[FARE GONE] Wickedly Low Biz Class Fare from YYZ to LCA (Cyprus) on AZ (Alitalia) [Archive] - Page 26

GUWonder

May 8, 06, 9:17 am

Probably more time to sit in the plane at the gate with the air conditioning not at its best.

In my experience, when AZ was late out of MXP, it most always meant late boarding instead of on-time boarding with a wait in the plane at the gate. The downside is that the late boarding time is not reflected on AZ's displays and so you end up going to the boarding gate area and waiting in a line (if that is what it can be called on a particular occassion) for either the bus to come or for the jet bridge door to open. Thankfully, it rarely meant waiting in a plane with the A/C off or not at its best.

Sincerely,
An A/C aficionado. :D

bostonbali

May 8, 06, 9:50 am

GUWonder - in your experience, can you get updates from the lounge matrons regarding delays, therefore relaxing in the lounge instead of by the gate until boarding begins?

GUWonder

May 8, 06, 9:51 am

GUWonder - in your experience, can you get updates from the lounge matrons regarding delays, therefore relaxing in the lounge instead of by the gate until boarding begins?

You can ask personally, but the answer may not be reliable (as in the displayed boarding time -- inaccurate as it may be -- is what they will more often than not tell you).

formentura

May 8, 06, 10:34 am

the rebooking thread is locked, but does anyone know where us alitalia offices are? obviously at the airport, but are there others?

thanks

GUWonder

May 8, 06, 10:48 am

the rebooking thread is locked, but does anyone know where us alitalia offices are? obviously at the airport, but are there others?

thanks

Contact Alitalia

For Call Center reservations & flight re-confirmations, call 800-223-5730.

For web-related inquiries and questions regarding your online booking, call 866-369-9935 or email: alitaliasupport@alicos.net .

For general information email: alitaliasupport@alicos.net .

For U.S. Executive and General Offices, call 212-903-3300.

For Customer Service claims, call 212-903-3575

For Baggage Inquiries relating to luggage lost within the past 5 days, call 800-905-9992.

To contact Alitalia Airlines in the U.S.A write to:
Alitalia Airlines
350 Fifth Avenue - Suite 3700
New York, NY 10118

For information about our Club MilleMiglia/Frequent Flyer Program call 1.888.5.ALITALIA.To enroll online click here.

Ticket Offices:

NEW YORK:
JFK International Airport
Alitalia Airlines – Terminal 1
Jamaica, NY 11430

Newark International Airport
Alitalia Airlines – Terminal B
Newark, NJ 07114

BOSTON:
Logan International Airport
Alitalia Airlines – Terminal E
East Boston, MA 02128

CHICAGO:
O’Hare International Airport
Alitalia Airlines – Terminal 5
Chicago, IL 60666

MIAMI:
Miami International Airport
Alitalia Airlines
Miami International Concourse E
Room E 2600
Miami, FL 33159

WASHINGTON:
Washington Dulles International Airport
Main Terminal
P.O. Box 16551
Washington D.C. 20041

www.alitaliausa.com is where I got that from.

ckc

May 8, 06, 11:05 am

This is a little tangential and OT, but has anyone had experience w/ CANPASS Air? It seems like the $50 or so would be worth it IF the machines that utilize it actually work and it saves a significant amount of time clearing customs. I do have 3 hour between US-CA and CA-US flights, but I don't want to take any chances and get stranded at YYZ. Any thoughts?

Yes, I use it frequently, and from time to time it saves time, though I usually wait longer pre-clearing US customs on the way out of YYZ, than clearing Canadian Customs on the way into YYZ. Most of the time, in my experience, the wait is only a few minutes, but the Canpass is nice.
It has a 1% random referral rate built into the system.
Note that it takes a few months from the time you send in your completed application. Once they receive the various security clearances and checks, you are contacted to make an in person appointment at YYZ (or YUL, YVR and possibly YOW?).
The in person appointment takes about 20 minutes and consists of enrolment, and a lecture from Customs on the do's and don'ts.
ckc

hauteboy

May 8, 06, 11:10 am

The YYZ-MXP flights are still zeroed out in all classes on our departure date (06-30), is AZ still messing with availability, or is the flight really sold out? Any bump odds? :D

HeathrowGuy

May 8, 06, 11:17 am

The YYZ-MXP flights are still zeroed out in all classes on our departure date (06-30), is AZ still messing with availability, or is the flight really sold out? Any bump odds? :D

It may be genuinely sold out. Be careful about pursuing bumps, though - Alitalia might try to force you to wait a day (or two, or three) for its next available flight instead of FIM'ing you onto another airline with Business Class seats.

Daniele Della Rocca

May 8, 06, 11:37 am

the rebooking thread is locked, but does anyone know where us alitalia offices are? obviously at the airport, but are there others?

thanks

- Go to the main Alitalia webpage (http://www.alitalia.com)
- Chose "your country" on the top left
- Go to "customer care" on the left banner
- Chose "contact us"
- Scroll down and you will find all the Alitalia offices in your country

stephem

May 8, 06, 12:29 pm

juanitajh

May 8, 06, 12:59 pm

My return from LCA (via FCO) includes a forced overnight at JFK before connecting with AA to YYZ the next day.

If I do not plan on taking the AA flight (easier to get back to SFO from JFK), will I be able to pick up my checked luggage and take it to my hotel at JFK?

Does JFK become my first point of US entry even though I am in transit to Canada?

Are there any other concerns with checking bags and not using the AA flight?

Thanks for your help!

stephem

May 8, 06, 1:11 pm

jpdx

May 8, 06, 1:16 pm

Did anybody have any luck rebooking and getting an open jaw b/t FCO & MXP so that you could use your stopover to drive between the two? I don't want to push my luck, but our plan on one of these trips is to do just this, and I'd rather not have to drive all the way back or drop the car and pay for the one way tickets to get back to where we stopped over.

Not sure how that would work, since you can't drop MXP/FCO-LCA.

Would you fly YYZ-FCO-LCA-FCO-overland-MXP-YYZ?

stephem

May 8, 06, 1:18 pm

Not sure how that would work, since you can't drop MXP/FCO-LCA.

Would you fly YYZ-FCO-LCA-FCO-overland-MXP-YYZ?

Yes, this is exactly what I would like to do and you can typically do this on paid and award tickets, just not sure you could with this "special" fare...

MACH81

May 8, 06, 1:34 pm

senoreit

May 8, 06, 1:51 pm

I have a question.I'm supposed to fly MXP-LCA-MXP but I want to change dates;problem is that MXP-LCA is not operated on mondays in the winter,can I ask to go MXP-FCO-LCA on monday and a simple LCA-MXP on the way back on tue?I wish I had called when it was possible to drop the LCA segments...
If you get an answer to this question, can you please post back and let me/us know what it is? I too wonder if a YYZ-MXP-LCA routing can be traded for a YYZ-MXP-FCO-LCA. I probably would have already called and asked if this is possible but it appears that my desired flight date back to YYZ is not quite available for booking yet.

beaubo

May 8, 06, 2:04 pm

[QUOTE=stephem]as I understand we have to "give up" the BOS, EWR and ORD routings to get date changes.

If you had those US connections in your original itinerary, you don't have to 'give them up'.

However, on the outbound, unless you have a compelling reason otherwise, YYZ-MXP/FCO is clearly more efficient routing and saves AZ money.

On the return, the MXP or FCO-YYZ flight requires a forced overnight in Itialy. So, if you have a US connection in your original itin that allows you to return same day, you have the option of keeping it as well.

beaubo

May 8, 06, 2:07 pm

Did anybody have any luck rebooking and getting an open jaw b/t FCO & MXP so that you could use your stopover to drive between the two? I don't want to push my luck, but our plan on one of these trips is to do just this, and I'd rather not have to drive all the way back or drop the car and pay for the one way tickets to get back to where we stopped over.

So, if you are looking to fly LCA-FCO and then MXP-YYZ. On one hand, it is all AZ metal, which works in your favor. On the other hand, stopovers might require arriving and leaving from the same city. So, when you get a hold of Nicolo, it is a reasonable request to ask of him.

Blank Sheet

May 8, 06, 2:08 pm

It has been posted that you can re-route the LCA segment via either MXP or FCO as long LCA has service that day. Be ready to get booked into Y for any changes to the LCA segments.

I spoke to Mr. Nicolo this morning trying to squeeze in a FCO stop over. He had no problem routing LCA-MXP-FCO in Y even though the flight showed C2 D2 for Alitalia Airlines Flight: 7707 (Operated by Cyprus Airways). I didn't push the issue.

That wouldn't have been a problem except for our return FCO-YYZ segment was zero'd out in D on the day we needed, He didn't offer to route via MXP so I we simply moved our MXP-YYZ segment by one day to match our award tickets that were on hold. That gives us a MXP stopover now and we simply need to get our tickets stickered at YYZ when we check in.

beaubo

May 8, 06, 2:09 pm

MACH81

May 8, 06, 2:59 pm

MXP-FCO-LCA is considered legal routing on the outbound, and it helps that MXP-FCO is on AZ metal. And of course, LCA-MXP is for sure doable.

Thanks

HeathrowGuy

May 8, 06, 3:29 pm

I received my ticket today - Nicolo performed the reissue last Thursday, and sent it via my prepaid Express Mail envelope (I don't get Saturday delivery). The dates and routing are as I requested, with all segments except FCO-LIN (a single-cabin flight) in D class.

MACH81

May 8, 06, 3:45 pm

Good to know that I can fly in and out of LIN going to LCA.Much easier!thanks

HeathrowGuy

May 8, 06, 3:49 pm

I should explain - my routing is YYZ-MXP-LCA, LCA-FCO-LIN//stopover in Milan//MXP-YYZ. CY does not offer LIN-LCA nonstop service.

planeluvr

May 9, 06, 12:34 pm

umguy

May 9, 06, 2:00 pm

WOW almost 24 hours without a post.

YYCOllie

May 9, 06, 2:40 pm

Hrm. Am on hold with Orbitz to see if they'll ticket it :)

MACH81

May 9, 06, 2:55 pm

Just changed my dates with Nicolo' over the phone. I couldn't save AZ money though.Still going with AA to JFK because of AZ schedules out of YYZ.I wasn't very happy about that.There's no D on my FCO-LCA segment...well, I'll live with that.

Original routing: YYZ-JFK-MXP-LCA-MXP//MXP-YYZ

Revised routing: YYZ-JFK-MXP// LIN-FCO-LCA-MXP//MXP-YYZ

hauteboy

May 9, 06, 3:05 pm

I sent my tickets to Nicolo last week, with a letter describing the changes we would like to make.. (change return from July 4th to July 18). Today we got our tickets back, but they still have the July 4th date on them! Am I screwed now? :eek:

beaubo

May 9, 06, 3:24 pm

beaubo

May 9, 06, 3:25 pm

WOW almost 24 hours without a post.

no news is good news!!!!!!!!!

Socaflyer

May 9, 06, 4:28 pm

In the process of trying to rebook our 6 tickets, I put this information together. I hope it might help others solve the puzzle for how to construct their trip. It has the the times/days of the week for the flights to/from YYZ-MXP/FCO-LCA and back, I just used those as I understand we have to "give up" the BOS, EWR and ORD routings to get date changes. Although I'm not sure precisely when it kicks in, I have the "winter" schedule too.

Summer Schedules:
YYZ-FCO AZ 651 4:35PM-7:10AM + 1 day (M, Th, Fr, Sat, Sun)
YYZ-MXP AZ 653 5:05PM-7:25AM + 1day (M, Tu, Wed, Th, Fr, Sun)

MXP-LCA CY 413 1:30PM-5:55pm (Tu, Wed, Fri, Sat); CY1413 1AM-5:25AM (Sun)
FCO-LCA CY 317 12:30PM-4:30PM (Tu, Th, Sun)

LCA-MXP CY 412 9:40AM-12:35PM (Tu, Wed, Fri, Sat); CY1412 9:15PM-12:10AM (Sat)
LCA-FCO CY316 9:15AM-11:30AM (Tu, Th, Sun)

FCO-YYZ AZ 650 10:30AM-2:25PM (M, Th, Fr, Sat, Sun)
MXP-YYZ AZ 652 10:40AM-2PM (M, Tu, Wed, Th, Fr, Sun)

Winter Schedules: (not exactly sure when this kicks in)
AZ 650/651 (FCO-YYZ-FCO) do not operate

MXP-LCA CY 1:35PM-6PM (Tu, Fri, Sun)
FCO-LCA CY 12:30PM-4:30PM (M, Sat)

LCA-MXP CY 9:40AM-12:35PM (Tu, Fr, Sun)
LCA-FCO CY 9:15AM-11:30AM (M, Sat)

Stephem,

Thanks for posting this information. It did raise a question for me about whether it might be missing information, as I have a flight booked from YYZ-MXP departing on a Saturday (during winter schedule, if that makes a difference). That was my original ticket purchased and I'm assuming (hoping?) they didn't book me on a non-existent flight.

Also, because we're hoping to extend our stay in Rome, I went on the Alitalia website and checked to see if there were any Tuesday flights from FCO-LCA. There were three listed for that Tuesday in November (although I think only one was a direct flight -- the others were FCO-MXP-LCA). Still, I realize that other people may have information I don't and the website may not reflect planned changes. Thoughts?

senoreit

May 9, 06, 5:49 pm

Stephem,

Thanks for posting this information. It did raise a question for me about whether it might be missing information, as I have a flight booked from YYZ-MXP departing on a Saturday (during winter schedule, if that makes a difference). That was my original ticket purchased and I'm assuming (hoping?) they didn't book me on a non-existent flight.
The chart stephem put together is not quite complete in that it does not include the winter schedules for YYZ<->MXP flights. Here are the complete YYZ<->MXP timetables through the end of the schedule (as you can see, YYZ-MXP does run on Saturdays throughout the winter months, so you're not booked on a non-existent flight):

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
YYZ-MXP non-stop

Thru 6/30, YYZ-MXP AZ 653 5:05PM-7:25AM +1 day (Mo, Tu, Th, Fr, Sa, Su)

7/1-10/31 YYZ-MXP AZ 653 5:05PM-7:25AM +1 day (Mo, Tu, We, Th, Fr, Su)

11/1-12/31 YYZ-MXP AZ 653 5:05PM-7:25AM +1 day (Mo, Tu, We, Th, Fr, Sa, Su)

1/1-2/28 YYZ-MXP AZ 653 5:05PM-7:25AM +1 day (Mo, We, Th, Fr, Sa, Su)

3/1-end of schedule AZ 653 5:05PM (changes to 6:05PM starting 3/11)-7:25AM +1 day (Mo, Tu, We, Th, Fr, Sa, Su)

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
MXP-YYZ non-stop

Thru 6/30 MXP-YYZ AZ 652 10:40AM-2:00PM (Mo, Tu, Th, Fr, Sa, Su)

7/1-10/31 MXP-YYZ AZ 652 10:40AM-2:00PM(changes to 2:05PM starting 10/29) (Mo, Tu, We, Th, Fr, Su)

11/1-12/31 MXP-YYZ AZ 652 10:40AM-2:05PM (Mo, Tu, We, Th, Fr, Sa, Su)

1/1-2/28 MXP-YYZ AZ 652 10:40AM-2:05PM (Mo, We, Th, Fr, Sa, Su)

3/1-end of schedule MXP-YYZ AZ 652 10:40AM-2:05PM(changes to 3:05PM starting 3/11) (Mo, Tu, We, Th, Fr, Sa, Su)

Also, because we're hoping to extend our stay in Rome, I went on the Alitalia website and checked to see if there were any Tuesday flights from FCO-LCA. There were three listed for that Tuesday in November (although I think only one was a direct flight -- the others were FCO-MXP-LCA). Still, I realize that other people may have information I don't and the website may not reflect planned changes. Thoughts?
I think you are mistaken about there being non-stop FCO-LCA flights on Tuesdays in November. The only FCO-LCA flights on Tuesdays in November must connect in Milan. I assume these flights were not included in stephem's post because he was concentrating solely on non-stop flights. FCO-MXP flights on AZ run several times every day of the week year-round, so any day there is a direct MXP-LCA flight, you can get from FCO-LCA with 1 stop (in MXP). FCO-LCA non-stop flights, however, only run two or three times per week depending on the time of year.

senoreit

May 9, 06, 6:06 pm

llbean

May 9, 06, 10:22 pm

Anyone have any luck with dropping the Milan-LCA portion?

fti

May 9, 06, 10:41 pm

Here's a question for the experts: Alitalia seems to not extend their booking window on a day-by-day basis. In other words, currently the longest-away date for which one can book travel on Alitalia is March 24, 2007 (which of course is less than 330 days from now), and it has been this way for several days now (not sure exactly how long). Do certain airlines extend their booking window on a week-by-week or even every-two-weeks basis instead of a day-by-day basis, or is this unusual?

Not that I am an expert, but 24 March is the end of the winter schedule and my guess is that AZ has not loaded next summer's schedule yet so won't sell seats until they publish that schedule. It is unusual but not unheard of to not be able to book an airline up to 330 days out. WN comes to mind immediately as do other airilines like FL.

HeathrowGuy

May 9, 06, 10:44 pm

Anyone have any luck with dropping the Milan-LCA portion?

It's not allowed

Socaflyer

May 9, 06, 11:20 pm

I think you are mistaken about there being non-stop FCO-LCA flights on Tuesdays in November. The only FCO-LCA flights on Tuesdays in November must connect in Milan. I assume these flights were not included in stephem's post because he was concentrating solely on non-stop flights. FCO-MXP flights on AZ run several times every day of the week year-round, so any day there is a direct MXP-LCA flight, you can get from FCO-LCA with 1 stop (in MXP). FCO-LCA non-stop flights, however, only run two or three times per week depending on the time of year.

Thanks so much for the more detailed YYZ-MXP scheduled. Regarding the Tuesday flight from FCO in winter, the Alitalia website lists three flights for the particular Tuesday in November that I wanted. Two flights connect in Milan and the other is the nonstop to LCA (AZ 7700). Based on your information, it sounds like the website programmers forgot to include the winter schedule changes.

That leads me to another question. Right now my itinerary is YYZ-MXP-FCO on Sat/Sun. Monday I'm scheduled to go FCO-LCA. I'd really like to stay another day in FCO and fly to LCA on Tuesday. If FCO-MXP-LCA is the only option for Tuesday, do you think Nicolo would allow me to change my flight to Tuesday? Or is that a routing change and thus invalid? My ticket lists FCO as an "O", not an "X", although I do have a 26 hour layover. Obviously I'd be willing to switch to coach for the FCO-MXP-LCA legs in exchange for a date change.

gldwebs

May 9, 06, 11:21 pm

It's not allowed

It WAS allowed...I did it...

YVR Cockroach

May 9, 06, 11:26 pm

You are at risk.If you get late in YYZ for any reason you are SOL...remember it's 2 hrs check-in cut-off

Hmm, I've got two back-to-back tickets. SO I only have a scheduled 3 hours to clear Cdn immigration, check in with AZ and fly back to MXP on the same flight. If I do miss check in, I guess I can get the 2nd trip rescheduled if I don't make any date changes?

beaubo

May 9, 06, 11:36 pm

That leads me to another question. Right now my itinerary is YYZ-MXP-FCO on Sat/Sun. Monday I'm scheduled to go FCO-LCA. I'd really like to stay another day in FCO and fly to LCA on Tuesday. If FCO-MXP-LCA is the only option for Tuesday, do you think Nicolo would allow me to change my flight to Tuesday? Or is that a routing change and thus invalid? My ticket lists FCO as an "O", not an "X", although I do have a 26 hour layover. Obviously I'd be willing to switch to coach for the FCO-MXP-LCA legs in exchange for a date change.

internal Italy routing changes are fine. MXP-LCA to MXP-FCO-LCA and other similar permutations are fine

beaubo

May 9, 06, 11:38 pm

Hmm, I've got two back-to-back tickets. SO I only have a scheduled 3 hours to clear Cdn immigration, check in with AZ and fly back to MXP on the same flight. If I do miss check in, I guess I can get the 2nd trip rescheduled if I don't make any date changes?

3 hrs is plenty of time...even w/ an arrival delay. Plus, you can tell the arrivals AZ agents to radio to the departure AZ agents that you are making the turnaround, so that they'll be expecting you, and will be prepared if you are running a bit late.

beaubo

May 9, 06, 11:40 pm

It WAS allowed...I did it...

Congrats on your good luck....but for anyone not bequeathed an LCA dropped segment, it is not available anymore.

senoreit

May 9, 06, 11:48 pm

Thanks so much for the more detailed YYZ-MXP scheduled. Regarding the Tuesday flight from FCO in winter, the Alitalia website lists three flights for the particular Tuesday in November that I wanted. Two flights connect in Milan and the other is the nonstop to LCA (AZ 7700). Based on your information, it sounds like the website programmers forgot to include the winter schedule changes.
You know, after I read your response I went back and looked at the individual day timetables on Alitalia's website (before, I was looking at the weekly timetables), and you're absolutely right that they list non-stop FCO-LCA flights on Tuesdays in November, but as you say it must be an error as these flights simply don't exist. If you look at the weekly timetable instead of the daily timetable, the correct days of Monday and Saturday are listed. A check of the timetables at Cyprus Airways' webpage shows the non-stop FCO-LCA flights on Tuesdays only operate from 13 Jun - 24 Oct.

fez933

May 10, 06, 1:42 am

A couple weeks ago, I got a voicemail from Leonardo Pepe from the Toronto office. I called him back and he confirmed my flights. YYZ -> MXP -> LCA and LCA -> MXP (1 week stopover) -> YYZ. He mentioned that I was allowed to make one date change as long as it had the same stops, etc... He gave me a phone number to call reservations and a locator number. He wouldn't do it for me. I waited 2 weeks and after doing a bit of planning, I decided that I wanted to change the LCA -> MXP leg to leave a day earlier.

I called Alitalia reservations and asked about changing the date. The CSR told me that they couldn't make any changes to the ticket and that I should phone Travelocity. I sensed that I was getting the run-around here. I mentioned Leonardo's name and explained the situation but the CSR wasn't having any of it. She said that Alitalia could only change the return portion after the flight had begun. She refused to do anything.

I decided to call Leonardo back. At first, he was denying that date changes were possible. After awhile, he mentioned that date changes were possible for awhile but that the office in New York had put a stop to changes and that they were just honouring what was on the original ticket. It wasn't a big deal for me so I didn't really push the issue but I'm guessing that I won't be the only one who is getting resistance from Alitalia.

beaubo

May 10, 06, 1:57 am

keithguy

May 10, 06, 2:42 am

PLEASE read page one of this thread for updated rebooking instructions. You will be pleased to know that there is a resolution process clearly laid out there.
So even though Mr. Pepe says changes are no longer allowed, you are still suggesting one send tickets to him for changes regardless? Doesn't quite make sense. Does it?

Daniele Della Rocca

May 10, 06, 4:03 am

So even though Mr. Pepe says changes are no longer allowed, you are still suggesting one send tickets to him for changes regardless? Doesn't quite make sense. Does it?

Is this dicussion never ending? The changes are allowed, of course! The original fare rules are valid.

Of course, we cannot change the routing nor can we drop any segments. Why shall we? That's never possible with airline tickets.

gleff

May 10, 06, 5:42 am

So even though Mr. Pepe says changes are no longer allowed, you are still suggesting one send tickets to him for changes regardless? Doesn't quite make sense. Does it?
I read that Mr. Pepe said no changes, but I thought that was a reference to AZ's position a few weeks ago.

beaubo

May 10, 06, 5:57 am

So even though Mr. Pepe says changes are no longer allowed, you are still suggesting one send tickets to him for changes regardless? Doesn't quite make sense. Does it?

Originally Posted by fez933
A couple weeks ago, I got a voicemail from Leonardo Pepe from the Toronto office.

The rebooking process and policies were updated on May 5 at 215p, which SUPERCEDE any previous information provided by Nicolo or Mr. Pepe.

So, I hope indeed that it does make sense to utilize the master rebooking process summarized on page 1, which has designated Nicolo as the SOLE contact for rebooking tickets. For Canadian residents only, once Nicolo has completed their rebooking, then they can contact Mr. Pepe to have their tickets re-issued. But Mr. Pepe has no involvement in the rebooking (date, routing changes, stopovers), period.

Hope that helps.

beaubo

May 10, 06, 6:01 am

I read that Mr. Pepe said no changes, but I thought that was a reference to AZ's position a few weeks ago.

That is correct. AZ's position officially changed 10 days ago and the new policy that will honor original bookings or accept dare/routing/stopover changes was published on page 1 of this thread 6 days ago.

beaubo

May 10, 06, 6:03 am

Is this dicussion never ending? The changes are allowed, of course! The original fare rules are valid.

Of course, we cannot change the routing nor can we drop any segments. Why shall we? That's never possible with airline tickets.

Kindly reference page 1 of this thread which states that routing and date changes are indeed possible. You are correct that dropping LCA segments is not possible.

planeluvr

May 10, 06, 8:24 am

Here is a breakdown (http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/misc.php?do=whoposted&threadid=544622) of who has posted on this thread. :D

lallyr

May 10, 06, 8:35 am

Here is a breakdown (http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/misc.php?do=whoposted&threadid=544622) of who has posted on this thread. :D

I need to unsubscribe to this thread! Seems like i get an update email every few minutes. Hope you all have a great flight! Here is me saying bye to this thread.

Jaimito Cartero

May 10, 06, 8:45 am

Here is a breakdown (http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/misc.php?do=whoposted&threadid=544622) of who has posted on this thread. :D

It's funny that the OP, rosj, only has 6 posts.

umguy

May 10, 06, 9:01 am

But 6 very important posts :)

MACH81

May 10, 06, 9:03 am

Here is a breakdown (http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/misc.php?do=whoposted&threadid=544622) of who has posted on this thread. :D

Wow I'm 4th!gotta get a life :D :D :D

janhigginskcmo

May 10, 06, 9:05 am

I had to look twice to find myself.... :D

stephem

May 10, 06, 9:11 am

Thanks to all in this thread who greased the wheels, gave so much valuable information on how to rebook these and convinced me to wait for the dust to settle. I just got off the phone with Nicolo and in about 5 minutes had one set of our tickets rebooked for 2 1/2 weeks of fun in Italy/Cyprus in the end of August. Combined with NW miles to get to YYZ and a load of SPG and Hyatt points for hotels we've really turned this into a dream vacation in high season for, er, $165.19 per person...

My advice for those still working on these is to look both at the schedule and a fare availability tool (to make sure there is D availability on the AZ flights). And I'm not sure if anyone has said this, but there is no rush at all to rebook, Nicolo said that I could rebook our other 4 tickets at any point prior to date of travel.

mlhall

May 10, 06, 9:33 am

First, Signor Cimilucca was able to make changes to my itinerary to allow connections from FCO rather than MXP and an extended "Roman Holiday". Mille grazie for his kindness and help. Use the instructions in the aforementioned post and everything should go fine.

Second, I really don't remember posting nine different items in this thread. After some exhortations to others to wait for the situation to settle down, I have maintained radio silence for about 400 pages. I guess it's possible. Hopefully, my low post count won't come back to bite me in some way.

Third, if anyone is interested in meeting up in either Cyprus or Rome in late July, I would love to share a drink with fellow FlyerTalkers. We could wear t-shirts with "Fiji" or "Acapulco" on them to identify each other.

umguy

May 10, 06, 10:38 am

Wow I'm 4th!gotta get a life :D :D :D

Yeah me too. And you are only a few ahead of me.

zxcvbs

May 10, 06, 11:14 am

Here is a breakdown (http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/misc.php?do=whoposted&threadid=544622) of who has posted on this thread. :D

:eek: I would have only guessed I had maybe half that many posts. but it's so hard to stay away...truly fun to (finally) get in on a sweet FT deal.

GUWonder

May 10, 06, 11:16 am

:eek: I would have only guessed I had maybe half that many posts. but it's so hard to stay away...truly fun to (finally) get in on a sweet FT deal.

I seem to be c. 8-9% of this thread. :o ..... and I haven't even much followed it for the past week.

Peatisback

May 10, 06, 12:53 pm

Here is a breakdown (http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/misc.php?do=whoposted&threadid=544622) of who has posted on this thread. :D

Man, I'm really starting to slack off.....

MACH81

May 10, 06, 1:38 pm

Met the man too!I went to the AZ office at the Empire State Building. Got my tickets re-issued.Dates I wanted.Just two quick notes:On the re-issued tickets,the full # of your credit card is available;I found it dangerous,even without the security code.Second, Nicolo specifically told me that CT,Orbitz and Travelocity are still messing up with the tickets.So if you did get yours re-instated and re-issued,you might want to call your online TA and tell them not to touch the tickets.AZ has sent out an e-mail to the TAs,but they are still messing with the tickets.The ONLY[U] authorized person to deal with those tickets is Mr.Camillucci.I did call him yesterday for the changes and I call him back today before going to his office, and we found out that CT had been messing with the tickets overnight!

umguy

May 10, 06, 1:39 pm

Oh boy I had better go check my tickets.

keithguy

May 10, 06, 3:06 pm

So, I hope indeed that it does make sense to utilize the master rebooking process summarized on page 1, which has designated Nicolo as the SOLE contact for rebooking tickets. For Canadian residents only, once Nicolo has completed their rebooking, then they can contact Mr. Pepe to have their tickets re-issued. But Mr. Pepe has no involvement in the rebooking (date, routing changes, stopovers), period.

Hope that helps.
I hope it helps the poster, but it still makes no sense. Basically, customers first get phone calls from Mr. Pepe explaining that a change is allowed and to be processed via AZ reservations. Then, this changes and Mr. Pepe denies any changes can be made at all. But now, apparently (through information gained from this thread, and not AZ), the process is to get the reservation changed through another person and then tickets sent to Mr. Pepe for reissue.

See how it doesn't quite make sense? But then again, it's AZ, so who knows...

luv2ctheworld

May 10, 06, 3:31 pm

So... has anything been agreed upon regarding sending our favorite AZ employee anything?

I might add that several FT'ers over on the AA board have probably, oh, a few thousands of dollars worth of gift certificates, that anyone of them may be happy to send a small chunk to our AZ guy. I'm sure someone would like a way to launder back their money from giftcertificate.com.

Just my 2 cents... (and no, I didn't buy any gift certificates, but it sure was tempting for 25,000 AA miles)!

beaubo

May 10, 06, 3:38 pm

I hope it helps the poster, but it still makes no sense. Basically, customers first get phone calls from Mr. Pepe explaining that a change is allowed and to be processed via AZ reservations. Then, this changes and Mr. Pepe denies any changes can be made at all. But now, apparently (through information gained from this thread, and not AZ), the process is to get the reservation changed through another person and then tickets sent to Mr. Pepe for reissue.

See how it doesn't quite make sense? But then again, it's AZ, so who knows...

keithguy...no question that the situation up until the last few days has been erratic, contradicory, unclear, you name it. BUT, over the last 6 days, what has been posted on page 1 (master rebooking process) has actually been remarkably effective. So, at this point, the goal is to focus on what is working smoothly NOW versus whatwas screwed up big time THEN.

I share your frustration about why Mr. Pepe at some point, was involved in the rebooking process, but not anymore. I share your concern that Mr. Pepe has been the source of conflicting info. BUT, the current resolution process is working, which has been validated by dozens of FTers by now. So, what didn't make sense at one point, now makes sense.

I'm not trying to excuse AZ's conduct during the first 3 weeks of this debacle, rather I'm trying to focus FTer attention on AZ's conduct over the past week, which has been far more encouraging and productive.

PrivatePilot

May 10, 06, 3:39 pm

PrivatePilot

May 10, 06, 3:40 pm

sbm12

May 10, 06, 3:46 pm

I worked with Nico yesterday on my tix. I never had mine cancelled, that I saw, and I just wanted to fly on my originally scheduled dates (I'm boring -- sorry ;) ). I mentioned to Nico that I was only calling because I noticed on Orbitz that extra segments were all of a sudden showing up. I gave him my AZ record locator and he read back my 5 segment itinerary (YYZ-MXP-LCA-FCO-JFK-YYZ) and said that the online services basically had crap in their systems, and to just call the AZ 800 number to confirm what you actually are flying. So if it looks like CT is mucking with the reservations, my guess is that it is the same thing as what happened with mine and Orbitz, and that it doesn't matter.

And to echo the comments of many others here, Nico was prompt to call me back and very helpful in talking through my itin and confirming everything for me.

S.

MACH81

May 10, 06, 4:01 pm

So we should be calling Orbitz or CT? What should we say? The airline made a change and please leave things the way the are now? (Dont want to say that I made a change as then I might be tagged with a CT $50 change fee!)

call and tell them to get the hell off your reservations! :D

the_nomad

May 10, 06, 5:43 pm

Third, if anyone is interested in meeting up in either Cyprus or Rome in late July, I would love to share a drink with fellow FlyerTalkers.

Yes, as it seems this thread (http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/showthread.php?p=5578395) has fallen by the wayside, let's get another updated one started.

gleff

May 10, 06, 6:45 pm

Talked to Nicollo today. What a great guy. Easy to work with. No problem doing stopovers both directions. No problem keeping the return MXP-JFK. (He was willing to do FCO-EWR or FCO-ORD as well, so I didn't even need to keep the original routing to avoid the non-stop to YYZ -- but there was a connection in the US to begin with).

Nicolo specifically told me that CT,Orbitz and Travelocity are still messing up with the tickets.So if you did get yours re-instated and re-issued,you might want to call your online TA and tell them not to touch the tickets.
Nicollo told me about this as well.

DOn't call CT or Orbitz about this though. A call will do no good. Just check your res 24 and 48 hours after he makes the change to make sure nothing is messed with. And keep checking it, I guess.

Apparently someone did mess with a few reservations (restoring them to their original?) after Nicollo changed them as requested by ticketholders...

Also -- when you send your tickets to Nicollo do make sure to send a return PAID fedex envelope (or UPS, etc). Apparently some folks have sent the return envelopes to him without a mechanism for payment... :eek:

YYCOllie

May 10, 06, 8:16 pm

Can Nicolo reinstate a ticket that was never issued?

umguy

May 10, 06, 9:34 pm

Can Nicolo reinstate a ticket that was never issued?

I really can't blame you for trying.

sjc_longhorn

May 10, 06, 9:47 pm

deleted request for Nicolo's "different" address.

FWIW, when he spelled out his name for me (voluntarily, apparently he's been getting some misspelled items) it was "Nicolo Cimilouca."

formentura

May 10, 06, 9:50 pm

MapleLeaf

May 10, 06, 10:28 pm

When I had my tickets reissued I wasn't given the option of keeping my US routing :( That sucks, I had an F seat on UA to ORD... that would have given me over 2K in my bmi account.

beaubo

May 10, 06, 10:42 pm

one more time, the process goes like this to get your itinerary rebooked correctly. I have the tickets.

Call Nicolo
Ask him to change in the record
go to alitalia cto that day
get new tickets.

yes?

(I live in chicago)

that's pretty much it, although you don't have to go to cto that day, just sometime before travel OR FedEx your tickets to Nicolo in NYC for him to re-issue, whatever your preference, still, check page 1 of this thread for change conditions/details, so you are well-prepared when you call him

beaubo

May 10, 06, 10:48 pm

When I had my tickets reissued I wasn't given the option of keeping my US routing :( That sucks, I had an F seat on UA to ORD... that would have given me over 2K in my bmi account.

On the outbound, most efficient routing is YYZ-MXP and saves AZ money. While your mileage lament is not unreasonable, neither is AZ's request that you be accomodating of routing changes that don't affect the convenience of your itinerary. Losing the YYZ-ORD segment does not create any forced overnight or inconvenient connection scenarios. Hence, AZ's defensible position to switch to YYZ-MXP. Remember, on the return, where the MXP-YYZ routing does create a forced overnight, AZ is allowing the US connections that have same day arrivals to YYZ to be maintained, for those with US connections in original itin.

SAT Lawyer

May 10, 06, 11:28 pm

FWIW, when he spelled out his name for me (voluntarily, apparently he's been getting some misspelled items) it was "Nicolo <last name removed>."

The spelling of his name is Nicolo <last name removed> assuming that his personal e-mail signature and e-mail address itself are correct, which is probably a pretty safe assumption.

SEAUAKID

May 10, 06, 11:34 pm

While in LCA, I was thinking of taking the Emirates flight LCA-Malta.. somewhat inexpensive way to try EK. Still debating it. Any other 5th freedom flights involving LCA?

May 10, 06, 11:44 pm

SchmutzigMSP

May 11, 06, 12:02 am

Since we're going down this route of "name-speak" for the time being: I have yet to call Nicolo yet, but I need to do so in the next few days. I am wondering how to properly pronounce his first name when I speak with him. Is it (phonetically):

nick-OH-low / NICK-oh-low
--or--
nee-KOH-low / NEE-koh-low
--or--
something else?

Thanks. :)

beaubo

May 11, 06, 12:08 am

sjc_longhorn

May 11, 06, 12:29 am

The spelling of his name is Nicolo <last name removed> assuming that his personal e-mail signature and e-mail address itself are correct, which is probably a pretty safe assumption.Uh oh, time to go correct the FedEx label. Did anyone else use the 350 5th Ave 37th Floor address? That's what he gave me but it's a little different than what's in post #4 so I was a little curious about that too.

Thx for the correction SAT.

SAT Lawyer

May 11, 06, 12:36 am

Uh oh, time to go correct the FedEx label. Did anyone else use the 350 5th Ave 37th Floor address? That's what he gave me but it's a little different than what's in post #4 so I was a little curious about that too.

Suite 3700 is on the 37th Floor. Alitalia may not be the only tenant on the 37th floor, but I'm pretty sure FedEx will figure it out.

PrivatePilot

May 11, 06, 7:31 am

janhigginskcmo

May 11, 06, 8:18 am

Uh oh, time to go correct the FedEx label. Did anyone else use the 350 5th Ave 37th Floor address? That's what he gave me but it's a little different than what's in post #4 so I was a little curious about that too.

Thx for the correction SAT.

I sent the tickets to him at that address. I was on the phone with him at Fed Ex while I was filling out the label.

MACH81

May 11, 06, 9:19 am

Talked to Nicollo today. What a great guy. Easy to work with. No problem doing stopovers both directions. No problem keeping the return MXP-JFK. (He was willing to do FCO-EWR or FCO-ORD as well, so I didn't even need to keep the original routing to avoid the non-stop to YYZ -- but there was a connection in the US to begin with).

Nicollo told me about this as well.

DOn't call CT or Orbitz about this though. A call will do no good. Just check your res 24 and 48 hours after he makes the change to make sure nothing is messed with. And keep checking it, I guess.

Apparently someone did mess with a few reservations (restoring them to their original?) after Nicollo changed them as requested by ticketholders...

Also -- when you send your tickets to Nicollo do make sure to send a return PAID fedex envelope (or UPS, etc). Apparently some folks have sent the return envelopes to him without a mechanism for payment... :eek:

He expressly asked me to call CT.I actually didn't have time to call.And my reservation on CT is totally different from what I agreed with him.

umguy

May 11, 06, 10:49 am

Hmm why would they go in and just start messing with tickets?

MACH81

May 11, 06, 10:54 am

Hmm why would they go in and just start messing with tickets?

I don't know!good question,if you call could you please ask?

DeltaFlyingProf

May 11, 06, 11:50 am

I had Nicolo move my trip by one day and with no "D" inventory; he had no problem confirming the flights in business and I had multiple tickets.
Could he have used "I" bucket inventory?

I am trying to move my flight forward by two days, but there is inventory only in "I", since this is a cheaper bucket, does anyone know if he would allow to use it?

DeltaFlyingProf

May 11, 06, 11:56 am

How do you guys really look for D availability? For the same dates, if I look at FCO-LCA, I could have zero availability, while MXP-FCO-LCA has plenty of it. while PMF-FCO-LCA has a number in between.
Looks like journey control and it is VERY frustrating!

Spiff

May 11, 06, 12:12 pm

beaubo

May 11, 06, 12:44 pm

My PRE-PAID FedEx arrived today; everything booked as discussed with Nicolo! 5 down, 3 to go..after the rush is over!

bostonbali

May 11, 06, 12:49 pm

Went down to the Empire State Building (where Alitalia's NYC office is located) and met with Nicolo this morning. It was a very smooth and cordial transaction. I had previously changed my dates (and routing: changed my routing from YYZ-MXP-LCA; LCA-MXP-YYZ to YYZ-FCO-LCA; LCA-FCO//FCO-YYZ) ahead of time - I just went to the Alitalia office to have the tickets reissued.

Nicolo took my tickets and went to a different office (on a different floor, I believe) to issue the new tickets. He came back with brand new tickets (the old ticket numbers do appear under the heading "issued in exchange for").

Nicolo did mention that the online TA (he called them the "dot-coms") have been messing with a couple of reservations he changed (restoring them to their original form), so he did advise me to periodically check my reservations w/Alitalia (advice that was mentioned here previously).
He was very happy with the Godiva's I brought in... ;)

Good luck, looking forward to the first trip report!
BB.

MACH81

May 11, 06, 1:22 pm

While in LCA, I was thinking of taking the Emirates flight LCA-Malta.. somewhat inexpensive way to try EK. Still debating it. Any other 5th freedom flights involving LCA?

Are you sure is inexpensive?I tried two random dates in the period I'll be there...746 euros...not a bargain!Interesting that EK is operating that route...is it profitable?on an A332?!

PrivatePilot

May 11, 06, 1:23 pm

He was very happy with the Godiva's I brought in... ;)

At this rate, he'll have enough Godiva's to open his own branch there :D
By the way, did u get a chance to meet with the guy at the reception - interesting fella.

sjc_longhorn

May 11, 06, 1:44 pm

At this rate, he'll have enough Godiva's to open his own branch there :DSo, after being skeptical that Nicolo would be able to get what I wanted done done, I was pleasantly surprised that he did. I haven't done the ticket exchange thing yet, but once I do I too would like to jump on the "thank Nicolo" bandwagon.

However, I think the guy and everyone in his office is probably Godiva-d out, so is there any official group gift idea going? Maybe like a fancy Ipod or something (tough since pretty much every already owns one). I can't even pick for my wife, so picking something for the guy who's helped us out is gonna tough. I do think he deserves something for doing a bang-up job on a $33 R/T D ticket to Cyprus/Italy.

I also think he should be teaching customer service courses at AZ but that's another thread.

Edit: I'd ask this somewhere else but I haven't found a reference to it anywhere other than this thread. I majorly want to dive the Zenobia wreck while in Cyprus. Is this even possible in late December? I've read trip reports for the wreck but none that late in the year. Not knowing much of anything about the climate I'm mainly wondering if the water temps in Cyprus will be suitable for a fairly deep dive that late in the year. I've seen lots of summer reports but no winter reports -- and the even the summer reports refer to a nasty thermocline.

SEAUAKID

May 11, 06, 2:09 pm

Are you sure is inexpensive?I tried two random dates in the period I'll be there...746 euros...not a bargain!Interesting that EK is operating that route...is it profitable?on an A332?!

I've come up with 271++ on several dates

MACH81

May 11, 06, 2:14 pm

I've come up with 271++ on several dates

$ or euros,tot with tax?350?Still not a bargain IMHO,after what we paid for the LCA trip... :D

SAT Lawyer

May 11, 06, 3:35 pm

Edit: I'd ask this somewhere else but I haven't found a reference to it anywhere other than this thread. I majorly want to dive the Zenobia wreck while in Cyprus. Is this even possible in late December? I've read trip reports for the wreck but none that late in the year. Not knowing much of anything about the climate I'm mainly wondering if the water temps in Cyprus will be suitable for a fairly deep dive that late in the year.

http://www.alohadivers.com/useful_info.php
http://www.divesitedirectory.co.uk/cyprus.html

Looks pretty chilly to me.

I'd recommend e-mailing one of the dive operators in Cyprus for more thorough advice about the exposure protection that you'll need.

I'll be diving the Zenobia on 7/2/06 myself. In fact, I moved my outbound travel forward by one day just to accommodate the dive (and the requisite no-fly time on the back end).

IluvSQ

May 11, 06, 3:47 pm

Just spoke with Nicolo, my outbound flights reverted to original bookings,
was able to change dates FCO-LCA to allow a 3 day Rome stop-over, followed
by a 3 day LCA vacation, then returning as originally scheduled.

Only had to forgo C class on the FCO-LCA segments, not available.

Don't even require re-ticketing, he says AZ YYZ will sticker the coupons when
we check in for the first flights.

Very pleasant dealing with him.

Only thing - he warned we must check-in for first flight 4 hours before!
I wonder if they will cancel if this is not done?

aviationkiwi

May 11, 06, 3:57 pm

Only thing - he warned we must check-in for first flight 4 hours before!
I wonder if they will cancel if this is not done?

I cannot check-in 4 hrs before. They better not enforce this after I make it to YYZ on my travel date.

beaubo

May 11, 06, 4:14 pm

Only thing - he warned we must check-in for first flight 4 hours before!
I wonder if they will cancel if this is not done?

I'm pretty sure he;s suggesting you get to the airport 4 hrs. before on your day of departure, is just to insure that the AZ agents can 'sticker' your ticket before they get too busy.

I would strongly suggest that you have Nicolo complete your rebooking process by FedExing your ticket to his office and having him 'sticker' your ticket now, so you can go to the airport on departure date with no anxiety.

Or go to the airport soon to get 'sticker' done by an AZ agent before they get busy with that day's check-ins.

The key is not to have any outstanding ticketing issues on departure date.

UCSBCHRIS2002

May 11, 06, 4:21 pm

My original ticketed itinerary is as follows:

YYZ-JFK AA 4768 Depart: 235pm
Arrive: 420pm

JFK-MXP AZ 605 Depart: 600pm
Arrive: 750am

28 day stopover

MXP-FCO AZ 1019 Depart: 1010am
Arrive: 1130am

FCO-LCA AZ 7700 Depart: 1230pm
Arrive: 430pm

1 day stopover

LCA-MXP AZ 7707 Depart: 940am
Arrive: 1235am

1 day stopover

MXP-FCO AZ 1015 Depart:805am
Arrive: 925am

FCO-YYZ AZ 650 Depart 1030am
Arrive 225pm

I am thinking that I want to keep my original itinerary and not change but I have some tight connections. Im worried about my connection at JFK and FCO on my way to LCA. Are these going to be a problem?? Will AA check in my bags all the way to MXP in YYZ?? If I keep my original itinerary do I have to still contact Nicolo because on the CT site my itinerary is all messed up???

bostonbali

May 11, 06, 4:24 pm

At this rate, he'll have enough Godiva's to open his own branch there :D
By the way, did u get a chance to meet with the guy at the reception - interesting fella.

Actually, there was a lady at the front desk, so no interesting fella for me to meet.

MACH81

May 11, 06, 4:33 pm

Actually, there was a lady at the front desk, so no interesting fella for me to meet.

Same yesterday...not a woman of many words..

angus1999

May 11, 06, 4:50 pm

Actually, there was a lady at the front desk, so no interesting fella for me to meet.
Are you folks making appointments before visiting Nicolo in person at AZ new york office...or, can you just show up and hope he is there. If you do this, will he always see you?
I am thinking of just showing up.

MACH81

May 11, 06, 5:00 pm

Are you folks making appointments before visiting Nicolo in person at AZ new york office...or, can you just show up and hope he is there. If you do this, will he always see you?
I am thinking of just showing up.

Don't.give a call.He's gonna be there, but you never know,and it's kinda rude anyway

bigbrownboy

May 11, 06, 5:00 pm

Are you folks making appointments before visiting Nicolo in person at AZ new york office...or, can you just show up and hope he is there. If you do this, will he always see you?
I am thinking of just showing up.

Why surprise him? He's super nice...just call and give him the heads up.

PrivatePilot

May 11, 06, 5:23 pm

Only thing - he warned we must check-in for first flight 4 hours before!
I wonder if they will cancel if this is not done?

This is ONLY if you dont have re-issued tickets. For that reason only, I suggest getting your tickets re-issued beforehand.. then you dont have to worry about the 4 hour rule.

IluvSQ

May 11, 06, 5:56 pm

This is ONLY if you dont have re-issued tickets. For that reason only, I suggest getting your tickets re-issued beforehand.. then you dont have to worry about the 4 hour rule.

Well, my original tickets are for the actual flights we are taking - the
only change made was a date change for FCO-LCA.

That shouldn't matter too much...

the_nomad

May 11, 06, 8:48 pm

I just started a thread in "Community Buzz" where I'll post the info of those who are going and when (if they contacted Mr. Nicolo and made their changes).

Updated LCA thread (http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/showthread.php?p=5767672#post5767672post5767672)

Just PM me I'll add you to the 1st post.

DeltaFlyingProf

May 12, 06, 1:41 am

I use expertflyer.com
I use expertflyer as well. You did not read my question fully on the next post. The trouble is even though the FCO-LCA may show D0, MXP-FCO and FCO-LCA may show D3!!!
So what would Nicolo do? Take the highest number?

Spiff

May 12, 06, 2:00 am

I use expertflyer as well. You did not read my question fully on the next post. The trouble is even though the FCO-LCA may show D0, MXP-FCO and FCO-LCA may show D3!!!
So what would Nicolo do? Take the highest number?

Ah, sorry! :o

That's called 'married segments'. What you would have to ask Nicolo to do is check availability and reserve your flights doing 'point to point' connections. Hopefully, he will be willing to do so.

party_boy

May 12, 06, 3:55 am

runDMCnabb

May 12, 06, 9:53 am

Sorry if someone has posted something similar, but 5 pages is about my max to search through...

I received a call from a Supervisor named Tabitha from Orbitz... saying my tickets had been voided on April 7th (when they didn't think Alitalia would honor the fare), and that I need to send them to her, so they can re-issue correct ones to me when Alitalia provides them with some magical code "in the next week".

Given my contact with Orbitz, I am pretty skeptical of this request. I have also talked with Nic previously and he says everything regarding my trip looks good to go. But he wouldn't know if the tickets I'm holding were valid.

Orbitz says they need my tickets for auditing purposes if they are to re-issue the tickets. But I haven't heard of anyone getting asked to do this, so I figured I'd ask.

Anyone else receive a call from Orbitz? :confused:

MACH81

May 12, 06, 9:57 am

beaubo

May 12, 06, 11:20 am

mtacchi

May 12, 06, 11:25 am

DO not do that.

Deal with AZ only. It's way easier.

gleff

May 12, 06, 11:31 am

Even on a regular 'ol ticket (rather than a 'special' one) I don't think I'd mail paper tickets to Orbitz. Ever.

GUWonder

May 12, 06, 12:30 pm

Once the tickets go into that blackhole that is Orbitz, you'll provide proof on whether light can escape a blackhole or not. :D

jpdx

May 12, 06, 2:11 pm

Even on a regular 'ol ticket (rather than a 'special' one) I don't think I'd mail paper tickets to Orbitz. Ever.

As seen in the Asia hotel deal thread, it takes Orbitz a while to figure out how to deal with contingencies. Once they have set up a system to deal with these issues, however, they can be extremely efficient. I have no information to suggest that Orbitz has set up an AZ mistake task force, but if they did, I wouldn't hesitate to rely on them.

There's no need to test my hypothesis, though: just deal with Mr. Nicolo.

beaubo

May 12, 06, 3:55 pm

senoreit

May 12, 06, 8:19 pm

48 hours after you have spoken with Nicolo, confirming your changes, call the toll free customer service phone number of the online travel agency that originally booked your ticket.

Have the CSR CANCEL any flights and/or dates and/or routings that do NOT match what Nicolo booked for you over the phone.
Is this something the outsourced frontline CSRs should be trusted to do? It seems to me that they would probably be somewhat baffled by the concept of cancelling specific flights/segments in an itinerary without cancelling the whole thing.

PrivatePilot

May 12, 06, 11:17 pm

When I called CT days after meeting with Nicolo, I told the CSR that AZ had called me and made a "Schedule change" (the same term I was given in the begining when my original itinerary changed) and that the itinerary I see on the CT website differs from what AZ now had me on. I told them that AZ also issued new paper tickets for this new itinerary. THe CSR then made a note on my reservation that it should not be touched and was already resolved with the airline. Probably a better approach than asking CT to delete segments.. dont want them deleting the wrong segments.

beaubo

May 13, 06, 4:36 am

Is this something the outsourced frontline CSRs should be trusted to do? It seems to me that they would probably be somewhat baffled by the concept of cancelling specific flights/segments in an itinerary without cancelling the whole thing.

I'm just the messenger; Nicolo made this suggestion, I'm just duly forwarding it.

As a practical matter, what's not to trust? After you talk with online TA CSR, immediately check your 'My Views' itinerary to confirm that CSR deleted correct segments BEFORE you hang up with them. You are not asking the CSR a particularly challenging request. ;)

If the CSR refuses to delete your requested segments, have them call nicolo for confirmation that AZ is authorizing such deletions.

vatraveler

May 14, 06, 9:46 am

Refunds - still available per original fare rules? Handled through AZ or Orbitz?

janhigginskcmo

May 14, 06, 10:03 am

GUWonder

May 14, 06, 10:21 am

Refunds - still available per original fare rules? Handled through AZ or Orbitz?

Either way, although I normally get the online travel agency-purchased tickets (issued on AZ stock) refunded by Alitalia. It avoids the OTA handling fees.

beaubo

May 15, 06, 7:59 am

Orbitz and Cheap Tickets both deleted duplicate and/or unwanted itineraries and sent me an email BEFORE I hung up to insure correct flights were deleted and maintained. That is officially the LAST housekeeping detail accomplished before having to fly!!!

SUCCESS AT LAST!

dhacker

May 15, 06, 8:34 am

UPDATED INFO FROM NICOLO FRIDAY, MAY 11 AT 445PM

Regarding Interaction With Online Travel Agencies

48 hours after you have spoken with Nicolo, confirming your changes, call the toll free customer service phone number of the online travel agency that originally booked your ticket.

Have the CSR CANCEL any flights and/or dates and/or routings that do NOT match what Nicolo booked for you over the phone.

Why this process?

While Nicolo/AZ can change your tickets in real time over the phone, those changes are only ADDED, BUT NOT REPLACED to your online travel agency itinerary, hence the duplicate/conflicting bookings that you might be seeing with Orbitz, Travelocity and Cheap Tickets.

This brief process will insure that the online travel agencies will NOT have any duplicate or conflicting bookings, that they might be inclined to try and modify without your or AZ's knowledge.

Also, do NOT send paper tickets back to the online travel agencies, under any circumstances. Only Nicolo is authorized to change tickets, NOT the online TAs.

My final changes were made by Pepe early on and the new segments were never added to my Orbitz record. However, the existing Orbitz record does contain extra, duplicate segments so they might be tempted to go in and muck with it. Or they could end up doing damage only as a result of my call.

Should I ask them make the record look clean, even though some details would not be accurate or ask that they contact AZ and get the real itinerary direct?

beaubo

May 15, 06, 9:31 am

My final changes were made by Pepe early on and the new segments were never added to my Orbitz record. However, the existing Orbitz record does contain extra, duplicate segments so they might be tempted to go in and muck with it. Or they could end up doing damage only as a result of my call.

Should I ask them make the record look clean, even though some details would not be accurate or ask that they contact AZ and get the real itinerary direct?

I would still contact Nicolo to confirm that whatever Mr. Pepe did, is in fact, in Nicolo's record. He is the final arbiter of these tickets. Once Nicolo confirms that your itin is as you BOTH agree upon, then its OK to call Orbitz to clean up your record.

In principle, Orbitz should have both your original itin AND the rebooked itin. If not, then more the reason to call Nicolo. Because the issue with Orbitz, etc. is they have too much info (orig and reboolked itins), versus not enough info as you claim (no new rebooked itin)

dhacker

May 15, 06, 10:10 am

I would still contact Nicolo to confirm that whatever Mr. Pepe did, is in fact, in Nicolo's record. He is the final arbiter of these tickets. Once Nicolo confirms that your itin is as you BOTH agree upon, then its OK to call Orbitz to clean up your record.

In principle, Orbitz should have both your original itin AND the rebooked itin. If not, then more the reason to call Nicolo. Because the issue with Orbitz, etc. is they have too much info (orig and reboolked itins), versus not enough info as you claim (no new rebooked itin)

Nicolo was cc'd by Mr. Pepe on the changes when they were made. The only step skipped seems to be the update to Orbitz/Worldspan/whatever. Guess I'll call and see if Nicolo can push the new itinerary data out to the other system(s).

beaubo

May 15, 06, 10:19 am

Nicolo was cc'd by Mr. Pepe on the changes when they were made. The only step skipped seems to be the update to Orbitz/Worldspan/whatever. Guess I'll call and see if Nicolo can push the new itinerary data out to the other system(s).

Just because Mr. Pepe cc:d Nicolo, is no guarantee that your itin was actually rebooked. Hopefully it was, but ABSOLUTELY check with Nicolo direct.

dhacker

May 15, 06, 10:36 am

Just because Mr. Pepe cc:d Nicolo, is no guarantee that your itin was actually rebooked...

My itinerary was absolutely rebooked -- and I have the reissued tickets and printout from AZ at IAD to prove it. The only issue is whether or not to get the Orbitz version cleaned up to prevent any further tampering.

Sancha

May 15, 06, 10:44 am

We were able to change our tickets to add a stopover in Rome, in addition to the original one in Milan.

Our new itinerary is:
1 AZ 653 D 15FEB YYZMXP HK1 E 1705-4 0725
2 AZ 7706 Y 16FEB MXPLCA HK1 1335-5 1800
3 AZ 7701 Y 19FEB LCAFCO HK1 0915-1 1130
4 AZ 1048 Y 22FEB FCOMXP HK1 E 1815-4 1930
5 AZ 652 D 25FEB MXPYYZ HK1 E 1040-7 1405

The LCA segments are now all in Y, but I wasn't going to make a fuss about that.

I'd love to see some trip reports once people start travelling these!

beaubo

May 15, 06, 11:18 am

My itinerary was absolutely rebooked -- and I have the reissued tickets and printout from AZ at IAD to prove it. The only issue is whether or not to get the Orbitz version cleaned up to prevent any further tampering.

Glad to hear you are fully rebooked!

Orbitz won't tamper. You simply call them and identify the flights that are incorrect, and the CSR will delete them. Very straightforward. Don;t hang up until you go into your 'My Views' at Orbitz to confirm that the CSR did it correctly.

Just to be painstakingly thorough, I'd still call Nicolo hjust to make absolute sure what Mr. Pepe did, is fine and good. It should be, since you apparently rebooked BEFORE all the authority was consolidated with Nicolo, but no harm in spending the dime to call Nicolo.

dhacker

May 15, 06, 11:33 am

Glad to hear you are fully rebooked!

Orbitz won't tamper. You simply call them and identify the flights that are incorrect, and the CSR will delete them. Very straightforward. Don;t hang up until you go into your 'My Views' at Orbitz to confirm that the CSR did it correctly.

Just to be painstakingly thorough, I'd still call Nicolo hjust to make absolute sure what Mr. Pepe did, is fine and good. It should be, since you apparently rebooked BEFORE all the authority was consolidated with Nicolo, but no harm in spending the dime to call Nicolo.

I think you may have missed my original point. Since the final itin was never pushed out to Orbitz, there is no way for them to clean out extra segments and end upi with the correct, final itineray. If Orbitz deleted every incorrect segment, I'd be swimming from FCO to LCA and sitting in the wrong cabin LCA-FCO.

SchmutzigMSP

May 15, 06, 11:50 am

Will someone seriously set up a cafepress store or similar for some FCO/MXP-LCA swimteam t-shirts? I would wear one proudly, and it would be a great conversation starter for any travels or Flyertalk DOs. :D ^

(Random thought while I wait for my brother to confirm his days off so we can "rebook" with Niccolo to do a grand tour of Italy)

HeathrowGuy

May 15, 06, 11:54 am

beaubo

May 15, 06, 11:56 am

I think you may have missed my original point. Since the final itin was never pushed out to Orbitz, there is no way for them to clean out extra segments and end upi with the correct, final itineray. If Orbitz deleted every incorrect segment, I'd be swimming from FCO to LCA and sitting in the wrong cabin LCA-FCO.

Precisely because your new, rebooked itin does not show up in Orbitz, could (not necessarily will, but could) be cause for concern. All 8 of my itins in Orbitz and Cheap Tickets show original and rebooked itins.

So, I understand that you have a rebooked paper ticket, which should be all you need. But since, your rebooking took place BEFORE Nicolo was masde the central rebooking contact, I can't vouch for HOW Mr. Pepe might have inputted your rebooking to the online TAs.

Again, all doubts will be erased by calling icolo. He WANTS these kinds of phone calls, so that these types of concerns can be nipped in the bud before it could possibly alarm other posters.

umguy

May 15, 06, 3:22 pm

So far been on hold for 20 min trying to get Orbitz to update their reservation. UGH!!!

beaubo

May 15, 06, 3:35 pm

So far been on hold for 20 min trying to get Orbitz to update their reservation. UGH!!!

Might consider calling early AM; around 745a EST, got right through!

runDMCnabb

May 16, 06, 8:57 am

Ok...

I called Nicolo this morning and he said I was right. No way do I send my tickets to Orbitz. He said all the Orbitz ones were voided, but the ones that made it out of their building are the ones that are being honored. All the ticket numbers checked out, so Orbitz telling me that Alitalia wouldn't be able to recognize my tickets was complete garbage.

I dunno what Orbitz was trying to pull with me, and look forward to hearing back from the supervisor who told me this. I suppose it's possible they honestly thought my tickets had to be re-issued because they wouldn't match up... but Nic handled it in 5 minutes vs. now going on 5 days with an Orbitz Supervisor.

While talking to Nic I was able to kill 2 birds and extend my layover in Rome an extra 2 days with ZERO problems. I just have to get my ticket stickered, then call and verify that Orbitz gets rid of the old FCO-YYZ segment in their records. (The new one has already popped up)

I already knew about having to call Orbitz from reading up on here, but Nic called me back 5 minutes later after realizing he forgot to tell me this part of it.

Long story short. Nic rules.

beaubo

May 16, 06, 10:25 am

Long story short. Nic rules.

Now, if everyone else would just stop posting their concerns/assumptions/anxieties and follow poster's advice....CALL NICOLO; he's here to help!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! :D

gleff

May 16, 06, 11:09 am

Seriously, should we consider Nicolo for Flyertalk's "Man of the Year" ... ?

patrickATX

May 16, 06, 11:15 am

Long story short. Nic rules.

Yes he does... So does rosj.

^

abrelosojos

May 16, 06, 11:49 am

I checked through the listing and it seems that Nicollo's direct phone number has been removed. My ticketed flights seem suddenly to have been cancelled and I am sort of in panic. Can someone please PM me the best way to contact the man?

Thanks,
A.

LapLap

May 16, 06, 11:57 am

beaubo

May 16, 06, 12:03 pm

abrelosojos

May 16, 06, 12:07 pm

PUBLIC KNOWLEDGE from page 1...212-903-3571.

No need to panic

= Thanks everyone.

Cheers,
A.

GUWonder

May 16, 06, 12:20 pm

Seriously, should we consider Nicolo for Flyertalk's "Man of the Year" ... ?

I think so.

luv2ctheworld

May 16, 06, 1:10 pm

Seriously, should we consider Nicolo for Flyertalk's "Man of the Year" ... ?

I think we should have TWO... Rosj for farecompare and this AZ deal... and Nicolo for being sucked into this and cleaning up AZ's mess.

Seriously. :D

MACH81

May 16, 06, 1:40 pm

My vote for both! ^ ^

HomerJ

May 16, 06, 1:59 pm

...and if so how did it go? Does it affect the tix at all? Wanted to go from Rome to venice instead of Rome-Milan on my return. The take the train from Venice-Milan for my MXP-YYZ flight home? I am wondering if anyone else has done this...I have no problem paying a fare difference but am wondering if it will affect the ticket in any way? Any suggestions?

Also has anyone actually take the trip? We leave in 3 weeks and just wanted someone to let us know how their journey went?

MACH81

May 16, 06, 2:04 pm

KVS

May 16, 06, 2:06 pm

...and if so how did it go? Does it affect the tix at all? Wanted to go from Rome to venice instead of Rome-Milan on my return. The take the train from Venice-Milan for my MXP-YYZ flight home? I am wondering if anyone else has done this...I have no problem paying a fare differenceYou must fly all sectors on your ticket, otherwise all the remaining sectors will be cancelled. If you really "have no problem paying a fare difference" of approx. $4000 CAD, I am sure AZ will be more than happy to accommodate you :D.

Otherwise, you could always ask Nicolo to add a surface sector for ROM-MIL and see what he says...

GUWonder

May 16, 06, 2:08 pm

first travel date is May 23.first to travel should be on the 25th.You can't change the segments to VCE.Only FCO and MIL (MXP-LIN).

First possible travel date may have been May 21st. First ticketed travel date I know about is May 23rd. It's also the one I think that will be used first.

MACH81

May 16, 06, 2:12 pm

First possible travel date may have been May 21st. First ticketed travel date I know about is May 23rd. It's also the one I think that will be used first.

I stand corrected...

KVS

May 16, 06, 2:15 pm

first travel date is May 23.first to travel should be on the 25th.So far we have travelfool departing on 30 May, plus a few other unidentified individuals departing 23/25 May: http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/showthread.php?p=5685292&highlight=database#post5685292

Then we have a number of early June departures:

DRTCA9 Online Database:
http://kvs.unrealnetwork.com/DRTCA9

HomerJ

May 16, 06, 2:38 pm

HomerJ

May 16, 06, 2:40 pm

You must fly all sectors on your ticket, otherwise all the remaining sectors will be cancelled. If you really "have no problem paying a fare difference" of approx. $4000 CAD, I am sure AZ will be more than happy to accommodate you :D.

Otherwise, you could always ask Nicolo to add a surface sector for ROM-MIL and see what he says...
...surface sector?

MACH81

May 16, 06, 2:49 pm

...I will PM travel fool on June 1 hopefully he/she is back by then. My departure is June 2nd. 5 nights Le Meridien Limmassol. 2 nights hotel danielli Venice, then 2 nights westin milan. i guess i'm gonna rent a car and drive from malpensa to venice if a ticket change is not in the works...I will do a trip report upon my return....
for anyone who hasnt doen a ticket change and didnt see my earlier post its a painless 5 minute affair at the AZ YYZ ticket desk. They have printed fare rules at the counter so theres no second guessing. they were quite nice and said about 20 people had preceeded me. So if you are in the yyz area between 1-4:00 pm its a 5 minute solution.
Cheers Homer>

I'd suggest taking the train between Milan and Venice.Get the bus from MXP to the central railway station, for 4.50 euros.depending on traffic travel time is between 40-45 minutes and 1h 30'.then Train to VCE.Enjoy the ES (eurostar).In first class is gonna cost you less than Amtrak coach and it's way better.

KVS

May 16, 06, 3:00 pm

...surface sector?

Surface sector is when you travel independently between two flight points en-route to your final destination, e.g., London - Bangkok surface to Singapore - Sydney - Los Angeles - London

Open Jaw is a surface sector at your final point of turnaround - or furthest point from where you started, e.g., London - Singapore - Perth surface to Sydney - Los Angeles - London

So you would end-up with something like: YYZ-MXP-LCA [+] LCA-ROM-SURFACE_SECTOR-MXP-YYZ

And then just take the train from ROM to VCE, and from VCE to MXP

SAT Lawyer

May 16, 06, 3:14 pm

And then just take the train from ROM to VCE, and from VCE to MXP

You could also save a little time by flying. Air One and Ryan Air offer low cost options between Rome and Venice.

MACH81

May 16, 06, 3:19 pm

You could also save a little time by flying. Air One and Ryan Air offer low cost options between Rome and Venice.

Be aware tha FR flies from CIA to TSF (Treviso).The worst airport you will ever see in your life.Looks like a bus station.worse than the worst greyhound one you have been to when money was tight,if it ever happened to you!Schedules are not very convenient too.No miles.Check if by any chance they opened the new terminal in TSF,but I doubt it.

Jaimito Cartero

May 16, 06, 4:55 pm

I'm not sure if anyone has mentioned this yet, but I talked to Nicolo this afternoon, and tried to switch my July 4th trip to the end of March. NW has some reasonable fares to YYZ from Phx ($260 all in), which I went ahead and booked today thinking I would just cancel by midnight tomorrow if the dates didn't work out.

However, I think AZ only has through March 13, 2007 loaded in at this point. I'm trying to use my Hilton points at the 10k per night level. I guess if I'm unsure of exact travel dates, I'll just book a bunch of one night rewards, and then cancel the ones I don't need.

I did just cancel 5 nights, July 5-10, although I think the hotel had good availability before.

According to Nicolo, my late July family vacation is now back to original dates/routes. If I want a FCO stopover, I've got to go in coach.

travelfool

May 16, 06, 5:21 pm

...I will PM travel fool on June 1 hopefully he/she is back by then. My departure is June 2nd. 5 nights Le Meridien Limmassol. 2 nights hotel danielli Venice, then 2 nights westin milan. i guess i'm gonna rent a car and drive from malpensa to venice if a ticket change is not in the works...I will do a trip report upon my return....
for anyone who hasnt doen a ticket change and didnt see my earlier post its a painless 5 minute affair at the AZ YYZ ticket desk. They have printed fare rules at the counter so theres no second guessing. they were quite nice and said about 20 people had preceeded me. So if you are in the yyz area between 1-4:00 pm its a 5 minute solution.
Cheers Homer>

I'm flying out on the 30th. I intend to bring my laptop (or at least my handheld) and will try to post an update as soon as I complete my YYZ-LCA segments. I imagine I'd at least be able to post in Italy b/c the hotels we're staying at offer internet access. My trip is pretty crazy.... most of it revolves around spending about 29 hours in rome. But, unfortunately that was the best I could fit into my schedule as my work doesn't allow me much lead time for vacation planning.

SAT Lawyer

May 16, 06, 5:27 pm

I'm flying out on the 30th. I intend to bring my laptop (or at least my handheld) and will try to post an update as soon as I complete my YYZ-LCA segments.

Be sure to give us a review of the Cyprus Airways segments and seating.

aviationkiwi

May 16, 06, 7:09 pm

If I want a FCO stopover, I've got to go in coach.

I tried switching my dates as well. All Nicolo offered me was coach. I don't think I will be giving up my business class segments to travel coach on any part of my trip. And I was trying to help AZ by using their metal, instead of DL and AA. Oh well, too bad for them.

Jaimito Cartero

May 16, 06, 7:18 pm

I tried switching my dates as well. All Nicolo offered me was coach. I don't think I will be giving up my business class segments to travel coach on any part of my trip. And I was trying to help AZ by using their metal, instead of DL and AA. Oh well, too bad for them.

Let me clarify, and say that the only coach portions were the LCA-FCO portion that I would change. Nicolo said that all the AZ codeshares on CY were gone, but I almost think that AZ zeroed them out. Shrug. At least Nicolo's attitude was helpful, although he sounded tired.

UCSBCHRIS2002

May 16, 06, 7:42 pm

luv2ctheworld

May 16, 06, 7:45 pm

I have MXP-FCO-LCA and wanted to know if it is possible to get rid of the MXP-FCO portion and just do FCO-LCA? Also, if I keep my original flights to Cyprus in business will I get it or will Nicolo change it to Y? I have not called Nicolo yet because Im still deciding what to do. I do have my original tickets but the CT website shows something completely different.

Funny thing is... I actually WANT to keep the extra MXP-FCO segments (that's around 3000 RDM per RT - 750 miles each way x2 for Elite status) .

Have those of you who spoke w/ Nicolo feel or get the impression he's gonna try and hack those?

beaubo

May 16, 06, 8:08 pm

Funny thing is... I actually WANT to keep the extra MXP-FCO segments (that's around 3000 RDM per RT - 750 miles each way x2 for Elite status) .

Have those of you who spoke w/ Nicolo feel or get the impression he's gonna try and hack those?

Ummmm, no. As long as you are AZ metal, he's a happy (but tire) camper.

beaubo

May 16, 06, 8:11 pm

I have MXP-FCO-LCA and wanted to know if it is possible to get rid of the MXP-FCO portion and just do FCO-LCA? Also, if I keep my original flights to Cyprus in business will I get it or will Nicolo change it to Y? I have not called Nicolo yet because Im still deciding what to do. I do have my original tickets but the CT website shows something completely different.

Its all summarized on page 1.....

* changing MXP-FCO-LCA to FCO-LCA is allowed
* your original flights should be protected in J to/from LCA
* 48 hrs after you book with Nicolo, you call CT and