Can anyone clearly state ITA’s refund policy? We’re about to buy round trip tickets DC to Rome in May, but at 75 years old, who knows what might happen before then. Thanks!
Posted by
Freedonia
18429 posts
The refund policy depends on the type of ticket you buy. It's not the same for all tickets.
What many people do is buy non-refundable tickets but take out travel insurance to cover them should they have to cancel. But you have to read the fine print to make sure it covers what you are concerned about.
Posted by
Los Angeles
1811 posts
Per ITA: https://www.ita-airways.com/en_us/support/utilities/changes-refunds.html
As Frank indicated, it depends upon the fare rules for the ticket type you're looking at. If you want to be completely safe, pay the premium for fully refundable tickets - this would be the case for any airline, not just ITA.
Posted by
Massachusetts
1632 posts
Economy Light - change allowed with fee up to USD 190 per passenger - no refund
Economy Saver - change permitted - no refund
Economy Flex - change permitted - refund permitted
Premium Economy Base - change permitted - no refund
Premium Economy Flex - change permitted - refund permitted
Posted by
Wyoming
35 posts
My experience with ITA (as well as Air France and KLM for EU flights) has been excellent.
I had booked a premium economy FLEX ticket on ITA last summer for a September one way flight Venice to Paris (with a connection in Rome). In late summer I found a nonstop flight on AirFrance at a better cost with no connection. Long story short...on the ITA web site, there is a section that tells you to call ITA to cancel a flight and gives you a number specifically for English speaking folks. It took five minutes on the phone to cancel the ITA flight. No questions were asked. AND my money was back on my AMEX card in 3 days. Couldn't have asked for any better service and it meant that I did not have to buy insurance to cover the the cost of the ITA flight.
That being said, I have never flown ITA from the US, but I would hope that the experience would be the same.
No matter which itinerary you fly, I believe that the only way to get a refundable ticket is to buy the FLEX version. I am 72 now and have found that the extra cost of the FLEX option ticket is typically less than, or very close to, the extra cost to insure the lesser expensive ticket. So I always pay for the refundable ticket option and, therefore, do not have to deal with an insurance company in case of cancellation.
Have a great trip!!