Does anyone have any pros and/or cons with respect to flying on Alitalia from U.S. to Spain? I see some great deals for early next year (best prices) with that airline and have never flown with them. Anyone know anything about it?

Thanks! edr

[ 12-13-2001: Message edited by: MadridMan ]

You may find yourself flying Continental even if you book with AlItalia. At Newark airport, I have seen aircraft with AlItalia insignia on one side and Continental on the other. It seems to me to be more than just a 'code share.'

Continental has direct service to Madrid, Lisbon, and several Italy destinations from its Newark 'hub.' I have flown Continental TransAtlantic at least a dozen times and find their service to be adequate.

[ 12-19-2001: Message edited by: MadridMan ]

If you do choose Continental airlines, be sure to sign up for the frequent flyer program. Also, check their website often and they offer all kinds of good deals for frequent flyers. Not only on ticket prices but double mileage which adds up very quickly on transatlantic flights. Their frequent flyer program has earned many awards and has been voted as the best for several years.

No, I don't work for them - just fly alot and try to take advantage of good deals whenever I can.

My understanding is that Alitalia has a somewhat negative reputation for service much like Iberia. Unless you plan to spend some days vacationing in Italy, I would not recommend flying from the USA over Spain to Italy to change planes to fly back to Spain!
Some years ago I flew thru Rome's airport & remember the mass confusion, indifferent employees, & disorder due to an impromptu strike!
In my opinion, unless the ticket is at least $100 cheaper than the competition, it's not worth it!

(Suggest you look at KLM to Madrid from the west coast in light of the bonus miles offered to Continental One Pass members)

[ 12-20-2001: Message edited by: JDR ]

Hi! I flew Alitalia for the first time over Thanksgiving. (Chicago - Milan) I thought it was just fine. You wanted pros & cons:

pros: Italian food on board, not great but much better than some airline meals I've had,
The seats seemed bigger than British Airways and Delta. They showed a hillarious movie on the way home in subtitles about an Italian family living on an Ostrich farm. They did NOT lose my luggage (That happens to me a lot!) AND...Donny Osmond was on my flight. (in first class, but I chatted with him a little after the flight - did not let on I knew it was him)

cons: You don't get your own tv screen like British Airways or American. A few of the staff took smoke breaks in the bathroom on the sly, then got in trouble for it, but I thought that was more funny than anything. Hardly noticeable. And they showed an irritating 15 minute movie about the new euro twice during each flight in English...then Italian. The "Alitalia magazine" in the magazine pouch didn't do much for me, either.

So those are all the pros and cons I can think of. If it is cheaper, that is the biggest pro of all. good luck!

Lufthansa has a 2 for 1 deal for Europe. I called them last night. From San francisco to Madrid via Frunkfurt is a total of $856 for 2 people. 656 airfare + 100 taxes + 100 taxes on the free ticket. $428 person is a great deal. Travel needs to be completed by March 24. If flying solo, I reccomend KLM. SFO to Madrid is $509 including taxes, plus double frequent flyer miles. That's 26,000 miles. "Las Fallas" here I come......

Chicagoan, I'd say seeing Donny Osmond on the flight should go into the con category! Do any of you get Star World? They've been running commercials for Joseph and the amazing technicolor dream coat nonstop for two weeks! Yikes, two weeks of Donny singing is enough to keep me from watching tv.

Haha! I was going to say that it might be a "con",to some people, sepending on your taste in bad 1970s shows. This is the second time I've met a "b grade" celebrity over Thanksgiving. Last year I met Sammy Sosa (the cubs baseball player) in Madrid near the Prado. My boyfriend and I had our picture taken with him. He was super nice.