Traveling to Rome in June for our first vacation in Italy.
Our options are either Alitalia non stop from LAX to Rome or another airline with 1 stop. ( 1 or 2 hours layover in PHL or 1 or 2 hours connection in Europe ).
Alitalia non stop would be our first pick but we noticed many negative reviews on Alitalia. Also we want an airline that assigns seats when you buy your tickets online.
Thank you
Alitalia code shares with Delta so it is possible that it is a Delta flight. We booked Delta a couple of years but actually flew on Alitalia to Rome. We had the same reservations you have because of what we had also read elsewhere. However, it was one of better coach flights that we have had in recent years. I would have no reservations about flying on Alitalia again. Second, the Phil airport is on our black list. Our worst airports experiences have been the three times connecting through Phi. Slow learners but we will never even book another flight that connects through Phil.
All airlines will assigns seats when booking on line but sometimes you have to pay. That is just the name of the game these days. You want service - you pay for it.
We returned from Rome to LAX (nonstop) on Alitalia and had a great flight and would not hesitate to do it again. The flight was right on time and the food was surprisingly good for airline food. We had twice the leg room compared to our KLM flight to Amsterdam. The only negative thing I could say about the Alitalia flight was the boarding process. They did not board by row number. Everyone just got on the plane when they opened the doors. We did have assigned seats on Alitalia.
I would always opt for the non-stop. All flying is miserable and I just like to get it over with. And one other note - "1 or 2 hours" is really not enough for a layover, so you should book a longer layover if you go with that plan.
Valeria raised a good point. A short layover in the US would be do able but not in Europe. Depending on where you land in Europe for the layover, you may have to go through immigration before your connecting flight. If you land in any of the Schengen zone countries you would go through immigration prior to connecting and that can take an hour or two depending on the number of other flights arriving at or near the same time.
The best way to fly is by plane.
Alitalia non stop is your best option.
Negative reviews were posted by Russian hackers who are trying to gain customers for Aeroflot.
