Questions and Answers

Hi Lucky, I read your post 2nd May, 2017 [URL]https://onemileatatime.com/what-happens-to-your-ticket-if-alitalia-goes-out-of-business/[/URL]

I am going to Athens and Rome next September 2020 and really torn about this whether or not I should book an award flight given the continued financial uncertainty at Alitalia The award value for biz is very good at just 48k each way and pretty low fees. I’m in the DC area and will do multi city IAD-ATH-FCO-IAD (or as close to IAD as I can get).

All the other carriers I’ve checked so far leave very late evening, like midnight-ish and get into ATH around 8-9pm next day. Alitalia leaves around 4.45pm so we would get to enjoy some of the onboard experience which is usually less on a red-eye, and also get into ATH before noon on Saturday the 19th.

Really just wondering if you or anyone else has a guess as to what will happen to them and if I should even risk this flight. I need to get to Athens so I think maybe I’ve just convinced myself to look elsewhere.

Here is the latest news [URL]https://www.reuters.com/article/us-alitalia-rescue-atlantia/alitalia-gets-qualified-thumbs-up-from-atlantia-state-railways-idUSKBN1WU2ZU[/URL]
The Italian Rail Company FS is continuously highly profitable as is the other company which runs half of the toll roads in Italy. There’s plenty of money to keep AZ afloat which is what the Italian Government wants.
I’m not Nostradamus but I wouldn’t hesitate to book with them. They’ve got through this many times and the Italian Government always bails them out.

And most current news [URL]http://www.ansa.it/english/newswire/english_service/2019/10/23/patuanelli-signs-alitalia-extension-until-nov-21-3_3e5eeb75-13c3-4934-9ca9-6881d45f612e.html[/URL]

And most current news [URL]http://www.ansa.it/english/newswire/english_service/2019/10/23/patuanelli-signs-alitalia-extension-until-nov-21-3_3e5eeb75-13c3-4934-9ca9-6881d45f612e.html[/URL]

People have been saying this for years. I wouldn’t be worried about a thing. They’ll keep being bailed out by the Italian gov.

Gia, thanks for all your responses! So, turns out I did take your advice and booked 2 tickets in J, FCO-JFK for 48k points each, 96k total. We were to have flown Tues 29, Sept 2020 but as we know, Covid had other plans. The flights were cancelled, and now I sit with 104,000 points in my Millemiglia account with new indications that AZ will be defunct in early ’21 and will be replaced by ITA.

Here is a question:
[B][I]Can I use those points book a flight on any other partner airline, now, before AZ goes under?? [/I][/B]

I ask this as it seems to me that at least booking a flight on a partner airline would give me something in hand, even if I had to pay change fees later, rather than risking the possibility that ITA my not have any obligation to honor any of AZ’s loyalty points program.

Another question:
[B][I]If I can and do book a ticket with another partner airline, and AZ does in fact go under, would the partner airline still be obligated to fulfill the ticket? [/I][/B]

It seems to me, once ticketed, the status of AZ would no longer matter, but still want to understand all risks and option as much as possible.

And finally, something else that just came to mind –
[B][I]If I did book a ticket on AZ soon, before they ‘go-under’, for sometime in ’21 any speculation on whether or not ITA (or whatever it ends up being) would honor such existing AZ tickets? [/I][/B]
Totally understand this is speculation but still worth asking for thoughts on this
Thanks Gia, and anyone else who chimes in J

[QUOTE=”J.shavitz, post: 71340, member: 5155″]Gia, thanks for all your responses! So, turns out I did take your advice and booked 2 tickets in J, FCO-JFK for 48k points each, 96k total. We were to have flown Tues 29, Sept 2020 but as we know, Covid had other plans. The flights were cancelled, and now I sit with 104,000 points in my Millemiglia account with new indications that AZ will be defunct in early ’21 and will be replaced by ITA.

Here is a question:
[B][I]Can I use those points book a flight on any other partner airline, now, before AZ goes under?? [/I][/B]

I ask this as it seems to me that at least booking a flight on a partner airline would give me something in hand, even if I had to pay change fees later, rather than risking the possibility that ITA my not have any obligation to honor any of AZ’s loyalty points program.

Another question:
[B][I]If I can and do book a ticket with another partner airline, and AZ does in fact go under, would the partner airline still be obligated to fulfill the ticket? [/I][/B]
It seems to me, once ticketed on a partner, the status of AZ would no longer matter, but still want to understand all risks and option as much as possible.

[B][I]And finally, something else that just came to mind -[/I][/B]
[B][I]If I did book a ticket on AZ soon, before they ‘go-under’, for sometime in ’21 any speculation on whether or not ITA (or whatever it ends up being) would honor such existing AZ tickets? [/I][/B]
Totally understand this is speculation but still worth asking for thoughts on this.

Thanks Gia, and anyone else who chimes in J[/QUOTE]

Award tickets on other carriers likely will not be honored since reimbursements are usually made after travel so no ticketing carrier in business = no possibility of reimbursement = no honoring of ticket by operating carrier. If AZ is reorganized into another airline I would think chances are good that they will honor existing tickets and FF points since they want to retain the goodwill of existing customers. However this is speculative and no one can know unless official details are announced. Good luck!

I agree with [USER=79]@Gaurav[/USER] , and booking your ticket on AZ is probably the less risky move here. Either way you don’t have a ton of options, since you can’t transfer the miles from MilleMiglia somewhere else; all you can do is book a ticket. You’ll likely be fine, they’ve been talking about shutting down Alitalia for years and the speculation has never stopped.
I also think that ITA will honor award bookings, at least those made on AZ. For those on partner airlines it’s little bit murkier, and probably a little less safe.

[USER=79]@Gaurav[/USER] + [USER=2278]@Clem[/USER] Thanks so much. Really good to know how the partner reimbursement works. Agree my best option would be to book now and hope either AZ is still flying next Sept or that the ‘new’ operator will honor. Best wishes and Happy New Year!