- Report: #1468857
Complaint Review: Alitalia Airlin -
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Alitalia Airlin
Italy
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www.alitalia.com
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Alitalia Airlin Refused Boarding and Re-Ticketing
I had a train delay getting to the airport in Rome on September 28, 2018, and arrived just under an hour before the 2:50 pm scheduled departure of the Alitalia flight to New York. We asked for boarding passes, and the ticket agent said it was too late. I asked again to board, but was refused by the ticket agent, who did not want to be bothered getting us on the plane.
She then told me to proceed to a customer service window some distance away, where I assumed I could be booked for another flight - on Alitalia or a cooperating airline. The response was “too bad”, no more flights today.
They would not seek to accommodate us on another carrier, nor agree to let us fly on September 29. The representative then said she could “book us” for September 29 at the cost of $3,000 per person.
I was shocked, and told her I could do better online. She said she would not issue any credit, and that our tickets were worthless. She would not give her name, and I asked to see a supervisor.
The supervisor said she would do nothing. We therefore had to fly Norwegian Air to Newark ($698.51 per person), and then transit over to JFK ($100.00). They have refused to respond to my inquiries requesting a refund of the $1,111.19 I paid for the two tickets.
This is a complete rip-off after showing us abysmally bad customer service.
4 Updates & Rebuttals
Stacey
United StatesRobert is correct
#2Consumer Comment
Thu, December 06, 2018
This is not the airlines fault YOU were late nor was it the train's fault. YOU WERE LATE! Preparation was on you and the airline followed proper protocol. Stop whining and own up to your mistake.
Robert
Irvine,California,
United States
The facts
#3Consumer Comment
Wed, December 05, 2018
The "facts" are what you posted and you posted the following...
I had a train delay getting to the airport in Rome on September 28, 2018, and arrived just under an hour before the 2:50 pm scheduled departure of the Alitalia flight to New York. We asked for boarding passes, and the ticket agent said it was too late.
Per their site...
CHECK-IN TIME LIMITS
ARRIVE IN TIME FOR YOUR FLIGHT. THE CHECK-IN TIME LIMITS AT THE AIRPORT ARE AS FOLLOWS:
FLIGHTS FROM ITALY
Departure from Rome Fiumicino:
- Domestic flights and Schengen area: 40 minutes
- International long haul flights and extra Schengen area: 60 minutes
Check-in operations for Alitalia's medium haul flights will be operated at Terminal 1 at the "Leonardo da Vinci" Rome Fiumicino airport.
Departure flights from the rest of Italy:
- Domestic flights: 35 minutes
- International medium haul flights: 45 minutes
- International long haul flights: 60 minutes
If you notice for International Flights(which I underlined for you) regardless of where in Italy you depart, there is a 60 minute requirement. You in your own words stated you arrived there just under an hour before the flight and asking for a boarding pass means you were not checked-in. If you arrive there 59 minutes before the flight you are LATE and can not check-in.
Again sorry this happened, and I am just relating what their policy is. You can dislike it all you want but you will find just about every airline has the same policies on check-in. That if you are late, they can deny you boarding. If this is something that is of concern you should probably verify the airlines policy before you book travel in the future.
Paul
Tarrytown,New York,
United States
Uninformed Comment
#4Author of original report
Wed, December 05, 2018
Robert has no knowledge of the facts, and we were ready to board by the airline cut-off time. The refusal to allow boarding related to checking through two suitcases. The agent didn't want to be bothere, and we assumed they would re-book us -- and not forfeit our fares. This was an abuse of the airlines authority and any other customers should be aware of this shabby practice.
Robert
Irvine,United States
You were late
#5Consumer Comment
Wed, December 05, 2018
Plain and simple you did not check-in before the cut-off time. The reason doesn't matter why you were late.
Unfortunatly for you this cost you extra expense, but since they were not responsible they do not need to take any responsibility. Oh and this is what you agreed to when you purchased the tickets. Your only recourse would have been if you bought travel insurance as that covers situations such as this where you would have been reimbursed.
I would be curious to know if the train arrived on-time how long before you flight would you have been at the airport.
