Alitalia continues to operate … for now.

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Viewing 15 posts - 136 through 150 (of 201 total)

  • BackOfThePlane
    Participant

    [quote quote=943775]Thank you both for your advice – appreciated. I haven’t used a OLTA before and only considering as the fare is £350 less than booking direct. The agent is ATOL protected and I will of course use a credit card so should be safe enough. I think my main concern is AZ going down and then having to re-book last minute at much higher price.

    Any thoughts on AZ long haul product?[/quote]

    Just to add one important caveat, just because an agent / operator holds an ATOL licence doesn’t mean that everything they do / sell is financially protected, ie some operators provide ATOL cover for holiday packages but not flight only. You should always clarify such matters with them before booking (preferably in writing) and then, if they confirm that you are ATOL protected, make sure that they issue you with an ATOL certificate.

    1 user thanked author for this post.

    alainboy56
    Participant

    AZ will never ‘go down’! They have been more or less bankrupt for more than 30 years but will for Italy’s national pride always be kept alive by the Italian Govt.
    They are based in Rome, most of their employees especially cabin/cockpit crew are from Rome, and their unions wield enormous power with the politicians and the Govt also in Rome. The present day AZ is not even the old AZ of yesteryear, it was the old ‘AirOne’ airline regurgitated and renamed again as Alitalia. The major shareholders in AZ regularly change, but they remain on the whole, state enterprises, such as the purported present day take-over by FS (Ferrovia del Stato) the national railway company. So don’t worry about them going under. Italy ignores EU rules consistently and will bail out their beloved national icon over and over again, as they will never make money. and I believe never have!
    As for their cabin product…. Y is awful and J is a bit ‘hit and miss’ dependent on how surly the cabin crew are. If its male, its usually much better as men make good hosts/waiters in Italy, if its female its usually awful as Italian women generally do not have the mentality i.e. an attitude of servility, and more likely have a ‘take it or leave it’ attitude. They know that they will never be fired/sacked, regardless of whether they smile or not!

    2 users thanked author for this post.

    TimFitzgeraldTC
    Participant

    If you book a flight only with a travel agency (regardless of whether they have an ATOL licence) you will not be covered by ATOL and that won’t offer any financial protection. For it to be ATOL protected you need to add a ground arrangement (at least 1 night hotel / car hire) for it to be ATOL protected and it must be issued as a Leisure Trip (if booking via a Business Account it would fall outside ATOL regulations).

    Watch out if using an Online Agent as they often have “linked” arrangements where one website sends you to another and though they should then have an ATOL certificate – in most cases OTA’s have failed to do this correctly.

    Anyway everything we sell is 100% financially covered. Not many agencies offer that in UK but something we have always done. Just be careful when researching this as many claim to do this but then have the dreaded * with some things excluded.

    1 user thanked author for this post.

    capetonianm
    Participant

    Last year my son wanted to go to Seoul. Being then on a ‘student’ budget he wanted the cheapest ticket possible, which worried me, so I told him I’d pay the difference between what he could find and a better alternative.

    As it happened, AZ was almost the cheapest so he opted for that. He said the EU flights were awful, ROM transit was better than expected, and the long-haul segments were very good in a clean new aircraft with good food and service. Obviously that was in Y.

    Many years ago I used to travel a lot on AZ between ZA, Kenya, and Europe (free tickets). The food was always good, it was never a particularly bad experience, and sometimes being upgraded to F class, I generally have reasonable memories of them. I was a lot less discriminating in those days, and they were never full.


    FaroFlyer
    Participant

    Interesting article in Loyalty Lobby

    “New” Alitalia Formed On July 15, 2019?


    AMcWhirter
    Participant

    Some 200 flights have been cancelled ahead of a planned strike which could start as early as tonight. Disruption expected into Thursday.

    https://www.thelocal.it/20191007/alitalia-strike-200-flights-to-and-from-italy-cancelled


    transtraxman
    Participant

    Maybe the solution is in sight for Alitalia……..
    “Lufthansa May Be Inching Closer To A €200m Alitalia Investment”, (Simple Flying 1-11-19)

    Lufthansa May Be Inching Closer To A €200m Alitalia Investment

    Subtract Alitalia from Skyteam and incorporate it into Star Alliance and you thus make the latter much stronger than now with 10 European members against Skyteam-s 5 —— a noticeable difference.


    transtraxman
    Participant

    Apparently the deadline for Alitalia is up tomorrow 21st Nov. but it seems that the Italian Ministry of Industry will sign an (another) extension of at least eight weeks so that the potential investors can “sort out their differences”.
    The Benetton family are reluctant to invest if the Ferrovie dello Stato leads the bail out consortium.
    Lufthansa will not invest until Alitalia sorts out its problems which will mean its debt and reduce the power of the unions.
    Even Delta is having second thoughts.

    “Fresh doubts cast over Alitalia rescue”, (Travel Weekly 20-11-19)

    http://www.travelweekly.co.uk/articles/350091/fresh-doubts-cast-over-alitalia-rescue

    “Lufthansa Still Keen To Partner With Struggling Alitalia”, (Simple Flying 19-11-19)

    Lufthansa Still Keen To Partner With Struggling Alitalia

    How long will the European Union permit this farce and continued flouting of EU regulations to go on?


    capetonianm
    Participant

    How long will the European Union permit this farce and continued flouting of EU regulations to go on?

    As long as the European Union is allowed to exist, the farce will be allowed to continue.


    rferguson
    Participant

    I flew AZ to LA last month and was really impressed with their Business Class offering. Seats fantastic, catering exceptional for the primary meal (although the meal offered on the shorthaul connecting sector was the WORST euro business ‘meal’ i’ve ever had), crew courteous and professional as well as a very nice lounge in Rome at the E gates.

    I just hope they stay around long enough to settle my EU261 delay claim! Although I have a feeling they’ll be around for a long while yet 😉


    alainboy56
    Participant

    @capetonianm
    And this is why some 52% (ie 1.7 million more than NO) voters of Britain chose to mark YES on their referendum slip i.e. ‘TO LEAVE THE EU’.


    capetonianm
    Participant

    It is interesting to note that this thread has been running for nearly 3 years with no real change in the situation, and I believe it was preceded by other similar threads.

    I see that some petty minded individual has marked my anti-EU comment, and that of Alainboy56 as ‘inappropriate’. May I point out you, whoever you may be, and lacking the courage of your conviction to state openly who you are and why you consider the comments ‘inappropriate’, that disagreeing with the views of others does not make them inappropriate. Very childish.
    .


    rferguson
    Participant

    It certainly wasn’t me that reported. Although i’d probably choose not to air my Brexit views on Business Traveller as I know what a decisive issue it is and would almost certainly lead to these kind of reports.


    capetonianm
    Participant

    rferguson : I wasn’t implying that it was you. I think I know who it is but I won’t take that any further.

    I think in this particular context it is appropriate to mention the EU.

    Thank you anyway for your response. You are always informative and respectful even when you disagree with others.

    1 user thanked author for this post.

    rferguson
    Participant

    [postquote quote=978633][/postquote]

    Completely agree Capetonian. When discussing Alitalia it is impossible to separate politics from the future of the company as they are so intertwined. I doubt many of the Brexit-Leave voters were spurred on by the Alitalia issue however **GRIN**

    2 users thanked author for this post.
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