What Happens To Your Ticket If Alitalia Goes Out Of Business?

JFK-FCO-MAD in a month or so. I'm not too worried because I booked with Skymiles and there are a million ways to get to Madrid if I need to

Unfortunately, Alitalia isn't as valuable as other bankrupt airlines. I can only see LH or very narrowly, EY.

Thank you for this article! I'll admit I chuckled a little bit when I read this: "My biggest concern would be that they greatly reduce their schedule, etc., so if I really needed to be somewhere at a specific time, I wouldn’t feel comfortable booking them." If you need to be somewhere at a specific time, I wouldn't book Alitalia.
I'd say 70% of the flights I've flown with Alitalia always had delays of over 3 hours (to the point where I missed my connection in FCO.) I forget the exact joke but doesn't ALITALIA stand for always late in take-off; always late in arrival? 😉

Are you sure about the refund if they go out of business? I doubt it since it means not enough cash is available

You should do a little more research. First MilleMiglia is a separate corporation and is not directly a part of the bankruptcy (although there will certainly be indirect effects over time). Second, I would not be so sure about a refund on tickets if the schedule is cancelled (although covered by insurance or credit card insurance benefits in many cases.

I've booked Alitalia across the Atlantic in J in a great 1-2-1 product using SkyMiles. Should this option wind up disappearing on me, what's the next-most-comfortable way across using SkyMiles in J?

@ Joe -- Sure, it's technically a separate company, but it has very little value if not in connection with an airline. If Alitalia were to liquidate, I think it's safe to assume that the MilleMiglia program wouldn't be kept around. They have the right to terminate accounts and miles, and I can't see why they'd want to keep around that liability if there's no airline or profit center to go along with it. As far as credit cards go, at least in the US, this is a case where you could dispute the charge since you're not getting what you paid for...

Another interesting question would be what happens if you have a ticket booked with Millemiglia Miles on a partner airline and Alitalia goes out of business...

Yes I agree with Robert. What happens to tickets booked on partner airlines with air Italia miles ? This is always a concern of mine buying lifemiles. What if I use lifemiles to book an ANA flight and avianca goes bust? Will ANA still accommodate me?

Actually what transaction occurs between airlines when a partner award is booked?

Millemiglia is not only a company by its own, it's also owned by Etihad, not Alitalia. So there is quite a chance, they will find a solution for the existing accounts. Concerning an airline buying Alitalia, LH has already denied any interest (and I do not see any reason for them to buy, as Alitalia does not fit into the Eurowings group LH is concentrating on) and EY is not allowed to buy more than the 49% they already own due to EU laws. In my opinion anyone buying the whole Alitalia will fail because the employees and Unions still behave like Alitalia still being a state owned airline and just fighting for their old privileges, whatever the costs are. This airline in its actual form will always loose money, whoever is the owner.

I have roundtrip business rickets from jfk-fco in september. should i consider rebooking, as I'm attending a wedding in italy

I have rt biz JFK-NAP (via FCO) in September too, booked via Amex Plat, with no additional travel insurance. Do you know what protection Amex Plat offers, if any?

Could imagine that a 51/49% LH/EY joint venture could go for it.

In the mid-term this could expand LH european network (Germany, Austria Switzerland + Italy) and still be a Hub for EY to access europe (besides Germany, Austria, Switzerland)

Nevertheless, this JV could have a better option buying airberlin, without all the Italian issues...)

i have two business class tickets to Rome with AX Memb. Miles transferred to MilleMiglia for the booking.
What now - I will wait it out, but will I lose these, or would American Express Memb Miles honor the return should they go out of business? Ben - maybe you can address this - with your business connections to AX. I've been a member since 1985 - but I have no idea if AX would take back the mileage if Alitalia fails. I thought it was a final transfer? Maybe you can reach out to AX for your blog readers? AX should make an exception to take back and restore miles if this happens..... 200,000 transferred for 2 biz class tickets!!

BTW trip is mid October!

I (stupidly) booked flights on UM for a trip I'll be taking next month. Even though SAA was the same price, I guess I'm a sucker for the obscure. Recent news stories say that UM has been losing $3M+ per month and may only have one (or no) functioning aircraft. On the bright side, Alitalia seems like s sure bet compared to that.

Mille Miglia can declare force majeure in the case of a credit event such as bankruptcy so relying on some kind of separate legal entity as a guarantee of getting your miles back is risky in the extreme.

Alitalia's 2020 bonds have fallen from 94c on the dollar at the end of 2016 to just 15c today.

I think they will make mince of Alitalia.
No bid will be made to buy the whole company, but what is called "spezzatino" (stew, in Italian) will take place: valuable assets (owned aircrafts, part of the Millemiglia program, company name and logo and especially the airport slots) will be sold, with the bad company (contracts with employees, leasing contracts for aircrafts, separate branches) simply vanishing.

I'm convinced that LH wants to buy the good part, because a Rome-New York or, Milan-Tokyo slot is extremely juicy for anyone. And with EY and LH talking so much with each other recently, all this fuss could as well be a way for them to simply get rid of the ballast and operate a new company almost from scratch, when buying the slots and all the other good assets would have normally costed more. EY isn't losing much, as it already milked the company in many ways during the last two years.

If ever an airline deserved to fail, and put its passengers out of their misery, it's Alitalia. Nevertheless, the Italian government just bailed Alitalia out, again. They approved a 600 million euro loan, 3 commissioners, and at least a 6 months restructuring.
http://www.ilmattino.it/economia/alitalia_procedura_commissariamento-2414563.html

I bought tickets for beginning of August, the ticket reads its operated by Aeroflot. if Alitalia goes bankrupt could i still be able to use the tickets?

I had miles and a paid ticket on Aloha when it filed Chapter 7. I lost the miles, but got a refund on my purchased ticket through my credit card.

The same day Aloha filed bankruptcy, ATA doubled their fares for the same trip. Then, ATA filed bankruptcy less than a week later.

For those not familiar with the process, the credit card processor, in my case First Data, was stuck for the amount of the refund. The credit card processor will attempt to get something out of the bankruptcy.

I have two tickets which I paid cash, to fly on ALitalia from Buenos Aires to Rome/Barcelona on July 19th. Do you think I will be able to fly without troubles or, on the contrary, do you think I will have the chance to get my money back?

I bought tickets using Thank you points. I called to check what will happen. The Travel desk at Thankyou points said that Alitalia is not answering phones because they are overwhelmed but she will be emailing me back as soon as she is able to communicate and get an answer. The Travel desk was not even aware of this news.

I have a very serious problem. I travelled from Madrid to Rome by Alitalia. My baggage has been lost. Alitalia wrote me an email on 27 March that the compensation of 1075 EUR would be paid within 30 days. It is 29 May, Alitalia does not reoly to any of my emails nor to the enquiries of the local offices sent to the Headquarter to get sone information about my compensation. Simply they can not pay my compensation and is are willing to reply to me. No baggage, no compensation. Financial departmen is blocked to make payment, even to customers whose baggage had been lost. It is wirrying and unacceptable at the same time.

I have business class tickets on Alitalia for PSA-FCO-JFK in October. I bought these through Alitalia, but I am a Delta Skymiles frequent flyer. If the company changes hands will I still earn my miles on Delta Skymiles? I am not a Millemiglia member, but I am a Delta AX Platinum card holder and Delta Gold Medallion.

I've booked Alitalia tickets to go to my brother's wedding in September near Brindisi. We're flying from Heathrow via Milan on the outbound, Rome on the inbound. As it's a wedding (and a close family member at that!) we absolutely have to get there. It feels like there's a lot that could potentially go wrong, especially as the flight isn't direct. I guess I just have to wait and see what happens and be ready to book a flight with another airline if the Alitalia schedule changes - but what I'd prefer to do is cancel the Alitalia flight booking now and make the decision about who else to fly with with plenty of planning time! There's no way I can do that though is there? One of our flights I booked with Alitalia directly, the other three through a budget online travel agent.

How is the situation now? Is the airlain still in troubles? Thanks for the info!

My god I did not know what is happening with alitalia
I already bought five tickets for a summer holiday going to Algiers from London Heathrow any advice what to I will do ??????????????????

Any updates?

Any updates from anyone who was holding tickets back when this was first posted? I am considering flying AZ Sep 2020 to Athens. Great awards value and best itinerary for me. But still worried. Thanks!

@Lucky, can you update this post based on news that the Italian government is not going to grant any additional bailouts to Alitalia? Also, can you address what might happen if Alitalia went bankrupt you booked an award ticket on Alitalia with miles transferred from Amex?