Thanks to Sterling Pacific for sponsoring the video! Use the code WING for $300 off any purchase. www.sterlingpacific.com/WING I flew ITA Airways's glorious new A321neo aircraft from London to Rome. This new aircraft has a fabulous 1-1 configuration reverse herringbone business class, as well as a premium economy (review to come!) and economy seats. What did I think? Well, watch to find out! Follow me on Twitter: @paul_winginit ¦ twitter.com/paul_winginit Follow me on Instagram/Threads: paul_winginit ¦ instagram.com/paul_winginit Merch store: wingin-it.teemill.com/collection/all-products/
Great vid Paul and I love love the carry-on. I see from manufacturer that it requires the owner to claim any damage against the airline and to have travel insurance that covers damage to the suitcase and offers to help you in the event of an unfortunate claims process, and will work diligently to find a satisfactory resolution to whatever problems you might experience with your Sterling Pacific travel case. Not sure what this actually means. The B&R warranty is very clear by comparison (I’m looking at one of their cases too). Would you recommend the case with this warranty? Genuinely interested in your view! Love the vids, keep them coming 👍🏻
@@kennyeverett3201 Sorry about the unclear wording. It means that the warranty does cover functional damage caused by airlines. We ask you to also report it to the airline, and if they won't cover it, we will. We do not require you to have a travel insurance, but the airlines often have insurance that will help them cover these incidents. What we would typically do is to arrange a repair or send you a replacement unit immediately after receiving a report from you about the incident so you're not left hanging while waiting for the airline to make a decision. Hopefully this makes sense.
sadly they've now already ceased LHR flights as of 2 days ago.Having this kind of business class and premium economy however wonderful it is just won't cut it financially in European short haul travel these days
I flew the route the other way around so I could experience the lounges at FCO. Flew early December and booked with Virgin Points when I heard about the plane being used on the London route. Surprised to see such a difference in the food offering though. Maybe it's because of the direction but starting from Rome, I had a very tasty prawn salad, hot veggie feta lasagna and cannoli. I was also offered Prosecco and Aperol Spritz alongside OJ as pre-departure drinks.
@@robaviation.7904 Sorry for the late response. It's usually quite a pain to book partner rewards with Virgin but ITA is one of the few airlines that are integrated into their online booking system so when there's availability the flights should just show up on Virgin's website when you search for reward flights.
@@robaviation.7904 I'm sorry I only saw this just now. If still relevant: Simply via Virgin's website. Surprisingly, ITA is one of the few fully integrated airlines that allow online bookings directly on Virgin's website.
I had the pleasure of being on this aircraft last week. I too was blown away. The only problem was that most of the tray tables were broken because folks couldn’t figure out how to open it by pressing the button. I’d happily fly this configuration across the Atlantic.
Looks like a fantastic hard product! Would be interested in seeing if ITA is able to step up their food offerings. Sure beats most short haul, first class travel in the USA tho
$300 off!? I had to look up the full price. Even if I won the lottery I could not ever justify paying about $1500 for a small suitcase. I didn’t really take in the rest of the video, I was still in shock!
Great video Paul! Italy’s new airline ITA 🇮🇹 looks SUPERB! 🤩 WOW! 😮 I cannot wait to try ITA someday hopefully in that FABULOUS A321neo transatlantic like JFK-MXP or FCO! We will see what the future holds! Overall great news for Italian Aviation and ITA! Woo Hoo! 🙌 😅
Love your videos paul, I hate flying but wish I didn't. I still do it for holidays but i always find myself watching videos about flying and being envious of those who enjoy it. keep up the good work
great video as always. One correction, Elal is not a dry airline, not at all. They have plenty of wine and drinks on board and all their lounges and partner lounges serve alchohol.
Ok yes the hard product is a step above BUT with the food sub par, I think it’s a NO from me. Since the flight time is short, I can forgo the lie flat seat and make the decision based on food quality/presentation after flight schedules 🤔
I have been wanting to try Business class for a while and I do have a couple of trips in mind for April this year.. maybe this will make it on to my itinerary! Thank you for amazing videos Paul!
You should really try a flight with Aegean in Business class from Thessaloniki once! I think they are the best European airline, and offer the best business class within Europe on short haul configured aircraft. And, in Thessaloniki you board the plane right from the lounge! It's amazing!
@@jacopomainoldi9025 Yes, but what I said: short haul configured aircraft. And, in Thessaloniki you board the plane right from the lounge. You don't have to go the gate. I have not seen that anywhere else, and when I was there it was a great experience!
@@luuk777w I mean, Ita is using them on London - Italy fly that's why it is similar and can be compared to Aegean. I like Aegean, it's a great regional airline with a very solid product, but they lack some features on their longer flights as Ita could have "discovered" a solution. I don't think this Business style seats are that necessary in European daily flights, but once they start flying onvernight this all changes.
I think I'm good with my ol' reliable 8 yr old $25 cloth hand bag. $1500 seems a bit much for a suitcase. (I've taken that bag on 10 cruises, amtrak, over 100 flights as a carryon and checked. It has yet to fail me
Great video as always paul I recently completed my second solo trip, travelling to Dublin on Aer lingus (got the retro livery) and returning on BA 321neo euroflyer into lhr, interesting to have been handed a complimentary water and snack thought BA stopped thaga while back see ya ext time
I believe these airliners were supposed to cover medium haul only, but following the recent issues in Israel and some diplomatic hurdles in opening nigerian routes, they were moved to cover london and Cairo against all odds and differently from plans
exactly. they will be moved from europe asap but that still means waiting 4 months at least. The first "long" route scheduled with the 321neo is FCO-RUH coming in may. then KWI, ACC and JED
Using T4 next month so checked on my Dragon Pass to see which lounge I might use. The Blush lounge indicates that it doesn't open until 11.30 a.m.?? Any one know if this is the case, it might also be the reason why Paul's first choice was so rammed.
Really surprised that the food is awful and that BA is better on the route! Also surprised by the apparent size of the economy class seats behind you, as they looked high quality to me.
Just not worth that price for a 2 hour flight! For the same money you could take a Ryanair flight and stay at a really good hotel and go to a proper Italian restaurant in Rome and get much better food than you got on the plane. Even on a long haul flight the money you pay for a Business Class seat compared to what you could spend your money on at arrival has to be questioned.
ITAlways confuses me that ITA was the travel matrix company as well as an airline inside the travel matrix (well, anachronistically, as ITA is now google flights).
I'm very surprised about this because usually the EU flights do not have so much stuff even for business class like this. Is there any other airlines operating such like this business class?
Hi from Australia 🇦🇺 have you ever added how many flights you made for 2023. Cheers 😊 Ps do you ever site when you go or just another flight somewhere else?
ITA welcomed their first aircraft registered in Italy a couple of days ago. It's a brand new A330-900neo registered I-ITYB. More planes with italian registration are coming, namely those 28 ordered directly from Airbus. The other aircraft are leased mostly from ALC. Most leased aircraft in Italy have the lessor's country registration because Italy is one of the few countries that didn't sign the Cape Town Convention and Protocol.
So Alitalia did not lose its Heathrow slots? A lot to be said for the south terminal. It suits the smaller airlines that I have used to Muscat and Brunei.
In a few times probaly ITA will not operate from LHR anymore. Voices says On flight on Gatwick, anyway in the Summer Season will start 3 daily flight FCO-LCY with the new A220-100
"Pasta for example is so easy to serve on board" yeah but it's always disgusting and mushy, the less pasta in the air the better. I've had delicious steak in First Class on certain airlines but pasta is something nobody has been able to get right for some reason.
@@peteking8063Neither can they fry steak yet some airlines manage to serve a decent steak. If you can't do it without fucking it up, just don't do it.
@@SuperGenericUser you're right, pasta is always bad on airplanes, but, as an Italian, I can say that the only exception is Alitalia's/ITA's pasta on longhaul service. They sorted it out somehow.
@@peteking8063You haven't flown Asiana First then ;) Their steak was about as good as a mediocre steakhouse. Clearly wasn't fucking rocket science for them.
The NX stands for the emergency exits/door configuration, so basically the aircraft has now 3 doors and the 2 Emergency exits per side instead of the regular 4 doors per side configuration
I had their business class food BRU->FCO about six months ago, and it was the most atrocious excuse for pasta I've ever been served. They desperately need to improve their food service, it was almost inedible.
Paul ElAl us not a dry airline Their booze is kosher but they are not dry Also El Al has financial problems ITA’s seat layout in business looks like Jet Blue’s You bashed the food but what do u expect when they are paying for brand new aircraft ?
Alitalia's food was always atrocious. My parents were born in Italy and we'd fly from the US to Italy every couple of years to see relatives. We did business class twice, maybe...didn't make a difference. The worst food I've had on an airline by far.
