The Millemiglia program is not dead, a light at the end of the tunnel for all members
ITA Airways' announcement in recent days surprised many both because of its farewell to the Alitalia brand and because it anticipated [...]
Alitalia
SkyTeam
ITA Airways' announcement in recent days surprised many both by saying goodbye to the Alitalia brand and by anticipating some features of the new loyalty program to be called Volare.
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At the same time, however, the old Alitalia also surprised all Millemiglia program members by posting a page on its website titled "The MilleMiglia Program continues." page, however, which is currently unreachable at alitalia.com.
The second life of the Millemiglia
The EU commission had ordered the Italian government not to let Alitalia's loyalty program end up in ITA Airways' perimeter, so while the former officially launched the beta version of its program, we now have to wait for the divestment of the Millemiglia program, at auction as happened with the Alitalia brand.
In the meantime, however, to the amazement of members, the program does not cease to exist or even dispense benefits to its members.
The main news is that elite statuses, namely Winged Arrow and Winged Arrow Plus will be able to continue to enjoy SkyPriority benefits when flying with Air France, KLM and MEA. And not only that, in addition to the benefits, if you fly with these three companies you will still be able to earn miles as was previously the case. Ulysses members will also be able to continue to get the privileges provided when flying with these three carriers.
All this while ITA Airways has also chosen, on a temporary basis, to join the SkyTeam alliance. So you will continue to see the Millemiglia logo next to ITA's in the coming months as if they were both in business.
Accumulate miles
As of October 15, you continue to earn miles using the services offered by current business partners: every time you rent a car, parking lots your car near airports or stations, stay in hotels, use cabs for your daily commute, and go shopping.
Thanks to an important agreement with lastminute.com, you will be able to buy flights from more than 400 airlines to more than 200 countries around the world, 1,500,000 stay options, services from 150 hotel chains, and plenty of flight+hotel packages to keep you traveling and earn miles with every purchase.
Spending miles
The miles earned can be used to book car rentals with Avis and, by the end of the month, also for Purchase flights or flight+hotel packages through the issuance of vouchers at lastminute.com.
At the moment there are no other communications, it is clear that the purpose of the bankruptcy trustees is to keep the value of the company's loyalty program high. While it is certain that ITA has launched its own frequent flyer program, it is by no means a given that the buyer, if there is a buyer, will not then find a way to collaborating with ITA Airways' Volare.
In conclusion
Everyone, including me, They were giving the Millemiglia program up for dead. and instead it is not. Now to find out if and how the miles in the wallet can be used, we will have to wait to hear about the conversion from MM points to LastMinute.com vouchers. Of course, it will be nothing like taking a business class ticket to the states for only 64k MM, but as they say in these cases, "don't look a gift horse in the mouth."
