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I booked a return ticket from Düsseldorf to Tokyo via Rome with Alitalia last month. Two days before my return trip from Tokyo I got an email saying the Rome-Düsseldorf flight was cancelled without any explanation. I called their help line and was told that there would be a strike on the day of the last flight, hence the cancellation. She said she could book another flight for me on the day after. I took that option immediately since an extra day in Rome is even better. I also asked about hotel fee compensation and she said I had to email their customer service team, which I did and still got no replies.

Later I figured on the Alitalia website that in such a circumstance I can also ask for a refund. My question is, in this hypothetical circumstance, would the refund be for the full ticket of 4 legs, 3 of which I completed, or would it be a calculated refund for the last flight that was cancelled? Has anyone been in a similar situation?

EDIT #1: I'm not asking for a refund. I'm asking for the hypothetical "what if" question. What if I hadn't accepted the rebooking how would they calculate the refund. Just for my curiosity.

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  • Since Alitalia has provided the service you paid for on 3 of the legs, it would be a bit disingenuous to ask for a refund on that part... What you can hope for is a refund on the last leg – but since Alitalia provided the service you paid for, I don't think you're entitled to more than compensation for the delay...
    – user67108
    Jun 11, 2018 at 3:58
  • I'm asking about the "hypothetical situation". I'm not asking for the refund since I already took the last leg on the next day. But what if I had said I wanted a refund, how would they calculate it? This is their announcement for a similar event. "Travellers affected by cancellation or schedule change of Alitalia flights on 8 May can rebook their travel at no additional cost or penalty, or ask for a full ticket refund". Does full ticket refund mean full 4-leg ticket or something else? alitalia.com/en_it/fly-alitalia/news-and-activities/news/…
    – Emmie R.
    Jun 11, 2018 at 6:10
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    You're not entitled to any refund. You flew all segments so there are no unused tickets to refund. Also, the EU compensation rules specifically exempt strike actions so expect a compensation request to be denied.
    – DTRT
    Jun 11, 2018 at 12:40
  • Ugh I know that and I'm not asking for a refund. I'm asking for the hypothetical "what if" question. What if I hadn't accepted the rebooking how would they calculate the refund.
    – Emmie R.
    Jun 11, 2018 at 15:22
  • @Johns-305, where did you get that strike actions are excluded from EU261? I believe it's quite the opposite, case law clearly states that EU261 is applicable in case of a strike.
    – jcaron
    Jun 11, 2018 at 15:59

1 Answer 1

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In general, you are entitled to a refund of any fare, taxes and fees associated with any cancelled segment for which you are not reaccommodated.

Important, this only applies when the carrier cancels the flight. If you cancel or miss, a whole different set of rules apply.

There's nothing really to 'calculate'. Each segment has an associated fare which is set at the time of booking. The fare has nothing to do with distance and nothing to do with how other itineraries with that segment are priced.

Meaning, even if AZ sold that exact same flight on it's own for €900, the fare for your itinerary might be only €28 and you would be entitled to only €28 + taxes and fees.

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