Problems with Alitalia

arte

Hello

The other week I had some delays travelling to Heathrow to catch my Alitalia flight to Rome and I arrived at the check in desk 35 minutes before the take off. The staff at the desk had already closed the check in (they seem to have a 45mins policy) and didn't let me even try since I had a bag to check in as well.
They told me I could have caught the following flight but when I went to the ticket desk the staff there informed that my ticket was a special online offer one which meant I had to purchase a new one. I asked if I could at least use the return but they said I had lost that as well. Result I had to pay £272 to buy a new return flight to Rome on the top of the £89 I already spent.
On the day of my return from Rome though I went to check in desk and the person there find my name twice on the passengers list and told me I shouldn't have bought another return ticket but I could have used the one I had.
If I was buying a one way only at the airport I would have payed £170 instead than £272.

Does anyone know what the policy is in these cases and if I can make a complaint to Alitalia?
Many thanks

Pee

You can certainly make a complaint... what they will do about it, I don't know.

The small print usually says to be at the airport 2 hours beforehand, boring, but I think it has to be done.

On the other hand it seems the staff mislead you, although verbally on both occasions so hard to prove.

phatbear

According to their website closing time for international flights from heathrow is 40mins before the flight:

http://www.alitalia.com/GB_EN/your_travel/in_the_airport/check-in/checkin.htm

Im sure you realise that even 5 mins can mean an aircraft can miss its slot and thus cost the airline money.

Therefore I cant see how you can have any complaint about not allowing you to check in.

Personally I would write to the airline and highlight the information you had received from their staff and see what they can do for you.

blue_haddock

Also remember that with a lot of major airline a return ticket is a one ticket effectively so if you miss the outbound leg they also cancel the return leg whereas with the budget airlines each way is a seperate journey.

sauvignon

Hi, I had exactly the same problem with Alitalia re the return portion of the return ticket about a year ago. I didn't miss my flight - I agree with other posters that you were late for check in so couldn't be allowed on the flight - but I knew beforehand that I wouldn't be able to take the outbound flight for a very valid reason so I called to find out if I could use the return portion of the ticket. The answer was no. I was told that it was stated in the Alitalia terms and conditions. I couldn't find the particular rule so asked where was it spelt out,but still got a very vague reference. In the end I've given up and bought another cheap return ticket with easyjet. I then wanted a refund of the taxes and fees (cca £50] but didn't get anywhere with this either. Alitalia always took weeks, even months to reply but they always did - to give them some credit. However, since the ticket was bought through lastminute.com or another agency I was told to claim through them. That's when I gave up, but you can claim as you didn't take the flight no matter what the reason had been.

arte

Yes, I believe I will get the tax back from the unused ticket let's just hope it won't take forever.

Blue264

You will get some tax back but not all of the tax.
Looking at the responses in this thread, there is little I can add as the advice given is correct. You booked a cheap, restricted return ticket which, even if you were able to change it, that facility would have expired a few hours before the departure time as is standard policy.
It is unfortunate, but I would just put it down to being a frustrating experience.

lorweld

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