Alitalia have cancelled my flights!

BristolStu

Hi guys, long term browser, first time poster.

I have a multi leg flight booked with Alitalia, on the 11th April I'm due to fly from Rome to Beijing and on the 25th April I'm due to fly From Beijing to Rome and then Rome to London. Today I received two emails.

Email 1; "Gentile Cliente,

Siamo spiacenti di informarLa che il volo AZ00790 del 11/04

da ROMA FCO a PEKING PEK è stato cancellato.

Ci scusiamo per il disagio e La informiamo che verrà contattato a breve dal Customer Center per

maggiori informazioni e assistenza .

Cordiali saluti.

Alitalia - Customer Center"

Email 2; "Gentile Cliente,

Siamo spiacenti di informarLa che il volo AZ00791 del 25/04

da PEKING PEK a ROMA FCO è stato cancellato.

Ci scusiamo per il disagio e La informiamo che verrà contattato a breve dal Customer Center per

maggiori informazioni e assistenza .

Cordiali saluti.

Alitalia - Customer Center"

Considering I booked the flights on the UK Alitalia website, I was a bit annoyed to receive two emails in Italian letting me know my flights had been cancelled. Before ringing them I decided to have a look at the EU law regarding flight cancellations as I have never had a flight cancelled before. I have read that due to EC Regulation 261/2004, if my flight has been cancelled I am entitled to choose between a refund of my ticket or I can choose to be rerouted to my destination.

However after ringing Alitalia, a very unhelpful chap told me that I could only get a refund and that they wouldn't be able to reroute me because Alitalia are no longer flying to Beijing. I told him that I would not accept a refund and that EC regulation 261/2004 states that I get to choose between a refund or rerouting. He would not budge so I told him I would do a bit more reading on the subject and would ring back.

So I ring back and this time speak to a woman, I tell the lady that I would like to be rerouted and she said that is fine, she took my telephone number and told me she would get back to me once she has sorted my flights. I have a funny feeling that she won't ring me back though and was just fobbing me off.

So quick question, am I in the right here? If I don't get a phone call back by Monday evening, I will be back on the phone asking to be rerouted again. If I don't get anywhere again, would it be better for me to email them?

Cheers guys!

Ich_2

I'm no expert but I think there is a difference between a flight being cancelled at short notice and, as seems to be the case here, a flight being discontinued completely

laurae

I have the exact same problem. In no way am I going to accept a refund because I have already paid for my visa, italy flight, italy hotel and china hotels.
The email didnt even provide any explanation nor even a telephone number..!!

BristolStu

Yes it is a very poor email, at first I thought it was spam. You are also entitled to €600 compensation if your rerouted flight lands at your destination over 4 hours later than the original scheduled flight. So much stress!

laurae

Im only there 10 days So annoying

Caz3121

BristolStu wrote: »

Yes it is a very poor email, at first I thought it was spam. You are also entitled to €600 compensation if your rerouted flight lands at your destination over 4 hours later than the original scheduled flight. So much stress!

The compensation does not apply as the notification is provided more than 14 days in advance

BristolStu

Okay, that is fair enough.

plunet

So as far as I understand the situation Alitalia have to reroute us on another carrier at their expense, or if that is not acceptable we can ask for a refund. Has anyone gone through the process of sorting out the reroute? Can we object if they put us on Aeroflot for example?

jpsartre

Have you looked at your other options? Would you be much out of pocket by accepting the refund and booking a new flight yourself? If not, I would definitely choose this option rather than engaging with a drawn out battle with Alitalia about rerouting that may or may not happen in the end. If you want to take one more stab at getting rerouted, look at the options yourself before calling and request a specific routing rather than relying on them taking care of it for you. You'll probably have more luck if you find a routing with an Alitalia partner airline.

FWIW, I do think you're right about EU261 and the right to rerouting.

laurae

Problem is, i got these flights so cheap that a refund wont help, i will be v out of pocket. Ive spoken to them this morning and theyre saying they cant re route as Alitalia arent offering enough routes to get us there an alternative way. Im currently waiting for news from head office (not holdin out much hope for that call!)

Caz3121

laurae wrote: »

Problem is, i got these flights so cheap that a refund wont help, i will be v out of pocket. Ive spoken to them this morning and theyre saying they cant re route as Alitalia arent offering enough routes to get us there an alternative way. Im currently waiting for news from head office (not holdin out much hope for that call!)

Are you the OP?

There appears to be 3 different user names answering as the OP!