For the record, I was unable to book anything on KLM. Just couldn't get the flight with open seats to be selectable in myidtravel. Of course now that I'm home I tried to book the same KLM flight on a different day and it worked, go figure!

Alitalia really did a number on me by making me check my roll aboard. They have this 8kg rule which I don't even understand -- weight and balance is front to back not top to bottom. Why would they care if the bag was in an overhead bin or in the belly? In addition, since I had to book separate segments home (alitalia FCO-AMS and then DAL AMD-ATL they would/could not check my bag all the way through, which meant I had to leave security in AMS to retrieve my bag. I've never done AMS security before, they make London look like a relaxed laid back enterprise.