I didn't think it would be considered a connecting flight in Milan either, but when I talked to Virigin they thought that even though it was a separate booking I had a claim for the missed flight. While I don't think that is was accurate, I threw it on here anyways. Regardless, I believe I have a claim for the last minute flight cancellation and the late arrival, which should cover the majority of my expenses anyways. I would really like to file it on my own rather than resort to one of those services that takes a Massive chunk of the compensation, but I don't see a way to file it with ITA airways if they don't recognize their booking code or the VA ticket number.