elagreen

Just received notice that our flight has been changed from 6:30 pm leaving Catania to leaving 8:30pm. Due to the unknown future of Alitalia, should I ask for a refund and book with Iberia?

Air Rarotonga

Try it if you want. No guarantee that AZ will refund you free of charge...?

irishguy28

You can ask, but there is no requirement for them to refund your ticket unless it is a refundable ticket. And they are unlikely to refund it otherwise.

If they go under, you will be able to claim a refund from your credit card company or from your travel agent.

irishguy28

Sorry, double post due to shoddy wifi

WorldLux

Actually I disagree on that. Combined lecture of articles 5, 6 and 8 of EU regulation 261/2004 would IMO allow to be refunded the ticket. Moreover, it can be argued that this is a unilateral amendment to their agreement which is usually a big no no in most jurisdiction.

At least with European airlines, they have always given me the possibility in the notification to not accept the change and call them to get refunded/rebooked. The only exception is when the airline moves the time table only slightly (e.g. by 5 minutes). But even in those cases, some have successfully sued arguing this was an cancelation under EU261 where article 8 (refund/rebooking) comes into play.

That said, you are probably going to have a problem if AZ refuses as you would have to take them to court. Italian courts are not know to be very fast.

My advice: Call them and tell them that it is not possible for you to fly with the modified departure time and that you have already made further travel arrangements and that you'd like a refund as the new terms of transportation no longer fit your needs.

WorldLux

I seriously doubt that. The money has been transferred to Alitalia and nobody else will refund that money. That's the danger of business going bust: You'll likely not see your money again and will be paid a share of what is left.

Xandrios

Most credit cards offer something like buyers protection. Basically its an insurance on all purchased products to be delivered.

This seems to also apply to flight tickets. When Malev went bust I had tickets with them purchased using Amex and Mastercard - booked through OTA's and directly with the airline. Amex was by far the easiest (just required one email with the receipt) but in the end I was refunded on all transactions.

WorldLux

Some travel insurance covers insolvency cases too, but you won't be able to chargeback with a standalone credit card. AFAIK, chargeback only works if the transaction hasn't been authorized by the users.

rickg523

PLAN AHEAD. Prepare alternative travel in case you need it, so you're not scrambling to find what you need on the day. You'll still have plenty of scrambling to make your preselected alternatives work out.
So I have a party of six booked NAP-LIN in mid June. Economy Light. Prepaid with Amex. With accommodations booked for a week on Lake Como. Not as perilous as a TATL, but with Grandma and 2 kids in the party, chaos is possible. (Even under the best of circumstances).
My approach is to consider that flight will go, until I hear differently from Alitalia. They're still selling tickets of course...though I wouldn't be shopping there for now.
But...I've already researched alternatives. And I'll be ready to jump - one way or another (plane, train, or automobile as the movie says) - if Alitalia folds.
Truth be told, if Alitalia goes under, though it'll be a hellish morning, I'm actually counting on most travelers not being prepared. Otherwise, it could be maniacal getting out of Naples. I have a plan for that too.

brunos

Credit card buyers protection depends on the country of issuance. Some countries have good credit card protection laws, other less good. The credit card itself can offer a protection but the duration is often limited to 90 or 120 days from purchase. In some countries TAs offers ome protection, e.g. UK TAs members of ATOL,

home222

I contacted American Express to ask about the charges on our September 2 - 13 LAX / FCO flight. I was told to hold off until the airline actually ceases operations and then put in a dispute for "services not rendered". A service rep and a manager both advised me to do this.

Since I'm sitting on a large charge for two business class tickets, and the travel insurance I purchased excludes financial default, I may end up losing a ton of money on this if Am Ex does not reimburse.

denarius107

@home, I'm in the same boat with Amex, sitting on a biz class ticket for September Did you speak to an Amex insurance agent yet? From what I read(but did not discuss with an agent), the default may be covered if you purchased the insurance at least 7 days prior to any announced bankruptcy.

home222

I did not purchase any insurance through them. I did buy travel insurance elsewhere but financial default is excluded.
Keeping my fingers crossed that the loan they received does keep them flying until at least October.
It seems like each phone call to Am Exp on this issue will get a different answer.

irishguy28

They *will* reimburse if the services you paid for are not provided.

EU261/2004 is of no relevance when the issue at hand is the failure of an airline. (It amazes me that here on FT so many people reach to EU261/2004 as the answer to any and all "cancellation" questions. Let me put it this way: if a hotel or cruise company suddenly went out of business and stopped answering your calls, would you accept that you have lost your money forever because EU261/2004 - as the relevant "cancellation" legislation - only covers scheduled airlines, not hotels/cruise companies?).

WorldLux

AZ moved the flight of the OP

And on that ground, you're perfectly fine to ask free cancellation and reimbursement of the ticket price. EU 261/2004 doesn't apply because AZ is likely to go bust, but applies because AZ changed the flight schedule. This far out, you won't get any compensation (duh), but it may be the way out for the OP and rebook with another airline.