The WORST airline ALITALIA
Let's talk about how bad they are. Everyone should know that when you check in you luggage, you can say good bye to it, as you might not see it ever again. How many of you had lost luggage with Alitalia? They are useless and don't care at all. If you get your luggage, how much of your stuff is still there? Most of them are missing.
Monica
Miami, Fl USA 7/31/07
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I just had both my 2 pieces of luggage lost by the crapy Alitalia, I got one the day after, but the 2nd one was lost for many days. When I finaly got my luggage, many items were missing from my luggage. I heard so many storries on lost luggage with Alitalia, I will NEVER fly with them again. Some people got only a few clothes items back in plastic bags.... it is that bad with them. You never know what will happen at the other end. They are absolutly usless.
I would be careful as well because they are currently losing 1 million euros a day and there is a slight possibility of liquidation and collapse. See http://www.forbes.com/markets/2007/07/24/alitalia-klm-bid-markets-equity-cx_vr_0724markets17.html.
hence the reason to travel with just a carry-on bag, just like every person on a Rick Steves tour does. They can't lose your luggage if they never had it.
you can't really travel just with a carry-on if you go somewhere for 2 months. WHen you check in your luggage, you expect to have it back. Am I right?
Monica..my daughter and I traveled 8 weeks in 8 countries. We each had a Rick Steves' 21" Roll Aboard and each had a day back pack. It can be done. We took 4 sets of clothes each and 2 pairs of shoes.
We mailed packages home approximately once a week. My daughter changed out her clothes several times during the trip. Purchasing new clothes and sending others home.
We did our laundry at least every 3 days in the sinks of the hostels or hotels. We took 2 gallon zip lock bags and used those in hostels.
One would be surprise at the complete list of items we took with us.
I even took 4 plastic clothes hangers and clothes pins along with 2 of Rick Steves' stretch clothes lines.
9 pounds of camera equiptment, batteries, PHD, etc.
We were fully loaded but managed. LOL
I always travel carry-on. I've taken trips to Europe 3-8 weeks long all with about 18# on my back, bag plus all contents. It is indeed doable, but for many it would require a shift in perspective. Only a few changes of clothing, with frequent washing-by-hand is what works for me.
you CAN travel for two months+ with only a carrty on! it's a wonderful experience and i suggest that you give it a try sometime...
i'm sorry to hear about your lost luggage though, i guess i'll stay away from alitalia.
:))) thanks JB for your feedback... sounds a lot of adventure...:))) I'll might try that one day. But in the mean time, I'lll just stay away from ALitalia. hahahaha
As you may have heard of Alitalia are in SERIOUS economical trouble and today was meant to be d-day about their future. Their brand new chairman of the board has already quit his job, the EU have ordered the Italian government to not put any more money into the airline which the Prodi administration as also agreed to. The final date about whether or not the airline will be dissolved is now Aug 30th. Should no investor come up by the end of this month it'll be Ciao Alitalia.
Alitalia isn't the worse airline, but they rank high. I have heard Iberia has problems too. It really is the luck of the travler when you go on vacation.
As for 2 months and not able to use a carry on? Monica, you're talking to Rick Steves fanatics!! Of course it is possible to travel for 2 months with a 20 inch suitcase and a backpack.
Its really up to what you feel you NEED to take with you. If you are the type of lady who needs to bring everything plus your kitchen sink, then carry on only is not for you. IF you're willing to pack light, mix n match, and do washing while on vacation, it is possible to carry everything.
Oh my gosh!!! I had no idea that this was happening to Alitalia. nor did I know that they were on the verge of collapse. We are traveling via Air France to Paris and then to Rome via Alitalia in early october. What the heck are we suppose to do now?
They lost my husband's suitcase and my suitcase. They didn't deliver it to our hotel -- we had to trek back to the airport and dig through the PILES of luggage to find it.
Not only that, but after we booked the flights they cancelled the flights we were on and rebooked us on different flights. I should have listened to my gut and gotten new tickets (this was a few years back), but I was assured that it would be unneccessary, all I would need was the new printout with the changes along with the old tickets.
Worked fine on the way to Rome, but on the way home they insisted that since we had made flight changes (from flights that no longer existed) we would have to pay $75/person per leg of the trip to change the tickets. Nothing we said would change their minds, so we paid the fees so we could get home! When the credit card bill arrived we found they had charged $150/person/leg! We disputed it w/ expedia and they managed to get the money back for us about 6 months late
Alitalia haven't lost my luggage but have been late every time I have flown with them in the last 2 years. I suppose the staff morale is not great if the airline is in such trouble. Not sure I'd be highly motivated. There is also the airline ONE which I have flown a couple of times when in Italy and it was fine. Think I'll definately use them when there next year.
Wow... I just called Air France to see if I could change my Paris to Rome leg of our travels from the Alitalia flights. They said it would cost $200 per person to do that, plus any difference in the airfare. I guess we are going to have to take our chances and try to not check bags... I'm not sure this is going to be possible...
A big thank you to all of you that replied to this, at least people will know how bad they are and avoid this kind of issues like some of us had. I cancelled my return flight back with Alitalia to Europe and book another one with a different line. I prefer to loose some money here instead of having my entire luggage lost.
I'm really worried now. For our honeymoon, I booked our flights on Alitalia and don't think we can cancel now w/o paying a hefty fine. Are there really more negative experiences than postive experiences?
I had a positive expereince on Alitalia originating in Toronto with non-stop service to Rome (and back). I didn't check my luggage, so perhaps that's part of the reason I didn't have problems, but the flights were on time and the service was acceptable.
Sue, as long as you are not flying to or from Rome, you might be fine... not sure what to say as it is very hard to say something like this after what happened to me. But I did heard that most of the bad things happen in Rome... or don't check your luggage... but if you go on your honeymoon, I assume you have "some" clothes... by the way, Congrats.
unfortunately, we are flying into and out of rome. i can probably tolerate bad service but based on all the reviews, i can't tolerate lost luggage. i think we are going to plan to carry on our luggage.
Sue, we are going to do carry on only as well. We too are flying in and out of Rome. I was really worried at first too, but now I think we'll be ok... as long as we don't check anything.
If you can travel with only carry on... go ahead... best solution is not to check in luggage with Alitalia and don't eat on the plane. Last time I got an expired sandwich... the answer I got from the attendant when I brought this to his attention was "don't eat it if you don't want".... nice service, right? They are by far the WORST!!!
I spent two weeks in Italy this summer followed by 6 days in Florida for a business conference and managed quite nicely with carry-on only.
However, I wouldn't have been able to do that if I'd been flying Alitalia since their weight restriction for carry-on is only 5 kgs! What's that... like 11 pounds or so? Sorry, but my bag weighed 18 lbs when I started the trip.
Monica, I'm with you. I can't travel with only a carry on for a long trip. I couldn't even travel for one week with only a carry-on! My husband and the two other men we traveled with didn't even do that. I don't feel like hand washing clothes in the sink makes the clothes quite as clean as a wash machine. We sweat so much sightseeing everyday that we couldn't have handwashed all the clothes that we soiled. Plus, we weren't in each hotel room long enough to let the clothes dry. I prefer to fly with an airline with a good reputation and just see my luggage on the conveyor belt on the other side...
Amy... we are definetly on the same page... can't do that either. For all those that can't just travel with a carry on... STAY AWAY from ALITALIA if you still want your luggage.
I just flew Alitalia from Rome to Boston and had a perfectly fine experience all around, and my luggage came out just fine and quickly. I think the problems may be exacerbated when people have flight connections and whatnot, but they are not ALWAYS bad. The plane was new, modern, comfortable, the food was pretty good for a plane (got 2 meals), the flight attendants were nice as can be and I had no problems with my luggage. I feel terribly that so many people have had a bad experience with them but I just felt like I should post my positive experience as well so that people know they are not ALWAYS bad.
Lucky you Debra... one good experience and soooo many bad ones.... I'm sure you see my point. For those ones that had really terrible times with Alitalia, it's very difficult to see or understand the nice part.
I have been curious to see if Alitalia will still be trading after talk of the financial difficulties and 'd day' anouncement. I have just read on their website that their implimented 'plan for survival/transition' ( love that name) is on track and they will be OK for the next 12 months. Didn't read it all but losses weren't as bad as anticipated and customer numbers are up.
Flying with British Airways where you're only allowed ONE carry-on per person is challenging, and we can't meet the challenge. We each have a rolling bag and a small backpack/tote bag; will check the rollers and keep medications, extra glasses, clean undies, snacks, books in the carry-ons. We've never had a prob w/ BA and luggage before and hope this time (we leave 10/4) will also be fine.
Just flew Air France from Philadelphia and had to change planes for Rome. The plane ran late and Air France did great getting us in our Rome flight just before they closed the doors. Our luggage did not make it. After watching for our bags in Rome, my husband went to Air France and they said it would be delivered that night to our hotel. Air France called our hotel and said it would be arriving the next evening seperately on 2 different Alitalia Flights. Our bags did show up, but my favorite rain jacket was missing and it was the last thing I packed inside my luggage. The bag zipper was secured shut with an Alitalia wire tag. I really could have used my rain coat the last week of our trip when it poured in Venice and was cold. Even though I traveled Air France, my luggage went Alitalia from Paris to Rome and things we taken.
Hello Marie... this is just "normal" for Alitalia. If you read the rest of the stories, you will see, this happened to me as well. Few things were missing from my luggage but, to be honest, I was happy to get the rest of my stuff and not have the entire luggage lost forever. This is just Alitalia, in Rome or Milano, items from luggage will always go missing... unfortunately... That's the reason why I will NEVER fly Alitalia again.
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