Are you a member of Volare? Here are the 5 frequently asked questions here at TFC about ITA Airways' loyalty program
ITA Airwyas frequent flyer is the most popular among Italian travelers, certain the numbers of the old Millemiglia [...]
ITA Airways
SkyTeam
ITA Airwyas frequent flyer is the most popular among Italian travelers, certainly the numbers of Alitalia's old Millemiglia are still a long way off, but in less than 2 years nearly 1.5 mln people are enrolled in the loyalty program of Italy's new flag carrier.
In this article:
The summer months have seen an increase in the number of questions we receive on a daily basis through emails, social media posts and comments on our videos, so to try to answer the most frequent ones I decided to write an article that will hopefully help to better understand the dynamics of the young tricolor loyalty system.
I remember that through Friday, Sept. 8 I offer the possibility of win premium status in the Volare program To one lucky reader.
#1 Why don't I accumulate points when I fly with other Skyteam companies.
This question, declined in dozens of other ways, is surely the most frequent question of all. "But if it is Skyteam member, why don't I accumulate points?" The fact is that unlike with all the other companies participating in the youngest of the 3 alliances, ITA Airways has not signed the partnership agreements with all the companies in the alliance it participates in and this in fact leads to a hybrid situation.
There are Skyteam and Skypriority logos on ITA's planes and on tickets issued by ITA., but this does not translate into the real-life delivery of services that it would be logical to expect instead. In recent months we have written about the few reciprocity agreements that Volare has signed with a number of companies, the last one in chronological order was MEA.
The reality unfortunately is that flights made with Air France KLM, Vietnam Airlines or Aerolinas Argentinas just to name a few do not allow you to accumulate points, neither in one direction nor the other. E this also translates into an issue for obtaining the status. Since codeshare flights are not recognized, the traveler does not accumulate qualifying points with any of the carriers, and this situation makes obtaining or renewing status significantly more difficult.
In some cases even ITA Airways, as recounted by more than one reader, Loaded the Volare card with points for a flight even though it had not been entered when booking Preferring an alternative card.
#2 Why won't they let me into the lounge with Elite+ Skyteam status
The prevailing confusion regarding 100%'s membership in Skyteam leads to many small problems for both those flying with Volare cards and those flying to Italy with Skypriority privileges. I have tried over and over again to get into the lounge at Milan Linate with an Air France or KLM ticket (and status) and have always been turned away and invited to visit the independent lounge at Linate. Some readers, non-Italian, reported to us similar problems at Fiumicino, with Air France Platinum passengers "bounced" at the Hangar Lounge entrance. Similar difficulties were reported to us by Italian passengers who were denied privileges boarding Vietnam Airlines, Saudia, Air France and other flights.
Again, the answer lies in ITA's dubious position in the lack of agreement between the different carriers.
#3 Failure to retrocredit Volare points for enrollment that occurred after flight
This summer as many as 4 readers wrote to me to ask if it was normal for points not to be credited fly, because the flight had occurred before enrollment in the program.
I thus discovered a new mole in the Flying program, namely the fact that if a user signs up after flying, he or she will receive nothing in the event of a request to back-crediting of points. Contrary to what virtually all loyalty programs do. ITA Airways rejects the request with the following reason: "Enrollment day after flight date," meaning you signed up after flying.
I remember very well during Alitalia flights, when flight attendants would invite people to enroll in the Millemiglia program they would say, "Enroll and start earning miles starting with today's flight." Today, however, the announcement of the Volare program is made, but passengers who are not yet enrolled do not receive anything if they enroll when they land.
#4 How do you find award tickets with ITA Airways/how much do they cost?
The topic of ITA Airways award tickets is perhaps the most debated on our pages and the reason is that Volare is the only loyalty program in the world that does not offer award tickets. As we have explained over and over again Flying points are used only in cash&points mode, that is, at check-out, when booking a ticket on ITA's website can be used to discount the cost of the ticket at a rate of 1000 fly points = 5€.
So if, for example, with 11,250 Flying Blue points you get an award ticket to fly from Linate to New York, with the same 17 thousand MR points if transferred to the Volare program, you get a discount of €85 On the final cost of the ticket.
#5 If I pay for the ticket (partially) with Volare points why don't I accumulate anything?
This I find to be the greatest injustice of the Volare program. As mentioned, there are no award tickets and the only way to use points is to discount, in whole or in part, the cost of the ticket with a default value of 1000 points = €5. If a member uses, for example, 100k points he gets a discount of 5oo€, the injustice is that if the ticket costs 1000€+taxes, it would be fair on Volare's part to at least acknowledge volare points, qualifying and non-qualifying, on the amount paid cash.
Of course there are carriers that allow you to accumulate qualifying and non-qualifying points, i.e., those valid for the status, also on prize tickets, but this is the only way to use points possible here and ITA should definitely split the two transactions. The portion paid with points does NOT get points, the portion paid cash on the other hand allows you to accumulate with the same rules as tickets paid entirely in cash.
In conclusion
I hope with this special episode of TFCanswers to have helped solve some of the most frequent doubts that ITA Airways loyalty program members have
