sportland94

Hi guys,

I have a few questions about the service they may offer and I was guessing this would be the place to ask this is full of people in the know, and im sure a good few of you have experienced it for yourself. The frustrating thing about AZ is, unlike BA where there is a flurry of info available online, there is absolutely nothing to be found on AZ biz online.

Firstly, which lounge would you recommend I go in at LHR, Etihad, or the Skyteam lounge?
Secondly, what will the meal services be like, I am flying out on a 7am departure, and flying back on a 9pm departure.
Finally, if any of you have experienced AZ Business recently, how would you compare them to the likes of BA CE and AF Business??


Thanks!

Air Rarotonga

Are you sure?
https://www.alitalia.com/en_us/fly-a...dium-haul.html

Both lounges were OK, the EY Lounge maybe a little better, but it can be crowded. With a 7am departure it should be no problem.

Check the above link. Outbound probably a hot breakfast and in the evening a dinner with meat or pasta (if flown by Airbus / not EMB Cityline). Pictures below dinner and breakfast FCO-CAI-FCO.

I perfer AZ over BA, but the taste of each person is different! Seat pitch is also better on AZ than BA.

SkyTeam777

So just a quick, one-tray service FCO-CAI?

AlicorporateUK

Indeed. Bear in mind that the quality of the standard meals is not brilliant (and it had improved significantly under EY, with a wider choice amongst other things), I would therefore request a special meal beforehand (I normally go for the seafood meal and quite happy with it).

G

Xandrios

That's a great tip (And I now remember that you suggested that to me earlier too).

Should one call to select a special meal, or can it be done online? I did not find any reference to the meal selection at the "My flights" section of the website.

AlicorporateUK

Hi, Xandrios.

I would normally do this during the booking process however I recently got a reservation through from our corporate travel agent and had to call to make sure that it was added as I was also unable to amend the booking on-line - whether that was because of the corporate travel agent je ne sais pas (FYI - there won't be any mention on the boarding pass, though). So far, I've only tried the seafood but the other day one of the flight assistants suggested I'd try the Asian meal (I will do so this coming Wednesday).

Again, nothing really to get excited about but definitely better than the 6000 calories' lasagne/tortelloni. Also, make sure to request a nice shot of limoncello after your cup of coffee

G

Xandrios

Thanks G!

I'll be at the airport tomorrow so ill try the ticket desk there - perhaps they will be able to add it to my booking. Please do let us know how the Asian option works out for you, I'd be very curious to try that too

I'm familiar with the limoncello as they brought out a cart with spirits (or was it just the limoncello?) on some of my earlier flights with them. Not my favorite drink, but still very nice after a heavy meal

Now that we are talking about it I looked up some pics from the regular meals (I have the strange habit of taking pictures of most of the airline meals I encounter)... which may also be of use to the OP of this thread.

Lunch
http://upload.xandrios.net/153901897...CCFE29752.jpeg

Digestive
http://upload.xandrios.net/153901904...F5FD94C83.jpeg

Breakfast
http://upload.xandrios.net/153901912...232C59313.jpeg

AlicorporateUK

AlicorporateUK

NickB

Main dish looks fine and salad OK but why is it that special meal desserts on most airlines are almost invariably dreadfully boring (typically a few pieces of fruit with little taste to them as some kind of mousse, jelly or similar concoction that you have never come across since you moved form eating liquids to solids as a child?

AlicorporateUK

Ha, you made me chuckle there, Nick It seems that the somewhat distorted assumption [from an airline's perspective] is that, by requesting a special meal (fish, in this particular case, hence not suggesting any particular intolerance or indeed weight watching in the grand scheme of things), you are automatically declining a 'proper' pudding and therefore left, as it is the case with Alitalia, with 6 tiny pieces of fruit On a slightly different note, Alitalia is currently switching to Gate Gourmet as its main catering provider - I guess we shall wait and see whether anything changes on the above front (even though I suspect they have far bigger issues to handle as we speak)

G

Concerto

Very interesting thread, good time to revive it, and thanks to Xandrios for the pictures above. Do they happen to serve grappa on board? I find all other digestives too sweet for my taste. Great tip from AlicorporateUK about the seafood meal. Does ever contain more exotic components of seafood, or just the fish as shown in your pictures? I ask, because I have a companion who likes fish very much, but is not so crazy about the other wriggly things that seafood can contain.

And now a question that is a little bit OT, but related all the same. What is the service like in Economy on much longer European AZ sectors? I am looking at TFN-FCO (Tenerife) which clocks 4h05, and FCO-SVO (which has a similar flight time). These flights would be taken one after the other, which could be quite challenging as it would be the equivalent to a flight to Chicago.

AlicorporateUK

Concerto

Oh I am quite into tippling grappa, don't like whisky so much probably because I did stupid things with it when I was younger. Similarly with sweet liquors. So you think Alitalia economy gets some sort of meal tray on longer flights? Would be good, because 4 hours plus is pushing it for grissini Torinese! I thought that all European services, regardless of length, got a reduced service. Let's face it, none of the other airlines particularly care about flight duration. Except perhaps Austrian.

AlicorporateUK

Do not expect much from the tray but -yes- medium haul flights of 3-plus hours have a different catering service (though what's currently on offer je ne sais pas).

G