Alitalia MilleMiglia - Anything wrong

I wanted to call Alitalia to check that everything is fine with my reservation and add FFP and special meals, since I booked the ticket back in the winter.

The 800 number is busy and when it picks up you are on hold forever.

I also noticed by checking today's departure from O'Hare that the AZ628 departs later than usual for the past few days at 5:10 instead of 3:35. Anyone knows why ? If this is true then it will impact my itinerary as I would miss the flight to TLV connection in Rome. I am scheduled to fly in August 5th.

Of-course it would be nice to enter your booking number and don't have to deal with the wait on line, but that would make too much sense and would make your life actually easy. Even EL AL dysfunctional web site has this capability. So Alitalia has some room for improvement here.

Erez

Of-course it would be nice to enter your booking number and don't have to deal with the wait on line

You might check your bookings with this link (PNR works, ticket-# usually not)

https://mm.alitalia.com/en_en/booking/apvsearch.aspx

You can however not change anything

Getting an error cannot retrieve flight 0 at date 1 something like that. Added the Mr to my first name.

Tried by PNR and reservation number.

Called the US 800 number, this time I was answered and waited for 40 minutes. The gentleman answered to me was very nice, and looked up the reservation. All is well, but he did not know how to add the skymiles number to the PNR.

He told me they will call me back. I reminded him I am in Chicago, I think he is in Italy and not in the US as I heard him talk to his supervisor or one of his colleagues in Italian.

I will try again later today.

The flight schedule changed a bit. I have 5 more minutes in Fiumicino, no problems with that. It will be a rush to get to the connection in Tel-Aviv in an hour and fifteen minutes from the Chicago flight, but it is doable. While the line in security entering transit zone in terminal 3 is long, it seems that everyone there is quite efficient. There are 2 additional Alitalia flights that day to Tel-Aviv worst case, as well as EL AL flights in case I miss the connection and I am sure Alitalia will put me on one of these flights worst case.

Too bad the web site should be more friendly, but it is what it is.

Erez

Getting an error cannot retrieve flight 0 at date 1 something like that. Added the Mr to my first name.

Tried by PNR and reservation number.

Called the US 800 number, this time I was answered and waited for 40 minutes. The gentleman answered to me was very nice, and looked up the reservation. All is well, but he did not know how to add the skymiles number to the PNR.

He told me they will call me back. I reminded him I am in Chicago, I think he is in Italy and not in the US as I heard him talk to his supervisor or one of his colleagues in Italian.

I will try again later today.

The flight schedule changed a bit. I have 5 more minutes in Fiumicino, no problems with that. It will be a rush to get to the connection in Tel-Aviv in an hour and fifteen minutes from the Chicago flight, but it is doable. While the line in security entering transit zone in terminal 3 is long, it seems that everyone there is quite efficient. There are 2 additional Alitalia flights that day to Tel-Aviv worst case, as well as EL AL flights in case I miss the connection and I am sure Alitalia will put me on one of these flights worst case.

Too bad the web site should be more friendly, but it is what it is.

Erez

I just had a crazy rebooking I did with these guys and, online, the first digit of my skymiles number is missing. Is that normal with these guys? Should I be concerned?

I just had a crazy rebooking I did with these guys and, online, the first digit of my skymiles number is missing. Is that normal with these guys? Should I be concerned?

I usually put my skymiles # and it never happened to me, no first digit missing.

Give them a call and they will be able to correct this.

I am just wondering if someone knows when you call the US number does it routed to Italy or it is answered by a US call center agent. The second time I called it was answered by someone in the US who understood me and my accent and it was much easier. But the 24X7 feature is nice and definitely helps.

Erez

I just had a crazy rebooking I did with these guys and, online, the first digit of my skymiles number is missing. Is that normal with these guys? Should I be concerned?

Same here, when I book via an OTA, when booking directly on AZ website, skymiles number is correct. I'll have it corrected at airport check-in.

Just call them, the earlier in the day the better. If you're calling their U.S. call center it can be pretty slow. If you call early though, you should be able to get through. I flew with my DL Sky Miles number on my trip and had no issues. Just don't freak out if you can't OLCI or something. Good idea to get their iPhone app if you can - it actually works better for OLCI and you'll have your boarding pass on your phone.

Just call them, the earlier in the day the better. If you're calling their U.S. call center it can be pretty slow. If you call early though, you should be able to get through. I flew with my DL Sky Miles number on my trip and had no issues. Just don't freak out if you can't OLCI or something. Good idea to get their iPhone app if you can - it actually works better for OLCI and you'll have your boarding pass on your phone.
After waiting for 10 minutes got hung up on. After calling again, I was answered by someone who told me to call during business hours eastern coast time to check for upgrade options. He was professional though and very nice. I asked him where is he situated and he told me Argentina.

So I guess that your call gets answered by different people based on the time of day.

Erez

After waiting for 10 minutes got hung up on. After calling again, I was answered by someone who told me to call during business hours eastern coast time to check for upgrade options. He was professional though and very nice. I asked him where is he situated and he told me Argentina.

So I guess that your call gets answered by different people based on the time of day.

Erez

... and you get equally pathetic answers regardless of which part of the world picks up! ;)

Call the Italy number:

+39 06 65649

It's specifically designed for calls from outside Italy, and less waiting time (immediate to 5 minutes in my experience) and should speak English as fluently as an average Italian person, that is not very well but comprehensibly. I also believe that being based in Italy they have more power.

I also use that number when calling in Italy from my Dutch (work) mobile number ;-)

I decided to buy another ticket in another airline and postpone the trip in alitalia.

The upgrade to business was huge no classica plus class on transatlatic flight. I bought on swiss and air canada for 1200, much cheaper, and the flight back on air canada departs Ben Gurion International at 1:00 PM very convenient.
I am flying alitalia on 12/31 via JFK and FCO, but the flight itsel for transatlantic leg is on the newer aircraft with on demand video games etc.

So I can reason it is not going to be that bad. Maybe not the smartest move, but at least it is a less busy travel period. So my son will get to enjoy his grandparents twice this year rather than once. Nothing wrong with that.

I had to call 3 times to alitalia to change the ticket. Got disconnected twice. The lady that changed the ticket was in Rome. She was competent and her English was reasonable.

I hope next year Chicago will get the new A330, and then alitalia will have a very competitive product in Chicago and a very appealing choice. Overall Rome, while not perfect is not a bad airport and the connections through it to Israel are quite convenient.

Thanks for the tips and all the help

Erez

I decided to buy another ticket in another airline and postpone the trip in alitalia.

The upgrade to business was huge no classica plus class on transatlatic flight. I bought on swiss and air canada for 1200, much cheaper, and the flight back on air canada departs Ben Gurion International at 1:00 PM very convenient.
I am flying alitalia on 12/31 via JFK and FCO, but the flight itsel for transatlantic leg is on the newer aircraft with on demand video games etc.

So I can reason it is not going to be that bad. Maybe not the smartest move, but at least it is a less busy travel period. So my son will get to enjoy his grandparents twice this year rather than once. Nothing wrong with that.

I had to call 3 times to alitalia to change the ticket. Got disconnected twice. The lady that changed the ticket was in Rome. She was competent and her English was reasonable.

I hope next year Chicago will get the new A330, and then alitalia will have a very competitive product in Chicago and a very appealing choice. Overall Rome, while not perfect is not a bad airport and the connections through it to Israel are quite convenient.

Thanks for the tips and all the help

Erez

JFK-FCO (like most AZ routes in fact) is indeed operated by the new aircrafts. If you get a new A330 it is probably the nicest AZ Y experience there is. On the other hand, if you get the new 772, you get the most dreaded '10 across' economy seating (which more and more airlines use on some or all of their 777 fleet, including EK, AF, KL, etc but still feels much tighter in my opinion than the traditional 9 across economy on those planes).

... and you get equally pathetic answers regardless of which part of the world picks up! ;)

True enough, unless you call the premium lines.