Alitalia Reviews

It is VERY CLEAR Delta and Alitalia do NOT communicate to each other, even though they are subsidiaries. When we tried to explain to Alitalia we got a flight on Lufthansa-the AGENTS at Alitalia (after standing in line at LAX for TWO HOURS) said they couldn’t help us. They should have told us to go to ‘Lost Luggage’ counter but NOBODY said anything, their reply ‘we can’t help you, figure it out on your own’.

Needless to say, once we arrived in Rome (foreign country to us) on Lufthansa - we had no luggage. We Filed a claim at ‘Lost Luggage’ in foreign country and never got any update at all. The last night of our cruise, our baggage showed up in our room, after we tried for days on the ship (during our vacation) to access their websites - to reroute our luggage home with NO RESPONSE.

The entire vacation on our cruise, their websites showed our luggage sitting in Rome. Our focus was getting clothing, especially underwear. On our return, we then had to carry our original luggage, in addition to items we HAD to purchase. Try finding underwear in foreign port areas-non existent. DO NOT TRAVEL THESE AIRLINES IF YOU THINK THEY WILL HELP YOU or give you any updates on Cancelled Flight or Lost Luggage!

I had to purchase AGAIN another ticket costing appx. One thousand dollars. Twelve hundred originally, then plus five hundred, then another thousand. They are rude and when I asked for help they could not direct me and asked me ‘’what do you want me to do about it’’ in a way meaning they could do nothing to help me. DO NOT FLY WITH ALITALIA. Fly through France or another alternative. I learned the hard way. I’m very disappointed and will be having my lawyer contact them for a reimbursement or I will file a small claims lawsuit.

Original Review: Alitalia is The most unreliable company ever. Rude, not helpful customer service, was trying to get money back for tickets during Covid 19 situation, when Italy was closed. They would say anything, just to not do it, wait time for a call can be up to 5-6 hours, and when they will pickup do not expect any help.

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. Fine! 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. Further, I will provide my review for Alitalia online and inform Consumer Affairs to look into these fraudulent dealings

Instead when I took his picture with my cellphone to identify the crew member (for my reference for Alitalia), they called the flight manager who threatened me that he will call the police if I don’t delete the picture as it was a security issue. Giving out the batch ID doesn't supposed to be the security issue which they also denied! Secondly, I was not taking the picture for no reason. I was taking it because all of crew members became uncooperative all of a sudden.

There is a big customer service issue with Alitalia. They should have been looking into the situation why their crew member shouted so loudly and rudely upon me at the first place. Had they not moving the garbage cart so fast my garbage would have not fallen on the other customer. They don’t realize why somebody will throw the garbage on other customer to begin with. Logically, something must had happened that garbage fell on the other customer. Even if It was my fault, the crew member should not shout (whatsoever) on any customer. Rather, they should try to normalize those situations even when they just smell it before their occurrence. I feel myself humiliated by the crew members.

Further, only upon request, we weren’t even provided lounge access but a token coupon offering us a sandwich at a restaurant while enduring 8.5 Hours of mental and physical torture at the airport while sitting in common areas. With a whole day of itinerary wasted, I am appalled at the lackadaisical attitude of your staff and demand a refund of my flight tickets at the least. Expecting a response as soon as possible. While I have already posted this on your Trip Advisor page, I will take this post to other social platforms soon if I see no just response.

They told me I had a "light" ticket, but it didn't say that on my ticket anywhere. They said that economy tickets included a bag, but light tickets did not – but again, it did NOT say light anywhere. Alitalia outright lied to us and overcharged us for the bags. I contacted them immediately after the incident on September 20, 2019, and the automated email noted that they would respond to us within 30 days. It's now 46 days later and I'm still waiting for a resolution…avoid Alitalia at all costs. The airline is full of lying customer service reps and is a total SCAM.

No such certificate exists. When I pushed them to tell me the title of the certificate I would need to obtain, they were unable to specify this. We had to pay the change fee, but I plan to pursue this via the Attorney General in order to get it refunded. I would never fly on this airline again and would never recommend it to anyone else. They made a sad situation even more stressful than it had to be. I provided everything that they asked for without complaint, and after putting me through all of that they still refused to waive the change fee. They are not to be trusted and I will never use them again.

WHAT “EXTRAORDINARY CIRCUMSTANCES”?!?!?! Earthquake? Tornado? Wind? Rain “cats and dogs” so the other Alitalia flight was so delayed that the crew had to rest? I do not recall any of the above mentioned disasters happened. Or it is just a conspiracy way to trick customer for not reimbursing/helping/accommodating them when most likely the delay happened because of the technical issues with the planes and it is Alitalia fault for which they should answer? So, Asking again: WHAT “EXTRAORDINARY CIRCUMSTANCES”?!?!

Continuation: Upon arrival to Rome We we NOT OFFERED neither help with disabled person (it is quite difficult to sit in the chair for 9 hours 40 min!!!), neither phone call, no food coupons as required by Under EU Regulation EC 261/2004 (Art. 5.3 and Recital 14), though we talked to the representatives in the disabled "lounge" upon arrival in Rome asking what we could be offered to help us go through the 9 hours plus of the delay (Just to mention, I paid higher price for the tickets to spend as little time during the layover as possible and ended up with 9 hours?). To help my child with scoliosis and disabled step mother go through this horrible not planned delay I purchased 2 entry passes (50.00 USD each) to the business class lounge assuming that would solve two problems: food and provide comfort in seating/laying flat in the lounge for two sick persons (one elderly one minor).

If I were to go to the restaurants to feed all three of us I am sure during 9 hours 40 minutes layover we will spend way more than 100.00 combined (and I do not even ask to reimburse anything for myself). Of course I complained about the delay and applied for 100.00 USD paid for the 2 passes (only 2, not 3!! Only for disabled 66 years old woman and 15 years old child with scoliosis! And here is the answer I received from Alitalia: "depending on the length of the delay, the airline is required to provide the necessary care and assistance as phone call, meals and refreshments, or reimburse the expenses for meals and beverages based on the relevant receipts. However, we regret to advise that the complimentary access to VIP lounges is not subject to this provision, therefore we are not able to refund the lounge access you purchased at Rome airport”. Looks like Alitalia does not care about its passengers at all only about filling its pockets.

Next: Before the flight In Athens I tried to pay for access weight on line but the Alitalia website got frozen all the time when I got to the point when I was supposed to pay. I was constantly trying for a few hours but could not pay the internet price 28.00 USD per bag versus what I had to pay in the airport 50.18 USD Total 150.54 USD instead of 56.00USD). I made screenshots, filed the complaint (with the submission of the screenshots showing Alitalia website was not working) right away-no answer. I filed the complaint one more time after my trip just to received the following answer: "In regards to the extra baggage request, although we are sorry that our service might have been perceived to be sub-standard on this occasion, we must respectfully deny reimbursement of the fees correctly collected at the airport." So, their website did not work and the passenger has to pay for it?!?! That was number two.

And the last one: One of the bags being checked in was ABSOLUTELY NEW (just purchased) luggage bag and it arrived in Malta WITHOUT one wheel. I tried to file the claim upon arrival in Malta but was refused by representative, claiming that Alitalia instructed not accept claims re damaged wheels. My bag wheel was not not JUST DAMAGED!!! IT WAS GONE!!! And the bag was not overweighted or anything so I insist that was not manufacture's fault but the Alitalia/handler's. Also, upon arrival to the destination point we noticed that my daughter's bag had a broken lock and there are some items missing from her bag. I did file a complaint regarding both issue. The issue with the thing stolen was ignored completely and as for the damaged bag… ignored as well.