Don't let Alitalia check your carry-on bags.

Sorry to hear this but correct me if I am wrong but it Sounds like you took a risk and booked two separate flights and the weather is why you missed the connection. Otherwise if you checked the bag at check in it would be tagged to your final destination. Were you near the end of the boarding line? Usually when they run out of overhead bin space they have to check bags that will not fit under a seat. I see that happen all the time on other airlines in Europe. They run out of bin space also when passengers in line boarding ahead of you in the cold weather months shove their coats up there.

I understand you are upset and this does not sound like a pleasant experience, especially when our sense of fairness is involved. However, I would gently point out that gate checking, and to put it bluntly forced gate checking, happens across all airlines these days and is not unique to Alitalia. This isn't to excuse any rudeness or unprofessional conduct on the gate agents' part, but this happens across many airlines.

Reading between the lines, however, it sounds like your two flights (Rome to Paris, and then Paris to the US) were booked on separate tickets with a fairly short amount of time between them. Otherwise, what you described would not have happened, or to put it more specifically, you would not have been out $2600 (which I assume was to book new flights on the spot.

If your Rome to the US trip had all been on one ticket, your gate-checked bags would have been checked to your final destination in the US* and you would not have had to pick them up in Paris; furthermore, even if a weather delay had caused your Rome-Paris flight to be delayed and for you to miss your onward connection to the US, the airline would have been responsible for putting you on the next available Paris-US flight. (This isn't to say you would be completely expense-free, as I think you would be on the hook for a hotel in this case for any unforeseen overnight stays, but you certainly wouldn't need to pay for new last-minute transatlantic airline tickets out of pocket).

It sounds like it's a cautionary tale of booking separate tickets with a tight amount of time between them, especially separate tickets where the second leg is the long transatlantic leg.

*The only time I have had to pick up gate-checked bags not at my final destination is on small regional jets where you have to pick up the bags on the jet bridge immediately after deplaning. However, this is unlikely to be the case on a flight from Rome to Paris.

I can understand why you are upset but a couple of things. As others have said forced gate checks happen all the time, especially if you have no status and have low boarding priority.
If you were flying two alliance carriers but Alitalia couldn’ produce a tag at the gate that would check your bag through, you should have recourse. However...

If you were flying on two disconnected tickets, that was your error. An expensive, painful miscalculation. Can you tell us which two airlines and we can tell you how to proceed. By the way, your title told us immediately that there was a mistake somewhere. We just need to figure out now if you deserve compensation or if you made the mistake. It wasn’t Alitalia.

Sorry to the OP for your trouble.

This is a very useful cautionary tale for others. Regulars here on the forum frequently see people posting their travel itineraries with two separate tickets and dangerously tight layovers, then warn the poster about all the ways things might go sideways. Here's a perfect example of the risk that's involved.

Sadly, many folks only discover these risks after all goes wrong.

In defense of the OP I will say I had a similar forced gate check experience with Alitalia in Florence. Even though we were on a single ticket to Seattle, we were required to pick up our carry-ons in Rome. Our bags were the last ones off and we missed our connection to JFK. Blessing in disguise since I wasn’t looking forward to clearing immigration in NY.

Second blessing: Alitalia put us up at a hotel in Ostia Lido where we wandered a boardwalk reminiscent of New Jersey. And unlike Delta and American Airlines, Alitalia didn’t make us pay for the phone calls home.

Whether fair or not, I think when you are told to check your carry-on, your choice is to check it or make other flight arrangements. I still would try to get some kind of compensation from Alitalia, with the grounds that it wasn't fair that others took up all the space and that you were told it would be convenient to pick up your bags at baggage claim. Not sure it would go anywhere but worth a shot.

why did the missed connection end up costing $2600 more? Didn't the carrier just put you on the next onward flight?

it wasn't fair that others took up all the space

Life isn't fair. You just need to be prepared when it isn't.

You can book business class or 1st. I have never seen anyone in those classes being forced to check their carry on.

...why did the missed connection end up costing $2600 more?
Hope that the op can give you a proper answer but my guess is that a discounted advance purchase air fare was not available. A big reason to not miss the overseas segment of a flight that cannot be rebooked with or without a rebooking fee.

All airlines should enforce carryon regulations on all passengers. And maybe someday they will stop overbooking. The bottom line is, when we fly (except for the elite flyers whose loyalty they somewhat value), we have a sign on our backs that says "Kick me".

"why did the missed connection end up costing $2600 more?"

Exactly why we want to know if it was one Alliance (Alitalia, KLM, Delta, Air France) in which case the OP should have been protected and not only have the money returned, but also be eligible for EU 261 compensation of 1,200 euros

or
if these were two separate itineraries. In which case, it's really an expensive lesson.

Is a 2 hour 40 minute layover considered dangerously short?

I do everything I can to avoid layovers so I am not sure, but those I have had for work travel are typically shorter then that.

Is a 2 hour 40 minute layover considered dangerously short?

It is when you are connecting from a Schengen flight to a non-Schengen (out of Europe) flight at Paris CDG - could mean catching a bus to change terminals. Then you have to go through passport control, probably security again, etc. It means that you have little leeway for delay of any sort, as the OP found out.

I am sympathetic to the OP's complaint. Iberia tried to do exactly the same thing to me flying from Porto to Madrid, when I had a connecting flight back to the US with only a two hour layover. In my case, this was all booked on AA so I wasn't worried about a missed connection costing me money - but I was worried about missing my flight or my bag being lost. The 22" bag fits vertically in the overhead bin. But on the way in from Madrid to Lisbon. I was required to check that bag (they made everyone check anything not small). So I put my camera bag (my personal item) that usually goes under my seat up in the overhead bin taking almost exactly as much space as my bag would have taken. Checking the bag cost me 30 minutes (at least Lisbon was my final destination) but saved maybe six inches of space in the overhead bin.

On the way back out of Porto, I was hassled again, but I successfully made my case with the gate agent and was allowed to keep my bag even though it clearly didn't fit into the "size checker" he made me stuff it into. He let me remove one thing from the bag, then pretended it fit (it didn't) and let me go. Otherwise, he was going to hand-check my bag with a hand-written tag checking it back to the US (no electronic tracking, so no way for me to track the bag back to me). Really didn't want to take the risk of my bag being lost - and it wasn't going to save much space in the bin.

I've never flown Alitalia, but no other airline in Europe has hassled me like this.

As for the risk of a connection that short with two separate tickets: 2:40 would probably be too close for comfort for me flying home. I did that flying Berlin-Paris-Chicago-home a few years ago but had about a four hour layover in Paris, and it was plenty of time.

I do routinely risk a layover that short inbound (fly into Europe, connect to another flight on a separate ticket) because I know at worst another flight within Europe won't cost me nearly as much as say a one-way flight home to the US.

Is a 2 hour 40 minute layover considered dangerously short?

Yeah only when you take a high risk gamble and buy two separate airline tickets

I've flown Alitalia twice. Both times I saw bags smaller than mine gate checked. The people at the podium were very aggressive with this. I wasn't flying in first class. I have no status with the airline. I just lucked out that they didn't gate check my bag (which easily fit into my coach seat overhead). I did have to (gently) push aside somebody's very fine coat which they had wanted to place flat in the overhead bin.

But gate checking happens all the time, in the States and around the world. It's a reality which is part of airline travel these days. I am very sorry for the hassle and expense which you incurred. For most weather delays, the originating flight will try to accommodate you on the next available flight. If your airline did not do this, you might want to follow up with them and ask why not.

Op won’t come back , they never do

If the OP had had an actual connecting flight, he/she would not have paid an additional $2600 for missing the US-bound flight. To leave 2 hours, 40 minutes at a layover airport is to roll the dice and the OP lost. Gate checks happen all of the time.

If the OP had had an actual connecting flight, he/she would not have paid an additional $2600 for missing the US-bound flight.

No doubt. I've gambled similarly but never like that on a return flight home. At least show up the day before.

Whenever I see one of the "one hit wonder" complaint posts, I always have a vision of the OP standing at a counter somewhere with hands on hips shouting, "If you don't fix this the way I want it fixed, I'm going to EVERY SOCIAL MEDIA PLATFORM I CAN FIND and tell them how AWFUL you are."

Last minute frustrations can make us mad and diminish our ability to make better decisions. After reading this (while sipping tea comfortably at home), one solution would be to remove all valuables from the carry-ons into a small underseat bag and just "kiss goodbye" the carry-ons and make the next flight. It would still be a hard kick in the rear - but possibly a better option. I can replace a couple carry-ons and some casual clothes for less than $2,600. Maybe there was a hotel overnight/meals/and new flight tickets built into the OP's solution.

Another possibility would be for one of the two travelers to deal with the luggage situation while the other proceeds directly to the onward flight. That would mean needing to buy only one new full-price ticket rather than two.

However, this unprotected connection was so tight that it might have gone south as a result of a delayed inbound flight, even had there been no requirement to gate-check the luggage. That was an incredibly short layover to plan before a transatlantic flight. I've read posts on this forum from folks who said 4 hours was the shortest layover they'd consider at a European airport when connecting to an onward flight within Europe, and that's a much less risky situation.

Ok you learn something new everyday. I never considered the boarder control issues and oddly did not think about security and changing terminals.
And years ago I got caught in that mess in New York on a business flight (all internal in the US) that had a flight delayed and thus I had to get escorted through security. So I SHOULD have considered this.
So I suspect that the OP did the same thing I did and just looked at it and said... that should be plenty of time.
That being said you could not save me enough money to swap airlines on a layover. Maybe if I spent the night but not even then unless it save me hundreds and hundreds. But I HATE gambles and really hate thing causing issues on my vacations. I want my vacation to go a smoothly as possible and be stress free and relaxing. Stress is for everyday not expensive trips to Europe.
But everyone has thier personal preferences. Me personally if. am going on vacation I check my bag (yes it is carry on sized, usually) as I dislike the hustle and rush of trying to drag it on, possibly have to fight for bin space and all that. I find building in time to collect my bags simple more relaxing. But I have two reasons for this point of view. First off I used to travel weakly (or more often) on business and the main flight I took was served by a turboprop about 50% and a DC9/MD80 the other half so half the time if I did not check my bag it was checked at the gate as the tiny turboprop had not room inside it. The other reason is I travel on vacations more often then not with my elderly father and I just want him in his seat and settled out of the way of other passengers and adding his carry on to this mix is more stress then needed on a vacation. But each thier own.
One thing that seams to be missed is that it sounds like the flight was delayed for weather or some such. Not that that helps the OP but depending why it was delayed this could slightly effect how the airline is viewed.

Apparently alot of alirline trolls came out of the woodwork in response to my post. To the legitimate non-bots, thank you for your comments. What seems lost is what is most obvious in hind-sight: a gate clerk acting like a govermnent bureaucrat took it upon himself to divert our carryon lugguage --along with that of other foreigners--to make room for the skateboards of two young Italians. My bad for flying with Alitalia that has been bankrupt since 2008 --for good reason.

Brett Snyder, who writes the Cranky Flier blog, does refer to Alitalia as "the worst airline ever." He's even created a logo with that slogan, which can be seen in this post.

...and thanks for coming back, OP. Most people whose first post is a complaint never return.

As your story stands, what the gate agent did does not sound fair, and certainly nobody delights in the fact that you had to pay for additional tickets. How do you avoid this in the future? Avoiding Alitalia might be mildly helpful but improving your management of risk when purchasing tickets will be hugely helpful. There's just too much risk when buying separate tickets on separate airlines with a tight connection at a congested airport. If you don't get to the departure gate at the connecting airport before it closes, you are hosed.

Having said that, I've flown on 2 tickets twice this summer for round trips to Europe. I reduced risk by buying the 2 tickets on the same carrier, an airline that ranks high for on-time performance. I further reduced risk by giving myself 5-6 hour layovers between flights on the 2 separate tickets to allow for delays (which I did not have). A long layover, though, is better than a short one that results in... $2600 in unexpected costs.

I think you would find more sympathy from the forum if the post had the title "Don't buy separate tickets on separate airlines with a tight connection at a congested airport or you could be hosed by an obnoxious Alitalia gate agent."

Wonder if the Lufthansa takeover will have any effect on Alitalia procedures.

OP, I find it offensive and rude to be termed an airline troll/bot in your response. For the record, I don't work for an airline and don't even work in the aviation industry. There are many experienced travelers here who have a understanding of many common airline situations, and your story is unfortunately one of the more common ones.

I'm not saying that everyone has been the most polite and the best behavior, but rocketing in with a complaint as a first post and then name-calling everyone who is trying to point out what to avoid in the future is far from the best way to get helpful responses here.

Wonder if the Lufthansa takeover will have any effect on Alitalia procedures.

The new Italian government under Matteo Salvini says that they want to prevent the sale of Alitalia to a foreign company. In the meantime, LH is going to increase its investments in its Italian subsidiary Air Dolomiti.

The Italian government plans to maintain a 15% interest in Alitalia, even after it emerges from bankruptcy. I think that pretty much assures Lufthansa and every other right-minded air carrier (Delta also rumored to have interest at one time) will avoid investing in Alitalia.

Dave- i appreciate your helpful tips - especially the crankflyer website- I’m joining up!
Thanks, Bob