mon82

Horrible situation... I actually warned my friend before she booked her flight and I told her not to use Alitalia but she did because it's SkyTeam and she wanted to get the miles for Delta.

Leaving from ACC to LHR, she was booked on AZ with a layover in FCO. She checked her flight the night before ONLINE, the flight was on-time (no changes). She went to the airport the day of travel, and the agent told her the flight was canceled. She questioned how and when because she had just checked it the night before, and the guy wouldn't answer any of her questions and wouldn't help her. There comes the nervous breakdown at the airport. After many arguments, the agent finally tells her it had been canceled for TWO WEEKS! (Can anyone believe this?) Now, Alitalia NEVER contacted her by phone, e-mail or ANY means. She said the man was the rudest ever and he was not willing to help her in any way, even to rebook her on another airline. She tried to get his name and he wouldn't let her and finally she was able to catch it from his badge, and he gave her a phone number which she's sure it's a fake one. (She wants to report him.) Anyways, finally after all the arguments he rebooked her on Royal Air Maroc with a layover in CMN. The flight that was supposed to be 10hrs on AZ with layover in FCO, ended up taking 24 hrs! Miserable...in addition to all the frustration and mess.

So, during all this mess, she called me trying to get something resolved via Alitalia or finding an alternate airline. So, intead of going through Alitalia's customer service, I called her job's travel agency directly through whom she booked her travel anyways. They researched it and apparently Alitalia did in fact CANCEL the flight and they never notified the travel agency, who would have contacted my friend to notify her.

I flew AZ only once in my life and for one leg only, and I've always heard the worst things about them. After this incident, I shall never fly them even if I have to go through several connections on other airlines to reach my final destination. They're completely out and they should be kicked out of SkyTeam. Compared to my experience with other SkyTeam (AF, KLM, NWA, DL, CO, KE), Alitalia completely defames SkyTeam.

Oh and by the way, my friend was booked in Business Class on AZ. When she was rebooked on Royal Air Maroc, she had to fly coach because of availability. So she didn't even get back the value of the ticket she paid on AZ. In addition, I'm not sure if she will get her miles on Delta. Royal Air Maroc is only a codeshare partner with DL; don't know if she can get MQMs from that trip.

Any advice anyone can provide or what we should ask from Alitalia would be greatly appreciated.

rufftackle

I really sympathize with your friend and her experience with Alitalia. It is unfortunate that the website was not updates and that the agent was rude. I hope that she gets the compensation that she deserves. I'll mark Alitalia on my "No-Fly" list for now.

fedefraaz

i'm quite sure travel agency knew about that and just didn't report to its customer...but that's my thought....that comes from my experience....but anyways.....i'm sorry for her.

dh01

Sorry to say, but what you write about is not an infrequent AZ experience. Occasionally things function, but one always gets the feeling that it was by pure luck.....

Gajan

you could try EUClaim to get the compensation if AZ does not pay out the compensation according to EU Directive

l'agentsecret

Not a nice experience especially since it seems like it could have been avoided if your friend had been informed on time.
Now, when a flight is cancelled, a message is normally automaticaly generated to the booking agency who, in turn, should inform their clients. More often than none, travel agents will claim that they were not informed when, in fact, they just forgot to let the passenger know.
Another point is that travel agencies are famously secretive with regards to their clients' details as they do not want airlines to collect private informations and, possibly, try and deal directly with the passenger. Unless the latter holds a frequent flyer card issued by the airline in question, there will be no way for the carrier to warn against disruptions to the flights.
I am not claiming that this is the case with your friend. Just contact AZ, let them investigate and explain what really has happened here.
It is also worth remembering that given that the flight was alledgedly cancelled 2 weeks prior to departure, it is likely that this cancellation was commercialy motivated in which case your friend might be entitled to financial compensation...

AJO

However, when a flight is cancelled well in advance, you get nothing according to the rules.

fedefraaz

that's exactly what i was talking about....

NickB

What matters is not the date of cancellation per se but the date at which the cancellation is notified to the pax.

Shona

Which presumably leads on to how and in which manner this was communicated to the passenger.

Art 5.4 might provide some assistance

4. The burden of proof concerning the questions as to whether and when the passenger has been informed of the cancellation of the flight shall rest with the operating air carrier.

This might lead on to the question of the position of the travel agent and the facts.

Is the travel agent- the agent for passenger, agent for the carrier or an independent contractor? Would this not be relevant in determine the manner and timing of the communication?

Depending upon the above the actions or omissions of a travel agent might also be relevant-and any contractual terms the agent might seek to incorporate within their contact (if any) with the passenger.

If the TA was informed by the carrier and didnt relay this information to the passenger (or otherwise was economical in passing contact details to the carrier-for whatever commercial purpose)-but nevertheless had a duty to pass on the flight cancellation information to the passenger-could the TA also be "in the frame"?

Presumably AZ has an evidential trail that would or would not satisfy the Art 5.4 burden of proof.

If they were able to satisfy that burden of proof I wonder if that would be the end of the matter in considering the passenger's grievance?

Wouldnt there also need to conveyed the other obligations burdened upon the operating carrier under Art 5 and Art 8 of EC 261/2004?

Wasnt the entire bad experience of the passenger in ACC incurred because that procedure had not been followed and shouldnt this have been avoidable?

flyerman770

That's two mistakes:
1) Earning Delta Miles
2) Using Alitalia

1bentley

Interesting thought but why would the flight still be listed as on time on their web site?

fedefraaz

<
that's quite a good one...flight is resuming tomorrow..and web site hasn't been scheduling it in a week...i'm so sorry i deal with this problems every single day i know how things work...

Squerez

Just my real experience.
In the last 2 years i got 3 flights canceled from AZ on a total of more 40 segments operated by AZ. Lucky? Maybe.
All the times I got a call from the call-center for a change (I have been always put in different flights...even operated by LX!).

The reason? Maybe because I booked through AZ website and in my profile they have 2 different phone numbers to contact me. Once they also left a message.
The only inconvenient was when they called me just 10 hours before...

ramfunes

That's a good record! Bad luck for me. Always delays/cancelations but fix in less than 8 hours.