Lost Luggage on Alitalia

I am sorry to hear about your luggage. My husband and I just got back from a 10 day trip to Italy during which all of our bags were lost on the way. I got mine back the last night after going to the airport to rummage through all the lost bags (they were supposed to deliver it to our hotel); my husband still does not have his. We called the Rome airport number and they always answer. They would hang up on us, lie to us, and were pretty much useless but they did at least answer the phone and could maybe answer some generic questions you may have. The number is 011 39 06 6543 4956. Good luck.

While stopping in Palermo, I was with a friend whose luggage was "lost" by her airline. After many days and many phone calls, each assuring her that the luggage would be delivered to her hotel, she finally got her luggage delivered to her. I think she would have connected with her bags more quickly if she had gone back to the airport a day or so into the delay and tried to find it herself.

You're lucky. Alitalia lost my luggage on the 1st day of a 2 week holiday on June 23rd. 20 others on my cruise (leaving from Palermo) also lost their luggage while flying alitalia. Ultimately , 17 got their luggage, but mine is still lost. It is virtually impossible to reach a human being at alitalia and if you do, they won't help. Their online site for tracking luggage doesn't work, they do nothing to search and they delay the compensation process as long as they can. It's over a month now & I've lost almost an entire summer wardrobe. I'm out thousands of dollars and things look very grim for ever getting back even a fraction. this situation is utterly lawless. don't these airlines have to obey any rule of law? It's no different from being mugged on the street, except the airlines steal much more money than you would carry in your pocket.
Alitalia is the worst. Avoid them like the plague.

I think if we fly enough times in our life, we will experience lost luggage. I came back from a 3 week vacation after highschool and never saw my luggage or the sourvenirs inside again. I've had baggage catch up with me a day late probably 4 times. I've had part of my luggage lost (slipped out of a duffle that had ripped in Nairobi) too.

If you read the fine print from airlines, the last time I looked, they state that the maximum payout for lost luggage is $600. And they insiste on you providing them with receipts for your lost items (like who keeps receipts for underwear).

I'm sorry you are going through this.

I feel your suffering from lauzy baggage handeling
By alitalia airline.
I had a fligt to Rome on july/7/07 with my family
from Los Angeles and all our 7 pieces of our
luggage did not come to Rome. After all of neglect
and hundred time of hangup by all opoerators in rome
we got three of seven luggages in Iran. as of now which is 8/18/07 still four of my luggage not found
and airline not helping to keep the file open or trying to help. They don't have any good customer service at all. Hope someone from airline administration read these responds. Sohrab

We just returned 8/12/07 hubby and 8/21 me & kids (we stayed a little longer). When we arrived on 7/29 my husbands suitcase with all jis clothes, shoes etc and half of my outfits did not arrive. We spent much of ourvacation on the phone trying to track down the suitcase. Alitalia was not helpful at all. They are the most lazy organization I have ever encountered. Afte this experience with the suitcase and noone ever answering the phone I now feel unsafe to travel on their airlines. The suitcase was found the day my husband left to come home on 8/12. It was a terrible experience. People said just buy new clothes but we were optimistic they would find it and we waited as long as we could. We also had to spend time looking for clothes for him andhe is very tall and large man so hard to fit. We had no rental car so everything was by bus or foot. Rome is extremely expensive as well. I will NEVER EVER travel ALITALIA again.

I am in a similar situation right now. I have been trying Rome phone +39 06 65 434956 but I am queued up for over 15min.

I have made at lest 25 calls in the last two days - to Bombay, to Malpensa, Milan and Rome to trace one of the bags, but without luck. Language is causing a big problem as not all of them understand English well.

With the hope that the baggage tracers at Alitalia are reading this - please email me when you find a bag that has a WINE bottle at any of the airports below.

MALPENSA / MILAN / ROME.

Will have somone come and pick up the bag.

Many thanks in advance.

Myrna, let me know if you were able to trace your bag.

Lancy

Good Luck with Alitalia. You can read "the worst airline ALITALIA" topic and see how many of us having the same problem. I was lucky with some very nice people in Newark airport, they helped me locate my luggage in Rome. Even thought it came with items missing, I was happy to have it after 9 days. The Italians are the worst I've seen. Exactly like you said... they don't speak English and they just don't care. Loosing luggage for them it is just normal.

What I suggest is to go yourself at the airport and see what you can do.

NOTE TO SELF: Keep all underwear receipts!

My family returned from a two week trip to Italy on August 8. None of our baggage arrived into Rome on Alitalia. My husband's and the kids' bags arrived 48 hours later. Mine did not arrive until two weeks later, the night before we left to fly home. Then only my bag failed to show up at JFK! It was eight days before it arrived at my home, and some items were missing. I have filed written claims with Alitalia, but it's difficult to get a live person on the phone. I have spoken with the receptionist at the NY Alitalia office named Elena, 212-903-3300. She is pleasant, but can't really do anything to resolve my claim. Any suggestions? I will never, ever fly Alitalia again.

I have a question. I am on a flight from Atlanta to FCO. It's code shared with Alitalia, operated by Delta. I take this to mean that it will be a Delta plane/crew code shared with Alitalia. Will I run in to this lost luggage issue if it's Delta people/plane versus Alitalia?

I flew from JFK to Athens, Greece through Rome-FCO. The first leg was American and then Alitalia took us from Rome to Athens. We landed in Greece, our luggage did not. We were flying to Santorini the next day to get married. They didn't care. We stayed in Athens at the airport hotel. I actually went to the baggage claim for every Alitalia flight from FCO. Every time there were at least 3+ people that didn't receive their luggage on 3 different flights. That's over 10 people in one day. Come to find out the people in Baggage tracing and our hotel concierge said this is common. The girl in baggage said she didn't think their was a single flight from FCO that didn't have at least lost bag. My advice to anyone--- AVOID ALITALIA like you would avoid the PLAGUE, especially if going to/from ROME-FCO.

ps. Got our bags 2 days into Santorini (and yes we had to pay the taxi to get our bags, they wouldn't deliver them that day) and They delivered them through Olympic (which they were able to get them to do something) I doubt w/o them I would've got by bags until we went back through Rome.

Hi, Myrna. Sorry to hear about that. Al Italia is without doubt, the worst airline that I have ever worked with. Here's a bit from their conditions of carriage (basically their contract with you) that might help:

http://www.alitalia.com/EN_EN/Images/CGT_en_0605_final_tcm9-10352.pdf

17.2. If the Carrier admits the loss of the checked baggage, or if the checked baggage has not
arrived at the expiration of 21 (twenty-one) days after the date on which it should have arrived, the
passenger is entitled to enforce against the Carrier the rights deriving from the contract of carriage.

17.3. In case of unchecked baggage, the Carrier is liable if the damage derives from its fault or that
of its employees or agents.

17.4. In the carriage of both checked and unchecked baggage, the liability of the Carrier in case of
destruction, loss, or damage is limited to 1,000 SDR (approx. € 1,500) per passenger.

Read section 17, they are legally bound to adhere to it for you. If you have any questions, let me know.

Reading the messages from Myrna on down was like attending a 12 step program.Evceryone has the same story!
We were flying to Catania from London via Milan. I should have known better because of the short connection time in Milan. Of course, we , and all other passengers from London, did not receive our baggage in Catania. We immediately reported it and the woman at the baggage desk said we "should" get it in a "couple of days"! I was already incredulous that her automatic response was a "couple of days". My baggage was not lost. It was in Milan, and I knew that at least 2 more flights were scheduled in Catania from Milan that day. Why were my bags not simply put on the next flight? I would have waited.
Like all others on this site, I could either not reach anyone at Alitalia, or, if I did, got someone who could not speak English , or who would not help. They tried to act as if they were trying to locate lost luggage. Again, I tried to explain that my luggage was not lost - it was in Milan.

I finally got to believe that my luggage was delivered to Catania, then sat there for maybe a couple of days before they delivered it to me. Indeed, my daughter landed in Catania 2 days after we arrived and was told our luggage was there,but she couldn't retrieve it. It was already with the "courier" and and was "out of Alitalia's hands". The courier must have taken the day off, since our luggage was not delivered for yet another day and a half.

The hotel people acted as if this were a regular occurence. They tried to help, but were powerless. In fact, I was amazed at the number of people who said this was pretty much routine.

Thanks for letting me vent. We will never - never, ever fly Alitalia again. ( and I am Italian.)

Gene

We are leaving Sept 22 and are going just carry-on even if it kills me! I am so afraid of the airline losing our bags that we will somehow make it work. Thanks for scaring me straight!

WHY PASSENGERS SHOULD BOYCOT ALITALIA TO PROTECT THEMSELVES - lost luggage with Alitalia (PIR number BCNAZ54443) flight from Barcelona Brindisi via Rome 2nd August 2007. The luggage was never returned and Alitalia certainly appears to have been dishonestly and deliberately cheating about compensation(kindest words I can think off)

Documentation as requested was sent, followed up by numerous letters, phone calls,e-mails and faxes during all this time Alitalia were deliberately misleading/lying and claiming that the claim was being dealt with. At one time they advised that the settlement was agreed and that the check would shortly arrive (Doctor Carlo Inzirillo “STB ufficio relazioni clientela” this never happened, Alitalia lied again, Letters were written confidentially to CEO and President Roberto Colaninno and Rocco Sabelli,needless to say they did not acknowledge the letter, obviously this type of customer service (cheating their customers)is condoned by the top chief executives at Alitalia .
Finally, after 2 years of phoning extortionate charges (Like 0870#) they e-mail saying " if you have a valid case send all information to Cancelleria del Tribunale Civile di Roma, sez. fallimentare Viale Giulio Cesare.

Alitalia are fraudsters and their flying license should be revoked until they comply with their obligation under EU law to compensate customers with up to 1000 SDR as the law requires. They exploit weak people and break the law intentionally at the expense of passengers.

Good luck with that.

I just flew Al Italia-with misgivings, but want to report I had a good experience. Flights Rome to Sicily and back were both on time. I carried on past their stated limit going and checked coming back and had no problems either way. Maybe things are improving......

I didn't lose luggage with them, but they did cancel a flight from Milan to Pisa once ("mechanical difficulties), but I got a quick glance at the passenger manifest and it wasn't very full. We all figured they just wanted to combine 2 flights to save money, as at that time they were very much in the hole. Had another leg cancelled from Pisa to Rome, I could have taken another flight, thru Milan they said, but getting stuck in a middle seat to the US just didn't appeal to me. I booked on another carrier to Rome.

Hi,

I know that this was posted in 2007 but during my google search for lost baggage, I came across this discussion. I flew from Rome FCO to Toronto Pearson International yesterday at 10:20am and arriving in Toronto at 2:20pm. I was the last one to check in and check in both suitcases that were wrapped in green security wrap. I only received 1 of my suitcases (the smaller one) and waiting anxiously for my other one which never arrived. I was tired and upset. I then waited in line which seemed like forever to file a report and was told that I would be contacted if my luggage was found. I decided to find it on my own because I didn't feel certain that the airline would be bending over backwards to look for my luggage. I called MANY numbers in Toronto and Italy without much success. I then found this number 'Lost & Found' at Toronto Pearson International and spoke to a very friendly and helpful woman named 'Angela' and she told me that my luggage wasn't in the 'Lost & Found' section (there was only a stroller left behind) and for me to call her tomorrow around 5:00pm because she suspects that it will be on tomorrow's Alitalia flight from Rome to Toronto arriving at the same time (2:20pm). The number is: 1-866-575-0059. I hope that this will help you and anyone who searches for information on lost baggage.

Good Luck.

That could be very helpful information for someone, thanks. And I hope you have good news about your bag today. Hey, at least you were on your way home when the bag was lost, not just starting your vacation!

I flew direct from Chicago to Rome in Jan '10. Italia lost my bag. The website reported it as being investigated for 1-2 days, then it couldn't locate the tracking number they gave me. I had the hotel call for 5 days, since it is impossible to get someone who speaks english or you get disconnected. I bought clothes to wear since that was my only bag - still haven't heard about being reimbursed for those. We found the bag in the airport at Rome when we were flying home. The guy at the service desk said it had been sent to Tel Aviv mistakenly but they never received it in Rome. He then said to check in the baggage room. We went there and found it sitting on a cart. What a miserable airline. It is impossible to speak to someone in the US.

We flew to Rome with our luggage. We then flew Alitalia to Palermo. Our luggage did not make the trip.
What scared us was the lost and found counter in the Palermo airport was the largest such counter I have ever seen in any airport. Long lines in front of each lost luggage window. People screaming, crying, dazed.
Don't blame it on Alitalia. I think it's in the culture. Efficiency, competence and honesty are just not too high on the list of values. We have become big carry on fans. We did get the luggage in time for our son's wedding.
Ciao

Do you all realize that you are responding to an original posts three years old and some later comments are over a year old. Start a new posting instead of waking old, out of date postings.