Has anyone used Alitalia from Miami recently????

NOTE: I have also posted this on the cruise air thread and checking out flyer talk threads which does not have much recent info on this specific subject that I have seen yet...

Well I have struggled with choosing them for years and used them last on a domestic flight in Europe and it was fine...but it was a 2 hour flight and not a 9. Reviews continue to be not good for cleanliness and attitude especially in coach. With that being said they are the only NS Direct right now from Miami. I have read some reviews of newer planes being used in JFK and Newark but am not certain how the flights are running from Miami? Cost is not the issue....convenience is.

Thank you in advance for your responses....

Karen

If your flight offers the Classica Plus seating, you have this plane:

http://www.seatguru.com/airlines/Alitalia_Airlines/Alitalia_Airlines_Airbus_A330_200.php

AZ has spent the last few years updating/refurbishing their interiors. From what I understand, all but the couple of 2-class 330s have been done.

Sounds like the big thing to avoid is the window seats - they have the foot area used up by the IFE boxes. I had this happen on an AA flight LHR-LAX - extremely uncomfortable to have no place to put your feet or a bag under the seat in front of you. And, some comments indicate that the Classica Plus is worth the extra money.

I can't offer any more info. I've been watching the FT Alitalia site since I have flights to/from JFK/FCO coming up in April. But, I'm in Magnifica class, so I won't have to experience the coach offering. My flight out is on the 777, but the flight back is on the 330. The Magnifica hard product is supposed to be very nice now, and the food/wine better than most. I'll try to remember to take a peek at coach and report back.

Thank you for the response. I like to use my FF miles on flights that are much longer....usually Australia and Asia. I can get Business Class on United but they connect and it would be a much longer flight (s). I checked upgraded seats and they looked to be $500 for what I think is economy plus but will recheck with your info.

Since I recently had 2 hip replacements I might just see about booking 3 seats for 2 of us and I notice on the plane I think they are using out of MIA that there are 3 seats in the middle of the plane towards the back instead of 4 across. We booked one of those odd rows on a BA flight last year towards the back of the plane and the extra space was terrific. I will continue to look and might pay for the upgrade if that is the only way to ensure comfort.

Thank you for your response....

Karen

Thank you for the response. I like to use my FF miles on flights that are much longer....usually Australia and Asia. I can get Business Class on United but they connect and it would be a much longer flight (s). I checked upgraded seats and they looked to be $500 for what I think is economy plus but will recheck with your info.

 

Since I recently had 2 hip replacements I might just see about booking 3 seats for 2 of us and I notice on the plane I think they are using out of MIA that there are 3 seats in the middle of the plane towards the back instead of 4 across. We booked one of those odd rows on a BA flight last year towards the back of the plane and the extra space was terrific. I will continue to look and might pay for the upgrade if that is the only way to ensure comfort.

 

Thank you for your response....

Karen

We also used Alitalia's Premium Economy last year, and are doing it again soon.

Not only was there more leg room, but the seats were wider.

They also had a "real" foot rest to support the legs and feet.

If you get a regular coach class seat in a row with one less seat, the seat you have will probably still be the narrower "regular" coach seat.

And if you go for the "3 seats for 2 passengers", make SURE that the armrests are not fixed, or you'll lose most of the benefit of that extra space for your hips.

Do take a look at SeatGuru.com before choosing the specific seats.

GeezerCouple

We also used Alitalia's Premium Economy last year, and are doing it again soon.

 

Not only was there more leg room, but the seats were wider.

They also had a "real" foot rest to support the legs and feet.

 

If you get a regular coach class seat in a row with one less seat, the seat you have will probably still be the narrower "regular" coach seat.

 

And if you go for the "3 seats for 2 passengers", make SURE that the armrests are not fixed, or you'll lose most of the benefit of that extra space for your hips.

 

Do take a look at SeatGuru.com before choosing the specific seats.

 

GeezerCouple

Thank you...I am always concerned about fixed seats and do check seat guru. We will probably go for the upgrades....we do very well with FF seats overseas and can not always fly free :)

Karen

I am also concerned about the reputation about Alitalia. It was the only choice for me as I needed to use ff miles. I have booked it for October out of Miami. From what I see the plane they use is NOT one of the ones that has the Premium Comfort seats. Perhaps they will change planes by that time but who knows. Just hoping we will not have negative experiences like ones I have read about :(

I am also concerned about the reputation about Alitalia. It was the only choice for me as I needed to use ff miles. I have booked it for October out of Miami. From what I see the plane they use is NOT one of the ones that has the Premium Comfort seats. Perhaps they will change planes by that time but who knows. Just hoping we will not have negative experiences like ones I have read about :(

Did you check the particular aircraft used for every day of the week?

At our airport, last year Alitalia used the plane with Premium Economy 3 or 4 times per week.

But this coming May, it appears that it is just once a week, so we had to be "gone" in intervals of full weeks, not the 2 and 1/2 weeks we had planned.

(So we went for 3 weeks, not 2 :))

Last year, it was pretty clear that the plane seemed to go back and forth all the time.

This year, we wonder where that particular plane goes "the rest of the week", after that one round trip each week (it arrives stateside mid/late afternoon, and returns to Italy mid/late evening - just once per week).

GeezerCouple

Did you check the particular aircraft used for every day of the week?

 

At our airport, last year Alitalia used the plane with Premium Economy 3 or 4 times per week.

 

 

GeezerCouple

Not really sure what you mean? My airline reservation online tells me what plane they are using. It is not the one with Premium Economy.

Not really sure what you mean? My airline reservation online tells me what plane they are using. It is not the one with Premium Economy.

I was asking if you checked the aircraft being used every day of the week.

Alitalia sometimes has different aircraft types on different days of the week, for the same flight number.

On the specific route we want, it used to be a few times a week with the plane having Premium Economy seating.

Now, it's just one day of the week.

GeezerCouple

I was asking if you checked the aircraft being used every day of the week.

 

Alitalia sometimes has different aircraft types on different days of the week, for the same flight number.

 

On the specific route we want, it used to be a few times a week with the plane having Premium Economy seating.

Now, it's just one day of the week.

 

GeezerCouple

I am going to check again. The flight I saw I thought had about 15 seats as Premium Economy and they were 500 more per seat... but I was just checking quickly. I will check the daily flights from MIA to see if there is a difference in the planes used.. I think the better planes are out of the NE.

Karen

I just checked both Alitalia flights on Alitalia and Expedia.

It looks like Alitalia is using the A330/200 out of Miami on Thurs Oct 22,23,24,and then they are using the Boeing 772 777/200 Sunday Oct 24th,25th and for the rest of the week.

I am not certain why they are switching planes unless one seats less than the other and the season is over.

Both planes seem to have Premium Economy or Classica Plus (depending upon whose website you check) but it looks like there are 24 on the 777 (2-4-2) and 15 on the A330 (2-3-2.) The seat width for plus seems to be 19.2 for both.

I think I might just book the A330 and pay for the upgrade since I do not really want to stop anywhere else since we will be back in a few months. But we will arrive a week before to get the 330...I think.

Karen

I just checked both Alitalia flights on Alitalia and Expedia.

 

It looks like Alitalia is using the A330/200 out of Miami on Thurs Oct 22,23,24,and then they are using the Boeing 772 777/200 Sunday Oct 24th,25th and for the rest of the week.

 

I am not certain why they are switching planes unless one seats less than the other and the season is over.

 

Both planes seem to have Premium Economy or Classica Plus (depending upon whose website you check) but it looks like there are 24 on the 777 (2-4-2) and 15 on the A330 (2-3-2.) The seat width for plus seems to be 19.2 for both.

 

I think I might just book the A330 and pay for the upgrade since I do not really want to stop anywhere else since we will be back in a few months. But we will arrive a week before to get the 330...I think.

 

Karen

Yup, it's very confusing.

And of course, there is always the chance that the aircraft changes again, something we hope don't catch us off-guard. (But one can only do so much, after all...)

The seat configurations do seem to have change on our route, too.

There used to be 3 rows of Premium economy, each with a nice pair of window seats on each side.

Now, there is a zigzag effect, and one pair of window seats is missing on each side.

We had to take an inside (non-window) pair on one direction, but we'll keep watching for any changes.

We booked both "ends" of those middle 3 seats (where we couldn't get a window pair), figuring that the lonely middle seat would be the very last to be selected by someone. And it's almost incomprehensible that someone stuck in that middle seat between two other people wouldn't gladly switch for an aisle.

(We figure that in reality, the airline would upsell that middle seat, so there's probably no real chance of it staying empty, but there's no harm trying, right? :))

Anyway, I can't quite figure out why they removed a pair of window seats on each side. Those always sell out first. There mostly seems to be extra space (??). I guess we'll see once onboard.

I'm glad you found those seats and the scheduling worked for you.

Those Premium Economy seats aren't luxurious by any means, but even having a pair together, rather than 2 in a grouping of 3 is a huge benefit.

(And too bad we don't seem to have that on one direction. We'll keep our fingers crossed that someone cancels a window pair, but that's less and less likely. At least it's the outbound overnight, so we'll be trying more to sleep than on the return daytime flight.

And the extra width does make a noticeable difference, even though the reclining angle isn't that great.

The leg rests also really added to the comfort, which surprised me a bit.

By the way, we had the 2-4-2 configuration last year, although we had window pairs both ways. That middle "4" just "looked" very crowded, even though in reality, the sensation of someone sitting one in from the aisle shouldn't be any different if traveling as a pair. (That is, it "shouldn't" matter if in the "other direction" there is one stranger or two, but the appearance just looked much more crowded.)

At least we'll be "2 of a middle 3" rather than of 4 if we don't change to a window pair.

Silly, I know...

GeezerCouple

Yup, it's very confusing.

 

And of course, there is always the chance that the aircraft changes again, something we hope don't catch us off-guard. (But one can only do so much, after all...)

 

The seat configurations do seem to have change on our route, too.

There used to be 3 rows of Premium economy, each with a nice pair of window seats on each side.

Now, there is a zigzag effect, and one pair of window seats is missing on each side.

We had to take an inside (non-window) pair on one direction, but we'll keep watching for any changes.

 

We booked both "ends" of those middle 3 seats (where we couldn't get a window pair), figuring that the lonely middle seat would be the very last to be selected by someone. And it's almost incomprehensible that someone stuck in that middle seat between two other people wouldn't gladly switch for an aisle.

(We figure that in reality, the airline would upsell that middle seat, so there's probably no real chance of it staying empty, but there's no harm trying, right? :))

 

Anyway, I can't quite figure out why they removed a pair of window seats on each side. Those always sell out first. There mostly seems to be extra space (??). I guess we'll see once onboard.

 

I'm glad you found those seats and the scheduling worked for you.

 

Those Premium Economy seats aren't luxurious by any means, but even having a pair together, rather than 2 in a grouping of 3 is a huge benefit.

(And too bad we don't seem to have that on one direction. We'll keep our fingers crossed that someone cancels a window pair, but that's less and less likely. At least it's the outbound overnight, so we'll be trying more to sleep than on the return daytime flight.

 

And the extra width does make a noticeable difference, even though the reclining angle isn't that great.

The leg rests also really added to the comfort, which surprised me a bit.

 

By the way, we had the 2-4-2 configuration last year, although we had window pairs both ways. That middle "4" just "looked" very crowded, even though in reality, the sensation of someone sitting one in from the aisle shouldn't be any different if traveling as a pair. (That is, it "shouldn't" matter if in the "other direction" there is one stranger or two, but the appearance just looked much more crowded.)

At least we'll be "2 of a middle 3" rather than of 4 if we don't change to a window pair.

Silly, I know...

 

GeezerCouple

I laughed as I read....One never knows what will happen. I am a little concerned about the window seat and the entertainment boxes under them that others have written about. I have read there is no leg room. That is why I am going to look at the 3 across in the middle and hope the plane stays the same. We only need the one way on this flight for this trip as we are going on a TA. I was thinking and waiting to book a r/t with a return directly on AlItalia because we will be going on a TA to Europe next year as well and will need to fly our of Venice...or I will drive or train to Rome for a direct. I will have to wait until May for that though.

Flying NS out of Miami makes me happier than connecting unless we spend more time elsewhere. We moved back to Florida 2 years ago after being in PA for 25 years. So many ns direct choices from Dulles, BWI, and Phil.

Have used used Choice Air before? I have usually used FF for Business or 1st Class but hate to use on this route (since I would have to connect) and I would rather save them for Australia and Asia.

Thank you for the responses...keep me posted :)

Karen