Alitalia Awards are now available on Delta.com, which can cut out some phone time with Delta agents–always a good thing.
So, if you can find Alitalia award availability, that's 100,000 Skymiles for roundtrip to Italy from North America. That's the good news.
The bad news is that there's quite limited business class Alitalia award availability, especially for two or three award seats on the same flight. And since there's only business class, no first class (which you wouldn't be able to book with Delta miles anyway, even if it existed) Alitalia is still a tough award to get for couples and families, no matter how many Delta Skymiles they have. A few tips in the form of a FAQ, based on questions I've been getting:
FAQ
Wasn't Alitalia Already Bookable with Delta Skymiles?
Yes, by phone. The problem was that often agents couldn't see the space and it had to be manually requested. Agents didn't always know how to do this or were unwilling to do this, so it's great in terms of saving time to be able to see and book awards directly on Delta.com. That said, expect more pressure on award space, since it's easier to see and book by everyone, not just those who knew to keeping calling Delta back until they got an agent able and willing to request Alitalia award space.
Which Cities Does Alitalia Fly From in North America?
Alitalia flies to Rome (FCO) from these cities:
- New York (JFK)
- Chicago (ORD)
- Boston (BOS)
- Los Angeles (LAX)
- Miami (MIA)
- Toronto (YYZ)
What Are Typical Taxes and Fees on an Alitalia Award Ticket?
Expect fees on a roundtrip award of $59 or so on departures from North America. If you're departing Europe for the U.S. though, expect hefty taxes and fuel surcharges of ~$300 each way.
What's Alitalia Award Availability Like on Delta.com?
If you're booking far out, you may be lucky and find a couple seats on the same flight, although this is more likely from east coast cities and not from LAX, which is pretty horrible for award availability. Much of the time there are no award seats or only one award seat, and generally award availability does *not* improve closer to the date of travel. So my advice, if you see Alitalia awards that you're pretty sure you'll use, is to hold them. Officially holds are only for 24 hours, but in practice are often 48 hours. Do note that if you ticket and later cancel, you need to do so more than 72 hours in advance of departure and you'll pay a redeposit fee of $150 per ticket unless you're Platinum or Diamond Medallion.
What's Alitalia's Business Class Seat and Service Like?
Alitalia's Magnifica Business Class offers flat bed seats on its Airbus 330 and Boeing 777-200, but angled flat on its Boeing 767-300 aircraft. The flat bed seat and overall hard product gets great reviews, even if on board service often leaves something to be desired.
Here's a quick video showing the Alitalia seat:
Are One Way Alitalia Awards Available?
Not using Delta Skymiles, unless you're willing to pay the same number of miles as a roundtrip. Alitalia's MilleMiglia program also only allows roundtrip award travel. You can book one way awards on Alitalia with Air France/Flying Blue.
Have you flown Alitalia on an Alitalia award booked with Delta Skymiles?
Related Posts
Rome Travel Guide: Majestic Ruins, Fabulous Gelato, and Festivals
Travel Along Italy's Amalfi Coast
Delta Devaluation: SkyMiles Becomes Revenue Based
Delta Brings Westin Heavenly Bed to BusinessElite
Top Tips for Using Delta SkyMiles for Asia Award Tickets
How Much is a Mile Worth: Value of a Delta SkyMile
Need Award Booking Help? Our fee is as low as $75 per ticket if you book your hotel through us.
If you enjoyed this, join 100,000+ readers: please follow TravelSort on Twitter or like us on Facebook to be alerted to new posts.
Become a TravelSort Client and Book 5-Star Hotels with Virtuoso or Four Seasons Preferred Partner Amenities!