Overall, our trip to Europe was a pleasant one, despite sleeping in the train station in Italy.  However, our dealings with airlines were not so great.

Expectations were high for Alitalia.  Past experiences on British Airways were positive, and I’ve heard rave reviews from friends concerning foreign air carriers in general.  So maybe it was the hype that let me down, or maybe it was the terrible customer service, along with the fact that not a single flight on Alitalia left or arrived on time.

The beauty of the internet is that you can gather opinions and experiences in the blink of an eye.  While I didn’t think to check on reviews from Alitalia customers, I will for the next airline I fly (it will not be Alitalia).

Skytrax has a 5 start ranking system for both airports and airlines; however the airline rankings are more extensive.  They even have a list of the best seats on different airplanes.  Based on a few of the reviews at the site, it seems that I’m in good company with a poor experience with Alitalia.

AirlinesReviewed.com is another site (more of a forum) for passengers to tell of their experiences.  The reviews are mixed, however it’s evident that some people have had terrible experiences as well.

AirlineReviews.net is yet another sounding board for airline passengers, however the reviews are quite thin. 

Based on my overall interpretation of many review sites, I fully expect to see more negative reviews on products or services than positive.  After all, we’ve come to expect great service and products, but when disappointed, we’ll tell the world!  So it’s tough to make a well informed judgment on service and quality based on an internet sounding board.

Live and learn, you get what you pay for!

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