even with the stop because they love this airline. I'd never heard of Lufthansa. Any advice? They are about the same price. Thanks!

Go with the Delta nonstop.

I can't imagine any difference being worth the extra stop and additional travel hours. I'd even pay extra for the non-stop.

Now, if the dates are a long way out, you have to consider Delta's position in bankruptcy court.

Delta is flying non-stop to a German destination and Lufthansa is flying (through Frankfort, I suspect) to get you to the same destination? Seems somewhat unusual. Are we talking about Munich?

And neither is a code share flight?

I'd be curious to know the ultimate destination...if you'd care to share that information.

Unless Delta doesn't emerge from bankruptcy protection (will THIS be the airline that we FINALLY allow to stay bankrupt rather than artificially propping them up???) I doubt they won't be flying.

Delta flys nonstop to Rome.

Hi emma,

If the unions don't destroy Delta, the nonstop flight is better than the one-stop flight.

((I))

If you are flying business class/executive class, no one does it like Luftansa. No one....I didn't want to get off the plane when I went to Tunis, TUnisia a few years ago. The best flight I have ever taken.

primarily for the sake of not getting your luggage lost, always go for the non-stop

Free after dinner drinks with Lufthansa in coach. $5.00 beers with Delta in Coach. Do you drink? Do you collect miles?

Non-stop with Delta. Lufthansa's fine, but not substantially better than Delta if you're flying coach (which I'll assume you are) and the extra time and hassle of switching planes is simply not worth it.

I fly a lot and there's absolutely no way I'd choose Lufthansa over Delta in this instance.

I always use Lufthansa to Europe. They run a tight airline and really work hard to have on time departures. I find the service to be very professional and seats comfortable. Depending on where you are coming from you will connect thru Frankfurt or Munich. Both airports are OK but Munich is far nicer.

One tip, I don't know where you are flying from but make sure the Delta non stop to Rome isn't a code share on Alitalia, I hear they are horrible!

I flew the Atlanta/Rome flight in November and was very impressed. We arrived right on time without any problems

I flew in cattle class (aka coach) on Lufthansa. I would choose to fly with them if the opportunity were to come up again. The service was attentive and patient and while the food is typical of all airlines' economy sections, I prefer Lufthansa over Delta even if I need to connect in Germany.

Maybe this has already been mentioned, but Delta pilots are threatening a strike action if the bankruptcy courts nullify their contracts. Some have predicted that this would result in total bankruptcy of the airline - in other words, liquidation, not Chapter 11.

I flew nonstop from Atlanta to Rome last July on Delta, and it was a reasonable experience. All other things being equal, I'd choose Lufthansa, but a nonstop is a no-brainer, when you consider the hours saved and the greater likelihood of lost luggage with a connection. So go with Delta. I might be a little nervous about the issue of bankruptcy, but no airline has been allowed to disappear recently, and I doubt they are going to start now.

Thanks, everyone. We're still not sure which to choose. We live near Atlanta and are honeymooning in Rome. The Lufthansa flight stops in Frankfurt. The Delta flight goes straight to Rome, but we are concerned about the bankruptcy situation as well.

I forgot to mention - the trip is in March.

I flew Atlanta to Rome last year on Delta. Had to wait in Rome for one hour (in line) to get my passport stamped, obviously not Delta's fault. Drinks were $5.00, no individual TV monitors, they had a projection television at the front of the cabin which was impossible to see and they woke everyone up at 2:00 in the morning with the announcement, "make sure your seatbelt is security fastened." I was never able to go back to sleep. When I told a Lufthansa flight attendant about that she laughed and said, we would never do something like that. Delta used an older 767.

OK, Emma..so what are you going to do?

We booked nonstop to Rome via Delta. Hopefully someone will still fly this plane if the pilots go on strike! Thanks for your advice! :)

The pilots are not going on strike so don't worry about your honeymoon.United and US Airways have been in bankruptcy protection the past few years;Continental has been in bankruptcy twice and Northwest is also in bankruptcy as well.As for waking you up to put your seatbelt on during turbulence-the crew has to do that to insure that your"pumpkin" head doesn't go through the ceiling. In a perfect world, people should just keep their seatbelt on while they are sleeping or while in their seat but there are so many people that feel that isn't their need.That, and all the people standing in the back galley of the planes having a cocktail party at 37,000 feet warrant sometimes having to make an announcement.Hope that you have a wonderful honeymoon-Rome is my favorite city!

If you drink a lot of alcohol, fly Lufthansa. With Delta, you only get one free drink. How much time do you have in Frankfurt for the change?

By the time you fly it may be a USAir flight!

wally - Put down that bottle! Why revive a thread that's a year old and the OP should have finished her trip 8 months ago?

"If you are flying business class/executive class, no one does it like Luftansa. No one....I didn't want to get off the plane when I went to Tunis, TUnisia a few years ago. The best flight I have ever taken"

Sorry, Luftansa's not even close. Try Singapore Airlines.


" IDELTA)they woke everyone up at 2:00 in the morning with the announcement"make sure your seatbelt is security fastened." I was never able to go back to sleep. When I told a Lufthansa flight attendant about that she laughed and said, we would never do something like that."

Well if Lufthansa's is "never going to do something like that" I would actually be concerned. Announcements are made for your SAFETY so if the airline made that announcement it was probably because of turbulence. I guess your Luftansa' FA just assumes you want to bounce off the seat. (Trust me they make those SAME announcements!)

Even though flying Lufthansa means a few hours extra travel time and a change of planes in Frankfurt, I would always fly Lufthansa. They are very efficient, friendly, and helpful. They are one of the best in my book.

We had the same choice EWR-BCN-FCO-EWR on Con or JFK-BCN-FCO-JFK on DAL in May '07.
The final choice came down to avoiding the 757 EWR-BCN on Con.
If flying Bus/1st, Continental, no contest.
I have not flown LH in many years, but would not again.
BTW, all industry insiders told us to buy trip insurance (for the DAL flts) which we have never done and SO has been in the industry for 45 years.
M