DIsputing Air Malta Ticket Charge

There is no time limit on fraud. There is a time limit on incorrect charges.

Right. But I still have to handle this in EU by long distance, right?

I don't think it will help get your money back, but you can add your comments to the list of reviews at www.airlinequality.com. Overall, Air Malta has a 3-star rating, same as American, Delta, United, and USAir, not as good as 4-star airlines like Lufthansa, British Air, and Swiss Air, and better than Ryan Air (2-star).

Based on the responses we received from Air Malta I could never recommend that airline. They said it was our own fault for letting them book us with a connection in Rome that was too short! We even questioned that connection. But the real shocker were the lies about our options. I can't believe they have refused to reimburse either the replacement tickets or the original tickets. Currently exploring how to file a complaint with EU under Reg. 261/2004. Lots of red tape, so not terribly optimistic. Really disappointed that since the fraud was more than 60 days after purchasing the tickets the credit card company won't allow us to challenge the charge.

I don't think a claim of fraud will work, because Mr. Scott was made aware of the 90-minute layover time when his schedule was changed in November. No doubt he was given the option of not accepting the change. Of course I too would have thought that 90 minutes was enough time. I think the curveball here was Alitalia's check-in rule of 45 minutes before departure. I wouldn't have anticipated that. (Makes you wonder where all those people come from that you always see boarding 5-10 minutes before takeoff.)

We actually questioned the short connection but were assured (1) it was not too short and (2) we could reschedule at the Air Malta desk. It WAS too short but there is NO Air Malta desk in Rome, and (3) they canceled our reservations and the phones were shut down while we were traveling (Sunday).

Actually - because of Alitalia's rules - your true connection time was only 45 minutes.

Tom - exactly right about the 45-minutes...whichis WAY to short under any circumstances, especially connecting from Terminal 5 to T3. And if Air Malta had been honest about the fact we would have no way to contact them in Rome we would have demanded to be rebooked on the later flight (even though it was 11 hours later). It was their misrepresentations that created the problem.

Two thoughts I have: 1) I think I would have been more angry with Alitalia than Air Malta. Can't believe you were at the gate a half-hour before flight time and they wouldn't let you board. 2) Your experience might be a good argument for always traveling with a small laptop or other internet device. Odds are you could have rebooked through Air Malta's website even though their phones were down. I looked at their website. They do have an office at the Rome airport. But it's not in any of the terminal buildings. It's over on the opposite side of the access highway.

We did book online...but had to rent a computer at the airport to do it My iPad could not find a working WiFi connection. Maybe I didn't look hard enough. Anyway, AirMalta did not have any seats left. That means as soon as the canceled our reservations (and kept our money) when we "missed" the connection they resold the seats. We had no choice but Easy Jet.

What your situation is illustrating very well is the risk associated with booking two separate tickets instead of one through ticket. A lot of people tout the European discount airlines but they make their money with very strict rules. But as you are finding out the saving was expensive. Just last Dec we missed a connection in Amsterdam and then spent the rest of the day on two addition flights just getting to original destination but there was never any question about being rebooked. The 45 minute cut off for check in is common in Europe. Often the check in folks are a subcontractor to the airport and not to the airlines. So they really have no reason to cooperate with you. I still think you can still make a strong claim of fraud because you did not get your contracted services through no fault of your own. Hopefully you have documentations of what they said to you after the changes in booking. If you had booked that tight you might have a problem but you did not.

Frank - we tried to book through one airline but were unable to do that. At the time we were booking the trip none of the airlines that service the Spokane airport were able to book through to Malta, so we had to do it ourselves. Our original booking had plenty of time for the connection (4 hours) but then Air Malta changed its schedule. And you know how that turned out.