Safe to book with Alitalia

[jamiebae]

Is it safe to book flights with Alitalia or are they likely to get pulled at the last minute? I know the situation with the company but from what I understand the short haul stuff (LHR to Italy) is likely to be safe longer term. What I don;t know is if any imminent restructuring is going to result in cancellations. Going mid Oct if it makes a difference but Alitalia are way cheaper than any other airlines - probably for a good reason!

[FarleyRusk]

jamiebae said:

Is it safe to book flights with Alitalia or are they likely to get pulled at the last minute? I know the situation with the company but from what I understand the short haul stuff (LHR to Italy) is likely to be safe longer term. What I don;t know is if any imminent restructuring is going to result in cancellations. Going mid Oct if it makes a difference but Alitalia are way cheaper than any other airlines - probably for a good reason!

Book via a travel agent and use your credit card to be doubly sure!

[Horse_Apple]

FarleyRusk said:

jamiebae said:

Is it safe to book flights with Alitalia or are they likely to get pulled at the last minute? I know the situation with the company but from what I understand the short haul stuff (LHR to Italy) is likely to be safe longer term. What I don;t know is if any imminent restructuring is going to result in cancellations. Going mid Oct if it makes a difference but Alitalia are way cheaper than any other airlines - probably for a good reason!

Book via a travel agent and use your credit card to be doubly sure!

Correct. Just adding: A travel Agent with an ATOL number.

[jamiebae]

Horse_Apple said:

FarleyRusk said:

jamiebae said:

Is it safe to book flights with Alitalia or are they likely to get pulled at the last minute? I know the situation with the company but from what I understand the short haul stuff (LHR to Italy) is likely to be safe longer term. What I don;t know is if any imminent restructuring is going to result in cancellations. Going mid Oct if it makes a difference but Alitalia are way cheaper than any other airlines - probably for a good reason!

Book via a travel agent and use your credit card to be doubly sure!

Correct. Just adding: A travel Agent with an ATOL number.

That was the plan anyway, but I want a holiday, not just a refund if the airline goes tits up before we leave.

[welshbikerduck]

The safest way is to not use them at all. I know any airline can go belly up, but it is widely known alitalia are having problems and could go at any time. Imagine the stress of not only unable to fly home but then looking for hotels in the area along with all the others too.

[Horse_Apple]

welshbikerduck said:

The safest way is to not use them at all. I know any airline can go belly up, but it is widely known alitalia are having problems and could go at any time. Imagine the stress of not only unable to fly home but then looking for hotels in the area along with all the others too.

I'm so depressed. I can't get home. I must stay in the sun and consume Barollo until I can get a suitable plan together.

[crofty1984]

Which part of Italy? Come and say hello if you're near Milan.

[ridds]

I'd be conerned about flying with any airline that had finacial troubles.

Purely on a safety basis. Corners get cut when there's insufficient funds.

[jamiebae]

crofty1984 said:

Which part of Italy? Come and say hello if you're near Milan.

Looking at Sicily (Palermo) or maybe Brindisi/Bari depending on what's on offer. Palermo is first choice but Alitalia seem to be the only option at a sensible price while not having to fly at stupid o'clock and pay £1m of surcharges on Ryanair.

[Horse_Apple]

jamiebae said:

crofty1984 said:

Which part of Italy? Come and say hello if you're near Milan.

Looking at Sicily (Palermo) or maybe Brindisi/Bari depending on what's on offer. Palermo is first choice but Alitalia seem to be the only option at a sensible price while not having to fly at stupid o'clock and pay £1m of surcharges on Ryanair.

The main carriers go into Catania. It's very difficult to get a direct flight into Palermo from UK.

I have a place over there and I loathe Ryanair but they are the only choice.

Check out EasyJet as they are about to start a service into Birgi by Trapani.

If you want a decent carrier into Palermo then you'll almost certainly need tochange at Florence or Rome. Not exactly a heardship though, to spend a couple of days in one of those cities.

[jamiebae]

We've looked at all the flight options (Trapani, Palermo and Catania) and the only options at a sensible price are Ryanair (leaving BHX at 6am!) or Alitalia. I think I'm going to book with Ryanair and stomach the early start and £16 debit card fee, I can't risk taking a week off work and not being able to go anywhere because the airline has dissappeared up its own ar*e because of militant unions of the type normally found in the British motor industry in the 1970s.

[Don]

So why not get in the car and drive? South of France or something?

No st with flights or car hire. You can take what you want with you. Fuel is cheaper on the continent (sometimes!). Bring some booze back etc.

[Fidgits]

yeah, i wouldnt fly Alitalia at the moment, they have had lots of financial problems in recent years and always been rescued by the goverment.

With the way things are, i just wouldnt risk it..

[jamiebae]

Don said:

So why not get in the car and drive? South of France or something?

No st with flights or car hire. You can take what you want with you. Fuel is cheaper on the continent (sometimes!). Bring some booze back etc.

That's what I want to do but my OH isn't so keen. Plus we have a house in Normandy so spend a lot of time in France already.

Just waiting for the go ahead from SWMBO before booking with Ryanair....

[Horse_Apple]

jamiebae said:

We've looked at all the flight options (Trapani, Palermo and Catania) and the only options at a sensible price are Ryanair (leaving BHX at 6am!) or Alitalia. I think I'm going to book with Ryanair and stomach the early start and £16 debit card fee, I can't risk taking a week off work and not being able to go anywhere because the airline has dissappeared up its own ar*e because of militant unions of the type normally found in the British motor industry in the 1970s.

To be completely honest, I wouldn't bet money on SpudAir being in much better shape than AlItalia.

Trapani, is Birgi which in turn is a small roofless cattleshed about 15K down the road. Stick to flying in to Palermo. Avis cheaper than Hertz and a quicker queue if needing a car.

[jamiebae]

Horse_Apple said:

jamiebae said:

We've looked at all the flight options (Trapani, Palermo and Catania) and the only options at a sensible price are Ryanair (leaving BHX at 6am!) or Alitalia. I think I'm going to book with Ryanair and stomach the early start and £16 debit card fee, I can't risk taking a week off work and not being able to go anywhere because the airline has dissappeared up its own ar*e because of militant unions of the type normally found in the British motor industry in the 1970s.

To be completely honest, I wouldn't bet money on SpudAir being in much better shape than AlItalia.

Trapani, is Birgi which in turn is a small roofless cattleshed about 15K down the road. Stick to flying in to Palermo. Avis cheaper than Hertz and a quicker queue if needing a car.

All done now, I've gone against my morals and booked a flight with Ryanair with my owm money for the first time ever

Going from BHX to Trapani - it's easier for me to get to Brum than LHR and parking is cheaper too and EasyJet, BA or Air Malta were all more then twice the price. I got the car through Holiday Autos (it's actually with Europcar) for £137 for the week for a Corsa or similar with a/c which is pretty good really. Now I just need to sort accomodation.