To kick off my four flights across the Atlantic, I flew ITA Airways' Airbus A350 business class from Miami to Rome. ITA is the successor of Alitalia, and is an airline that has intrigued my endlessly since it launched in October 2021. I came into the flight with low expectations, and was very pleasantly surprised.…
Continue reading: Review: ITA Airways Business Class A350 (MIA-FCO)
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This looks very nice, I would definitely give this a try if I had the opportunity.
One very minor nitpick--it's probably not a croissant, but a cornetto, which is the Italian version of a croissant that differs slightly in composition from a croissant.
ITA's business class is indeed bland in appearance, but the catering and on board service is top notch. The carrier is unprofitable and so likely, funding for higher end touches in the cabin simply weren't there.
Your comments about Italians clapping on landing, lining up for boarding, are tiresome, thinly veiled cliches and part of what makes this blog frankly, insufferable and subpar compared to others at times.
@ shoeguy -- Sorry, what? Thinly veiled cliches? As you can tell, my trip report installments are very detailed, and I share the things that I notice. That includes things that stand out about passengers. I'm sharing my observations... nothing more, nothing less. I'm genuinely asking if this is common flights to Italy, because it's something I haven't previously consistently noticed.
Sorry if that this makes my site insufferable and subpar to you. Ouch.
However, I missed another typically Italian phenomenon, which is 27 pieces of carry-on luggage per passenger.
@ Shoe guy - on Italian carriers, many Italians clap upon landing and line up at the gate, even today. I’ve seen it through decades of travel there.
I can’t count the times an airline blogger has said they flew the best whatever class. ITA is a little too quirky to be this good and the service and hard product are not consistent I have found. They still when me over & I have much hope for ITA. They just have to polish up their service and hard product with consistency. Thanks for your review. I enjoy your posts.
The "brewed coffee" looks suspiciously like instant coffee - due to the way aircraft water systems are pressured there's a lot of air in the water when dispensed, which when mixed with instant coffee granules gives that telltale foam on top. (Of course, there are perfectly palatable high quality instant coffees and I doubt an Italian airline would scrimp on this in business class).
@TP - I flew Ita twice last fall on TATL flights in J Class and both times my cappuccino was NOT instant but fully brewed. Not sure how you can analyze that the presence of foam on top of a cappuccino is a telltale sign of instant coffee since the milk of a cappuccino is streamed, creating foam. In any event, my flights had a small, fully automatic espresso machine in the galley.
There is a lot of clapping upon arrival when flying to Puerto Rico as well. Happens on more than half the flights I have been on, especially if there is turbulence...
Tbh I think Lufthansa taking over ITA will be bad for consumers and lead to higher fares. This is an issue for us personally as we use them a lot to short-haul to visit family - generally prices have been quite decent since they launched for a non-low cost carrier, but in my experience whenever Lufthansa takeover they hike prices. Also to some parts of Italy particularly in the summer Lufthansa group airlines compete with ITA currently with 1 stop flights - we're flying with Swiss in June as they worked out cheaper through Zürich, but if Lufthansa take over ITA you won't see theme competing anymore.
Never experienced clapping on an Alitalia flight (which, even pre-ITA I always found very pleasant - stellar food, loved the Poltrona Frau seats) - I did notice it was common on flights in Argentina
I recall flying to Jamaica when I was younger and the passengers applauded when we landed. Didn't find this odd. Haven't been back in years so not sure if this still happens. Never had this experience on any other flights.
Ben wrote that this was a regular coffee, NOT a cappuccino as their machine wasn’t working.
Just a question - I have ITA Executive which makes me Skyteam Elite + but for some reason only Delta has no idea how to enter it in the system as 2 years. Does anyone else have this issue? If not what is the proper way for them to enter and recognize status?
This happens to me whenever I book a DL flight via delta.com. My itinerary won’t let me attach/show my Virgin Atlantic number or status. I can attach it to the itinerary via the mobile app, though. You could try that approach.
Enjoy the current good product offering while it lasts, because if LH Group takes over ITA, it's all downhill from there. Everything LH touches turns to shi*
Mia-Fco is the only trans Atlantic route that is 1:1 summer - winter in terms of passengers
Great review, cabin looks a bit like Iberia to me. Overall, minus the bad food, service and attitudes of Iberia FA's lol.
Food isn't an issue for us, as we generally fly economy in short-haul, and most carriers don't give anything but a small snack at most if anything at all. European short-haul business is pointless due to the same economy seating but with blocked middle seat and the food doesn't make up for that so I never bother.
The dinner offerings are surprisingly meagre, with just 2 mains, with the exact same vegetables served with each.
The fresh fruit platter features in both meals as well an in in-between snacks.
Nothing wrong with any of that, as it all seems like high quality, accompanied by an imaginitive (but again, small) wine list.
I guess the average American long accustomed to quanity over quality might find it all a bit baffling.
ITA is a bit of an anomaly at SkyTeam atm, no reciprocal benefits given to ITA status holders although ITA is giving it to status holders with other SkyTeam airlines. It's a bit disappointing as it would have been useful flying with KLM in particular for us but tbh I got their top tier through the status match a while back rather than earning it through them I guess, so perhaps expected...
KLM and Air France have accepted ITA status for lounge access etc. It is only Delta that doesn't integrate. However, ITA is fully listed as a Skyteam Member on the websites and in documentation.
Do you have direct experience of this cow? I've heard a lot people say this hasn't been honoured when flying KLM or Air France.
With the likely purchase by LH (haven't they learnt with their Alitalia involvement and their attempts at going solo in Malpensa ?), ITA is an almost sure loss (?) for Skyteam and an almost sure gain (? again) for Star. Why would partners extend courtesies which will, at best, be short lived (and at worst disappearing with the airline) ? Alitalia is toxic, and will remain Alitalia under any dba name.
Clapping is also common on flights to parts of Mexico and happens on almost every flight to Havana, Cuba.
It is a polite way for passengers to express gratitude to the pilots, crew and god for safe travel.
Any idea how many points from North America to Italy? I'm interested in a RT flight from LAX to Milan.
Thanks!
@EK_engineer, true you're right but at least LH is profitable
and Ben, yes, clapping is the most italian thing to do upon arrival.
In your defense, I am Italian, and the Italians are the worse gate crashers of europe.
you can now redeem flying blue miles for it i found it at 70000 miles from jfk to rome