Best airline to travel to Italy?

[Deniseiam1]

Hello,

 

We are travelling to Italy in July. The 1st to be exact. We are getting a cruise in Naples. I’m wondering what the best airline would be in your opinion? Please share your thoughts. Also, any tips on when to book?

 

Thank you,

Denise in Toronto 

[Vikingjorg]

KLM. 

[cruisinqt]

I’m not sure if this info is what you’re looking for but I’ll share with you what I’ve learned about international flights recently as I’ve been researching it extensively the last few months. We are doing our first ever transatlantic cruise and our first ever overseas long haul flight. At first I was more focused on what airline to use because I honestly just didn’t know where to start. After a lot of research I realized that the flight itself was far more important than which airline I use. Things like how long the layover is, how long the flight is, which city the layover is in, and which airplane will you be flying in (some are better than others) is what you should be focusing on. Here’s what I’ve learned. 
 

Your layover should be at least 2 hours long to give you time to go through customs and immigration. Some cities have more relaxed customs than others so do your research on your layover beforehand. Airplanes have different seat configurations such as 3-3-3 or 2-4-2 or 3-4-3. The 2-4-2 has less seats so the seats will be wider and more comfortable. Once you’ve narrowed down your flight choices you can go to seatmaps.com and look up the airlines planes to see what seat configuration your airplane will have. It will even tell you how wide each seat is, how much leg room there is and how much the seat reclines. That may not be a big deal on local flights but on an international flight it’s super important since you’ll be on the plane for quite a while. There’s also roomier seats that are between regular economy class and first class. They’re called premium economy. They have wider seats, more leg room, seats recline further, and you get other perks like priority boarding. On Delta they’re called comfort plus and on American Airlines they’re called main cabin plus. 
 

Which airlines are better for international travel? There’s a lot of good ones out there.  I like Delta, American, and Air Canada. But that’s just a personal preference. Like I said, find the flights with the best times, and layover cities for the price then go from there. Good luck I hope this helps. 

[FlyerTalker]

Time to correct a few things.

 

6 hours ago, cruisinqt said:

Your layover should be at least 2 hours long to give you time to go through customs and immigration. Some cities have more relaxed customs than others so do your research on your layover beforehand.

 

This would depend on the type of connection and where it is occurring.  If your connect is entering or leaving the Schengen area, you have a different connect than if you are merely in transit.  For example, a connect in AMS would involve immigration while a connect at LHR would not.  So there is no one blanket situation.  Also, some airports are more compact and efficient, so you would not need 2 hours for a connect (for example, Munich or Zurich)

 

6 hours ago, cruisinqt said:

Airplanes have different seat configurations such as 3-3-3 or 2-4-2 or 3-4-3. The 2-4-2 has less seats so the seats will be wider and more comfortable.

 

2-4-2 is usually found on an aircraft that is itself narrower, so the seats are not automatically wider.

 

Far more important is the width of the aircraft to the number of seats.  Fewer seats, in and of itself, means little without the relation to the aircraft.  Aircraft interior widths (in inches)

 

767  186"

330/340  208"

787  216"

350  221"

777  231"

747  240"

380  257"

 

Look at the actual dimensions of the seat and of the seat pitch provided.  And compare apples to apples within a particular aircraft.

 

6 hours ago, cruisinqt said:

There’s also roomier seats that are between regular economy class and first class. They’re called premium economy. They have wider seats, more leg room, seats recline further, and you get other perks like priority boarding. On Delta they’re called comfort plus and on American Airlines they’re called main cabin plus.

 

You are confusing "premium economy" with a slightly upgraded economy product that is variously named at different airlines.

 

That "comfort plus" and "main cabin plus" (actually main cabin extra) are coach seats that have been given some additional seat pitch, as well as often having some increased recline.  They are NOT wider seats.  Basically, you are buying some extra legroom.

 

Premium economy is a different animal.  It uses seats that are different than coach - wider and with greater recline.  There are fewer PE seats in each row compared to economy seating.  They are often in a separate cabin, and many airlines provide enhanced amenities for PE passengers over regular economy.

 

There are significant price differences between the "plus" kinds of seating and actual premium economy.  One much be very aware of what they are considering buying, as you will be quite disappointed if you buy a plus product and find that you did not get genuine premium economy.  (And be very careful with the marketing terms that each airline uses)

 

Finally - to the question asked by the OP.  No one can answer that question.  The reason is that you must first define what "best" means to YOU.  Is it speed, price, comfort, food or something else?  No one knows that, no one knows your priorities and no one can evaluate as you would.

 

[Deniseiam1]

I have booked my flight as mentioned above. I don't know how to stop this topic so feel free to keep commenting and adding your thoughts for other travelers. I posted my flight details above. I wrote that there is no priority queue in Toronto and someone asked what this means. It means that you do not get to line up to check in with your luggage before others in Toronto as they do not have an Priority Queue in that City. They do in Montreal and Vancouver though.

[FlyerTalker]

19 minutes ago, Deniseiam1 said:

I have booked my flight as mentioned above. I don't know how to stop this topic so feel free to keep commenting and adding your thoughts for other travelers. I posted my flight details above. I wrote that there is no priority queue in Toronto and someone asked what this means. It means that you do not get to line up to check in with your luggage before others in Toronto as they do not have an Priority Queue in that City. They do in Montreal and Vancouver though.

 

If you posted again with details, it sure isn't showing up here.

 

Also, there are most assuredly priority queues in Toronto.  But since we have no other details....

 

[Deniseiam1]

I booked with Air Transat. They do not have a priority queue in Toronto.

[FlyerTalker]

11 minutes ago, Deniseiam1 said:

I booked with Air Transat. They do not have a priority queue in Toronto.

 

Lots that they don't have.  Hope you didn't just buy on price.  Good luck.

[Fairgarth]

On 1/14/2023 at 8:35 AM, FlyerTalker said:

 

If you posted again with details, it sure isn't showing up here.

 

 

My sympathies, FlyerTalker, you are not going blind nor am I.  We can both sleep well tonight.  It's not here.  The OP posed the same question on the "Canadian Cruisers" forum and that is where the flight details now appear.

[Hlitner]

On 1/14/2023 at 11:14 AM, Deniseiam1 said:

I booked with Air Transat. They do not have a priority queue in Toronto.

Interesting that you chose that particular airline.  You originally asked for the "best airline" and I seriously doubt you find Air Transat on anyone's best list.  Hope everything works out to your satisfaction.