How is Alitalia these Days? Any Better?
 

If I book my trip thru Alitalia I can save over $200 over Delta (hub in my city) and half the flight would be on Delta/Air France operated legs anyway. Is it worth it? Is Alitalia any better than they used to be? If something goes wrong (like lost luggage or flight cancellations) do I have to deal with Alitalia?!

Any recent experiences flying from the US to Europe with them?

Thanks Fodorites!

The last time I flew Alitalia was transatlantic in August and I fly them all the time in preference to other airlines because their business class seats are better than their competitors. During 10 years of flying transatlantic, I have never had Alitalia cancel a flight (one delayed to due to weather) and Alitalia personnel have never been on strike. I wish I could say the same for Air France, BA and Lufthansa.

Luggage is handled by airports, not airlines. The best policy against lost luggage if you cannot fly non-stop is to pack carry-on. Can you do that?

I've never had an airline lose my luggage -- including Alitalia -- so I don't know if you book with them and your luggage is lost by airport handlers if you can get around dealing with them.

caldaroste,

My last experience with Alitalia out of Rome was 7am (3 hrs prior to departure) the single, comatose girl at the check in had to have my detailed supervision and correction - 3 times! - before she got my single piece of 21" luggage tagged correctly. Seems she wasn't awake enough to read the whole itinerary and only tagged it thru to CDG the first 2 attempts. So glad I checked!

Poor thing was attempting to check in 3 international flights at once. After standing in line for 1 1/2 hours, they finally allowed those on my flight to go to the front of the very long line and they even enlisted second check in clerk. Wow.

I would love to fly with just carry on but with the liquids rule I cannot. Unless something has changed I don't know about. Better check that too!

thanks!

I have to tell you candidly that I am always a bit surprised when people use one experience as a basis for concluding anything.

There is a travel forum called Flyer Talk. You'll get a much wider base of experience than just you and me, and many of the posters are professional airline personnel, so they know the gossip as well.

No, I'm not basing my opinion on just this one instance. I've had a couple other personal experiences that were far worse, and thankfully long ago. Also, adding in others' experiences and Alitalia's recent take over by the government, I believe it was?

Just wondering if people are generally finding them better, more helpful with problems, better at answering their phones....

I'll check out flyer talk.

Alitalia's finances were restructured and stabilized by the Italian government, which is not unusual for many national carriers. But the company is run by airline industry professionals, not the Italian government. (Even if it was, the Italian government has gotten remarkably better in the last year!)

Here is a Flyer Talk thread from last year you might find helpful:

http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/alita...a-reviews.html

I made 2 transAtlantic flights and 2 domestic Italian flights on Alitalia this month, both in coach.

I would have no hesitation about flying with them again.

Food was quite poor, but that is the case on most non-Asian airlines these days.

Thanks Eks! I was looking for some recent experiences since the "reorg".

Dayle, really I thought they were fine. A little disorganized about boarding, but the planes we took were new and service was fine. I had no mishaps so do not know how they would deal with that. When you do the online check-in, you have a chance to upgrade to the "comfort seats," which I would recommend. Each time I fly coach, the leg room seems to get shorter and more cramped.

Here's the REAL question: since you say you are not basing your feelings on one experience and since nobody here or anywhere else can predict what is going to happen in the future, what is it going to take for you to save that $200? A bunch of people saying that Alitalia has NEVER EVER made a mistake; that nobody has ever waited in lines as long as you did?

No, I am not being snarky. If it were me and I had had the sort of experiences you have had I wouldn't even bother...I'd go with companies <B>I</B>thought would treat me and my extra $200 better.

Have a great trip.

Bravo, Dukey1 -- and what has "reorg" got do with anything? The "reorg" was on the finance side.

$200 more for Delta? I don't think so. AF, yes. I could drink that much wine. :-)

Flew them six months back from Chicago to Rome and have flown then multiple times in the past. The plane from Chicago to Rome was horribly out of date, almost laughably so, the seat cushions all had rips in the them, a few of the TV monitors would were literally duct taped.

That said the plane on the way back from Rome to Chicago was nearly new, so go figure.

Eks - do you mind telling me the cost of upgrading to "comfort seats"?
gail

Certainly, Gail: I paid US$75 to "upgrade" to a "posto confort," or comfort seat. This is not to be confused with premium economy, which looked quite nice on the flights I took.

The option to get the comfort seat is offered during online check-in, and maybe even before. Note that Alitalia's online checkin could use a bit of work....I was unable to use it for my return from Italy to NYC. I kept getting an error message.

Thanks again Eks and JenG for your recent personal experiences. That was what I was looking for.

Dukey, I have no idea what I've ever done to you, but in the 16 years I've been a regular poster here, I've never had anyone answer my posts so rudely. This is not the first time from you either. Please restrain yourself from replying to my posts in the future.

Thanks Fodorites - I've aleady decided to book thru Delta for several reasons! Sicily, here I (finally) come!

Sicily is wonderful, and I hope you have a marvelous trip. We flew Alitalia from Rome to Catania in May and were upgraded to first class. Excellent flight, and all our luggage arrived without incident.

I'll echo the wishes for a wonderful trip, Dayle!

Eks, thanks for the info. Our seat assignment (if it's honored) puts us in a two-seat section just a few rows back in tourist class. Do you think the "comfort seats" have much more leg room? I was very pleased to get the 2 seat section, (noone to crawl over or crawling over us). What's your opinion about whether the comfort seats are significantly better? If they are, the $75 seems like it might be worth it. Thanks a lot for your input.

I can't be certain about the exact benefit, but I would pay the extra $$$. Remember that your current seat assignment might not be honored. Mine was not, but then I had booked about 5 months ago. The seats had been changed by the time I checked in online the day before. (I was unable to complete the online check-in on the way back, and by the time I checked in at the airport, all the seats, and I mean all, had been booked, including in the comfort section)