Alitalia says my ticket is refundable — so why isn’t it?
Pricey Vacation TROUBLESHOOTER: I booked a flight from Cairo to New York by using Rome on Alitalia. When I attempted to examine in for my flight to Italy, an airline representative denied me boarding, for the reason that my visa was rejected. My visa does not let me to enter Europe en route to the U.S., in accordance to Alitalia.
Thankfully, my ticket was refundable. I sent an e-mail to Alitalia before the flight departed, requesting a refund. I enclosed the ticket receipt, which demonstrates that the ticket is refundable, as extensive as I cancel right before departure, and is matter to charges.
Alitalia replied that my ticket experienced “no price,” and it denied a refund. Alternatively, it supplied me a ticket credit score and a refund of the taxes. They’ve stopped answering my e-mails. I have also named them, but I have gotten nowhere. Can you assistance me get my $700 back, be sure to?
— Ahmed Seloma, Giza, Egypt
Respond to: If your airline ticket was refundable, you should be ready to get a complete refund. Sad to say, airways have taken their time for the duration of the pandemic. They were being slow ahead of, and they are even slower now.
Your circumstance is instructive for anybody arranging an intercontinental vacation in 2021. Passports and visas are your responsibility, not your airline’s. Experienced Alitalia authorized you to board your flight with the mistaken visa, it could have faced federal government fines. So make certain you have authorization to enter the region ahead of you guide your ticket.
What paperwork do you will need? If you stay in the U.S., examine the U.S. Department of Point out web-site at https://journey.point out.gov/. Also, visit the Worldwide Air Transport Association site at www.iatatravelcentre.com, which keeps the most up-to-day visa facts.
You stored a excellent paper path of the correspondence involving you and Alitalia. It would have been good if you also sent the information to an executive speak to at the airline, inquiring for their assistance. I record the names, figures and e mail addresses of all the Alitalia managers on my client advocacy web site at www.elliott.org/corporation-contacts/alitalia/.
On the lookout at your circumstance, I consider part of the delay was similar to COVID-19. Yet another element was just usual airline shenanigans. Alitalia seems to have misinterpret the terms of your ticket, falsely professing that they owe you a ticket credit. By the way, if they’d persisted, you could have submitted a credit card chargeback. In the U.S., the Reasonable Credit Billing Act shields you versus fees for products or services not shipped, which this surely was.
Contacting Alitalia would not have finished you a lot great. Phone or online chats are good for creating a rapid adjust to a reservation or inquiring a problem about an forthcoming flight, but not for refunds. You’re far better off preserving every little thing in writing.
I contacted Alitalia on your behalf. It issued a $700 refund.
