MrMoonlight

Hoping somebody out there can help me. After inexplicably canceling my daughter's business class ticket for our trip to Italy this summer( they wind up giving her a seat in the economy), Alitalia gave us a voucher for $800 for a future Alitalia flight, provided it is used within the next year. We do not plan on returning to Italy in the next couple years, and don't want the voucher to expire. Anybody have any ideas how we might use this for a domestic flight in the US on a partner airline? Any other ideas? (We live in NYC metro area) Thanks!

irishguy28

The terms of use for the voucher should be stated on the voucher, or should be available from Alitalia. Without seeing the voucher I am not sure anyone here can reliably tell you what restrictions are in place.

Was this the sole gesture offered by Alitalia for your daughter's involuntary downgrading? What was the routing of the ticket involved, and what reason (if any) was given for the cancellation of her ticket? (Who was at fault?)

MrMoonlight

The email voucher says:

"You can use this voucher (EMD) to purchase electronic tickets on AZ flights, for yourself or for any other person you may name, when calling our Customer Center at the numbers listed below or through the dedicated numbers reserved to Alitalia Exclusive Club members."

The story behind it is that my AZ flight for my wife, daughter and me was booked last August through Delta (JFK to CTA via FCO). When I had difficulty checking in online the morning of our June flight, I called Delta. Delta then contacted AZ, and was told that since we booked through a partner, we could not check in online. Evidently, something was lost in translation, as when we arrived at JFK that evening, we discovered that the AZ rep not only was unable to check us in, but canceled our tickets! Two of the business class tix were still available, but the third sold to someone else, leaving the only seat available for my daughter in coach.

As for using the voucher, I thought that I might be able to book a domestic Delta flight, or a flight with another partner. However, I don't see any availability on the AZ website.

Any help is greatly appreciated!!

Oxymore

Since AZ is a EU carrier, you should push for the EC261/2004 downgrade compensation in cash. It might be a long fight, but you could hire one of the companies that deal with these issues (and get paid by taking a cut of said compensation). For a long-haul downgrade, you should be able to receive 75% of the price paid for that flight. There's a very detailed thread on EC261/2004 in the BA forum, if you want to learn more about it.

MrMoonlight

Thanks! I was not aware of EC261/2004. No wonder they wanted me to sign off on the voucher at the airport before we boarded, which I refused to do as I felt I was being rushed. They sent me the voucher anyway when I complained by email. BTW, we got our tickets with Delta Skymiles; does that make a difference?

malmostoso

No. Only ID tickets are excluded from the regulation.

Oxymore

You're welcome. You did well by not signing off on the voucher. They are legally obliged to inform you of your rights when they downgrade you (there are EU pamphlets about delays/cancellations/downgrades). I am not sure how one calculates the 75% amount on award tickets, but I would imagine that it's the kind of information you would find in the BA thread I mentioned.
BTW, did Delta at least refund the mileage difference between J and Y?

MrMoonlight

My complaint reached a level at Delta where the rep said he would offer us the full extent of his authorization, which was 20K miles on each ticket (even though my daughter was the only one affected), for a total of 60K. I figured that was not too much less than the cost of a one-way business class flight, and being tired of fighting, I took it.

romania2007

Sell the voucher to a friend for $600-700.

Oxymore

At least, that sounds reasonable to me.

irishguy28

But are we sure there was a downgrade?

The OP said the ticket had been cancelled. Presumably, a refund was given (or was in the works).

Now, while I admit that a cancellation was not warranted, if that is actually what happened then there was no downgrade in the first place.

Perhaps the OP can clarify.

Ditto

I think it's semantics, the OP had a business class ticket, and ended up travelling in economy, so it is a downgrade.

irishguy28

I had initially thought so too (I refer to the daughter's "downgrade" in post #2; but the OP's reply in post #3 seems to clarify that one of three tickets was actually cancelled, so presumably would have led to some form of refund at that stage - which could take a month or more to process, and may or may not have been a full refund - we don't know) but, given that the issue of refunds, etc, was not raised by the OP, I can only assume that the voucher was some form of goodwill gesture and NOT the only action by the airline.

Perhaps the OP can clarify? Did the daughter get to travel in Economy without having to buy a new ticket? Was the original amount refunded? Did the daughter have to pay for a new ticket? Or did the airline keep the original business class payment, and instead provide an economy class seat and an $800 voucher? What cash changed hands, and in which direction?

Please let us know

MrMoonlight

Actually, as the result of the miscommunication between Delta and AZ, all three of our tickets were mistakenly canceled (though oddly, no corresponding refund or adjustment was made at the time of the cancellation). When we went to check in at the airport, the AZ representative realized something was screwed up. She spent about 20 minutes on the phone and speaking with other AZ personnel, while we were left wondering what was going on. It was then explained to us that all three of our tickets were canceled, and while they would be able to rebook the flight on business for my wife and me, the only thing available for my daughter was in economy. We never got to the point of discussing any refund, or even being given a credit for the difference between the business in the economy flight for my daughter. Rather, we spent about an hour arguing and trying to figure if they could put us on another flight. With minutes left to boarding, it appeared that the only thing we could do was to take the business class for my wife and me, and the economy for my daughter, and figure out how we were going to deal with it later. At that point, they offered me an $800 voucher but wanted me to sign a release form, which I refused to do. When I returned home from our trip, I called Delta and they provided me with 60,000 miles as compensation and they suggested that any further compensation would have to come from AZ. I sent an email to AZ, and they gave me the $800 voucher, this time with no strings attached, not requiring me to sign any kind of release. No money ever changed hands and no other credits were given.

Since no refund or adjustment was given at the time of the mistaken cancellation, they did not have to rebill us when the tickets were reissued. In essence, the adjustment given by Delta in part covered the difference in the Skymile price of the ticket.

gianlucamos

If you really don't want to waste the amount of the voucher AZ gave you, you could have a llok at any codesharing flights AZ could have with other skyteam airlines, but could be sold by AZ itself. In this case the voucher won't expire too easily, especially beacuse NY's airports have got many flights operated by DL, and you could find some of them having AZ code as well: in that case I'm pretty sure you may pay the flights with your voucher.