Delta or United?

It appears our best connections (shortest flights for the money) to Rome for a cruise in November are either on Delta or United. Fares for both are similar for economy. It appears Delta flies the Airbus 330 and United flies Boeing 767-300. Any opinions about which might be slightly more comfortable (I know economy is a cattle car anyway)?

Also, we are flying from San Antonio. We could fly from Houston, but so far the fares aren't much different to make a 3 hour drive worthwhile. Are there any other gateway cities that have a reputation for better fares and airlines to Rome? If so, we could consider that too? Haven't found anything searching so far.

If you choose the Delta route, be sure all the flights are on Delta metal. You could be booked on one of the Alitalia flights under the Delta name. I haven't heard the best about their economy class. I've flown Delta in economy on several long-hauls and it was tolerable (JFK-CAI, AMM-JFK). I have only flown on the 330 in Business. I will say that the 330s all are going in for refurbishing (they may be done by now), so you would have a new cabin/seats. The 330 is 2-4-2 seating.

I can't say anything about United - I haven't flown them in over 20 years...

If there is a direct flight on UA from Houston then I would take that. Direct flights are best (less chance of lost luggage and missed connections). You can also check Lufthansa they have direct flights from Houston to Frankfurt then onto Rome. (I have a friend who travels to Europe for business often and he always connects in Frankfurt he says they, in his words "have their @#$% together there") You can also check British Airways out of Austin, you would have to connect in London but it would be in terminal 5 so not really bad (it is a new route on a new 787 and there is some pretty good pricing right now)

It appears our best connections (shortest flights for the money) to Rome for a cruise in November are either on Delta or United. Fares for both are similar for economy. It appears Delta flies the Airbus 330 and United flies Boeing 767-300. Any opinions about which might be slightly more comfortable (I know economy is a cattle car anyway)?

 

Also, we are flying from San Antonio. We could fly from Houston, but so far the fares aren't much different to make a 3 hour drive worthwhile. Are there any other gateway cities that have a reputation for better fares and airlines to Rome? If so, we could consider that too? Haven't found anything searching so far.

I highlighted the parts that I did because the former may be excluding you from achieving the latter. I do sometimes wonder about CC posters’ focus on shortest flights/connections as being the most important in terms of comfort (and this is very common, so OP do not think I am in any way singling you out). I agree that economy is economy, and there’s not much to choose between the major airlines; thus, focusing on Delta (which I have flown across the Atlantic, and found them fine) and United (whom I have not flown) excludes those European airlines which offer Premium Economy products (albeit at an increased cost).

As we don’t know your exact dates, I looked at random dates in November on ITA Matrix, and the option that jumped out at me was Turkish Airlines via Istanbul. Pricewise, it’s the cheapest by a country mile – as in, almost half the price of any other option I saw. Now, I’m quite sure that you have totally dismissed this as an option because a) flying to Istanbul to come back to Rome seems nonesensical, and b) the flights are longer, and the cheapest options involve at least 1 overnight connection in Istanbul. However, there’s really not much difference between a 6-hour flight and an 8-9-hour flight, and that overnight in IST would be a major plus in my book – the chance to explore Istanbul! In fact, I have such an overnight booked on TK for my return flight from Europe in August – ZRH-IST-overnight-YYZ-YQB (granted, it being in business makes it easier, but I would absolutely do this even in economy). Plus, TK does have Premium Economy, so you could check out how much extra this would be.

As for a straight answer to the actual question you asked (yes, I still remember that! LOL), both offer some sort of enhanced economy product – NOT Premium Economy, which is an entirely different class that no US airline currently offers, but economy with a little more legroom (and maybe more recline? Not sure…), so whichever you would chose I would be looking at purchasing this option. And ultimately, my choice would also take into account whichever works for me best miles-wise – there are a lot of FF miles on offer for this trip.

Thanks all for the comments and suggestions. We'll check them out.

We have flown several times on both airlines in the past four years. I would choose Delta. For one thing, Delta provided free wine with your meal for transatlantic flights. United does not.

Also, I don't like going through O'Hare with United.