ALITALIA review :  18 July 2009 by F de Stales   (Italy)

On domestic flights the service is quite dry, but you are offered a drink and a snack and a selection of free newspapers. On international flights (EU) they offer meal or snack and a choice of newspapers. Long haul B777 service is excellent and crew very helpful - two meals plus free drinks. Entertainment offers up to date movies on PTV for each seat. I have not experienced major delays.

ALITALIA review :  14 July 2009 by Vincent Fissore   (Spain)

A tale of two Alitalia's! NCE-FCO and FCO-Florence. NCE-FCo on new A320 comfy seats and in- seat screen (only activated on long-haul flights in Europe, eg Russia). Drink and snack service effective. Flight on time, even though g8 security did slow down FCO. Very strong first impression. Second leg a bit harsher. Plane left 1 hour behind schedule (for a 30 minute flight, so no snack and drinks). Flight arrived well and luggage travelled safely. A mixed picture, however improvements are being made to change the company's image.

ALITALIA review :  13 July 2009 by T Stucchi   (Italy)

LIN-FCO-LIN. Flight operated with an old and quite dirty MD82. It left with a 90 minutes delay (no reason given). No route information at all (I consider it important even on short-haul flights), and crew was rude. It was hot and my seat was very unconfortable. Not even a snack was served. I'm not surprised they are in bankruptcy.

ALITALIA review :  5 July 2009 by M Landau   (UK)

LHR-LIN, LIN-FCO, FCO-LHR this week. Flight from LHR took off 45 minutes late, all we were offered was a soft drink and a choice of salty or sweet. Next flight Linate to Rome we were dozing so missed the in flight snack and drink. The final leg of the journey was a disaster. We had paid for a direct flight from Rome to Heathrow. We were early for check in but there were 3 parties of school kids checking in. Alitalia did not have a group check-in desk. We waited over half an hour to check in 3 adults and were given seats 1 row from the rear of the aircraft. Again, a 45 minute wait to take off. Then, after being airborne for around 45 minutes, the captain announced we would be offloaded in Linate due to an engine failure. In all that time there had been no refreshment service. Instead of sending us to a transit lounge and keeping our luggage we were made to get our cases from the carousel and go through passport control as if we'd just landed in the country. Told to find an airline desk, the number of which was completely out of synch with every other desk. We were given a voucher for a snack, instead of the hot meal we had paid for onboard. There was no announcement when the replacement flight was finally ready for us. We were only alerted when the gaggle of kids could be seen passing their luggage through again. We had bought drinks in the secure area at Rome airport and had to ditch them since we had to pass through security and passport control once again. To add insult to injury we were then further searched before we could board the plane. For heaven sake they had just taken all the excess liquids from us, what more did they want? No apologies from anyone, no announcement as to seating so we all just used the same seat numbers as the original flight. And again, a salty or sweet snack on the plane. It is no wonder Alitalia went bust last year.

ALITALIA review :  1 July 2009 by M Thornber   (UK)

I have just completed 4 sectors with Alitalia, 2x2hours duration intra europe LHR-FCO-LHR and 2x1 hour duration domestic, FCO-VRN-FCO. They have to be the worst flights I have ever had the misfortune to be on. Granted they all arrived on time and the A320 aircraft flown on all sectors was comfortable even when full. However, if you expect any inflight bar or food service then I suggest you bring your own. This airline is dry! There was no bar available on any flight to either purchase or complimentary. No food either. We are talking 2 hours here. But you do get one soft drink (no ice ) and a choice of a biscuit or 'salty' - you can get a sip of coffee but don't expect a refill. You should know that all sectors were operated by Air One. Given the crew have so much spare time on their hands you hope they might even be nice to you but alas, somewhat officious when they did appear. I pity anyone who chooses a longhaul flight with Alitalia.

ALITALIA review :  29 June 2009 : by C Alcott

Had the worst flying experience of my life on Alitalia/AirOne from Rome to London. We were flying with 3 children under the age of 8 and they seated us all in different parts of the plane. The staff on the ground was unhelpful and could not care less about flight and reservation concerns. When we tried to get seats together the staff were unhelpful. The flight was an hour late boarding and passengers were given some bogus answer about the G7 meeting. When the plane became airborne the stewardess all went into use the restrooms while passengers waited. We were lucky to make our connection in London!

ALITALIA review :  1 June 2009 : by D Wright

LHR to Rome with Alitalia. Alitalia staff at Heathrow unfriendly. Cabin staff efficient but no one smiled. Decent coffee! Nothing to eat.

ALITALIA review :  12 May 2009 : by N Tuliakbay

LHR-FCO-TIA, three times this year. Horrible experience. Out of 13 segments flown, 12 were late, including two more than 2 hours, one missed connection. If I add an absolute lack of communication from ground staff, disgusting food, shabby aircraft and zero entertainment, I think this pretty much explains a zero score. Cabin crew are the only plus, most of them friendly and helpful.

ALITALIA review :  10 May 2009 : by James LeBlanc

YYZ-LIN via FCO. Saved $1000.00 over Air Canada, but what a terrible experience. Aircraft old and had ashtrays in the armrests. Public monitors for entertainment were not all working and those that were had green hues. 9 hours to Rome, one movie and one Alitalia commercial. Staff couldn't be bothered and other passengers got into a shoving match, yet staff walked by. And the food, not great despite other reviews I had read. If it can be avoided, I will never fly Alitalia again,.

ALITALIA review :  26 March 2009 : by P Allen

What a joke! Flew from Rome to New York. Seat would not recline so I sat upright for 9 hours. Rude staff, they make the French look good.

ALITALIA review :  21 March 2009 : by W Vandergronde

Had a flight booked from Toronto to Cairo via Rome. The Toronto flight from Toronto to rome was cancelled on December 22nd . Over half the occupants in the aircraft did not receive their luggage and a backlog of luggage from previous flights arrived late and had to be tagged to find their owners. The missing suitcase did arrive 13 days late and was shipped to our address. It was intact, and had everything in it. It is now march 19 almost 3 months after the cancelled flight and I have yet to be refunded for the cancelled flight. Totally unreliable airline, will never fly them again.

ALITALIA review :  6 March 2009 : by B Giolitti

Round trip from Rome to Toronto. Aircraft very old, headphones didn't work, but food was above the average and crew was nice. If you have problems or requests, the call centre works only if you call from Italy, from outside no way! Alitalia desk in Toronto opens only 2 or 3 hours a day. Any change to flight dates was impossible even with charge - no explanation was provided. Every time I used Alitalia I had problems, big problems. I am Italian but I will never buy an Alitalia ticket again.

ALITALIA review :  16 February 2009 : by C Chouleur

Brussels-Milano (Linate)-Brussels. Very cheap tickets decided me to fly again Alitalia. Both trips left on time and arrived ahead of schedule. On the way back the Embraer 170 used was very comfortable. The snacks served are the usual inedible sandwiches with a drink. Flight attendants looked bored and do the minimum. Altogether uneventful short flights.

ALITALIA review :  5 February 2009 : by Peter Lukassen

No wonder they are broke. Worst airline I ever had. Bad seats, which is hell flying from Rome to Buenos Aires for 14 hours, bad food, no maintenance for, I guess 5 years. Everything inside the plane seemed to be broken. The only positive thing was that on our way back, there was one friendly cabin attendant.

ALITALIA review :  19 January 2009 : by D McConnell

Avoid this airline at all costs!! Had an eight day family vacation to Italy. Strike at Rome airport caused us to have to go to Milan instead of Venice where our tour started. We had no luggage for entire trip! They delivered it to us the night before we left for the airport to return home. Customer service is non-existent-most of the phone numbers were either non- working, no one answered, or you were on hold for 30 minutes or more. And if you don't speak Italian you are out of luck with most of the people that did answer the phone. Now back in the US-no response to e-mail or faxes trying to get reimbursement for items purchased. The one customer agent I was able to get on the phone about a long-missing piece of luggage agreed the customer service department was a mess and that the airline is "going through a rough time" I'll say! Our vacation was a frustrating experience trying to find basic needs and getting no help in finding our where our luggage was. One piece did not arrive until we were home for over a week. The only reason I am giving a 2 over a 0 is that the flight was not bad-decent food and service-but we were in first class. JFK Alitalia agents were helpful in helping us reroute - but their assurances that they would get our luggage proved to be false. There was over 4 hours for that to happen-but it didn't. Lost luggage reporting in Milan took over 2 hours, and with a line of people waiting the agent left to go to lunch, or take a nap- who knows!

ALITALIA review :  13 January 2009 : by M Prince

Had a 3 day break booked from Heathrow to Rome Thursday to Saturday. Outgoing flight cancelled due to strike by Alitalia staff at Fiumicino - offered seat on BA flight going out 2 hours later. Bigger problem on return Saturday evening. Told delay due to weather in London - only advised of this by going to desk - no announcement, no info on board. Staff at Fiumicino were unhelpful and provoked arguments with passengers. Onboard the flight, service was rude staff, no warm drink - offered a sandwich or piece of cake and juice or water. Sat on plane for further 40 minutes. Won't fly Alitalia again

ALITALIA review :  6 January 2009 : by Daniel Henn

ATH to London via Rome. Service was okay, flight on time, however, baggage lost. Called the service number, was hard to get through. Direct flight might be okay, connection flights and you will have to wait for your bags.

ALITALIA review :  6 January 2009 : by W Vandergronde

Had a flight booked from Toronto to Cairo via Rome. The Toronto flight was cancelled early in the day and luckily I was watching the status and my travel agent was able to rebook us at our expense on airline Etihad to Cairo via Abu Dhabi the next day. The return home flight was on Alitalia and the flight left Cairo a half hour late - staff seemed pleasant, though the plane was dated and seats worn. The connecting flight in Rome was delayed 2 hours 50 minutes. The plane was very dated, seats worn, duct-taped, inflight entertainment was via old style television monitors, my entertainment system was not working. We arrived 2 hours late, one suitcase arrived and the other did not. Over 1/2 the occupants in the aircraft did not receive their luggage and a backlog of luggage from previous flights arrived late and had to be tagged to find their owners. This seemed to be routine with Alitalia flights in Toronto. Never again will I ever fly this airline, not under a new name or anything. Please steer clear of this airline as it is bad news.