Alitalia Business Class Rome to New York

Often times, I find myself just as curious about airlines that are understated and non-flashy with their products. I had never flown Alitalia before, as it doesn’t have as strong a presence in the U.K as other European carriers. Alitalia Business class  (Magnifica Class) was on sale and this was one of those transatlantic business fares under 1k that needed to be snapped up. Sure, I have been to NYC more times than I can remember, so this trip was really as much about trying out new airlines than the destination itself.

Flight Details

Route: Rome (FCO) – New York (JFK)
Flight: AZ610
Date: 06-05-2019
Departure Time: 14:50
Aircraft: A330-200 (Tail I-EJGA)
Seat: 2C Business Class

Check-in

Check in was fairly uneventful. I got to the airport with only and hour and 20 minutes before, and in typical Italian style, there were no rush to get me through. There were already 2 people before me and the staff sure took their time!

Alitalia Lounge

As it happened I decided to skip the lounge in London and the connection in Rome was only 55 minutes so was not worth it. I did use the lounges on the way back though and here a review.

Boarding Alitalia Business class

By the time I deplaned from my flight into Rome around the D gates and found my E gate (had to go through security again, though this was fairly quick) it was about 20 minutes prior to departure time. Once at the gate, I found a long line of economy passengers waiting to board, and they had started to board some through the business class lane too.

I was greeted at the door and pointed to my seat. The business class cabin looked almost fully occupied at this point.

The cabin looked quite modern and spacious. It had an interesting setup. There are no overhead bins, which added to the sense of spaciousness. However, there was plenty of space for my full size carry on just by the side of the seat. Almost felt like there is no galley in front, there was less crew traffic for my seat area!

I’ve flown various kinds of business class seats, but this was a new type for me. Its certainly got some pros and cons in the various seats. The reading lights are quite high up by the side of the seat and almost make a feature. The tray tables swivel down and function very well and sturdy, though aesthetically it looks a tad bit odd.

There was plenty of space under the foot area to fit multiple pairs of shoes.

Amenity

Stocked in the seat was a reasonably large and thick blanket, a medium sized fairly flat pillow, water bottle in the water bottle holder. ASalvatore Ferragamo kit was distributed to each passenger by hand.

The Salvotore Ferragomo products included, a 30ml moisturiser, 10ml lip balm, Tuscan soul fragrance sample size and cleansing towel, in addition to toothpaste & toothbrush, eye shades & earplugs. The washbag is also fairly decent (though not leather).

During boarding various newspapers and magazines were also offered.

Service

As I boarded rather late, it appears I missed the initial welcome drinks, the pursue did come and say hello and offer me a newspaper but no drinks! I didnt ask as I wasnt particularly thirsty, so was happy to go with the flow.

We departed about 10 minutes late and the service began about 40 minutes into the flight. The food menu and drinks list were as below.

 

I liked that they offered a choice between traditional Italian options (which can be fairly heavy) and more healthier and lighter items. So I decided to mix and match.

The purser was happy to recommend wines to go with each dish but I honestly dont know what he eventually gave me, as I was happy to go with his choice.

I started off with the Cremacotta Di Vignarola with asparagus sauce.

 

A pleasant way to start the meal and it was lighter than it looked. It was pretty much an amouse bouche.

Continuing in with the Artichoke theme, I opted for the Ravioloni for the first course.

Not the most amazing presentation. Normally, I would not go for a pasta based main on a premium flight, but this is Alitalia, got to have the full experience right? Well the ravioli was very fine, perhaps slightly more cheese loaded than needed 🙂

For the second course I chose the cod fish fillet.

The cod was perfectly succulent and the greens were crispy as described! While no doubt all the flavours would be great on the ground, I found myself longing for more of a flavour kick, and the salt and pepper were needed!

About 30 minutes later I was asked if I would like any dessert. I had already eyed up and liked the sound of the orange blossom crumble, which came looking just like I imagined it..

Im not a fan of overly rich or sweet desserts, so this was just hit the right spot. I finished that off with a nice Italian coffee.

Entertainment & Connectivity

Each business passenger were offered a Wifi voucher with a complementary 50MB, with additional allowance available for purchase.

After the meal service, I connected to the Wifi, quite effortlessly. The 50MB was plenty to check my emails and messages, and browsing Instagram for a little bit.

Then it was time to checkout the entertainment options on offer. On first browse the options did seem limited, but it was just the categorisation. In all there were probably a few dozen movie options, as well as few episodes of TV programmes. I decided to watch some Modern family.

The entertain remote is quite old school, but functioned well enough.

Flat bed

About 5 hours into the flight, I felt cosy enough lounging I fell asleep for about 2 hours. I’m not sure if turn-down service/mattress padding was offered, but I found the seat to by very adequate to sleep on. It was quite well padded and plenty of leg space in this particular seat.

Another thing to note, on this particular flight anyway, the crew were serving from the galley behind us, and therefore there was very little foot traffic around my seat.

I woke up with just an hour left to landing and feeling rather warm under the blanket.

Pre-landing Service

The second full meal service began while I was still sleep. But only about a couple minutes of being up, the crew came up to ask me if I would like some dinner. They promtly delivered the chicken option from the Italian tasting board with a fresh fruit plate all in one with only about 50 minutes left to landing.

I forgot to take a picture, but it was much appreciated as JFK immigration is very slow and I didnt have to have a late dinner at my hotel.

Overall Thoughts

I really enjoyed this flight. The hard product does not ooze style like some business class do but it was very comfortable. Crew were very friendly and professional. Lack of welcome drink was a small oversight. There has been much speculation of late of Alitalia’s future, and if it will still be around in a few months, but frankly speaking such talk has been going on for a better part of a decade, and its still here. This is a very decent product to cross the Atlantic from southern Europe and I would happily fly Alitalia again if the timing and price were right.