Alitalia, everything you need to know about booking a millemiglia award ticket
For many they are unusable, for Alitalia a source of income that if not used makes even more money, for a few a way to fly around the world spending little or nothing.
Alitalia
Foreword. We live in uncertain times, and it is impossible to know if and when we will start traveling again as before, or even if and where Alitalia will fly. Here at The Flight Club, however, we are optimistic and look forward to being able to take flight again, which is why we tell all this and much higher.
On this site we talk about all the major loyalty programs, but as long as Alitalia is the leading carrier in the Italian market and the one that offers the widest opportunity to accumulate miles, we have to necessarily explain all the details of the loyalty program of our national airline.
In this article:
What the program is and how it works we have already explained here, in this article I want to focus on how to book an award ticket, how much it costs, how to get seats.
Myths to dispel
Before going into detail, I want to sweep away some myths, which I often had to explain to friends and acquaintances when I told them that I had booked award tickets to go to Japan, the United States, and other destinations.
Myth #1 It is impossible to find tickets
This is the classic phrase I have heard hundreds of times and obviously it is not true. Of course, Alitalia is historically one of the airlines that issues the fewest award seats ever. Generally on intercontinental flights there are 2 in magnificent class and 4 in economy and premium economy. While on intra-EU and domestic routes there are more seats available. Other airlines, on the other hand, issue more tickets and often as the departure date approaches, any seats still free are also made available.
It is clear, therefore, that to book you have to move in time, especially if you want to detach a ticket to a popular destination and/or during a peak season.
Myth #2 Booking is complicated
Again, this is not true. Booking a ticket with miles is like paying with a credit card, you go through the dedicated site, find the seats and click book. Eventually instead of using money, you will use miles. In this case the best credit card to use to pay is the american express alitalia platinum which entitles you to earn 4 qualifying miles for every euro spent, this way you can also accumulate miles for status renewal and buy the next award ticket. The only "tedious" step is the one in case you want to book using a companion, in which case you are obliged to go through the call center.
Personally, I have never had any difficulty booking/talking with the call center, in fact they often helped me improve my booking.
How many miles are needed for a flight?
Alitalia publishes a table where destinations are divided into groups: Italy, Europe, Middle East and Africa, the United States, South America, and Asia. The final cost then depends on the class of travel.
As you can see, a round-trip ticket to Tokyo in magnificent class costs 120k MM, while a round-trip to Maldives in economy 50k MM. Of course, it is also possible to book a one-way ticket, in which case the cost is increased.
Warning. It is now 4 years since Alitalia announced a new and much more inconvenient premium table, but we believe that until the future of the company is clear this will not be touched.
It is important to remember that miles do not cover the cost of airport taxes which will, therefore, have to be paid for separately and that a free approach flight is always guaranteed. The approach flight is the one that allows you to reach Fiumicino or Malpensa before boarding for your final destination.
Can I use miles only to book Alitalia flights?
No, Alitalia is part of an aviation alliance called Sky Team and has partnerships with several other airlines. It is therefore possible to book through Alitalia and pay with miles tickets to fly with Delta, Korean or Virgin Australia.
It is important to understand that we are not only talking about connections to reach from Italy a destination not served by the tricolor carrier, but one can also book domestic flights in the United States with Delta or, for example, from Tokyo to Ho Chi Min with Vietnam Airlines.
Again, there is a table called multicarrier, which, in the same way, lets you know the cost of the trip. To find out any additional costs, you will need to research the tickets, as they vary from company to company.
Below is a simulation illustrating how to find a ticket to New York. On the outward journey, a business class ticket is available, and on the return journey on the selected date only in economy. The total cost is 65k MM plus 310 euros in taxes.
How do I book the ticket and how far in advance do I need to book?
To reserve your ticket, you must visit the Alitalia's dedicated website. Unlike the vast majority of other companies, it is possible to check seat availability, cost and all flight details without any registration.
Just enter the route and date, and you will know all possible combinations and all carriers to reach the same destination.
A little tip: if you are looking for an intercontinental flight better to set your search starting from Rome Fiumicino or Milan Malpensa and not perhaps Genoa or Cagliari, as mentioned the approach flight is always free. Also better to search for individual routes, one at a time.
However, there is one very important thing to know that is the key to success in issuing award tickets on the most popular routes. Tickets are made available and therefore bookable 11 months in advance, 330 days to be precise.
If we want to book Miami in August, Los Angeles at Christmas, it is obvious that we need to book almost a year in advance.
One sore point is that if you want to reserve a seat in premium economy, which is only available on long-haul, you must go through the call center.
What are the stipulations of an award ticket, can I cancel/move?
The award ticket is very flexible in that to move the trip you will need to find availability of award seats on the new date by paying a penalty of 5k MM or 55€.
It is still possible to cancel the ticket and get a "conditional" refund by paying a fee of 55€ or 5,000 miles, and decide to reuse the miles from the cancelled ticket for a new flight, as long as the return flight is within 1 year of the first issuance, and possibly supplementing the miles needed if the final cost is changed.
Are there ways to pay less miles and/or get discounts?
Yes, there are two ways and both are only related to the possession of an Alitalia American Express card. In case you possess the Green card, which is the basic model, you will be entitled to get 20% of miles back, that is, the moment we issue an award ticket we will be automatically credited 20% of the miles used, regardless of the credit card we used to pay for the ticket.
As explained later in this article there is an opportunity to get all the miles needed to purchase a second ticket completely free of charge by always using any American Express Alitalia credit card. To obtain the companion ticket it will be enough to spend in one year 15k euros. Once this amount is reached, a letter will be sent with the code to be used at the time of booking.
Can I use the miles in other ways?
Yes, you can use miles to partially discount the cost of the ticket (Alitalia calls it cash&miles). I personally don't recommend it because of the poor conversion ratio; it can be useful to use cash&miles only to dispose of expiring miles that you would otherwise lose. You can then use them to get class upgrades either before departure (depending on award seat availability) or on board (only for winged arrow members and above and only on intercontinental flights).
Conclusions
In this article we have already explained what mistakes not to make and what strategies to adopt, but I want to emphasize one more point. No matter what our need is: 5 economy tickets to Tel Aviv or 3 biz to Tokyo, the important thing is not to waste the miles and get the best deal possible.
