More transparency in the purchase of travel insurance policies optional and introduction of a non-surcharge telephone number to receive requests for reimbursement from consumers: these are some of the commitments presented from Alitalia to the Antitrust, made mandatory by the Authority, which in this way closed the proceeding initiated against the airline for a series of commercial practices deemed unfair.
The disputed practices, reported by consumers and by the Codacons, were basically two: the first concerned the way in which Alitalia markets, during the online flight booking process on the website www.alitalia.it, the optional travel insurance policy "by omitting, or making insufficiently and inadequately ”, essential information of the service. The second practice concerns, explains theAntitrust in the last bulletin, "the difficulties encountered by consumers in obtaining, from the professional, reimbursement of some of the cost elements of an air ticket not flown due to the passenger, with reference to the fare and/or airport taxes and fees ”.
In the proceeding, Alitalia presented a series of commitments which, once implemented, "will have undoubted and significant positive effects for the benefit of consumers purchasing flights from the Italian airline", explains the Antitrust. There will be some changes to the online airline ticket purchase process page where the possibility of purchasing a travel insurance policy is offered for the first time. The Authority explains that “the amount of taxes that are excluded from the compensation will be highlighted, as well as the express reference to ceilings, deductibles and coverage limitations, with reference and hypertext links to the summary sheet of the policy. The latter will highlight the articles of the insurance contract that provide for these exclusions and limitations, which can also be viewed through further hypertext links to the full text of the general insurance conditions and numerical examples will be inserted to help consumers understand the scope of the indemnifiable sums to which, possibly, it will have the right and the subjects who will correspond to it. In addition, there will be a clearer specification regarding the insurance coverage relating to luggage".
The policy purchase process is also modified, through the insertion of a box for acceptance of the general insurance conditions by the insured, the prior ticking of which will constitute an essential condition for proceeding with the purchase of the policy. “In this way – notes the Antitrust – a further protection is introduced to guarantee the consumer regarding the advisability of carefully reading the content of these general conditions before accepting them and signing the insurance product. In fact, the measure in question prevents the purchase of the policy if the consumer does not 'tick' the relevant box with which he expressly declares that he has read and accepted the general conditions of insurance”.
Other commitments submitted by Alitalia concern the reimbursement of some of the cost elements of an air ticket not flown due to the passenger. First of all, we note the measure, which Alitalia claims has already been implemented, on the complete elimination of the 20 euro fee required for the administrative management of the reimbursement procedures for certain types of tickets, in particular those relating to less flexible fare classes. The obligation imposed on consumers to have to contact the paid call center to submit its tax refund requests relating to an unused flight: Alitalia has undertaken, the Antitrust continues, to "introduce a non-surcharge telephone number dedicated to receiving tax refund requests and to change consequently the information concerning the procedure for obtaining said reimbursement of unused tickets on the Company's website". The measures that the company will implement will also apply to users who try to buy tickets through the Air One website.
