Questions and Answers

Hi Lucky! Regarding Alitalia’s latest situation…what happens to miles if a company fails? I have 200k MilleMiglia miles, do you think it is better to book as soon as possible an award ticket (maybe with Etihad or ano

Hi Lucky! Regarding Alitalia’s situation…what happen to miles if an airline fails? I have about 200k millemiglia miles, do you think is better to book as soon as possible an award ticket (maybe with etihad or another partner airline)? Thanks!

Well, the impact to the mileage program would depend on [I]how[/I] the company fails.

When the US carriers file bankruptcy it’s more of a restructuring, and the mileage programs are protected. If another carrier buys Alitalia, they would probably buy the mileage liability as well, and the points would be converted to the new program (this is what happened with BMI and British Airways). If the company just goes away, so do the miles.

If I had that large of a balance, I would try and redeem the miles sooner rather than later, just to be safe.

Hi [USER=4]@Lucky[/USER]
Hi Everyone,

you all have probably heard about the tragic situation AZ is experiencing right now, following the referendum that refused to apply the already pretty crappy “business plan”. Everyone is (and they are fairly enough doing so) asking about what will happen to already bought flight tickets or employees in the future? However my question here regards something more “avgeekish”: what shall I do with my MilleMiglia balance account with AZ? Shall I wait a bit morebefore redeeming them and see how it all evolves or shall I redeem straight away?
I’m afraid AZ will hardly honour any redemption ticket in the remote future (next fall??) if the flight will be operated by AZ itself. I’m perfectly aware AZ allows you to book flights with various partner airlines, but AZ miles get real value only when redeeming flights with them (especially in J) and I’d see it as a bit of a waste to redeem them through EY or AF…
Otherwise, any good transfer suggestions?

Thanks for your help!

Hey Lucky (and everyone else),

I just saw that Delta is still letting SkyMiles members use their miles to book on Alitalia. But I also know that the airline may not survive until my departure dates. Does anyone have any experience with what happens if your airline ceases operations? Would if make a difference that my ticket would be from Delta, who will almost certainly still be around this summer?

Cheers!

@ ChicagoBen — In that case, Delta would accommodate you on another carrier. The transatlantic segment would be easy, but if you’re connecting to a smaller Italian airport then that will be more complicated. Delta can get you to the big airports, obviously, but if Alitalia actually closes there will be next to no service to some Italian airports.