Originally Posted by Derrico
As a fairly seasoned AZ flyer, what is the typical configuration on the Alitalia A321? Is it a good business class? I have a Milan flight approaching, and I wondered what the setup would be. I tried calling Alitalia to setup my seats, however they were fairly dismissive. The girl suggested that everyone is assigned seats at the airport? Is that true?
AZ 'Prima' on A321 will be 2-3 configured (middle seat on left becomes a gap between the arm rests; right hand group of three widens slightly). You definitely want an A or C seat (depending on whether you're a window or aisle person). Pitch is probably about 32-33" and practically indistinguishable from economy.
As far as I'm concerned, there's nothing to prefer on the A321 against the MD-80. The A321 is noisier and the seats are worse.
On short-haul, AZ doesn't pre-allocate seats; it's done on the day of travel at the airport as far as I can tell.