Alitalia

I have flown with Alitalia a few times, and they seem to disappoint me on each trip. On this trip I flew from Milan–Malpensa to Abu Dhabi. The premium economy seats are worse than the economy seats, I personally found the economy seats more comfortable. Inflight entertainment was not bad, not up to the standard of Emirates, but it kept me entertained. Food was not great. Overall you get what you pay for, a cheap plane ticket to your destination. Will fly them again but in economy.

Alitalia were cheaper than other airlines flying CAI-LHR by about 150USD. The flights from Cairo to London Heathrow via Rome were mostly on time. Some members of my travelling party had luggage overweight by 2-3kg when returning from LHR and the check-in agent was very critical rather than helping them know what they should do. Alitalia is really a budget airline these days - simple food, no inflight entertainment on flights under 4hrs. At Rome, both the LHR and Cairo flights had to take buses from the terminal rather than use sky bridges. Pretty surprising given it is their home airport. Their price was good but we got what we paid for.

Brussels to Tel Aviv via Rome with Alitalia - it took 3 transfer buses in Fiumicino airport to get on to the flight to Tel Aviv. The flight to Tel Aviv was a nightmare - planes are old and dirty, toilet cleanliness very poor. Service on the plane was poor - no water for 1.5 hours and the 2 staff were continuously complaining against customers. It's a shame to be Italian and see the airline managed like this. Flight back from Istanbul was almost 1 hour late and they booked me on another flight - aircraft again dirty and old. The price of the flight was high and I would only use Alitalia for very short range, local flights.

Rome to Milan Linate and return with Alitalia. Flights operated with aged A319 but well maintained, cabin crew professional and food consisted in a little pack of biscuits or chips, ok for such a short route. I'll not hesitate to fly Alitalia on regional and medium haul flights again.

Rome to Miami in Alitalia business class on A330. Outstanding food and very professional service by the crew made for a relaxing flight. New leather seats on business class. Great selection of movies on the inflight entertainment, highly recommended.

I booked 2 tickets from New York JFK to Rome return for two trips in 2015, travelling in Alitalia's Premium economy product. They cordon off Premium economy seating area which is limited to 24 seats or less. Offerings include a free amenity kit which depending on the time of year can be from a famous Italian designer. Priority boarding and deplaning is offered, meals of a taste good are included. We were fed four times and offered free drinks. As someone who is disabled the Flight attendants insisted I use the business class bathrooms as they did not want me to walk very far. As a disabled person I felt that they went out of their way to make me feel welcome. Check in was a breeze, as you use the line for business class. I believe this product is perfect in price if you want to feel like your flying in premium but not spend a ton of cash for it. I would definitely say it was worth the $1800.00 round trip price and believe it was money well spent and would do it again. Great marks on Alitalia's handling of a disabled passenger and their guest.

Tel Aviv to Milan via Rome with Alitalia, and the flight was fine. They lost my luggage and it took them 5 days to deliver. Customer Service will answer but not necessarily know at any time where is your luggage is. Hope the way back will be smoother. I will try to avoid Alitalia in the future.

This month travelled from Venice to Hong Kong with Etihad but the the segment from Venice to Abu Dhabi was unfortunately made by Alitalia. The flight departed 1.5 hours late because of routine checks (if they were routine checks I can't understand why they made them at the boarding time). The ground personnel told me multiple times that connecting flights were all confirmed. We arrived in Abu Dhabi 2 hours late and although we were only 20 minutes late to boarding time of the connecting flights, ground personnel didn't let us go to gate and forced us to miss our flight because they had already moved us to the flight the day after. On the return flight my seat didn't recline although the plane was new. Cabin staff service was rude as always, inflight entertainment poor and food bad (on return flight from Abu Dhabi to Venice they gave us a sandwich). Lastly, the flight is flown half with Alitalia and half with Etihad, however when you do the check-in on the Etihad website you can't choose seats for the Alitalia flight.

I booked and paid for Alitalia premium economy seats ($1200CA extra) from Toronto to Rome and return. Without warning, my premium seat on the way to Rome was not honoured because the aircraft that departed from Toronto was old and not equipped with such seats. I was seated in economy. I tried to explain the problem when I boarded the aircraft, but the cabin staff seemed indifferent and borderline rude! While in Italy, Alitalia agreed (via email) to refund the difference for the seat cost within one month. It's now been 3 months since their email and they haven't honoured their promise. I cannot reach their Cusomer Relations office directly. Alitalia doesn't allow it. One has to call the main reservations number; and maybe the attendant might convey one's message to Customer Relations. I have emailed Customer Relations several times. They don't respond. I have flown with countless airlines and have never heard of an airline who promises compensation (in writing) and then disappears. No customer should ever go through such effort and aggravation to receive a refund that was already promised. Do not book Premium Economy seats with Alitalia. If the aircraft changes and can't provide such seats, you either have to fight for a refund or will never get one.

Alitalia trip from Palermo to New York JFK via Rome. The plane from Rome to JFK was somewhat worn looking on the interior, otherwise it was a great flight with friendly cabin crew and and a captain that was great at communicating foreseen turbulence (there wasn't any, but I always appreciate when a pilot is upfront about it). The service was great - snack, meal, and pre-landing snack. Inflight entertainment could use some work, but that's comparing it to Delta and Air France. I'd fly them again for Italy flights if needed.