Isle_Vacay

Hi all,

We are planning our honeymoon to Italy from Los Angeles and were wondering what airlines you recommend that are budget-friendly but comfortable? We will most likely be traveling ECONOMY, so I know that's not the most comfy to start off, but your suggestions are very appreciated since I know it will be a long flight.

What do you think of Air Italia, Delta, or Swiss?

Which airline has the most Economy leg room, and Is it a better experience to travel Air Italia since we are going to Italy? I have usually used the airline of the country we are going to when traveling, because it's fun, but what do you think?


Thanks!

Dukey1

You could look at a site such as airlinequality.com and read reviews but I'm honestly not sure how objective they are.

If you can possibly do so, I would spring for seats on a non-stop and if the airline offers some sort of premium economy with extra legroom I would most definitely consider that. Finally, you could look for an airline with a two-on-the-side seating configuration vs. the more usual 3-4-3 or even 3-5-3.

Also take a look at the seatguru.com website for info there.

joto

You could try BA (British Airways. The economy section is 3-4-3, but the premium economy is 2-5-2.
I think they do a non-stop from LA to LHR and change there to various places in Italy, although you didn't mention where in Italy you are headed to. If you do that route you would fly into LHR terminal 5 and would probably fly from that terminal as well, depending on your destination. I would give at least 2 hours for plane changes.

muskoka

If Air Transat flies from where you are located, it is worthwhile to pay the extra amount for Club Class. There is ample leg room, the seats have a better pitch and the food and service are excellent. As well, check-in takes about 3 minutes - no lining up, and you are allowed more luggage weight. It's not that much more to fly CC.

Isle_Vacay

Thank you so much for all your responses so far!

We will be flying into Naples airport from LAX because it is closer to the Amalfi Coast.

Nonstop is always worth the extra money and I will look into British Airways. Maybe Premium Economy would work, if it's not that great of a price difference.

I am not sure that we are comfortable transferring amongst local airlines in Italy, since this is our first time and it might get confusing for us. Flying straight into Naples or a simple transfer is best for us newbies.

Isle_Vacay

Air Transat looks wonderful, but it does not look like it flies from Los Angeles airport or even California. Thanks though!

greg

Air France offers Premium Voyageur for LAX-CDG segment. The Premium Voyageur use small business class like seats but spaced at 38" pitch like US domestic 1st class. CDG-NAP or CDG-FCO-NAP would be ordinary economy flights. CDG is a big airport. Leave sufficient layover time.

gailw

We're flying from Boston to Naples in October on Alitalia. It's nonstop from Boston to Rome, changing in Rome for Naples. The plane is allegedly a 2-5-2 configuration and we got seat assignments for one of the two-seat sections, which makes up for any lack of pitch/legroom, etc. as long as they don't change the aircraft before we leave. I don't know if you'd call the ticket price we paid "budget friendly" but just for the heck of it I signed up for a fare alert on the same flights to see what would've happened if we'd waited to book, and the tickets have come down almost $200 so it seems like they would now count as reasonably priced compared to most other fares I'm seeing.

Jean

We're also in L.A. There are no direct, non-stop flights from L.A. to Naples.

My preferences when flying to Italy are (first) Swiss via Zurich and (second) Luthansa via Frankfurt or Munich. My very last choice would be any airline via Heathrow. I have a personal aversion to Alitalia (and won't give them business) based on one Very Bad Experience several years ago, but more recent reviews from others are positive. There are also connections to Naples via Amsterdam.

AJPeabody

Don't count on seat reservations on Alitalia. Our recent return flight from Rome with "reserved" seats as a window/aisle pair in 2-4-2 economy transformed into the middle two seats in the 4 seat section when the boarding pass printed. No explanation, full flight, and to rub it in, the two aisle seats in our 4 seat section were taken by a married couple.

VirginiaBeach

We flew to Rome last week on Alitalia from JFK, seemed like a newer plane with decent service in economy. On the way back we flew Rome to Atlanta on Delta and noticed that Delta had more room, service was better, they served food 4 times !! Drinks were served literally non-stop.

gailw

AJPeabody: your experience with a meaningless seat assignment is what I fear. I think it can probably happen on any airline. They do what they want or what they're too inept to avoid.
My preference for Alitalia was only based on wanting to at least get as far as Italy before they had a chance to screw up our flights which, if we had to change planes in Zurich or Amsterdam or, god forbid, Munich, would have left us much farther from our intended destination. At least we can take a train from Rome to Naples if things really go bad.
I'll just cross my fingers on the seat assignment and hope for the best.