ITA Airways introduces "light" business: no lounge access on domestic flights
Probably few TFC readers will remember my first experience aboard the Superior class of [...]
ITA Airways
SkyTeam
Probably very few TFC readers will remember. my first experience aboard ITA's Superior class. Airways, the site had just opened and I had decided to experiment, the day after the launch, the news of the return of business class on domestic flights, a class that had been eliminated by Alitalia.
In this article:
Since then I have flown several more times in the company Superior and it's not like things have improved much.
The new Superior Classic
With a DEM and a dedicated page on the, the carrier about to tie the knot with Lufthansa, announces the arrival of a new fare class on domestic flights the Superior Classic.
Superior is the name by which it has been called since as far back as December 2021 business class on domestic flights, now with this Superior Classic ITA Airways is following the line drawn by many other carriers that have been offering a light version of business class for years: from Qatar to Finnair to Airbaltic, last in chronological order,
Ita Airways' new "light" business.
As of today the new tariff will guarantee (almost) all the privileges of the Superior class, but to notice the negative differences you have to go and open the detail of the tariffs.
The Superior Classic fare will provide certain benefits over the traditional economy fare for a difference of €20 one way on the entire national network, except for Milan/Rome where the difference will be €99 instead, But as in all business light around the aviation world, it will not be a true business class because it will not double the number of checked baggage allowances and especially will not open ITA Airways' lounge doors.
Last but not least you will also accumulate fewer Flying points, since the throttle in the case of Classic fare is 20%, while with Flex it is 30%.
I have no idea if this is intentional, but of all the tests I've done. the savings between a Superior Classic and the Flex, which is a fully flexible rate is always €20, if that were the standard I think there is no convenience for only 20€ to give up total flexibility and the other benefits.
Nearby vacancy not guaranteed
There is another factor that distinguishes ITA's business class from those in the rest of Europe. As is well known, the seats, except for the A321neo, on European routes are the same as in economy. In this case the business class passenger gets the guarantee of the free seat next to him, unfortunately, however, when flying A220 this does not happen.
Because of the 2-3 configuration of Airbus' little gem, ITA unlike what Air France does, for example, does not leave the seat free in the row where there are only two seats, making the experience even less premium.
In conclusion
With this new fare ITA Airways seeks to make business class more economically attractive on domestic flights. I am not a fan of light fares in general, let alone business light. Smiling, however, will be Volare frequent flyers who can still get the benefits, spending less on the ticket.
