Are there Airlines NOT to Fly? NYC to Italy

Hi Jay. It depends on your priorities; you will get many different opinions on this. Best wine / meals? Seat room? Chance of delay? pleasant flight attendants? FF miles? etc.... For me, the priority is that they get me safely from point A to point B, and all airlines flying from US to Europe are very safe, so I usually just go by a combination of price and convenient times / connections. What are the factors that are most important /show stoppers for you....?

Bob, My only real concern is a safe flight and not being cancelled.
USAir, Luftansia, and IlItalia have popped up for good rates. (excuse spellling errors).

Alitalia, lots of probs , delays, cancellations.

Previous post is correct about Alitalia. What airport are you leaving from? We liked Continental out of Newark, saved us going to JFK which is a big factor. I think they fly to several sites in Italy.

I would stick with a USA based airline (Continental, Delta, AA). I flew AA and was satisfied.

Just curious, Devon....why would you stick with a US based carrier?

Just flew to Italy from Newark, NJ two weeks ago ('open jaws') and had a very good experience with United/Continental and Lufthansa. Outbound flights: Newark to Frankfurt (United/Continental); then Frankfurt to Florence (Lufthansa; Embrair regional jet). Our return flight was non-stop Milan to Newark (United/Continental). No glitches, no lost luggage, flights were on time, stewards/stewardesses were nice (no grumps), planes were clean and relaively roomy in coach (I've had less room on other airlines). Food was, well, airline food. Overall, one of our best flight experiences in 20 years of travelling to Europe.

I recommend that you fly on a US carrier. If you have to cancel your trip, a US carrier will allow you to use the value of your tickets if you rebook within a year. A non-US Carrier will not, so if you book a non-US carrier, be sure to get travel insurance which allows you to cancel for any reason. We experienced this problem with Alitalia last year, and are booked this year on Delta for this very reason.

I flew out of Boston so I am not sure what your NYC options are for Italy but I would avoid KLM. I am on day 3 without my luggage and every time I call to check on the status I get a different answer as to where and when it will arrive. Yesterday a private delivery service was to deliver it today. This evening when I called because it had still not arrive I was told it may still be in Amsterdam. Apparently KLM contracts out lost luggage issues to Alitalia who have been less than helpful. I understand luggage will sometimes be lost but it is how the Airline deals with the issue that makes all the difference. So far I have not been impressed with either KLM or Alitalia. I had flew with a layover in Amsterdam to save money. My advice would be to pay the extra money to fly direct and avoid KLM or Alitalia. I have already spent more than the money I saved flying with a layover on clothes and necessities to get me through the last couple of days. So my advice would be to fly direct and avoid KLM and Alitalia.

We just returned from a trip to Italy flying Swiss airlines, It was excellent-food,service, comfort and they always answered my e-mails within 8-10 hours. In the last few years, I have flown Thai, LAN and Swiss with enjoyable experiences, much more than I can say for the hell US airlines have put us through,generally involving O'hare, but other cities as well. They just don't seem to care much other than moving you out of their immediate area of concern. If you're worried about flight cancellations with any carrier-get flight insurance and a good credit card. Making plans for Italy, I avoided the cheapest two airlines-Air Lingus and Aeroflot, partly because they had LONG layovers and partly because I didn't feel comfortable with their safety and security measures,but that may just be a personal prejudice.

Last year, we flew into Frankfort on United, from the West Coast, then Lufthansa to Rome. Lufthansa lost our luggage. It never made the connection in Frankfort and we were without a change of clothes for three days. We still use Lufthansa (we did this year), but this incident kind of sticks in the back of your mind.

We don't check bags so we can avoid the whole lost luggage issue and waiting for the bags to come through. Another plus that we discovered is that when you return to the US (at least in Seattle) there's a much faster line you can go through right after customs. Those with checked baggage had to have it scanned or something. We just sailed past them. As for the original question, we enjoyed Alitalia so much this past May (JFK to Rome nonstop) that I would go out of my way to try to fly them again. YMMV, of course.

Last month I flew into Italy from JFK on Delta, and returned on Alitalia. The food and service were better on Alitalia. I would think twice before flying Aer Lingus again. They lost our luggage and changing planes in Dublin was a nightmare. Nice flight otherwise.

Found this question interesting as I just booked my flights for my 1st trip to Italy (so cannot comment on airlines). Other than, in general, I do what I can to avoid Delta. I am flying over with Air France and returning with KLM. Will let you know how it goes.

Avoid US Airways - they're cheap for a reason.

I think you will find that every airline has it's detractors and it's champions. Any flight or airline can have problems, it is a rare enough occurrence that it is chance. My strategy has always been to go with the best value, the one that gets me there for the lowest price and on the schedule I want. Keep in mind that there are also alliances, so the Delta flight you book may actually be on Air France or KLM and vice-versa. Do what works for your itinerary and not worry so much about the airline.

If you fly on a NON-US-based airline your foreign vacation will start as soon as you take off. You'll enjoy somewhat different food, hear foreign language spoken and perhaps meet a few more Europeans. It's my favorite way to fly to Europe.

I was a crazy researcher and found a fantastic deal, nonstop Chicago to Rome on Alitalia. Then found all kinds of stories on the airline because of past financial troubles. Still, everyone said that was old news and I booked it. And I'm glad I did. The flight was perfect. And $800 less that similar flights on American or United. Can't say you'll have a good flight. Even the best can have trouble. That's just luck. And check before you pack, the carry=on rules are way different internationally than in the US. Count on checking even a small bag. I had planned that we would check nothing, but those rules made us check even the smallest roller bag. Alitalia didn't charge us at least! Good luck>

Avoid United/Continental... We froze!!! Steward finally admitted there was a problem with the heating system. Also, the most cramped seating! They actually try to sell you seats with "up to" an extra 5 inches of leg room for $50+ before you board.

I am not sure what Victoria is talking about re: only US-based airlines allowing you to use value of tickets if you have to cancel/make a change. I travel extensively internationally for business and vacations, and it entirely depends on the terms (booking class) of the ticket, not the nationality of the carrier. It simply isn't true that non-US carriers won't allow this. Have done it before on British Airways and Virgin Atlantic, for example. Inter-carrier connections can be problematic, even within alliances. On our journey back from Florence to SFO at the weekend, Lufthansa failed to check us in for the United leg in Florence (so we lost our Frankfurt-SFO seat reservations and came very close to being denied boarding), and also lost one bag out of 4 at Frankfurt. Yet on the way out (same mix of carriers) we had no problems -- but our lay-over was twice as long. The net? The fewer connections you have, and the more time you allow (3 hours on the way out vs. 1.5 hours on the return) they better.