Since when does 1000 miles make you a frequent traveller? (Alitalia Club MilleMiglia)

Member Name: Morgenhund

Product:	Alitalia Club MilleMiglia
Date:	27/10/05 (1719 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: clear rewards scheme, good website, customer service ok.

Disadvantages: it pays to check your statements!

It seemed pretty ludicrous that the cheapest way of getting from Vienna to Moscow by plane was via Milan, but when the saving was enough to pay for five nights (modest) accommodation in Moscow for the two of us, you can understand why we went for it. Now usually I wouldn't have bothered with getting a frequent flyer card from Alitalia – I have little to no idea when I will next use them, however it is a SkyTeam Alliance airline, which means that you get MilleMiglia points also for flights with AeroMexico, Air France, Continental Airlines, Czech Airlines, Delta, KLM, Korean Air and Northwest Airlines, a group of airlines for which I didn’t yet have a card.

Sign-up was very easy – online and took just a few minutes, I received a mock card to print out and show whilst my real card was being processed (this process should have taken about 6 weeks – it did for my girlfriend who signed up at the same time – see below for my experience). If you fly only one single-legged flight from the UK to Italy for example, they might not give you a card – as with many programs you have to reach a certain mileage to receive the card.

I was not so lucky – When I checked my statement for miles this month I discovered that the promised miles for flights VIE-MXP, MXP-SVO and return, as well as my bonus miles had not been credited to my account. So I called up Alitalia in Vienna who put me through to their call centre in Germany. After 12 minutes wait I got someone, who then was unable to help, but at least put me through to the correct person. Fortunately a phone call and a fax later and all my miles have been credited and my girlfriend's have also been boosted – there was a missing flight leg on her account too. If this becomes a regular occurrence I'll readjust my perceptions accordingly – it is a hassle and seems to happen a lot with such schemes – for this reason I always keep my boarding passes and eTix so I can send them off - a trip across the Atlantic that goes unnoticed would of course be a serious downer – 10,000 miles or so missing is a long way towards a free flight.

As things stand the rewards scheme is remarkably simple to understand – if you fly internally and go under 500 miles by plane, then you get 500 miles. Over 500 mile internal flights you get the number of miles you flew. For business class you get double miles. For international flights you get 1200 miles for flights up to that distance and then the number of miles you actually flew over and above that distance. For business class you would receive double miles.

If you clock up over 25000 miles in a calendar year, then you are promoted to the Ulisse club, and you receive a 25% bonus on the standard miles for flights i.e. a 1500 mile flight would be worth 1875 miles. If you go over 50000 miles in a calendar year, then you can join the Freccia Alata Club - and you receive a bonus of 50% extra standard miles. Membership of the club lapses if you do not fly 25,000 or 50,000 miles in the following year – neither of these clubs will enter the equation for the time being for me or my girlfriend!

As with other frequent flyer cards, you can also get other miles rewards for hotel stays, hire car rental and these can help bump up your miles quite quickly – if you are staying in rooms which qualify for rewards – their website can be somewhat hazy over the small print in this case. Upgrades to business class start from 10,000 miles one way – for the shortest flights, up to 40,000 miles - for the long haul routes.

Award tickets (ones gained from your MilleMiglia miles) start at 20,000 miles – for a domestic flight. Rather sensibly there is also a "miles and cash" flight reward option – that way if you are just under your miles you can buy 1,000 miles for €19 – and depending on how far you are travelling they will let you buy different quantities of miles. As with all "free flights" there are catches – you have to pay when you book, there is limited availability etc. but nevertheless for a frequent flyer you can soon rack up the miles. For example you'd only have to do 20 internal return flights to qualify for a free internal flight - easy to do if you travel frequently for business.

You can check your miles statements online, done via a username and PIN login – this was how I had initially realised that I was missing miles on my account. The website is easy to use, the choice of languages is not bad – I usually use either the German or English version. I also receive a monthly e-mail newsletter – there are usually competitions for which you are entered if you fly with Alitalia during the competition dates – prizes are quite impressive with cars and breaks and flights on offer.

Other than the slight teething troubles I have had to date with MilleMiglia, it seems to be a good system – especially as it is the most convenient SkyTeam loyalty scheme for me. Customer service has proved to be friendly and have sorted out my problems, so I can't really complain on that front, Although only time will tell how much I use MilleMiglia.

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Postscript: Evidently the post from Italy is not too hot - my permanent card arrived today - despite the January date on the letter. Oh well - it only took six months for the thing to arrive!

Summary: Worth consindering if you fly on SkyTeam flights.