Don't fly Alitalia Airlines!!!!
 

We just had the worst experence with lost luggage on Alitalia. Hubby's suitcase never arrived and we did not get it back till 13 days later (the day he left to go back to the USA). He had absolutely nothing to wear on vacation. Blisters on his feet from shoes. Everything was so expensive to buy. We spent MANY hours on the phone trying to get through to Alitalia(impossible!!!) They were rude and did not help (sometimes they even hung up on us). Now to get any compensation you hav to send them copies of everything and it takes 90 days to review. They do this so people will jus give up on trying to get any comensation. YOu can never talk to anyone on the phone it is just a prerecorded message on what the procedure is to get any money back. Never ever again on Alitalia. P.S. I speak read and write Italian and that did not help me. Worst experience of my life!!!!!!!!!!!

Just think how much worse it could have been if your husband didn't get the suitcase back at all.

I wish they'd lose MINE....I'd love to buy a whole bunch of new clothes in Italy.

I wuld haveloved to buy clothes too if they compensate but unfortunately THEY DO NOT. You better bring the deed to your home to Italy if you want to buy clothes there. They are extremely expensive!!!

Sorry for your experience, I'm sure it was awful.

But please let this be a lesson to those who can't manage to do carry on only - at least bring a substantial amount of your stuff in a carry on, then you wouldn't be in such a bad situation.

And I have to add that I've flown Alitalia several times and they have not lost my luggage (I only check stuff on the way back anyway). All airlines loose luggage. All airlines seem to have crappy customer service. Alitalia is no worse than the rest of the gang.

I would claim on my travel insurance. You did have travel insurance, didn't you ?

I have posted this before, but Alitalia stopped leaving from Dulles and never told anyone!. I found out when I called to confirm my tickets. They changed our return ticket (with our outgoing they were still flying from IAD, but not our return) I called 3 times during the week to reconfirm and they reconfirmed our flights but never sent me a confirmation on e-mail. When we arrived at the airport we were told that all of our flights were cancelled by me! I had names, dates and times to prove myself.

Our friends who were meeting us there had their round trip changed. They lost their luggage on the flight to Italy. I confirm what the first poster said....you can not get them on the phone. Our insurance company found the luggage an had it waiting for them at the hotel one week into the trip.

They were leaving from Perugia back to IAD. Alitalia had their emergency numbers plus the itinerary to have the lost luggage catch up with us. Not only did they not tell them when they checked in. but they never contact anyone to tell them the airport was closed. They arrived at 6:am to a dark airport. No one was there to help them get to Rome or anything.

We met people from our flight when we had to change in Milan. I asked them how Alitalia was getting them home. They said..the same way...Venice-Milan-IAD. I told them that Alitalia will not flying in and out of IAD anymore. They were never told and no one gave them a new return ticket when they checked in. They tried to get an agent in Milan to take care of the problem and they all refused.

No management, they don't care and I won't fly them again.

I forgot to mention that Delta cancelled our tickets by mistake once and when I found out it took them 2 minutes to re-instate us. It took Alitalia 3 HOURS!!!!!

I love Alitalia. Great airline overall, just pray they don't go broke within the next two weeks!

My sympathies, OP.

One more vote for carry-on luggage here, at least on the way to Europe.

As to Alitalia, you get what you pay for, generally. They've had the lowest prices and some of the shortest flight times for a while, I suspect due to priority landing in Italy. Their service standards are a shame though....

>carry-on luggage
If there's one thing you didn't use, you made a mistake packing this one in your carry-on. I'm travelling, using only carry on for years with only one exception: Going to the US, you rent a car right at the airport when you arrive and you get as much cotton clothing and chinese shoes there as possible. ;-) Those things are ridiculously cheap over there. Many things are out of fashion, but who need fashion when you pay 1/3 of what it costs at home. I did buy a pair of "trumpet jeans", briliant!!! :-)

When I went to Rome last Christmas, Alitalia lost my luggage and I didn't get it back for 5 days. I try not to let this sort of thing ruin my trip. I preferred to look at it as a reason to shop in Rome! :-d I did manage to find some things that weren't too expensive, although the underwear I bought was a lot more than I realized (I thought the price was for 2, when it was just for 1).

I sent a claim letter to their NY office and did get reimbursed. It took a while, but I only sent the one letter with no follow-up and did get paid.

>underwear I bought
Didn't want to use the word, but you're right :-) American underwear, brilliant (but uncool, who cares, will last for life)... :-). (no joke here!)

SusanP, you're lucky. I didn't get any reimbursement back from Alitalia, and I made many calls and faxes. Not a peep. It's been 2+ years now.

Sure, I was angry as all hell when they lost our luggage at the start of our 2 week vacation. But on the bright side, they saved me from laundering and carrying luggage during our trip, save the one luggage that did catch up with us after having visited all the airports of Europe, and the clothes we had to buy.

If I fly with them again, it'll be all carryons, or direct flights if I have to check luggage (I'll be the one wishing my luggage a wonderful trip). <b>No connections.</b>

I always do carry-on. One good thing about about it is that you learn to pack lighter and lighter each trip. Didn't use this...don't take it again. If I run out of that I can always buy it there. Can I live without this for two weeks....yea. So we go very light and have a lot of room to bring things home.

Hello,
I've read several references about Alitalia going broke. What's the scoop? Any real evidence?

I couldn't care less, if they dropped each and every suitcase over the pacific! Problem is, they're out of money and Italy isn't going to pay any longer. There's enough money til the red of 2007 they say, but who knows??

different experiences. We had a great trip last year on Alitalia, brand new equipment, no problems of any kind with our checked luggage.

sorry you had such a bad time.

I don't fly Alitalia if I can help it. Once in awhile, it seems necessary, especially for intra Italy flights,and then I don't expect much.

I have never found such a lack of customer service on any other airline. But Alitalia has been going broke for years, and I don't think they have happy employees.

Alitalia was supposed to be auctioned off in July, but I read that there were no serious bidders. I don't know what has happened since then.

It took me months to work through the bad tales of Alitalia so this post brought it all back. I just anticipated losing luggage, getting delayed, getting yelled at by a grouch or two and getting my seat switched. Main concern, are the planes safe? I want to go to Italy and come home (and write my first trip report).

Flew Alitalia once and will never do that again. Rude, ignorant attendents. Terrible service, just a miserable time. No, all airlines are not like them. They are in their own category.