A lot of people like to travel in the destination country's
airline when going overseas. The idea is to start absorbing the
atmosphere even before you get there.
We took an Alitalia flight from Miami to Rome a couple of weeks ago. We actually bought a Delta ticket, but the flight was operated by Alitalia.
I will not bother you with the details of the over 6 hours of departure delay. This is a matter for another post, for there is a promise of compensation that I hope, will materialize.
From the get go, I knew I was entering an old plane. It was a 767. The lay out was old, with small space in the overhead luggage compartments, and side video screens. The seats were awful, and looked very tatty.
The staff on board was OK, but the food was not very good. So much for absorbing atmopshere before flying! Italy has wonderful food just about anywhere you go, Alitalia does not.
The advantage of flying non-stop was, of course, decimated by the long delay. In fact, we stayed for hours on end at the Miami airport, refusing to go back home. I worked a bit, so I did not waste time, but this essentially killed a whole afternoon in Rome. By the time we got to the hotel, it was over 4 PM.
Supposedly the delay was due to lack of equipment. I thought that perhaps the old 767 was a substitute plane. Much to my disappointment, this was the same plane on the way back.
Too bad that Alitalia, that has ten Boeing 777, and newer Airbuses on its fleet, decided that Miami is a subpar market, worthy of old planes.
Incidentally, the food on the way back was no better, in fact, it was worse than on the way to Italy. The seats appeared worse than before too, in fact, people were walking up and down the aisles, because they were so uncomfortable.
Thus, unless you are flying the Magnifica class, I cannot really recommend this Alitalia-Delta flight. I am, of course, assuming Magnifica is any better. Go American, you are certainly better off.
Thank God the trip was otherwise wonderful.
We took an Alitalia flight from Miami to Rome a couple of weeks ago. We actually bought a Delta ticket, but the flight was operated by Alitalia.
I will not bother you with the details of the over 6 hours of departure delay. This is a matter for another post, for there is a promise of compensation that I hope, will materialize.
From the get go, I knew I was entering an old plane. It was a 767. The lay out was old, with small space in the overhead luggage compartments, and side video screens. The seats were awful, and looked very tatty.
The staff on board was OK, but the food was not very good. So much for absorbing atmopshere before flying! Italy has wonderful food just about anywhere you go, Alitalia does not.
The advantage of flying non-stop was, of course, decimated by the long delay. In fact, we stayed for hours on end at the Miami airport, refusing to go back home. I worked a bit, so I did not waste time, but this essentially killed a whole afternoon in Rome. By the time we got to the hotel, it was over 4 PM.
Supposedly the delay was due to lack of equipment. I thought that perhaps the old 767 was a substitute plane. Much to my disappointment, this was the same plane on the way back.
Too bad that Alitalia, that has ten Boeing 777, and newer Airbuses on its fleet, decided that Miami is a subpar market, worthy of old planes.
Incidentally, the food on the way back was no better, in fact, it was worse than on the way to Italy. The seats appeared worse than before too, in fact, people were walking up and down the aisles, because they were so uncomfortable.
Thus, unless you are flying the Magnifica class, I cannot really recommend this Alitalia-Delta flight. I am, of course, assuming Magnifica is any better. Go American, you are certainly better off.
Thank God the trip was otherwise wonderful.
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