- Introduction: Good Morning Milan, Goodnight Moon
- Emirates A380 First Class With Dad: So Fun That I Needed A Day To Recover
- My Furious Emirates First Class Seat Mate: Fair Feedback, Unfair Delivery
- Emirates First Class Menu & Food: Fine Dining, Or Just Fine?
- Review: Park Hyatt Milan, Italy (Stellar, Central Hotel, But Missing Desks)
- Drinking Buy On Board Espresso In Air Dolomiti Economy…
- Review: Falkenstein Grand Koenigstein, Marriott Autograph Collection (Unique!)
- Review: Villa Rothschild Koenigstein, Marriott Autograph Collection (Cute!)
- Ugh: Misdirected Delay Frustration In The Lufthansa First Class Terminal
- Am I A Lufthansa Fanboy Or Hater? Let Me Set The Record Straight…
- Review: Goodnight Moon Suite At Sheraton Boston (INCREDIBLE!)
- Review: Four Seasons Philadelphia (One Of The Best US City Hotels)
- Review: Chase Sapphire Lounge Philadelphia Airport (PHL)
- Review: American Flagship Lounge Philadelphia Airport (PHL)
- American Airlines’ Culture Problem: From Awful To Amazing In 20 Minutes
During our Good Morning Milan, Goodnight Moon trip, my dad and I flew Air Dolomiti economy from Milan (LIN) to Frankfurt (FRA). I redeemed points at the last minute, as this was the most convenient flight, and there was no business class award availability.
For those not familiar, Air Dolomiti is the Italian Lufthansa Group airline that operates Embraers, primarily on behalf of Lufthansa. It’s not to be confused with ITA Airways, which is now also part of the Lufthansa Group.
I won’t be fully reviewing this hour-long flight, since you can imagine what the experience was like. We got on a bus from the terminal to the plane. The plane took off. They sold us things, with endless announcements in three languages. The plane landed. We got on a bus from the plane to the terminal. However, I did want to talk about the one unique aspect of Air Dolomiti, which you won’t consistently find on any other airline.
In this post:
Air Dolomiti sells espresso in economy!
Italians love their espresso. And their cappuccinos… unless it’s not the morning, in which case they make fun of you for drinking cappuccino, and call you a bambino (or maybe that’s just my experience?).
Anyway, in 2022, Air Dolomiti introduced a cool feature, as the airline installed espresso machines on its Embraer planes. I had reviewed Air Dolomiti business class before, where they serve you espresso in a proper ceramic espresso cup… that’s certainly a nice feature, though in fairness, it’s also something you’ll find in ITA Airways business class.
However, here’s something that I find even more interesting — Air Dolomiti also has buy on board espresso in economy. In line with Lufthansa’s service, the airline typically just offers a bottle of water, a refreshing towel, and a chocolate, on a complimentary basis, with everything else available for purchase.
The selection available for purchase is more or less what you’d expect, with one exception — the airline sells espresso for €3.
So I couldn’t help but order this, for the novelty, if nothing else (I mean, I can also always use a caffeine hit when traveling!). After my credit card payment was accepted, the flight attendant went to the forward galley with a paper espresso cup.
The flight attendant continued her economy service, and the lead flight attendant (working business class) prepared the espresso, and then brought it back to me. I wasn’t the only one who purchased espresso — I noticed at least a handful of other people ordering that, so I guess it’s a thing that people appreciate.
I believe that Air Dolomiti is the only airline in the world to consistently serve espresso in economy (even if it’s available for purchase). I know that several months back Eurowings was trialing an inflight coffee cart with espresso, but I’m not sure if that trial is still going on.
Air Dolomiti is a pleasure to fly in general!
I’ve gotta say, I’m a big fan of the Air Dolomiti experience, and would choose it any day over a Lufthansa mainline aircraft, especially on these short flights in Europe:
- The 2-2 economy configuration is great, as there are no middle seats, and the legroom isn’t bad either
- The total aircraft capacity is a bit lower, so boarding and deplaning is a little faster than on a mainline aircraft
- I found the crew to be super friendly, and everything operated on schedule
Sure, there are no power ports or Wi-Fi, but Air Dolomiti is primarily operating short flights of around an hour (sometimes even shorter), so those are amenities that don’t matter much. For that matter, in line with the carrier’s name, you typically have some pretty spectacular views when flying with the airline, over the Dolomites.
Bottom line
Lufthansa Group carrier Air Dolomiti sells espresso in economy, making it (to my knowledge) the only airline in the world to consistently offer that. Okay, paying €3 for espresso on an airplane is hardly the most exciting thing on earth. Either way, I appreciate the way the Italian Lufthansa Group carrier embraces its roots, and I always like to highlight unique airline service offerings.
Perhaps the best aspect of this is the ability to be served espresso in business class on a complimentary basis in a proper espresso cup, but even in economy, I’ll take it!
I flew with Air Dolimiti last month, Frankfurt to Florence.
The flight was fine and nothing memorable.
But my gripe is that I bought a Lufthansa ticket from LHR to FRA to Florence, the first leg on Lufthansa and the second on Dolomiti.
The first flight was delayed with the connection less than an hour (lesson learned never to do that again). As a result, had an 8 hour layover at Frankfurt.
But, even...
I flew with Air Dolimiti last month, Frankfurt to Florence.
The flight was fine and nothing memorable.
But my gripe is that I bought a Lufthansa ticket from LHR to FRA to Florence, the first leg on Lufthansa and the second on Dolomiti.
The first flight was delayed with the connection less than an hour (lesson learned never to do that again). As a result, had an 8 hour layover at Frankfurt.
But, even though I'm Star Alliance Gold, I was denied lounge entry as Lufthansa doesn't recognise Air Dolimiti and claim to have no link together!
Complete rip off and not mentioned when booking the ticket.
Be warned.
They have a link, you'd get in as a SEN. It's just that your own FFP wouldn't pay for accessing the lounge when flying with a non-*A carrier. It's not good, but it's hardly surprising. What's even worse is that the flights earn no miles on most partner schemes, even if you're on a very expensive fare.
@Mike...the situation in Italy with coffee (or 'caffe' as they say) has changed a lot. The old 'rules' about cappuccino only in the morning are gone. My Italian kids order that drink in the afternoons, and the locals don't even blink, much less squirm in abject horror. For sure, most cappuccino gets drunk in the morning; but as a local, you can enjoy it any time of the day without getting side-eye..It surprises me this...
@Mike...the situation in Italy with coffee (or 'caffe' as they say) has changed a lot. The old 'rules' about cappuccino only in the morning are gone. My Italian kids order that drink in the afternoons, and the locals don't even blink, much less squirm in abject horror. For sure, most cappuccino gets drunk in the morning; but as a local, you can enjoy it any time of the day without getting side-eye..It surprises me this old tale about cappuccino (and other coffee-based beverages) in Italy still gets thrown around like it was the Gospel. Very similar to tale about dressing well so you can get upgraded to business class.
Provided it’s served alone or with pasticceria. Never after fish. Schifo
What the hell is a Dolomiti?
A simple Google search will answer your question.
Oh sorry, Samo the Sumo. I didn't realize that asking a question was a big issue here that requires a snippy reply. Show some respect.
One thing you did not mention is the how Air Dolomiti consistently runs late and is a problem for Lufthansa. They are notorious for being at least an hour behind schedule already by lunchtime and a huge thorn in the side for Lufthansa.
Do you think Air Dolmiti will stay, or will LH just prefer to keep ITA only?
Lufthansa Group is not exactly known for reducing the amount of different airlines and AOC.
The question is if ITA will stay or if they will move everything to the AOC of „Air Dolomiti“ or „Air Dolomiti City“ or „Air Dolomiti Discover“…
Air Dolomiti isa bit of a scam. It is fully owned by LH, which the latter uses tooperare their routes, but insists on not giving any Star Alliance benefits. Further, that capuccino after lunch tirade has a lot more to do with baristas being lazy, often by the same ones that brutally burn the coffee as is very common in Italy, than with tradition, taste or style. Good coffee places will very gladly make any...
Air Dolomiti isa bit of a scam. It is fully owned by LH, which the latter uses tooperare their routes, but insists on not giving any Star Alliance benefits. Further, that capuccino after lunch tirade has a lot more to do with baristas being lazy, often by the same ones that brutally burn the coffee as is very common in Italy, than with tradition, taste or style. Good coffee places will very gladly make any milk based drink into their closing times as the margins are way higher.
ps. to show their blatant scam, they literally have a plane still flying with the Star Alliance livery and despite showing official registration data, their customer services denied it existed.
Not entirely sure you’re right.
Cappuccino is very common in the morning - are they less lazy then?
The fact of the matter is that for most Italians, having a large milky drink after lunch is not a thing. It may be because Italians are more likely ( or at leas were in the past) to have wine with their lunch, and maybe because in the past the milk would go bad by...
Not entirely sure you’re right.
Cappuccino is very common in the morning - are they less lazy then?
The fact of the matter is that for most Italians, having a large milky drink after lunch is not a thing. It may be because Italians are more likely ( or at leas were in the past) to have wine with their lunch, and maybe because in the past the milk would go bad by lunchtime. Either way, any cafe initaly will gladly offer you a cappuccino at any time, but will know that you are a foreigner
lazy in a sense they are not used to do it in the afternoon, as opposed to the mornings, when is indeed as you rightly say, served often.
I believe it is Starbucks that brutally burns their coffee. In Italy, you can order a caffé macchiato (1:1 coffee to milk) any time of the day without issue, so the baristi will happily froth milk all day. Cappuccino is considered a breakfast drink, as much a meal as it is a coffee. After breakfast, a coffee is quick, hot, and frequent. And if you order a cappuccino after a meal, you're signalling that you're...
I believe it is Starbucks that brutally burns their coffee. In Italy, you can order a caffé macchiato (1:1 coffee to milk) any time of the day without issue, so the baristi will happily froth milk all day. Cappuccino is considered a breakfast drink, as much a meal as it is a coffee. After breakfast, a coffee is quick, hot, and frequent. And if you order a cappuccino after a meal, you're signalling that you're still hungry, which insults the hospitality of your host/restaurateur.
But, sure, most places that serve tourists know that they like their milk and, as nomad points out, overcharge. When they start calling you a big baby is a sign that they like you and think you should know these things. Either adjust your behavior or lean into it and own it.
Absolutely, it is a scam. But LH doesn't care, it's part of their DNA to be a scam.
but was the espresso good?
The only downside to Air Dolomiti is that you're probably looking forward to a bus gate experience whenever you fly them...
Upside if you're an avgeek!
Seriously. Basically 7.50 USD then for half an ounce of coffee.
But he didn’t have to tip 20% :)
3€ is about 3$.
No it’s about $3.50
You do not correct me, liddle Georgey-pordgy!
Actually $3.53 at today's exchange rate.
If you're going to be snippy be accurate, too.
Well, I might suggest that you're paying for all the equipment and labor to get it to you at 25,000 feet above the Alps?
What a moronic comment. Obviously the aircraft is already stocked with Coffee before take-off. Dummy.
Plainly, @Jessica hasn't travelled around that part of Europe at all !
If she did she would know that 3 euros for an espresso was very common.
Not a math wizz either; 3 euros = USD 3.53, not 7.50!
Actually, that would be $3.50.
I remember paying 7 bucks once for a Lavazza at the Guggenheim once haha :D
Hah, I'm sure you appreciate the actual milk too!
Not having WiFi for an hour is a big deal to me - I bill out at over $3,000 an hour
Bull.
And you are probably 120 years old based on your billable hours :+)
Then I'm sure you can find work to do offline for an hour
Well, you'd better go away and make all that fictional money instead of wasting your and our time here with your stupid comments -- I guess we were lucky to experience a sliver of your valuable time!