Alitalia MilleMiglia - Want to cancel Alitalia flight-only $2 refund??

I'm very frustrated and need some help. I booked 2 round trip tickets on Alitalia from Tel Aviv to New York in January. I called about 2 months ago to inquire about the cancelation policy and they told me there would be a $150 penalty per ticket and that the balance would be refunded to me. A different customer service specialist said the same thing about 2 weeks ago when I called.

Then yesterday I called and was told that due to my fare class, I would only be refunded $2 per ticket! What is that?? How could they lie? Can Alitalia pull up the conversation recordings from my last phone call 2 weeks ago? I think I should be owed a full refund less the $150 penalty for each ticket. Do you think I can get it?

Should I fight to get my refund, or at least the taxes/fuel surcharge back?

Thanks, really appreciate it. Hate Alitalia.

Thanks, really appreciate it. Hate Alitalia.

Well, before hating anybody, did you have a look at the fare rules when you booked? ;)

If you booked in a class where there was a 150 EUR penalty for cancelling, then the last answer is wrong. Just apply the usual method of dealing with airlines: call until they give you the answer you want :)

Do you know which fare bucket you booked into?

Sonicgirl,

I happened to see your post on the Alitalia facebook, no idea why are you still complaining here on FT if the Alitalia Facebook team has responded and they will provide you the refund with I believe 20$ refund [typo in FB? I think they meant $20]. Not sure what you hope to get out from this forum with your post.

But as the last poster mentioned, please read and understand the fare rules properly before trying to blame the airline for not giving you what you want. You have entered into this agreement with the airline when you purchased the ticket.

Cheers!

I do have to side with the OP though. If the airline has promised to refund the full amoutn minus $150, that is what they should do.

While perhaps not legally binding, it would be the right thing to do. If the OP knew the exact fare rules he would not have called in to inform about the options.

The problem is that in those matters a small word can make all the difference. My guess is that the people the OP spoke to probably just said that there was a $150 fee for cancellations which is quite different from the saying that the OP would get everything he paid minus $150. As we all know, on most cheap tickets, the fare effectively represents ridiculously small amounts while airport taxes and surcharges such as the ubiquitous fuel surcharges represent a lot. Many airlines charge an administrative fee to reimburse airport taxes and do not refund fuel surcharges at all so I am not surprised by the calculation.

The problem is that in those matters a small word can make all the difference. My guess is that the people the OP spoke to probably just said that there was a $150 fee for cancellations which is quite different from the saying that the OP would get everything he paid minus $150. As we all know, on most cheap tickets, the fare effectively represents ridiculously small amounts while airport taxes and surcharges such as the ubiquitous fuel surcharges represent a lot. Many airlines charge an administrative fee to reimburse airport taxes and do not refund fuel surcharges at all so I am not surprised by the calculation.IME, the exclusion of reimbursement of fuel surcharges is only for non-refundable tickets. I know of no airline which keeps YQ on refundable tickets (whether fully flex or refundable for a fee).

It sounds to me that the OP might have been wrongly informed the first time round that her ticket was refundable for a fee of $150 and that, when they looked into it more closely, they realised that it was in fact a non-refundable ticket.

If the ticket was really a ticket which was cancellable (and not just changeable) for $150, then the OP would have been entitled to the total paid minus $150 and minus a possible admin fee which, on most airlines, is rarely above the $50 mark, if such a fee does exist.