As I’ve written about before, discounted premium fares between major cities in, say, Europe and Asia are less common than premium fares between more obscure cities.
You may be flying on a good carrier between two continents, but neither origin or destination may be where you actually want to go.
So it’s awesome to see excellent fares on an airline with a great product between Paris, France, and Tokyo, Japan.
Right now there are return business class fares on Alitalia (via Rome) for as low as €1,623 / $1,854 per person.
The shorter European leg between Paris and Rome is on their short haul A320 with an underwhelming business class product, but the much longer leg between Rome and Tokyo is on their flagship product, which Ben reviewed here, noting how excellent the food was.
As Alitalia is a member of SkyTeam, you can credit these “I” class fares to various SkyTeam loyalty programs. This routing is almost 14,000 miles flown, which will credit as (you can find full details on wheretocredit.com):
- 200% RDMs in Flying Blue (Air France/KLM’s program),
- 125% in Korean SkyPass,
- A massive 300% in Etihad Guest and 200% in Delta SkyMiles.
So if it were me, I’d be crediting to Etihad Guest.
There are some Etihad business class fares floating around for a similar price, however they involve an awkward three stop return journey via Nagoya, Beijing and then Abu Dhabi.
So although Etihad may offer a slightly better product, I think the neat, easy Alitalia itinerary is better for most travellers.
Bottom line
Alitalia is an airline we don’t regularly hear about, unless it is for their financial problems.
But they do still continue to operate a decent long-haul network (and I would be comfortable booking these flights into the future, though you may want to book through an Online Travel Agency like Priceline for potential extra support), and offer an excellent long haul product.
Have you flown Alitalia?
Alitalia... hardest of passes
Alitalia has a very good business class product on their retrofit 330s and 777s. It's not "excellent" for quite a lot of minor reasons, but still a VERY good product. The lie flat seats are a bit dated but still very comfortable and offering great privacy (and 1-2-1 config), cabin crew service is a bit inconsistent but in most occasions is quite good: Friendly, relaxed, happy to be here and proud to introduce their new...
Alitalia has a very good business class product on their retrofit 330s and 777s. It's not "excellent" for quite a lot of minor reasons, but still a VERY good product. The lie flat seats are a bit dated but still very comfortable and offering great privacy (and 1-2-1 config), cabin crew service is a bit inconsistent but in most occasions is quite good: Friendly, relaxed, happy to be here and proud to introduce their new catering options, catering as mentioned is good and except for the occasional lazy-looking crew member, it really doesn't feel like you're flying on an airline that's on the verge of bankruptcy. Most of the crews I interacted with seemed really happy flying with Alitalia, discussing their product, new routes etc. Plus they credit 200% miles to FlyingBlue even in the most discounted business fare class and their newer Magnifica long-haul lounges in Milano and Roma have amazing food! Overall I think the Alitalia long haul product is really under-rated, it's actually really solid!
Another tip: They quite often have very good Business fares from Seoul to Paris, as low as c. 1500 euros return.
Just flew Alitalia premium economy between GIG-FCO-VCE rtn. Nice seats...rude crew. Big delay and no comunications to the affected passengers. Will think about its competitors next time.
A more important question than have you flown Alitalia is:
Will you ever fly Alitalia, given the current financial situation they are in?
I suspect there is a greater than 50-50 chance you may never fly the ticket you booked.
Just got the Lupe Fiasco song "Paris, Tokyo" stuck in my head reading this.