FireEmblemPride

Was scheduled to fly HND-FCO-BRI today (May 14). Flight cancellation came right after 8am (flight was scheduled for 12:25). No reason given.

Checked the itinerary on the ITA site and saw they rebooked me on HND-CDG for May 15, which would have resulted in an arrival over 36 hours later and is unworkable for my schedule. (They also rebooked me in Y after my upgrade bid to C was accepted.)

For whatever reason, ITA's Japan phone line doesn't work, so I called the US one. Got disconnected after 30 minutes while on hold. Connected a second time, and the agent couldn't rebook me on anything else leaving the same day (May 14), as they only had agreements for AF and NH out of HND. I asked for the AY flight via HEL and rerouting to FCO from there, but it wasn't an option.

As a result, I had to rebook out of pocket on AY all the way to FCO, plus purchase a new FCO-BRI ticket on top of that. I already submitted my EU261 claim online, but I will likely still be in the red after all this, between the forfeited hotel room night, the extra Italian domestic flight, lost business class upgrade, and the last minute booking of a new ticket.

I chose ITA for this trip because I wanted to fly on ST, but after this, LH can keep ITA whenever they absorb them. Abysmal experience thanks to un-empowered agents.

That being said, I have some questions:

1. Does it make sense to ask ITA to reimburse me for the difference in my new costs versus old, on top of EU261?

2. Is ITA truly unable to rebook on other airlines they don't normally partner with?

Lefly

Prepare yourself to find a third party company to deal with ITA EC261 and any reimbursement needed. I had to resort to one of those after +6 months without reply about a cancelled flight in July 23.
I'm no expert on EC261, but on top of cancellation compensation (if it wasn't weather or ATC related) ITA surely owes you the paid amount for the cancelled flight plus the upgrade, and it's possible (I honestly don't remember the rules) that they refund you for that or they pick up the tab for the new flights. I can only suggest to go to check the rules. I suppose you don't have travel insurance to recoup some of the costs?

In any case, ITA customer service is awful.

cfischer

600 EUR plus your ticket refunded plus your upgrade refunded - that should be rather simple. Getting the AY ticket paid (and no refund of the AZ ticket then) will likely be trickier - in principle AZ should have rebooked on the next available flight and AZ does have an agreement with AY and can issues tickets for AY flights, no problem. Will probably take some fighting to get it.

FireEmblemPride

Thanks for the responses, cfisher and Lefly.

This indeed is likely going to be an annoying battle.

1. ITA Airways only refunded me about 50% of the fare paid.

2. No refund on the €990 upgrade yet.

I already filed my EU261 complaint over their website, but in trying to file separate complaints for then upgrade and the remaining 50% refund, the website refuses to accept my second complaint given the first one is still pending.

I'm wondering if it's worth visiting a manager at HND (aka a human) to get this sorted out, given their Japan phone number doesn't seem to work.

I hope LH realizes what they're trying to purchase...

EDIT: Saw the question about travel insurance. I called up Chase Sapphire Preferred travel insurance and was told nothing in my situation was applicable for a claim.

Lefly

Would that be an actual AZ manager, or a third party agent? If the latter, I don't think it will work.

Ouch... sorry to hear it. It sound like a bit stingy as travel insurance