Problems with Alitalia

A question about : Problems with Alitalia

Hello

The other week I had some delays travelling to Heathrow to catch my Alitalia flight to Rome and I arrived at the check in desk 35 minutes before the take off. The staff at the desk had already closed the check in (they seem to have a 45mins policy) and didn't let me even try since I had a bag to check in as well.
They told me I could have caught the following flight but when I went to the ticket desk the staff there informed that my ticket was a special online offer one which meant I had to purchase a new one. I asked if I could at least use the return but they said I had lost that as well. Result I had to pay Ј272 to buy a new return flight to Rome on the top of the Ј89 I already spent.
On the day of my return from Rome though I went to check in desk and the person there find my name twice on the passengers list and told me I shouldn't have bought another return ticket but I could have used the one I had.
If I was buying a one way only at the airport I would have payed Ј170 instead than Ј272.

Does anyone know what the policy is in these cases and if I can make a complaint to Alitalia?
Many thanks

Best answers:

• You can certainly make a complaint... what they will do about it, I don't know.
  The small print usually says to be at the airport 2 hours beforehand, boring, but I think it has to be done.
  On the other hand it seems the staff mislead you, although verbally on both occasions so hard to prove.
• According to their website closing time for international flights from heathrow is 40mins before the flight:
  https://www.alitalia.com/GB_EN/your_t...in/checkin.htm
  Im sure you realise that even 5 mins can mean an aircraft can miss its slot and thus cost the airline money.
  Therefore I cant see how you can have any complaint about not allowing you to check in.
  Personally I would write to the airline and highlight the information you had received from their staff and see what they can do for you.
• Also remember that with a lot of major airline a return ticket is a one ticket effectively so if you miss the outbound leg they also cancel the return leg whereas with the budget airlines each way is a seperate journey.
• Hi, I had exactly the same problem with Alitalia re the return portion of the return ticket about a year ago. I didn't miss my flight - I agree with other posters that you were late for check in so couldn't be allowed on the flight - but I knew beforehand that I wouldn't be able to take the outbound flight for a very valid reason so I called to find out if I could use the return portion of the ticket. The answer was no. I was told that it was stated in the Alitalia terms and conditions. I couldn't find the particular rule so asked where was it spelt out,but still got a very vague reference. In the end I've given up and bought another cheap return ticket with easyjet. I then wanted a refund of the taxes and fees (cca Ј50] but didn't get anywhere with this either. Alitalia always took weeks, even months to reply but they always did - to give them some credit. However, since the ticket was bought through lastminute.com or another agency I was told to claim through them. That's when I gave up, but you can claim as you didn't take the flight no matter what the reason had been.
• Yes, I believe I will get the tax back from the unused ticket let's just hope it won't take forever.
• You will get some tax back but not all of the tax.
  Looking at the responses in this thread, there is little I can add as the advice given is correct. You booked a cheap, restricted return ticket which, even if you were able to change it, that facility would have expired a few hours before the departure time as is standard policy.
  It is unfortunate, but I would just put it down to being a frustrating experience.
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