My family of 5 is booked on Alitalia at the end of June from Los Angeles to Rome. We return in mid July.
With their current financial problems I am worried about the risk of them going under and not being able to be reimbursed or able to work with another airline to get to Rome and back. Does anyone have any information as to the outlook or what I should do?
buying travel insurance that protects against this would be a good idea, provided you haven't missed a deadline for buying it from when you bought your tix so it isn't covered.
I purchased these tickets in February when everything looked okay. I have contacted Travel Insurance companies, but they indicate that since it is now public they are in trouble, they won't cover it.
Mark-
Can you check with your CC company and see what their policy would be if the flight doesn't go as planned?
The reason I ask is that, living in Columbus with the Skybust problems, some passengers who booked over 90 days in advance (as you have done & most air travelers do) were told their charges wouldn't be reimbursed as they only have 90 days to dispute charges - no matter that they haven't received the services they've already paid for.
I have experience with this - I booked tickets on Southeast Airlines (SEAL) to go to Orlando for my cousins performance in the Christmas Parade. Had planned to leave on 26 Dec and booked in early Sept. In November, the airline closed. I had used my checking account CC which is a credit union. I called them up the day they closed, filled out the form and had it refunded to me. Had to drive to FL, but was lucky to have the bank take care of the problem quickly.
Its worth a look. Good luck! Keep us posted!
You'll probably be okay. The Italian government is not going to allow the #1 Domestic Airline to go under. If they do, by chance, you should be able to sign your ticket over to another airline for a small free (I had a friend who just did this with an Aloha Airlines ticket, United charged him like $20 to transfer it).
This is the gossip ( except for #3 which is fact ).
Yes Alitalia is looking in a perilous state. There are, however, three rays of hope. #1 Silvio B has just been elected to power in Italy and it is in his interest to keep Alitalia's head above water during the first 12 months in power, it would have a bad effect on his government's reputation if Alitalia went under so soon after his government took over. #2 A lot of European airlines are circling like vultures over Alitalia's ailing remains, there is huge interest by at least three airlines in aquiring Alitalia at a knock-down price before they cease trading. This is good news for ticket holders, there is a very good chance of a 'white knight' take over and it looks like the Italian government would view that as a very acceptable solution. #3 Alitalia is an IATA member, under IATA rules if Alitalia went bust overnight the other IATA members are legally bound to step in and honour those tickets. All the major airlines are in IATA.
Ironically, they sent me an email promoting fares to Europe!
Take Advantage of Alitalia's Spring and Summer Sale Fares.
Web Exclusive Spring & Summer Sale Fares
Purchase your ticket by April 23, 2008 for travel through June 30, 2008 from New York, Boston, Chicago and Miami to Rome, Milan, Venice and Pisa.
Sample fares (taxes and fees included):
New York-Rome from $ 733 r/t
Boston-Rome from $ 773 r/t
Miami-Milan from $ 898 r/t
Chicago-Milan from $ 1001 r/t
Boston-Venice from $ 906 r/t
New York-Venice from $ 859 r/t
Offer conditions.
Magnifica Class Summer Sale Fares
Enjoy the comfort of Magnifica Class with our summer fares.
Sample fares (taxes and fees included):
New York-Rome from $ 3,280 r/t
Los Angeles-Rome from $ 3,803 r/t
Boston-Pisa from $ 3,162 r/t
Miami-Milan from $ 3,315 r/t
New York-Venice from $ 3,312 r/t
Chicago-Naples from $ 3,611 r/t
Offer conditions.
July and August Sale Fares
For your summer vacation purchase your tickets
Mark - I'm posting a link to Budget Travel's email from today with their information on Alitalia. It doesn't seem like good news. I'm sorry. Good luck.
There has been some really good dialog regarding this subject.
The latest is that Bersculoni the new Leader of Italy is committed to keep Alitalia flying. It is a sense of National Pride for him, his country and the Alitalia unions. He is now open to Air France discussions as well as he met with Putin who expressed that Aeroflot is interested in working with them. Yesterday there was word of an alignment of Italian businessmen who are showing interest in forming together as a back up plan in case the other options don't come together.
