A Terrible Experience!

“A Terrible Experience!”

Written on: 08/05/2012

After spending 26 hours problem free flying to Italy with Etihad, I had the misfortune to be booked on a domestic transfer with Alitalia. Firstly, the plane was delayed - no explanation and no staff anywhere to ask. We eventually arrived at our destination, but unfortunately our luggage didn't. Welcome to Italy.

My second and last experience a few weeks later was at Linate Airport in Milan. We arrived with plenty of time to spare, got our boarding passes and then were held up in an archaic, congested and disorganised rabble at the security check in. By the time we got through, the boarding gate was closed and we were refused entry. When we explained what happened to Alitalia staff, we were advised that plenty of seats were available on the next flight, but if we wanted two of them we had to pay a penality of an additional 231 euros each. We asked to speak to the manager who refused preferring to hide behind closed doors. The staff we dealt with were rude and dismissive.

Out of principle, we ended up catching a train. No problems there. My wife and I are seasoned travellers and this is the worst experience we have had in any country.