We are flying to Italy soon and initially were flying American but due to availability, we are now flying Alitalia. Any comments or feedback on lost luggage issues, etc?

BE VERY CAREFUL WITH THEM... I chose another airline with a stopover rather than fly direct with Alitalia..their reputation is not the best.

In regards to customer servic or?

Alitalia has been under new ownership and management since the beginning of 2009. They used to be a government agency and are now independently owned.

I never had any problems with the Old Alitalia except a certain casualness about opening and closing the checkin before flights, but that's Italy.

seemed Ok for the Pope this weekend...

I only used Alitalia once in 2007 and was nervous after reading bad reports. The price was the best and went overnight. I didn't have any problems other than my seat was worn out and sunken in. I didn't buy travel insurance either.

I never had problems with them.

This past June we flew LAX-Rome-Catania outbound with a little less than a 2-hour connection in Rome and Palermo-LAX on the return with an overnight at the Rome Airport Hilton. No problems with lost luggage and the interior of the planes was fine.

I flew them Boston to Rome about a year and a half ago and had no problems whatsoever

<b>I think Alitalia is great! </b>

I just returned yesterday on Alitalia from Florence to Boston. I was nervous due to all the negative comments by Fodors members (and others), but it was the most convienent for me and their safety record was good, so I figured how bad can it be? It was my first experience with Alitalia.

I was blown away by the professionalism, the friendliness, the food, the wine, the cabin, and the fact that we took off exactly on time and landed exactly on time (thank god, because FCO is a friggen nightmare and I almost missed my connection due to a total of TWO people in immigration for 500 people in a line) . I flew business class in an AirOne 332. Yes, I know that business class might be different in some ways, but we take off and leave at the same time and our luggage has just as much of a possibility of being lost. I walked through coach when I took a walk and all seemed well and the flight attendants as friendly as in business class. The seats in business were leather, they were 170 degree slanted flat beds. INcluded great fluffy pillows and soft duvets.

The food in business class was the best I have had on an international flight in over 10 years. First and second courses were served"tableside" and you had choices--and could have as much or as little as you wanted. The wine selections were amazing and flowed throughout the flight, including sparkling and dessert wines. Hot towels were distributed three times.

The flight to and from FCO were on different airplanes and with completely different crews. I notice no difference in the professionalism and efficiency.

So, although some messages in Fodors and other forums had me nervous, I can only say that Alitalia was as good or better than any flight I have taken Europe, Africa or Asia in the last 10 years--and I fly a lot. Their new 332's are suppose to be even better with 180 flat beds in business class and individual entertainment unitis thoughout coach.

My luggage arrived quickly on both ends.

I can't speak for every flight, but for me, I wouldn't hesitate to fly Alitalia again. I actually look forward to it. They business class fares are terrific.

Lastly I would suggest that anyone transiting through FCO plan for at a minimum of a two hour layover as took me nearly an hour (both ways) to simply get through customs and get to my connecting flight. This has nothing to with AZ, just the airport management.

Note: I have nothing to do with Alitalia and not reason to say they are good other than to balance out the negatives that seem to abound. I am a long time poster in the Asia Forums (mostly), you can check me out. I had the same concerns as you realtive to AZ and kept thinking during my flight "what am I missing? These flight attendents are great, the captain is talking with us, I'm drinking great wine, the food is amazing, my luggage arrived immediately, the airplane is ontime. What's not to love? : )

I meant 180 degree flat beds in business class, not 180 flat beds : )

I just flew Alitalia in coach and was very impressed.

The only problem we ever had with them was when they were sky partners with Delta and their respective computers assigned different numbers to the same flight. Luggage arrived fine, customer service and meals were fine. DH just spent some time walking 40 miles between their desks to get us boarded. Worse going over than returning. This was several years ago so probably doesn't even apply now.

In all the time I've lived in Italy, just about every other airline in Europe has gone on strike, and Air France cancelled flights on which I was booked (putting me on buses from other cities instead.) Domestically and internetionally, I've now flown Alitalia many, many times, and only once has my flight been late (it was 10 minutes late). I continue to prefer their routes and airports to those through other parts of Europe (especially France).

That said, I take seriously the reports that Alitalia customer service can be less than stellar if your luggage gets lost on your way to Italy. I would not book Alitalia if I needed to check a bag unless I was planning to spend at least 3 days in the Italian city of my arrival. (Meaning, if you check a bag heading to Rome and it doesn't arrive with you, Alitalia may not help get it to your hotel in Florence or the Amalfi if that's where you are heading the same day you land. But if you are stayng in Rome for a few days, reconnecting with your lost luggage gets easier).

We have run into a lot of problems with Alitalia:

1: People we were traveling with had luggage broken into and diverted. We couldn't find the luggage and Alitalia wouldn't answer the phone. Hotel mangers couldn't get any information from them either. Our insurance company had to find it. (good reason for travel insurance)

2. We had reservations Washington DC to Rome and back. They never notified us that they weren't going to be flying in and out of DC anymore. I found out when I called to re-confirm. The agent changed our return (because that was all that needed to be changed) and canceled our whole reservation by mistake. It took 3 hours at the airport to fix the problem. Delta did that once and it took two minutes to fix it.

3. When we changed in Milan, people on our flight were going to Venice and returning the same way. I asked them how they were going to be redirected on the way home. Alitalia never told them that by the time they were returning they wouldn't be going into DC anymore. The people had no idea.

4. Our friends were returning from Perugia. When they checked in at DC they were never told that the Perugia airport was closed for renovation. They also never called their emergency number to notify a family member. They didn't have anyone at the airport to meet them to help them. They arrived at Perugia at 6:30 am to a dark closed airport.

The list goes on and on. Customer service was impossible to deal with.

On the other hand.....we were flying Air France...who by the way has excellent customer service....in April when the volcano was erupting. Air France booked us on Alitalia from Rome to Boston and then Delta from Boston to DC. The plane we were on was and AirOne which is who they merged with. The flight was fine. I have to say, though that even with all the people who were diverted onto Alitalia there was still room on the plane. Which means if the volcano hadn't gone off, the plane would have been half empty.

Once you've flown Air France, it's hard to have anything good to say about Alitalia.

<i>Once you've flown Air France, it's hard to have anything good to say about Alitalia.</i>

Unless you are traveling from Fez Morocco to Boston and Air France decides, for some unknown reason, to send your luggage to Heathrow instead of Boston, where is sits for five days in the rain--or at least that is what I have to assume from the wetness of the contents of my suitcase. Then it isn't so hard to say good things about Alitalia who did nothing bad to me or my luggage. I found the flight attendants on Alitalia to be the nicest of any airline I have recently flown on internationally.

We all have our horror stories of airlines. However, I found Alitalia to be terrific on my first and only flight so far with them. That's all I wanted to say and I hope that Alisha has (or had) a similar experience.

BostonHarbor: That happens on all airlines and that's why we fly with carry-on as much as possible.