Alitalia airlines

The Italian government has instituted a fund of €100 million to refund travelers with an Alitalia ticket for travel after October 15. The refund can be also in the form of a voucher to use with a different airline flying the same route.

The details on how to request the refund from this government fund have not been released to the public as of today.

ITA will start selling tickets tomorrow for travels afte Oct 15. EU regulations supposedly prohibit ITA from inheriting tickets sold for travel with Alitalia after 10/15, therefore it is unlikely the ITA can honor those tickets, and the only option seems to be a refund from the Government fund. However one can never know for sure since the Alitalia telenovela always reserves more surprises than an Agatha Christie’s novel.

And in fact, CODACONS (the Italian association of consumers) has filed a case against Alitalia last week for shady business practices since Alitalia apparently (as of yesterday) still keeps selling tickets for travel after Oct. 15 even though they know they will not be around after that date. Many are saying that Alitalia keeps collecting this revenue for travels they know they will not be able to honor so that they keep a positive cash flow for current expenses, knowing that in the end it will be the Italian government that will have to refund the unaware travelers using the aforementioned Fund (I.e. taxpayers’ money).

As soon as more news arise on how to get refunded, I’ll post it.

I have a ticket on Alitalia for November, returning to JFK from FCO. It’s the last leg of a round-trip ticket.
What’s my best course of action? Should I wait to see how ITA rolls out? Will ITA be obliged or be able to rebook me? Or should I book something on another airline ASAP.

We plan to go to Rome for a week the first week of October, flying Marseille--Rome round trip, back to France around the 9th. I wonder if we should be buying tickets for a dying airline or if they will maintain some standards. I haven't kept up on this development.
Otherwise we have to change planes in Paris or take a long train ride. Any info would be appreciated.

https://crankyflier.com/2021/07/22/alitalia-is-dead-long-live-alitalia/

I just talked to alitalia, of course the guy on the telephone knows less than I do! He confirmed that I can’t Cancel at this point (flight out in September, return flight in November) without losing all my money. I’m going to sit tight and keep on top of this terrible situation.

Poor guy, he says all of alitalia is waiting to hear what’s going to happen with all of their jobs. He has a 20-month-old son and is desperate for a salary.

I have 2 round trip tickets booked for March. I bought travel insurance that includes coverage for insolvency or financial default as long as the default occurs 14 days following the effective date of my policy, which is August 4, 2021. Does anyone know if October 15 is considered the “official” default date for Alitalia?

LATEST NEWS (not much new)

https://www.repubblica.it/economia/2021/08/21/news/la_nuova_ita_ancora_non_vende_biglietti_aspettiamo_che_alitalia_cancelli_i_voli_-314685322/

Basically ITA, which was supposed to start selling tickets on Aug. 18, as of today, has not done so. They are waiting for Alitalia to officially cancel their flights after Oct. 15.

Alitalia, at the same time, is not canceling those flights until there is a formal communication by the Italian Government to do so. And so far that official communication has not happened. It’s still August and, all government officials, including ministers, do not plan to break the tradition of enjoying the whole month at the beach. Nothing happens in Italy in August, no matter what. During the Kabul crisis this week, the Italian Minister of Foreign Affairs (Luigi Di Maio) followed the situation from a beach in Puglia

As the article on La Repubblica reiterates, EU Competition rules prevent ITA from inheriting the passengers with Alitalia tickets after Oct. 15. Those passengers will need to be refunded using the Government fund I mentioned in my previous comment, but that has not been made operative yet (it’s still August people! Beach time!).

nancy n

Based on this article -- https://www.aviationnepal.com/farewell-of-alitalia-marking-the-end-of-the-alitalia-era/ --
Alitalia has been in (bankruptcy) administration since 2017 and in July 2021 announced cessation of operation effective Oct 2021. You may want to contact the insurance carrier as to what claim they will pay should Alitalia ( or the government) not refund you your purchase cost.

Based on Roberto's post ( above) it does not appear you would be able to 'transfer' your tickets to the new airline (ITA)

Since it appears you may have purchased the policy ( & tickets?) after the July announcement date, I can see the insurance carrier being resistant to paying a claim.

Good luck on your travels

I've been here in Umbria for awhile and we had tickets to NYC in late October. We received emails canceling our flight. Oddly enough my email had an alternate flight for the next day and my wife's didn't. Must have been a computer glitch unless Alitalia will have sporadic service post-15 October, which I doubt.,

I mentioned this in a thread I bumped. We had booked Alitalia through Delta for next March. We let it play out as to avoid fare difference. Delta was proactive and canceled our flights and rebooked us on new Delta flights. These Delta flights weren't available when we originally booked our airfare. It would seem that Delta is planning to pick up new routes per the follow-up e-mail they sent the day after.

ITA is NOT a pure successor to Alitalia. ITA is going to buy assets from Alitalia, but it's not a pure successor like say, Norse Atlantic. I wouldn't count on Miglia Miles (is that what they are called) being worth anything unless ITA buys the loyalty program. ITA does seem to plan on bidding for the Alitalia name.

But to answer a question that has been posed above, I wouldn't plan on any Alitalia flights going to ITA. Why? ITA isn't planning on long haul flights at this moment. They're also going to be 1/8th the size in terms of fleet to start. They plan on operating 40 planes within Europe only to start.

Not sure if this is helpful, but here's some more info.
https://thepointsguy.com/news/alitalia-ends-ita-begins/

Alitalia's Press Release of today Aug 24, 2021

I just received an email from Alitalia cancelling my March flight with a link to request a refund. What is interesting, is that they only cancelled one leg of my flight, from Chicago to Paris, but did not cancel the leg from Paris to Rome. I requested the refund, we will see what happens !

Wow that really sucks. So Alitalia will still be operating flights until the 15th of Oct then? Two days ago I booked flights from Venezia to Napoli for my friend and I. We're supposed to be flying Oct 3 which if I read correctly means we should still be fine. It seems midnight of Oct 15th is the end. When my dad took some high school kids and some adults in 1987 from SFO to Milan we flew Alitalia. I'm going to miss them 🇮🇹 Wow thats kinda sad.

nancy.newell thanks for your reply. You are the first we have heard from who has been contacted by the airline. Could you share some additional information? Did you book directly with Alitalia? If not who? What was the final destination? Keep us informed with your progress.

I had flights between Rome and Palermo booked with Alitalia for May next year and I just got a notice letting me know that my flights have been cancelled and what my options are for rebooking and getting a refund.
I requested a refund via a link that was included in the email notification.

Don and Cindy. I booked directly through Alitalia. They sent an email late last night.

We had flights from BOS-FCO from 10/6-10/14, and got an email 2-3 weeks ago telling us the flights were cancelled. We were able to rebook on delta, with the same direct flights, but leaving a day earlier. A little unexpected, but okay, these are crazy times.

This morning we got another email from Alitalia, letting us know that our return flight has been cancelled. At this point, my husband and I are taking it as a sign that the universe doesn't want us to travel right now. I am waiting for a callback from Delta (within the next 21 hours!), so I think we are going to hold off until next year..

Elizabeth-Sweden.

It would be really helpful to know who the booking agent was? Was it Delta or Alitalia or other? What part of your flight was an Alitalia?

Nadine. Great info. Thank you. Let us know any new info regarding your refund.
Also if you find a new path for Rome - Palermo plz PM me. We have 6 going in Early March

I even wonder what this ITA will be. Maybe a soon to become “new” Alitalia once again in bankruptcy after a couple of years?

The name is not auspicious. ITA means “gone” in Latin.

Let me clarify...

Upon the initial cancellation, I called Alitalia, and they rebooked us on flights that were now operated by Delta, but still had AZ prefix on the flight numbers. The dates were now 10/6-10/15 (I wrote the wrong date in my previous entry). I got refunds for the seating assignments from Alitalia, and was able to add seats to the flights from the Delta website.

The email today was from Alitalia, and the AZ 07608 flight on 10/15 is what was cancelled. When I go to the Delta website, I see that we now have one way tickets.
Sorry for any confusion. We went into it thinking there could be last minute cancellations, given the state of the world today. Mostly we expected that would be covid related, not that the airline was going out of business.

I recieved emails today that both my October flights have been cancelled (Italy to Italy and Italy to France). Does anyone have the new ITA (Alitalia's replacement) website? There is a news article that tickets went on sale today, but I cannot find any links? I want to check route times and rates, before purchasing with other airlines today.

Right now, Ryanair looks like the best way to get to Palermo or Catania from Rome. They are a discount airline, so be sure to read the fine print about baggage limits and extra fees. I don’t think I would buy anything for March yet. I would wait to see how things shake out with ITA, Alitalia, etc.

Renee: Right on. We are going to request our refunds, but don’t really expect to see them anytime soon.
Ryan air adds a day to our return flight home though Rome. We’ll wait to book new flights. Maybe we will stay a couple nights as there is always more to see in Rome. Booked a 7 days in Rome on a back to back to Southern Italy in Sept next year.

We still want to heard from those requesting refunds.

Starting on August 26, ITA will start the sales for flights operating from October 15.

https://worldairlinenews.com/2021/08/25/ita-starts-to-sell-tickets-for-flights-starting-on-october-15/

My agent received an email canceling our flights. She now has to start process for refund. Hopefully won't take too long!

It wasn’t easy, but I found the new ITA website: https://www.itaspa.com/content/itaspa/itaspa-pl/en/homepage.html

It appears that they are indeed selling tickets now, although I would wait a bit to avoid glitches.

I am willing to bet that very soon, somehow, ITA will win the auction to acquire the “Alitalia” trade mark and ITA will become Alitalia again, and they will inherit pretty much the old Alitalia company, albeit a smaller version of it.

Then, of course, within a few years, they will start accumulating massive losses again, which the Italian Government (I.e. taxpayers) will have to somehow bear, in spite of all those EU competition rules.

And the never ending story will continue, ad infinitum.

I am willing to bet that very soon, somehow, ITA will win the auction to acquire the “Alitalia” trade mark and ITA will become Alitalia again, and they will inherit pretty much the old Alitalia company, albeit a smaller version of it.

Save the cost of repainting all the planes

Then, of course, within a few years, they will start accumulating massive losses again, which the Italian Government (I.e. taxpayers) will have to somehow bear, in spite of all those EU competition rules.

And the never ending story will continue, ad infinitum

Isn't it good to know there are some constants in the universe : -)

Finally received the link to request a refund this morning.
https://www.alitalia.com/en_it/special-pages/refund-for-cancelled-flight.html

It appears that you need to submit a request for each ticket #. Mine started with 055 and was 13 digits long. It looked like to me that I was required to submit my wife’s ticket separately as it is a different ticket number. He your reservation closely for addition ticket numbers. That is my thinking as there was very limited instructions. If your experience is different let us all know.
I am Staying positive that the new airline will take over the routes and we will be able enjoy our trips abroad.

Renee
I was looking at that site
https://www.itaspa.com/content/itaspa/itaspa-pl/en/homepage.html
The page came up with a warning on the top right corner stating it is temporary And it did not load the booking I tried.
I’m going to continue to wait in to October as we have time.

Hi everyone, I have a flight for the 19th of December that was also cancelled.
Does anyone knows if they will redirect the flights for some of their allies companies?

Don't know if just to ask for the refund (and wait God knows how long to receive the money back) or just keep waiting...

Thanks!

Does anyone knows if they will redirect the flights for some of their allies companies?

Marcel-
Based on this press release -- https://corporate.alitalia.com/en/media/press-releases-sai/2021-08-24.html --
I would think your only choice is to submit a refund request. Did the email they sent advising your flight was cancelled give you any info/option other than a refund request?

Thanks for your answer!
No.. I only received one email which didn't included the link for the refund or any other info besides letting me know that the flight was cancelled.
Today I tried to call their Call Center and I waited in line for almost an hour and no one picked it up :(
Do you know how long they can take to make the refund?

Marcelaperillo - try the links here. You will need your ticket number.

https://www.alitalia.com/en_it/info-flight-cancellations-2021.html
https://www.alitalia.com/en_it/special-pages/refund-for-cancelled-flight.html

thanks nadine!!!

I received my refund today for flights that were canceled for a March trip. I booked directly with Alitalia and they refunded the money back to my credit card. I called a week ago and got through to an agent who processed the refund. After several attempts at calling, I discovered that the best time to call was after 10 pm MT

Nan great information. Looks like speaking to an agent may sped up the process. However that sounds like others have problems getting through.

If anyone else received their refund please let us know what process you used.

I think the “trick” to getting through to an Alitalia agent, Is to call later at night from the US, when it’s morning in Italy. You will be on hold for 20-30 minutes, but should get through. I tried for a couple days during the morning and afternoon from the US, and could never get through. It worked as well for my friend who I was traveling with. She called the next night after I called.

More good advise. Thank you

Just an update - I requested a refund online from Alitalia on August 25 and the credit was posted to my account today.
Now to buy tickets again FCO-PMO-FCO. I did notice that the ITA service is showing now when I search for flights for next May.

We are looking for similar flight in early March. I am still concerned about ITA but did notice RyanAir flight that route departing FCO at 11:55 & 4:05. Might work for you?

I received my refund 7 days after submitting the request. I created an ITA thread and shared my purchase experience. If anyone wants to contribute that would be awesome! https://community.ricksteves.com/travel-forum/italy/ita-italia-trasporto-aereo-s-p-a

Between Rome and Palermo there are also night trains. https://www.seat61.com/trains-and-routes/trains-to-sicily.htm

I have now received my refund and it took approximately 7 days.
I will wait until ITA gets running before rebooking