My airline loyalty is out of the window when it comes to the hop across the Atlantic Ocean to Brazil or vice versa. Yes, I for sure always check whether Turkish Airlines has a feasible option on offer and if the price difference would not be too much, I would most definitely book them. However, that has never been the case so far and thus every time I prefer to try out any airline I have not before. This time I went with the cheapest option of all: ITA Airways – the airline that has recently officially joined the Lufthansa-group and has therefore left the SkyTeam alliance to become a StarAlliance member instead.
Christmas in Rome – or not?
Another thing I have told myself is that I no longer care about the duration of stopovers. I am 26 years old and those lengthy stopovers actually offer a fantastic way to be introduced to a place you might have never been to before or enjoy one you have been meaning to come back to. I decided that at 26 efficiency and sleep should not be my priorities and instead adventure should be. My 16-hour stopover in Toronto last September turned into one of the best days of my life and ever since I do not bat an eye at a 10, 12, 16, or 24-hour stopover.
ITA Airways, and for that matter Alitalia (Italy’s former national airline), had never been my airline of choice. Sure, I had flown on Alitalia multiple times but had never really enjoyed the experience. Case in point: on a flight from Palermo to Rome one time, I spilled a full cup of water all over myself just seconds after the steward had handed it to me and while he saw it all unfold, he never bothered to offer me a new cup of water. That is an immediate ‘no’ in my book.
While the cabin crew friendliness on Alitalia was far from my favorite, the aspect about flying with them that truly kept me from doing so was that their intercontinental connections from Amsterdam were practically always sh*t, to say the least. No matter whether you would be flying east or west, a quick and easy 3-hour stopover was nowhere to be found.
ITA Airways, Alitalia’s successor, seems to have taken over most of Alitalia’s slots meaning that there is seemingly still no way around those lengthy stopovers. But hey: I figured that Christmas in Rome actually sounded really cool. This time round I would not have as much time as I did in Toronto, but a visit to the Colosseum was definitely in the cards. Arriving in Rome at 2:05p.m., I would have 8 hours and 25 minutes until my connecting flight to São Paulo at 10.30p.m.. Figuring I would want to be back at the airport around 8:30p.m., that would leave me with roughly 6 hours to explore the city.
My stepmom was kind enough to make a reservation at a nice Italian restaurant for me, I had checked whether transportation was running, and everything seemed like I was set to enjoy a very merry Italian Christmas. Until I found myself absolutely knocked over by a really nasty stomach bug. Out went the Italian Christmas, in went – well, I will spare you those details.
It had always been my number one fear: getting really ill on a travel day. I am not talking a nasty cold, no, I am talking food poising, stomach bug, the works. And here I was, hours before my flight seeing my worst fear come true. Somehow I managed to get myself together on time and boarded my flight to Rome stuffed with paracetamol, anti-nausea medicine and charcoal tablets. I had decided that once I would get to Rome, I would skip the city and head straight to the lounge and not move an inch for 8 hours.
Rome Fiumicino – an unexpected surprise
The flight to Rome was operated by an Airbus A320 NEO, the New Engine Option. In contradiction to the older generation A320s, in addition to more fuel efficient engines able to fly longer distances, they also feature winglets that until a couple of years ago we were only used to see on Boeing, Embraer, and CRJ-aircraft. Some airlines have chosen to equip their A320 NEOs with personal inflight entertainment systems, but in terms of single-aisle aircraft ITA seems to have only done that on their A321 NEOs, because I was looking at nothing more than a simple seat back.
To my surprise, ITA is one of the few airlines in Europe that has not done away with inflight service on its intra-European legs. An even greater surprise was that, on an Italian airline (aka an airline from the gluten country of the world, in my book), one of the options for a snack was gluten-free! Of course I had pre-selected a gluten-free meal for the long flight to São Paulo, but I am used to not being able to have the snacks offered on short-haul flights. Instead, the crispy roll filled with hazelnut pasta was made of rice flour. In addition, I got a coke and every passenger was handed a chocolate.
Exceeding my expectations
Just steps away from the lounge, I boarded the A350 to São Paulo. The A350 is by far my favorite aircraft in the skies and whenever I can, I try to fly it on long-haul flights. The cabin is spacious, the windows are huge, the aircraft is very silent, and the hard product (seat, entertainment system, etc.) is among the, if not the newest product – regardless of the airline you fly. The flight that I am taking today is depending on the day also operated on the A330 NEO, which is the New Engine Version of the wide-body A330 and is actually an even newer aircraft than the A350, but smaller sized. The A330 has never been my aircraft of choice due to its narrow cabin and thus I rather opted for the A350-operated flight.
The cabin on ITA Airways’ long haul aircraft is stunning. The airline chose for a sleek creme and navy design. Granted, the creme colored seats get stained very easily, but I fortunately could not spot any stains yet. The A350 on ITA features a 3-3-3 configuration. On my seat, a blanket and a pillow were awaiting me. What I loved (and I bet I was one of the few people to notice this) is that the amenities onboard, like this blanket and pillow, still carry the Alitalia branding. Feels like a throwback and I appreciate it. Furthermore, the entertainment screen is big and seat pitch plenty. I am 1,83m and I did not feel uncomfortable for a single second.
More good food
The flight from Rome to São Paulo was scheduled to take 11:50h, but ended up being 12:30h due to a busy holding pattern above São Paulo. I am used to flights to Guarulhos Airport taking longer than the predicted flight time due to either of two reasons: the weather preventing planes from landing or a busy holding pattern afterward.
The entertainment system on the Italian airline was fine, but not mind blowing. The international selection was not great in my opinion, but it included the usual suspects. I do have to be very honest here and confess that due to the physical state I was in, I did not pay a lot of attention to the entertainment on offer. I do know that it was sufficient, but nothing that will blow your mind. For example, the only Comedy series that were available were Friends, The Big Bang Theory and Veep. That’s it.
Of the twelve and a half hours that we were airborne, I slept around seven of them. Quite soon after take off, dinner service commenced. I had hoped that ITA would serve gluten-free pasta, but reckoned that pride would stand in the way. To my surprise, however, I was, indeed, served gluten-free penne. Now let me tell you this: while it may not be according to the original rule book, the Italians do make sure that even their gluten-free pasta tastes the best. Of course the airplane meal was not the best Italian food I have had in the country, but for an airplane meal I was very pleasantly surprised.
The pasta was a chickpea and lemon pasta that might not have been everyone’s cup of tea, but I thought it was great. The meal was accompanied by a rice cracker (good substitute for a bread roll, in my opinion), a small mozzarella and tomato salad, and some fruit. ITA does something here that I have noticed more airlines do and I do not appreciate it: having the gluten-free meal also be a lactose-intolerant meal. Yes, the meal says GFML, meaning gluten-free, but it is not the first time that the meal does not include a yoghurt or any cheese to put on the cracker. And yes, those I do miss.
Move over, TAP Air Portugal
While there is a myriad of airlines you can choose from to fly from Europe to Brazil and vice versa, you are most likely to end up on a TAP Air Portugal flight. For years, the airline has been known as the gateway to Brazil serving 13 cities in the country – often at a lower price than their competitors and with really great connections through Lisbon from Europe.
Now I bet you would be surprised if I told you that I have thus far never flown TAP to Brazil. Yes, I have flown them to Portugal, but I have never used them to cross the Atlantic. Either they were not the cheapest option for me or their departure times did not work out for me or I just fancied something else. However, I know that for most travellers price will be the main deciding factor in what flight they book to visit Brazil. Considering that that is the case, I dare to say that ITA Airways offers an equally (if not better) gateway to Brazil nowadays.
In essence, there is not a whole lot different between ITA and TAP. Both fly the A330 NEO to São Paulo with ticket prices not differing a lot most of the time. What I will say is that every single time I look up flights, ITA still is the cheapest. Also, having traveled through both both airports, I can now say that I prefer transiting through Rome Fiumicino Airport over transiting through Lisbon. Yes, the connection time on ITA often ends up being longer (although this also depends on the day, especially when flying from Amsterdam), but the overall transfer experience is nicer. Add to that that on ITA you have the chance to fly the A350 on select days to São Paulo which I in any way prefer over the A330 – even in its NEO version.
My final verdict then is that ITA Airways, actually, offers the unexpected new gateway to Brazil from Europe. I had not expected to say it, but I would definitely fly ITA again. Are they my preferred airline of choice between Europe and Brazil and vice versa, now? No. But if it so happens that they offer a good deal and the A350-operated flight, then you will definitely see me back onboard the blue Italian bird. Lastly, were they better than Air Canada? Yes.
