Alitalia MilleMiglia - Another Alitalia 15% sale coming up today

Kicks off at 12 noon (EDT), through noon on Monday, for travel between Sept 1 and Nov 30.

So, is there any time slot they HAVEN'T held a fire sale during?

The e-coupon code is: we15us

Thanks for sharing! Very useful.

Thanks for posting this - you beat me to it with this one.

The e-coupon code is: we15us

Obviously, that's the US code. The UK code is 'WE15UK', and the German code is 'WE15DE'. I haven't checked which other markets the discount is available in.

the promo in Italy is 30% off, for travel between August 4 and September 30, Sat, Sun and Mon.
http://www.alitalia.com/IT_IT/special_offers/savethedate.aspx

I can go thru the process on Alitalia.com (including the 15%) for BOS-CDG flights in November....picking the Air France direct flights, but after filling in all the info and going to "Book & purchase" I keep getting the •We are sorry an error has occurred during the reservation process. We kindly ask you to try again later. message!

I have tried several times several hours apart. Does this message really mean: NFW?

I can go thru the process on Alitalia.com (including the 15%) for BOS-CDG flights in November....picking the Air France direct flights, but after filling in all the info and going to "Book & purchase" I keep getting the •We are sorry an error has occurred during the reservation process. We kindly ask you to try again later. message!
I have tried several times several hours apart. Does this message really mean: NFW?

The (UK) offer says "The 15% discount applies to the all inclusive air fare (including taxes and surcharges), on all destinations on the Alitalia network."

It's not entirely clear what this means, but although presumably all AZ-coded&operated flights are included, and possibly AZ-codeshared flights, it does not seem entirely unreasonable that flights coded&operated by other airlines (ie: AF/KL/DL) are not included.

If you look at the threads for some of the previous offers, people report differing experiences.

The Weekend Offer in May (http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/18613846-post13.html) "Apparently only works when booking only AZ coded flights."

Meanwhile, the Night Offer earlier in July (http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/18911752-post6.html) apparently worked on KL-coded flights, but only in certain fare-classes.

I'm looking to book a biz class trip Oct 24-Nov 2 from LAX->FCO. The fare is pretty high right now ($5962 on DL & partners) - this route has been in the $4200 range for this time of year in the past. If I book on Alitalia with this coupon code that knocks the fee down to $5000, which is a substantial savings. But here's my question: is that fare likely to drop between now and Aug/Sept? Like, does Alitalia normally run a sale like this right before fares go down, perhaps as a way to get people to buy if they're on the fence but still take in a higher fee than they would if those same buyers waited until the fares just went down?

So tempted....

Kirby

I'm looking to book a biz class trip Oct 24-Nov 2 from LAX->FCO. The fare is pretty high right now ($5962 on DL & partners) - this route has been in the $4200 range for this time of year in the past. If I book on Alitalia with this coupon code that knocks the fee down to $5000, which is a substantial savings. But here's my question: is that fare likely to drop between now and Aug/Sept? Like, does Alitalia normally run a sale like this right before fares go down, perhaps as a way to get people to buy if they're on the fence but still take in a higher fee than they would if those same buyers waited until the fares just went down?

So tempted....

Kirby

Kirby,

Are you more or less flexible on the above dates? I booked a FCO-LAX-FCO (1 stop on both ways) last night and paid roughly £ 1.800 (including the 15% discount), which is [more than] a bargain, mainly given that AF & KL were selling exactly the same seats (MAN-LAX via CDG/AMS/JFK or ATL) at nearly 3.000 quid. That said, I will have to arrange my own flights from MAN to FCO & vice-versa. The period is early december.

P.S.: I strongly doubt you'll get better fares at a later stage.

Unfortunately my dates are set in stone, so I've just been doing occasional searches for lower fares, and I set an alert at Yapta. I tried Biz Classs with miles as well, but it's at 325,000 skymiles for the trip. Eeeeek.

Kirby

But here's my question: is that fare likely to drop between now and Aug/Sept? Like, does Alitalia normally run a sale like this right before fares go down, perhaps as a way to get people to buy if they're on the fence but still take in a higher fee than they would if those same buyers waited until the fares just went down?
I have no insights into whether overall AZ fares are likely to fluctuate (and if so, in which direction) over the coming months. However, note that they've been running 15% (or 20%) off offers on a regular basis recently (see the links in my post above).

I booked a FCO-LAX-FCO (1 stop on both ways) last night and paid roughly £ 1.800 (including the 15% discount), which is [more than] a bargain... The period is early december.

So you got the 15% discount on flights in December, even though the offer details say travel between 1st Sept and 30th Nov?

December fares, even on Delta, are really low in general because it's December. The Italy fares usually drop on November 1st, but I'm straddling that late Oct/early Nov period, so I'm guessing I'd still be paying high-season fares. Might have to just bite the bullet on this one.

Kirby

So you got the 15% discount on flights in December, even though the offer details say travel between 1st Sept and 30th Nov?

Departing on November 29th and coming back on December 7th - it worked a treat (£ 1,810.76 to be precise) :cool:

Departing on November 29th and coming back on December 7th - it worked a treat (£ 1,810.76 to be precise) :cool:

And you got it on the AF/KL/DL transatlantic codeshare? That sounds like an improvement on the previous weekend sales.

Hi everyone

I am trying to book Business class flights LHR-GIG-LHR on alitalia.com using the WE15UK offer but am unable to book online.

Looking to leave on October 26th and come back on November 3rd. Alitalia.com quotes outbound with AZ and return on KL, discounts the total cost with the code, you enter your details and go to payment - We are sorry an error has occurred during the reservation process. We kindly ask you to try again later.[/I]

Would anyone suggest an alternative to book? I managed to speak to Alitalia hoping that they would issue the ticket over the phone. They said they will forward the issue to their web department and call me.

It is my first time buying from Alitalia as the fare is really good. They have all my details. I just hope that they will be able to issue the ticket for the price quoted online.

I am trying to book Business class flights LHR-GIG-LHR on alitalia.com using the WE15UK offer but am unable to book online.

Looking to leave on October 26th and come back on November 3rd. Alitalia.com quotes outbound with AZ and return on KL, discounts the total cost with the code, you enter your details and go to payment - We are sorry an error has occurred during the reservation process. We kindly ask you to try again later.[/I]
If you look at some of the earlier posts in this thread, and the threads related to previous similar special offers, there are mixed experiences of booking AF/KL-coded/operated flights, using the discount. However, as mentioned in my earlier post, the offer details say it is valid "on all destinations on the Alitalia network", so IMHO, it is not unreasonable that it does not work with KL coded/operated flights (even though such flights are offered for sale on the AZ website) - although it would be nice if the website was explicit about this, rather than initially accepting the code, and then rejecting the booking.

Would anyone suggest an alternative to book? I managed to speak to Alitalia hoping that they would issue the ticket over the phone. They said they will forward the issue to their web department and call me.
If you want to be sure of booking a discounted flight before the offer expires, then you may need to simply pick a date/routing that enables your return sectors to be on AZ as well (not KL).

Thank you, KQ321.

It is a sound advice to suggest I buy the ticket selecting Alitalia for the return flight to guarantee the 15% off before it expires. And I might regret later if I don't.

However, their T&C do not mention that flights must be operated in AZ metal only, KL is displayed as an option, the code is accepted, details are entered... and you know the rest.

The call centre was able to reproduce the booking step by step, entering my details - I was excited as I thought they were really making my reservation over the phone - and saw the booking error. That has been logged and sent to their IT team, and I should wait for a phone call tomorrow.

Problem is, tomorrow they call (hooray!) to say that yes, very sorry, there is nothing we can do. And the offer has now expired. Goodbye.

I have never flown Alitalia, this is my first contact with them.

Thank you, KQ321.

It is a sound advice to suggest I buy the ticket selecting Alitalia for the return flight to guarantee the 15% off before it expires. And I might regret later if I don't.

However, their T&C do not mention that flights must be operated in AZ metal only, KL is displayed as an option, the code is accepted, details are entered... and you know the rest.

The call centre was able to reproduce the booking step by step, entering my details - I was excited as I thought they were really making my reservation over the phone - and saw the booking error. That has been logged and sent to their IT team, and I should wait for a phone call tomorrow.

Problem is, tomorrow they call (hooray!) to say that yes, very sorry, there is nothing we can do. And the offer has now expired. Goodbye.

I have never flown Alitalia, this is my first contact with them.

AZ won't call back. They never call back. They are a great airline in the air but back office work is nice but unreliable. Again, many of us have experienced the same (impossible to get the discount code to work when some flights are by other airlines) and it is not unreasonable as AZ is accepting a fairly significant sacrifice. I think it would be a bit greedy to complain that the offer is not extended to other airlines' flights when shown on the website too.

In fact, one could argue that the T&C de facto exclude other airlines (AF, KL, DL, etc) flights as it specifies that the offer is only valid for travel in classica, ottima, and magnifica (and excluding classica plus), all three of which are pure AZ products as partner airlines use different names for their travel classes.

I don't disagree, orbitmic. But they are displaying KL flights as options during the booking process. Restricting invalid flights and perhaps just adding a clear note in the T&C would have saved me a lot of time.

I have just noticed that we cannot book KL flights as part of the itinerary even if you skip the WE15UK code and carry on with the full price (£1891.23 before the discount).

Why bother to display flights that are not available for sale?

Not impressed...

Hi everyone

I am trying to book Business class flights LHR-GIG-LHR on alitalia.com using the WE15UK offer but am unable to book online.

Looking to leave on October 26th and come back on November 3rd. Alitalia.com quotes outbound with AZ and return on KL, discounts the total cost with the code, you enter your details and go to payment - We are sorry an error has occurred during the reservation process. We kindly ask you to try again later.[/I]

Would anyone suggest an alternative to book? I managed to speak to Alitalia hoping that they would issue the ticket over the phone. They said they will forward the issue to their web department and call me.

It is my first time buying from Alitalia as the fare is really good. They have all my details. I just hope that they will be able to issue the ticket for the price quoted online.


I've tried to book a SFO-AMS return ticket on the alitalia site myself and had the same problem. Finally, when playing with the flightdata and changing a direct KLM return flight to an indirect KLM/DL one it got thrue. I booked, payed and got an confirmation by email saying that I had to call Alitalia but that my ticket was confirmed. So I did call back and after half an hour and the friendly french speaking italian lady it not understanding herself, we planned a callback appointment.

All I can say is that this is truly misleading and annoying. It was my first time trying to buy from Alitalia for what would have been my first flight with them (been stuck with Star Alliance in the mileage game since 1997). The fare, after the discount, was still around USD2500 – good for Business Class but it’s still some money. Yesterday, having spent almost 01 hour on the phone with them (10p per minute, kept on hold for 20minutes), they were able to replicate the booking and see the error message from their side. I had the hopes that they would assist me by honouring the online rate and issuing the ticket over the phone!

I was told by the call centre agent that the issue had been passed on to their IT/web department, head office, and that I should receive a phone call within today. Still waiting. I have sent emails to customer.relationsUK@alitalia.it relating the whole thing and adding screenshots but they all bounced back.

The offer is now gone. Flights with KL are still displayed on alitalia.com but cannot be booked, with or without a discount code.

I remember the days when a proper airline would have apologised for the inconvenience and booked the ticket manually with the quoted fare. I’d get the ticket, they would get the money, and everyone would be happy.

As for my first customer experience with Alitalia… very poor to say the least.

And you got it on the AF/KL/DL transatlantic codeshare? That sounds like an improvement on the previous weekend sales.

Indeed:

AZ FCO-JFK
DL JFK-LAX

AF LAX-CDG
AZ CDG-FCO

AZ won't call back. They never call back. They are a great airline in the air but back office work is nice but unreliable.

As the majority of Italian companies, they have no customer service culture i.e. they don't give a damn, as bad as it sounds.

Indeed:

AZ FCO-JFK
DL JFK-LAX

AF LAX-CDG
AZ CDG-FCO

Great to know - but combined with LondonFlight and michael9 (and a few more of us), it confirms the randomness of alitalia.com. It is unclear to me why the website will let you book some non-AZ connections but not others, or indeed if there is any reason or if the system is just totally unreliable. On my NCE-ORD returns, no non-AZ flight could be made to work (out of a dozen different flights multiplied by 4 or 5 different dates each way). Your experience and michael9 proves that it is worth continuing to try every possible combination hoping some will ultimately work, but I can only say I share LondonFlight's perception that this is a rather annoying and time-wasting process especially as error messages typically only come at the very end of the booking process after you have already informed all of your information, selected seats, etc!

And you're right, AZ's customer service carelessness is not unusual in Italy. As you say, they do not seem to care (although as a sign of company progress, they now do not care nicely! ;) )

Happy for you, AlicorporateUK. I have tried every possible combination but the mix AZ + KL did not work for me - it always ends up with the error message.

Even the validity of the offer is misleading. Go and try to make a booking right now and you will see that the WE15UK code is still valid. They said 12:00 on July 23rd... perhaps they meant midnight? I thought 12:00 meant midday... I feel very tempted to book to secure the discounted AZ fare, but still would like to take this booking issue further.

Anyway. They said they would call today but orbitmic was right - they didn't. I tried to speak to the call centre around 20:30 last night and the lady had the guts to say "it's Sunday night, it's late, call tomorrow". I was so perplexed that I actually hung up, not bothering to try and make a point at that time.

The emails sent bounced back. They are just not bothered with customer service at all. Am I wrong to think that if this is the case at the very beginning I should actually stay away from this airline?

I know it's a bit off subject but I am now wondering if I should just give up flying Alitalia and going with KLM instead, although their arrival time in GIG is not convenient. Old World Business Class against this new Magnifica that everyone seems to be raving about. Never flew KLM either. As previously said, I was stuck with Star Alliance since 1997 but now that FF programs became a joke I am booking my trip to Brazil totally based on the best available fare.

If only Alitalia would issue this AZ/KL ticket as quoted online!!!

A follow-up:

Indeed the Alitalia lady didn't call back as promised.

So I called Alitalia USA back myself, where one.didn't understand my problem either, advised me to remain calm and wait a few days as their booking system was probably still..... "thinking".

A nice experience this but now I understand why the button on the Alitalia homepage says: "contact & assistance" and not "contact & service" and besides that why they are almost bankrupt.

Well… I had this insight and thought to myself, at this day and age companies like Alitalia are not bothered with isolated complaints over the phone and/or via email. I was promised a phone call yesterday with a solution and that never happened. So, what if I try to contact the airline via Facebook? I have added my comments to Alitalia’s facebook page and actually started to receive feedback from other customers who are also dealing with bad customer service. I wonder if Alitalia will actually wake up and deal with my complaint.

Alitalia should follow this and other similar threads over the same subject here on flyertalk and get their act together. I can only imagine the amount of money and potential customers that they have lost and are still losing.

Perhaps they don’t need it.

Well… I had this insight and thought to myself, at this day and age companies like Alitalia are not bothered with isolated complaints over the phone and/or via email. I was promised a phone call yesterday with a solution and that never happened. So, what if I try to contact the airline via Facebook? I have added my comments to Alitalia’s facebook page and actually started to receive feedback from other customers who are also dealing with bad customer service. I wonder if Alitalia will actually wake up and deal with my complaint.

Alitalia should follow this and other similar threads over the same subject here on flyertalk and get their act together. I can only imagine the amount of money and potential customers that they have lost and are still losing.

Perhaps they don’t need it.

Have a quick look at the following [frustrating] thread - http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/alitalia-millemiglia/1284827-cancelled-flight-can-i-ask-refund.html, where you'll find 4 pages of reasons to let it go and book with another airline. Oh, and needless to say, I entirely understand your frustration.

Hi, AlicorporateUK

Had a quick look at the the thread and will read all pages later today. Alitalia should definitely follow these threads. You are probably right, I should just forget this airline. Never flew with them anyway...

AZ will never care about these threads in its current form. Even the most entrepreneurial person in the world, excited about his job will be cut down because there is ZERO concern for the customer.

Living in Italy, this stuff happens ALL the time. It's more the rule than the exception. You fight with every vendor for everything.

The attitude to take with AZ is the following:
If the code works, great.
If the code doesn't work and it's worth your hour on the phone, maybe..but most likely it's a waste of time.

I was promised a phone call yesterday with a solution and that never happened.

Told you ;) :( -- Hope you get more luck with the Facebook team. They are not fully efficient but still more responsive if you are precise in your queries.

Well... Phone and email did not work so I ended up posting the booking error on Alitalia's facebook page, asking if they would issue the unbookable ticket AZ/KL manually. They would not issue that ticket, and would not apply the discount unless the whole itinerary was AZ. I have to say, I had never posted anything as such on facebok and was surprised to be contacted by two other passengers sharing their experiences. Alitalia responded promptly and called me to get the ticket issued over the phone. The fare ended up around USD200 higher than what they where quoting online as if available for sale.

The online experience would have been very different if they had made clear that only AZ flights are valid. They should fix their booking engine to make it capable to process "complex" transactions such as selling two segments with partner airlines.

My itinerary was booked in I. KL was (and still is) selling GIG-AMS in Z and AMS-LHR in J. A single booking class would have pushed the sale through, I guess.

Looking forward to checking if their Business is really Magnifica though.

Which is strange, because I really did book KLM-only tickets (KL metal, KL flight numbers) through alitalia.com WITH discount code. Not all fare classes worked, but the more expensive ones definitely did.

Well... Phone and email did not work so I ended up posting the booking error on Alitalia's facebook page, asking if they would issue the unbookable ticket AZ/KL manually. They would not issue that ticket, and would not apply the discount unless the whole itinerary was AZ. I have to say, I had never posted anything as such on facebok and was surprised to be contacted by two other passengers sharing their experiences. Alitalia responded promptly and called me to get the ticket issued over the phone. The fare ended up around USD200 higher than what they where quoting online as if available for sale.

The online experience would have been very different if they had made clear that only AZ flights are valid. They should fix their booking engine to make it capable to process "complex" transactions such as selling two segments with partner airlines.

My itinerary was booked in I. KL was (and still is) selling GIG-AMS in Z and AMS-LHR in J. A single booking class would have pushed the sale through, I guess.

Looking forward to checking if their Business is really Magnifica though.

Oh well, it is heartening to see that at least they swiftly dealt with your Facebook enquiry. In my case [with the flight cancellation], all my efforts down the Twitter route (indeed - I’m one of the few human beings who doesn’t have a Facebook account) went fruitless. That aside, I’m relatively sure that your on–board experience will not be so painful: their Magnifica product is definitely worth a try.