Alitalia

Given the quality and variety of Italian food beer and wine and Italian hospitality in general its surprising that the Italian 'National Carrier' steadfastly refuses to showcase anything positive about its home and culture. On any airline the quality of the crew is all important. I have persevered with Alitalia but no more. Crew do not assist with the boarding process hence it takes far too long to get passengers seated and flights are often delayed as a result. Once onboard service will not commence for 30 mins after departure. Nothing is available for sale (another opportunity missed). If Alitalia is to survive all of this needs to changed.

KL3401/AZ0107 (AMS-FCO): I bought the ticket via KLM website as they are both members of Skyteam. The aircraft was an A320 which looks ageing on the seats and cabin layout. Service was very basic with the selection of salty snack or sweet snack and the choices of drinks were very little (arancia rossa/orange juice hot tea hot coffee or water/sparkling water). Crew were not very welcoming and seemed not to enjoy their job I also did notice that the crew did not pay attention carefully to passengers who have not opened the windows shades and fastened the seat belt before landing. In a sum Alitalia is not up to standard of premium airlines that they claim to be. Many rooms for improvements in order to compete with other regional airlines. On the bright side the landing was very smooth and we arrived earlier as expected arrival time.

We will not fly Alitalia again. Our flight last week from Rome to Toronto was a nightmare. There was no in-flight entertainment or outlets for charging — on our 9 hour + 3 hour (on the ground while we were stuck on the runway due to "safety checks") flight. The seats were dirty my husband's tray table was filthy and sticky. I have a nut allergy and the snacks that were distributed all contained traces of nuts. Not a good experience at all.

Reservation through Delta - 2 flights on Alitalia Cairo to Rome and Rome to JFK. After I read reviews here I was ready for bad experience. I don't believe it is the same airline described here by other reviewers. Everything was perfect except the idea that you can't select your own seat ahead of travel. The service on both flights were excellent planes were on time. Food was great. Also lounge in Rome was nice and hospitable. I guess may be my luck but I would fly Alitalia again.

Two domestic flights in the last half year. Two really bad experiences. First one in April 2014 Trieste-Naples- Trieste. Outbound flight cancelled due to the strike after several long phone calls Alitalia managed to put us on a flight to Rome. And that was their only choice. We had to find our own way to get to Naples at our own expense. The second one in October 2014 Venice-Catania-Venice supposed to be operated by Air One but later cancelled. We were informed by an e-mail about flight cancellation and it was necessary to call their call centre to be transferred to other flight (via FCO). Flight on the 24th of October form VCE to FCO delayed. Since there were lots of passengers for Catania and the fact that the next flight from FCO to Catania was full one would expect that Alitalia will wait for us – but no the flight departed a few minutes earlier. Were transferred to the last flight which was again delayed severely. Finally landed after midnight. Cabin crew on all the flights with couldn't-care-less attitude to customers with one exception FCO to VCE AZ1483 2nd November operated by Alitalia CitiLiner – professional and really nice everything done with a smile. But nevertheless never again with Alitalia there are now lots and way better possibilities to fly on domestic flights in Italy.

Round-trip JFK to Rome on 10/5/2014 and we returned on 10/17/2014. Our flights were AZ 0603 and AZ 0610. On both flights the two bathrooms closest to us stopped working (did not flush!) shortly after takeoff. I am unsure of the remaining bathrooms - but half of the aircraft stunk all the way! They never locked the non-working facilities and never directed the travelers so people kept using those defunct bathrooms. It is inexcusable and apparently not a single event as it happened on both legs of the trip.

Brussels-Rome-Athens Return. Staff were extremely rude even when both flights were delayed by more than 3 hours (also on the return). Very old planes and dirty (on both flights) and you get no food nor have the option to buy food. So we travelled hours without having the possibility to eat. You only get one coffee (half full) which is btw disgusting and you cannot ask for a refill. Would rather pay 200 euros more to go with another airline and even pay more and choosing Ryanair before them.

Flying MXP-NRT and back in Oct-Nov 2014. Window single seat is excellent and full lie-flat. Entertainment system is OK but could be better. The food is better than business class average but I'm expecting a better wine selection when flying an Italian airline. During the flight flight attendants almost disappear just leaving some cheap self-service drinks and snacks (to be improved). Well the overall impression is that the crew doesn't look so motivated and willing to assist and please passengers. The atmosphere is a little "sad" compared to other business classes of competitors.

October 10th from Rome to Toronto. We did not choose to fly this airline as we had bought tickets from British Airways however due to flight delays British Airways arranged for us to fly on Alitalia for the first leg of our trip. We were told incorrect information regarding seat availability and flight details from the Alitalia representative upon check-in and boarding the plane was a largely unorganized process which took well over one hour to complete. The plane was older (tube televisions down the center of the plane instead of seat-back screens) the cleanliness of the seats was sub-par and the sink in the toilet was clogged for the duration of the trip. For the first half of the flight the service on board was mediocre but acceptable however once dinner was served the service became non-existent. For 4 to 5 hours (on a 9 hour flight) the flight attendants hung out at the back of the plane and were deliberately ignoring the call button. If any passengers wanted a drink they were required to walk to the back of the plane and pour it themselves all while the flight attendants sat around talking and completely ignoring anything outside of their conversation. This expectation of self service is very inconvenient when someone with anything but an aisle seat would like a glass of water. I also wondered what passengers who require mobility assistance do in this situation? Flight attendants ignoring their passengers for half of an international flight is completely unacceptable. I will not be flying Alitalia in future.

London to Tel Aviv via Rome. The service was very bad throughout the flight and the main part of the meal provided consisted of cold turkey slices. There were screens on every seat but none of them worked. I wouldn't recommend Alitalia to anyone unless they change the quality of the flight experience.