Alitalia - AZA

...I used to fly Alitalia (and their partner Malev Hungarian) a lot. This was for lack of option rather than choice. Thank God BA has a direct route to my main holyday destination now. TICKET SYSTEM The pricing is dreadful and every-time you make an enquiry (be that via the internet or phone) the price tag goes up if you enquire with the same phone number or PC (logs ip addresses) so the price magically goes up every 10 minutes (you get the base price ...
...of my course would ring Alitalia if I couldn't find cheaper from Thomas Cook.) The price apart from being ridiculous it gets insulting from the service you get (£350 for 3.5 Hours total flying time) FLYING OUT I have always flown Alitalia (or Malev) via Heathrow at terminal 2 and the flights have always been for 6:00AM which is good because I could be in Rome/Milan in 2 and a half hours and be at my destination by midday (in Albania just north ...

Nick_Endeavour 30.08.2006 · Read full review
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Review of Alitalia - AZA

...thought that was bad. Alitalia makes these two look like first class airlines. First, there is the design of the airplanes. We flew B767s on all routes, which have a formation of 2-3-2 seats per row. The seats are tiny and uncomfortable, and there are minimal amounts of space between the seats. If you bend down to put something under the seat in front, you will bang your head, and if the person in front of you has their seat back, forget about it. ...
...type of aircraft as per Alitalia regulations, so unless you own an iPod or ReALLY like to read, you’re going to be rather stuck. On the subject of the cabin crew, they have to be the worst trained, most ill-mannered and lazy bunch I’ve ever come across, and this was true on all four legs of my flight with four different crews. They delayed the start of the drinks service to coincide with the start of the meal, didn’t come around for refills, and ...

mystikchick17 03.08.2004 · Read full review
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Review of Alitalia - AZA

...of services and amenties. Alitalia boarded us through the secret gate - gate 310, which appeared to be only available to people who were very determined to search for it, as it wasn't signposted at all. We then had to take a bus to the aircraft, an A319, which was waiting across the apron. The Airbus we boarded appeared to be almost brand new, in excellent condition, spanking clean and with little TV screens and all those little extras that you ...
...off, and then had an Alitalia snack pack. This was a ham and cream cheese roll, youghurt and a piece of fruit cake. MAN - MXP takes about 2 hours, and on sectors of the same length with BA and AIr France to name just two, I have been served only a pastry or a (very dry and stale) sandiwch with nothing else. So here, AZ measured up very well. The flight then passed without incident and we landed 15 minutes early at Milan. We were transported to the ...

DeliaS 20.09.2004 · Read full review
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Review of Alitalia - AZA

I went on 4 Alitalia planes on my holiday to Brazil. 3 of them were delayed. I travelled to Brazil last year with Varig and my flight was much shorter and more enjoyable. Firstly, my flight was delayed by 1 hour leaving Heathrow, meaning I had to run for flight AZ694 which I then discovered to be delayed 3 hours and 45 minutes for 'engine safty' reasons. This delay meant I missed my 9pm connecting flight in Rio to Porto Alegre and had to wait 13 ...
...a letter of confirmation from Alitalia so I wrote to them asking for one. They didnt respond. I send them an email 1 month later which they also ignored. A few weeks after that I phoned them and they said it was on their computer and should have been sent out. Im still waiting... The insurance claim is only good for 3 months so it looks like I will miss it because of Alitalias incompetance. They may be slightly cheaper, but pay the extra few £. ...

thewiz 05.09.2001 · Read full review
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Review of Alitalia - AZA

...Easter Weekend I took an Alitalia flight to Venice and then flew back to London (via Milan) on Easter Monday. The service on board the flight was polite and meals were delivered and cleared away promptly. None of the flights actually left on time. Of the three flights, 3 left within 20 mins and the third was within 40 min. Annoyingly only 1 of the three flights actually left from an air gate - the other two required trips outs by bus (in one case ...
...delays. On the flights to / from London we were provided with cold salads, stale bread and frozen vegetables. Not quite the greatest meal I have ever had, but you really can't set your expectations high on economy short haul flights across Europe. When at the airport in Venice on the Easter Monday we discovered at the check-in counter that our flight to Milan had been cancelled and the desk clerk was surprised that we had not been told by our agent. ...

Degs 17.04.2001 (11.05.2001) · Read full review
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Review of Alitalia - AZA

...pleasure (not) to fly with alitalia twice. First occasion (big mistake) on 24 December, I decided to book the flight well in advance to avoid pumped up prices etc. I booked the flight via the call centre. Everything was then confirmed about 4 weeks prior of departing. Due to my arrival location I had to catch 3 different flights (I know receipt for disaster...however nothing prepared myself for what I was going to experience). Once I have arrived ...
...to find a representative from Alitalia I was told that due to the fact that it was Xmas eve the company decided to cancel the flight (no one actually thought to advise either the customers or people on the departures location). Obviously as I booked the flight about 3 months before and confirmed that everything was ok 4 weeks before I was wondering what had happened. I was simply told that the company decided to cancel the flight. I mean xmas has ...

consumerunited 18.05.2005 · Read full review
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Review of Alitalia - AZA

I have flown with Alitalia four times which is about 25 hours of flying. The flight from Milan to London was not too comfortable. The plane was tiny and was affected by turbulence quite alot. Another time we were on the plane ready for take-off when a fault was discovered and the plane was delayed for three hours. Quite worrying to discover a fault just before take-off. There was another time when the plane was about to landing and it bounced up ...
...points. All the crew was always very helpful, although the food was not the best. The smaller planes had quite alot of leg room. I think Alitalia is Ok for long international fights because i felt relatively safe but on shorter journey i wouldn't recommend it. ...

chaochao 14.01.2001 · Read full review
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Review of Alitalia - AZA

...but basically has all that one would expect such as spacious seating, snacks, drinks, magazines, newspapers and television. Whenever you take a flight with Alitalia ask your travel agent what type of aircrapt they are using. If it's the MD-11 then and your going Business Class then its a must. ...

vinodgm 26.05.2001 · Read full review
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Review of Alitalia - AZA

Alitalia is the Dan Air of Italy. With simply pathetic excuses for everything, I would avoid this airline like the plague! My last flight with them was the most emotional, I had 3 flights to catch on the same day, all with Alitalia, my destination, Minsk, Belarus. All 3 flights had the same "meal", a term used in the loosest of forms. A sort of Cottage cheese and fungus roll, with a small glass of water, sounds delightful doesnt it, well this ...
...leave a lot to be desired for, some air steward with the largest hair style in the world, and crumbs in his beared, insisted on making his prescence known to me as often as possible, and continuously kept stopping and rubbing his leg on my arm as he passed my seat, as if there wasnt enough room, and the flight stewardess who thought she was on a cat walk, but really should have had a slap, and reminded she was on a budget airline. The Sopwith Camel ...

gt5952 15.10.2007 · Read full review
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Review of Alitalia - AZA

...and had never travelled with Alitalia all year purely because they were far more expensive than all the other airlines I had looked at. It was only when I went on a package holiday to Venice and our tour operator announced a last minute change to our return flight that I got my first experience of Alitalia. I was tremendously amused by the inflight magazines "UnBRAKE my heart" tune only to find that the pilot also had an interesting concept of braking ...
...and then the plane bounced down the runway a lot until the pilot slammed on the brakes. If anyone had told me, I would have assumed the crash position a long time before! I'm not sure if I would ever want to go on an Alitalia flight again. ...

penguin_too 14.08.2000 · Read full review
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Review of Alitalia - AZA

...when I didn't. Service Alitalia check-in staff...complete morons. My family and I had been told to come 3 hours before flight take-off time which made us arrive at Heathrow Terminal 3 at midnight. And when did Alitalia staff actually arrive, 2 am. Yes we waited 2 hours in an airport filled with fed up italian tourists. We did eventually get onto the plane and were all ready for the holiday, putting aside all greif faced at the airport. Now, there ...
...India who were quite frankly, b***ards. I wouldn't recommend ALITALIA to anyone, who wants to carry on living after the journey. Yes, it is cheap but in the future, I will definately pay the £250 more and go with good old reliable, BA. Small price to pay, for adequate service! ...

k_shah 30.12.2004 · Read full review
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Review of Alitalia - AZA

Well, Alitalia lost my luggage somewhere in Milan last October and they still haven't found it. I booked a flight to Bologna, Italy last October with a stopover in Milan Malpensa because I couldn't be bothered to fly direct with British Airways from Gatwick and I preferred Heathrow. Silly me!! That was a big mistake! The plane leaving Heathrow for Milan was 2.5 hours late because of fog. I lost my connection to Bologna once at Milan airport and ...
...the cabin and the food was quite good. I am still waiting for my lost bag and for some sort of compensation. I had to write a complaint to Alitalia in Rome because at the UK branch they don't deal with complaints…….I love my new suit and shoes though!!! ...

marcolangley 14.03.2003 · Read full review
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Review of Alitalia - AZA

The cynical in the travel trade will tell you A L I T A L I A stands for "Airplane lands in Tokyo, all luggage in Athens!". Unfortunately, like many a loss making state owned near monopoly, the airline manages the difficult feat of being overmanned without being able to provide a decent service. If the ground staff are not on strike at the airport, then it is the cabin crew. As a frequent traveller, I can safely say that no other airline. If there ...

TonyUnderwood 02.07.2000 · Read full review
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Review of Alitalia - AZA

...was denied boarding on an Alitalia flight from Caracas (CCS) to Milan (MXP) due to excessive overbooking, so I was bumped to another flight of the following day. I understand that many companies overbook flights but in the past, when I had come across this type of problem, the airlines usually offer compensation for voluntarily change to another flight of a different airline, and in general, departing on the same day. In this case, not only Alitalia ...
...hours prior to departure. Additionally, Alitalia staff at Simon Bolivar Airport (Caracas) did not even try to minimise the problem by booking us on the next Alitalia flight (which was the following day). Instead, the made us go to the main Alitalia office in Caracas the following day “to see what they could do”. Anticipating another overbooking problem, that morning I took the precaution to go to the Alitalia office earlier than the rest of the ...

apm1973 08.12.2003 · Read full review
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Review of Alitalia - AZA

Come on, give Alitalia a chance! They are not that bad! I flew with them last year once from Frankfurt to Milan return and from Munich to Malaga via Milan and back. The aircrafts are much newer now, you have enough space for your legs (I'm 1.91 m) and the stewardesses are not unfriendly. Additionally you get a nice glass of wine and a light bite, even on the shorter distance flights like Milan-Munich. Both in Frankfurt and in Milan I waited 0 minutes ...
...way back I really flew Alitalia then and I arrived 10 minutes early in Munich! And of course I enjoy travelling with Alitalia as Milan/Rome must be the only airports in the world where you can get an excellent espresso for 1 €! So all in all if you are not on a very tight schedule and can live with some delay Alitalia is worth considering - I would pefer them eg to the Spanish flag carrier.. ...

LarsS 12.01.2006 · Read full review
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Review of Alitalia - AZA