Alitalia

Not Verified | Alitalia cancelled my flight, replaced my ticket with a flight with only half the itinerary, which I obviously cancelled, and now I'm still waiting on my refund 4 months later! The worst is that they have horrible customer service, I wait for hours on the phone, until someone simply hangs up on me. This happened at least five times. I will never fly them again.

✅ Trip Verified | To me, this is the worst European air company: unreliable, disrespectful to customers and finally, a real fraud. Last year, Alitalia canceled my flight from Bologna to Palermo (via Roma) without any replacement offers. I completed a form required by Alitalia for a refund and 11/20/20 they sent me email, that Alitalia issued a refund to my credit card account for e-ticket. However, this refund was never sent to my Bank. I checked with the Bank a couple of times and then, sent email to Alitalia customer service. In response, I immediately got auto-reply email requiring calling their USA customer service. I called Alitalia “USA customer service”, in fact located in Tirana, Albania. They told me that I need to wait for 90 days because there are too many refunds. In 4 months I sent a new email and got the same auto-reply. Btw, I've never got any other emails from them - only auto-replies, which were sent from "no-reply" address I called again to “USA” customer service. This time, a representative assured me that a refund will be sent in 72 hours and he’ll call me about this. As I expected, there were no refund and no call. In a couple of weeks, I sent another email, got one more auto-reply and called to Albanian (means USA!) Alitalia customer service. This time, a representative listened to my long boring story and just hung up on me. During last year, as many of us, I’ve experienced a number of flight cancellations. All American and European air companies refunded their cancelled flights, including low-cost ones (like Vueling), but only Alitalia did not fulfill its obligations. This is why Alitalia is to me the worst European air company: unreliable, disrespectful to customers and finally, a real fraud. Definitely, I’ll try my best never to use Alitalia and do not recommend this company to any travelers.

✅ Trip Verified | I booked 3 tickets in March 2021 on Alitalia for trip in July 2021 to Cairo via Rome. In June 11th I learned that the airline decided to cancel my the flight from Washington to Rome due to COVID19 as they stated without notifying me not until a friend of mine who's flying on the same flight told me about receiving an email indicating the cancelation. Called customer service, they offer me options : either I pay $1600- $4000 per ticket to change my flight to New York-Rome-Cairo or they can refund me my money back. What's more interesting that they operate flights back from Cairo-Rome-Washington. I guess that COVID19 only works on the flights from Washington to Rome but not on the flight back or on flights from New York. Now I am struggling trying to find tickets to my destination as I am very close to my trip and all the prices went up.

Not Verified | I booked a trip to Europe with Alitalia through my credit card for May 2020 before COVID-19 was an issue. I bought travel insurance in case I had to cancel the trip for any reason. Once COVID-19 started escalating, I had to cancel my trip. I am an essential worker and couldn't leave the US or else I wouldn't be allowed back on some job sites. The credit card company told me the only way to get a refund is by talking directly to the airline, but I haven't been able to get anywhere with Alitalia. What is the point of buying traveler's insurance if not for instances like this? They are not allowing me to rebook the trip and are also refusing to give me a refund, so they basically ate my money. I am very dissatisfied with the customer service at Alitalia and will never recommend them to anyone who is planning a trip to Europe. This is a helpless situation, and they are taking full advantage of it. Even one star is too much to give to them.

✅ Trip Verified | They don't offer a glass of water. The staff didn't greet me on boarding my flight or when the flight landed, the staff just disappeared.

✅ Trip Verified | London to Rome return. Not a good experience. Because of Covid-19 restrictions, everything is an excuse for not comply. Customer service "does not exist", ground and cabin staff service are very poor, and often staff is impolite. Quality of food and drinks on board is despicable. I do not recommend this airline for short/medium haul flights.

✅ Trip Verified | On 14 July, 2020 they informed me by email that the return leg of a flight had been cancelled. The email said that if I wanted to reschedule the trip I had to call certain numbers or go on the website for other options. The website included reimbursement as an option, but the Alitalia email informing me of the cancellation had a booking number which the website did not recognise. The electronic ticket number gave no joy either as, for some reason, Alitalia generated different ticket numbers for this journey - and so I just couldn't be sure that the request had to be recognised. The website is full of glitches and is generally frustrating to use. Having wasted quite a bit of time on the website, I had no option but to get on their "helpline" which, I knew from various previous experiences, is a misnomer. I called several times, was put on hold for very long periods and then cut off and, when I was lucky enough to be transferred to an operator, that person cut me off without offering any assistance. A few weeks on, I still have no idea if my ticket will be reimbursed and have now wasted hours on this matter. Unfortunately, this is not a covid-related development - this is the kind of service I have experienced with Alitalia for many years. Unfortunately, I often have no option but to fly with them. The in-flight experience with Alitalia is no worse than with a budget airline, but their customer service - through both the website and the call centre - is the worst I know. With all the covid uncertainty, these services are more important than ever as passengers are more likely than before to have to re-book or cancel flights. Avoid Alitalia if you can.

✅ Trip Verified | London to Melbourne via Abu Dhabi. I have not flown yet, my flight is next weekend and want to know why my flight has not been cancelled? My flight transits through Rome and Abu Dhabi before landing in Melbourne. Rome is in lockdown due to COVID-19 and the UAE has closed it's borders meaning you can't transit through Abu Dhabi anymore. Furthermore, the FCO has advised against all but essential travel so this is utterly baffling! I am not happy as I expect this flight to be cancelled and given a full refund.

✅ Trip Verified | Tokyo to Rome. The airplane was dirty and poorly maintained. Me and my neighbor had broken seats and our screens were small and not functioning properly. Staff was unprofessional. Chatting loudly with each other throughout the flight, even during the service. As I move to the back of the plane to get something to drink, they were sitting there having their loud conversation and minding their own business. No one asked me if I needed something.

Not Verified | Buenos Aires to Rome. Great shame that comfortable seats and good airplane were let down by dismal food and undrinkable coffee. Toilet facilities used by passengers strolling through from other cabin sections unchallenged. Check in at Buenos Aires disorganised and made to wait for an hour. It really would not take much management to improve it.