Flights via Italy

carminekitsune

Quick question: how does the latest travel advice from the FCO apply to flights going via effected countries?

We have flights booked with Alitalia from London to Tokyo with a stop in Rome. We still want to make the trip but not with that stop as it looks likely Japan will impose restrictions and quarantines on flights from Italy. 

We booked through a 3rd party agent who are frankly being incredibly unhelpful and claiming any cancellation will be subject to a €240 fee no matter the offical government advice.  Insurance seem to think the provider would be obligated to refund us if the FCO advice is not to travel and won't cover the cancellation. Alitalia I have tried to call and email (day and a half without a response yet) They are presumably swamped which I can't fault them for in the circumstances but is not helping with the stress levels! 

Westin

There are a few threads already running on the travel disruption from the Covid-19 virus. There is also an MSE guidance article. You may wish to have a look on those for general advice.

You don’t mention when you are flying. This will likely have a bearing on the answers. In addition I suspect routing via Rome will change again over coming days.

With regard to a third party ticket seller, I suspect if you read the terms you agreed to at time of booking there will be comment about any fees and changes they may levy.  This can often be a down side when booking cheap tickets via online ticket sellers.  Whilst the airline may refund the ticket price upon an airline cancellation, the agent will look to recover their costs and apply a fee. 

carminekitsune

Westin said:

There are a few threads already running on the travel disruption from the Covid-19 virus. There is also an MSE guidance article. You may wish to have a look on those for general advice.

You don’t mention when you are flying. This will likely have a bearing on the answers. In addition I suspect routing via Rome will change again over coming days.

With regard to a third party ticket seller, I suspect if you read the terms you agreed to at time of booking there will be comment about any fees and changes they may levy.  This can often be a down side when booking cheap tickets via online ticket sellers.  Whilst the airline may refund the ticket price upon an airline cancellation, the agent will look to recover their costs and apply a fee. 

I've read around a few places for advice but a lot only seem to apply in the case of FCO restrictions to the final destinations, so it's unclear what the case is with stopovers. Alitalia also seem to be one of the operators that are reluctant to state their official position. We're due to fly out in 16 days, which gives us some time to arrange alternative travel but not a lot.

I've read over the third party's terms and I think we should be entitled to a full refund as the FCO has advised against travel, the terms for reference:

"You have the right to cancel your confirmed Package before departure without paying a cancellation charge in the event of "unavoidable and extraordinary circumstances" occurring at your holiday destination or its immediate vicinity and significantly affecting the performance of the holiday or significantly affecting the transport arrangements to the destination. In these circumstances, we shall provide you with a full refund of the monies you have paid but we will not be liable to pay you any additional compensation. Please note that your right to cancel in these circumstances will only apply where the Foreign and Commonwealth Office advises against travel to your destination or its immediate vicinity."

I would argue that the FCO update constitutes a 'significant [disruption] to the travel arrangements' but I also fear that since the advice around the final destination (Japan) is that it's generally safe to travel there, the agent will still refuse. That said we haven't actually had them acknowledge our reference to their terms yet. Any rep we speak to is insistent that cancellations have to be 'approved' by the airline (though they seem to be working from a general update issued last Friday before the quarantines began, and refuse to contact the airline for updated advice).

Westin

Do you have a package or just flights? Those terms quoted seem to refer to a package.  Cover for a package or sale of flight plus another travel component actually can differ greatly from just booking a flight.

A package may obligate the package seller to reroute you to Japan - or offer a refund on the whole purchase package.  Flight only may only give a refund and you would then potentially need to sort and pay for new airline routing to Japan.

I would be tempted to give this 48-72 hours to allow airlines and travel companies to react to the latest Italy travel advisories.  Calling now might just get a generic type of ‘we don’t know yet’ response.  I would monitor the Alitalia web site for travel updates. If you notice cancellations or travel waivers on then you can then go back to your agent.

peachyprice

Japan now won't let people in if they transit through northern Italy, I guess this may change to include Lazio in the near future
The Japanese Authorities have ordered from 11 March a ban on entry for all non-Japanese passengers (Italian citizens included) arriving from or who were in transit in Lombardia, Veneto, Emilia Romagna, Piemonte and Marche regions in the 14 days preceding their arrival in Japan.

https://www.alitalia.com/en_gb/fly-alitalia/news-and-activities/news/info-flights.html

carminekitsune

@Westin You may be correct re: the terms. I can't see any terms for flight only (which is what we have) but honestly it may be me missing it, the terms are an essay in themselves. I wouldn't mind purchasing our tickets elsewhere but the agent is refusing any refund on the basis that the airline hasn't authorised it.

@peachyprice I saw that particular update. I've not yet figured out if it would improve or worsen our situation should Japan extend that restriction to Rome as well. I would assume that would mean the flight would be automatically cancelled, but given Alitalia's been very slow to issue any general advice I don't have faith they will react in a timely manner. I assume and understand they must be swamped, but I suspect their query volume would drop significantly if they started issuing automatic refunds for flight cancellations.

peachyprice

They may be able to re-route you, they're part of Skyteam so should, in theory, easily be able to transfer you to another members flights. 

carminekitsune

In theory that's an option for us. After all, it's not our final destination that's the problem. 

According to Alitalia's news update, these are our options:

Travelers with tickets for any destination in Italy, who have purchased Alitalia tickets on international markets within March 5, 2020, with travel dates between February 23 and April 3, 2020, are entitled to:

• change the travel date (rebooking) without penalty with a new date of departure no later than June 30, 2020. For further information and assistance on rebooking, customers can contact the local Alitalia Customer Center or a travel agency no later than April 3, 2020

• change the destination of their travel (rerouting) without penalty, keeping the same date of the original trip. For further information and assistance on rerouting, customers can contact the local Alitalia Customer Center no later than April 3, 2020.

 The former isn't an option for us, we have too much booked elsewhere and wouldn't be able to get the alternative time off work in any case. The latter would only work if by "destination of travel" they don't exclusively mean the final destination. Thats what I initially assumed, but if its an something they're using their Skyteam links to action then we may have more options than I thought! 

carminekitsune

Woke up to an updated policy from Alitalia!

Passengers who no longer want to fly as indicated on the ticket

All passengers holding a ticket issued by April 3 to travel by May 31, can request by May 31:

• Change of booking to travel by December 31st
• Refund with a voucher for an amount equal to the value of the ticket purchased, valid for 1 year, to fly to any destination served by Alitalia.
   

Passengers who have had their flights canceled

All passengers with an Alitalia ticket (055) whose flight has been canceled can request by May 31:

• Change of booking to travel by December 31st
• Vouchers for an amount equal to the value of the ticket purchased, valid for 1 year, to fly to any destination served by Alitalia.
• The reimbursement of the ticket or of the residual value of the same for the part of the trip not made

If I'm honest it's not entirely what I was hoping for... I would have preferred a cash refund rather than a voucher as Alitalia is already in financial trouble and I wouldn't be shocked if covid 19 is what makes them the next Flybe. Unless the voucher is valid for other airlines to? The phrasing 'any destination served by Alitalia' makes me wonder. 

May still be better off holding on for a while longer and seeing if our flight is cancelled so we can just get our money back? 

Westin

I very much suspect it will just be on Alitalia services.

Alan_Bowen

A voucher from Alitalia is probably worth no more than one from Flybe. I would certainly push for re-routing on another airline within their consortium, and remember to check the state of an airline, financially, before you book next time. AZ has been living on borrowed time for years but with the closure of the rival Air Italy last month, it is possible the Italian government will continue to bail them out as they have for years