·       Holidays to forget?

·       Something was wrong in your journey or in your holiday?

·       Didn’t you book your seat on the plane?

·       Was your luggage lost or arrived later?

If you had some trouble during your journey or holiday, please call the SOS Tourist Desk for help. It will provide you free advice and assistance.

SOS Tourist Desk is run by consumers’ association: Federconsumatori, Adiconsum, Movimento Consumatori. For any information please call the number 0039/059/2033430  or mail to info@sosvacanze.it

Service is free, except for postal charges.

Any offer will be kindly appreciated.

When you think you must send a complaint for a journey please always try to

follows these suggestions:

· only the written complaints are regular, the verbal ones can be useful but

they are not enough to protect your rights.

· do not leave too many days before complaining , the law allows you only a few

days time to complain.

· write a letter, keep a copy and forward the original by registered letter

with receipt. Only in this way you can be sure it has been received.

· if you had some extra expenses due to the particular necessity, always keep

the receipts

· please remember that air and ship transport have the same rules, or very

similar, so your rights will be the same or very similar.

· if you have problems to protect your rights or if you do not have a refund you

can apply at the SOS TURISTA BUREAU, that will give you assistance and help.

The fare is 30 Euros. The SOS TURISTA BUREAU is in

Via Canaletto n°100  cap:41100 Modena (Mo) tel 059 2033430 - fax 059 2033434

THE RULES TO SOLVE THE MOST FREQUENT PROBLEMS:

AT THE ARRIVAL AT THE AIRPORT MY SUITCASE WAS DAMAGED. WHAT DO I NEED TO DO?

· report your damage to airline

· get to know from the airline whether they are going to pay for the repairing

of your suitcase or for a new one (if your cannot be mended), directly by

going to the repairing shop or if you need to send the receipt after buying

the new suitcase of the same value.

· in any case you have the right to be refunded.

WHEN I GOT TO MY FINAL DESTINATION MY LUGGAGE WAS LOST. IT ARRIVED AFTER 15 DAYS.

I HAD TO BUY SOME THINGS THAT WERE IN MY LUGGAGE. HOW CAN I HAVE A REFUND?

· report at once at the Lost and Found office.

· fill in the property irregularity report

· keep a copy

· buy the necessary things that were in your luggage. The airlines will only

refund you for the indispensable things such as (pants, socks, t-shirts)

· write a letter in which you ask for a refund for the damage you had.

· enclose to your letter all the receipts (of which you kept a copy) of the

expenses you had due to this unexpected event. Forward everything to the

airline by registered letter with receipt as soon as possible.

AT THE ARRIVAL MY LUGGAGE WAS LOST. WHAT DO I NEED TO DO?

· report immediately to the Lost and Found office.

· fill in the property irregularity report and keep one copy.

· enclose it to the letter for refund and forward it to the airline by

registered letter with receipt as soon as possible.

THE AIRLINE HAD LOST MY LUGGAGE AND I GOT A REFUND, BUT THE VALUE OF THE CONTENT

OF MY LUGGAGE WAS MUCH HIGHER. WHAT CAN I DO?

The airline will refund you by law:

· up to about 16 Euros per kilo for domestic flights

· up to about 21 Euros per kilo for international flights.

So if in your luggage you had items of a higher value, you must declare them at

the check-in before departure. The airline will insure them (by paying a

supplement), and will refund you in full in case of loss.

If you do not declare them at the check-in you will not get a higher refund of

the one at the first two point of this paragraph.

ALTHOUGH I REGULARLY RESERVED AND CONFIRMED A SCHEDULED FLIGHT AT THE TIME OF

CHECK-IN I LOST MY SEAT ON THE PLANE. WHAT ARE MY RIGHTS?

Sometimes the airlines take more reservations of those the can satisfy, and this

is called overbooking. In this case you have the following rights:

· meals and accomodation for the whole time of your wait

· to do a telephone call or to send a fax, at the airline expenses, to inform of

your delay

· a refund of 150 or 300 Euros depending on the length of your journey.

· choose whether to leave by the next plane or when you find it more convenient

or to get the refund of the part of the ticket you did not use.

If you have other damages due to the delay (for instance at work) you can claim a

refund unless you did not accept to renounce your reservation instead of money.

So:

· keep all the receipts for the extra expenses due to the overbooking (for

instance hotels, meals, taxis to get to your hotel)

· always get to the airport quite in advance for your check-in, to avoid

unexpected events and problems that will make you lose your flight.

MY PLANE WAS 5 HOURS LATE. CAN I CLAIM FOR A REFUND?

Even for a delay you can claim a refund but only if your delay is considerable

or if you can prove you damage.

For the simple delay you must forward the letter of complaint by registred

letter with receipt to the airline.

YOUR FLIGHT HAS A STOP AND YOU LOSE YOUR CONNECTION. YOU MIGHT HAVE SOME EXTRA

EXPENSES (HOTEL, MEALS) FOR WHICH THE AIRLINE MUST PAY FOR.IF NOT DO YOU HAVE TO

PAY FOR EVERITHING?

In this case you can claim a refund for the extra expenses. How?

· keep all the receipts of the expenses due to the delay (hotel, meals, taxis to

get ot the hotels)

· forward everything as soon as possible by registered letter with receipt

enclosing all the necessary documentation (of which of course you will keep a

copy) claiming a refund.

LUCKILY OUR TICKET WAS CHEAP. IT WAS A CHARTER FLIGHT. WE SAVED BUT TO GET TO OUR

FINAL DESTINATION IT TOOK US MANY MORE HOURS. THE AIRLINE CANNOT ACCET OUR CLAIM

OF REFUND BEING A CHARTER FLIGHT.

It is not so. Even if it was a charter flight or the ticket was on sale the

airline must respect the times and refund for damages to the passenger: delay in

this case.

· keep all the receipts of the extra expenses you had due to the delay (payment

of hotels, meals, taxis to reach your hotel)

· forward everything as soon as possible to the airline by registered letter

with receipt enclosing all the documentation,of which you keep a copy,

claiming for a refund.

WE RESERVED A FERRY FOR FOUR PEOPLE AND CAR. JUST BEFORE DEPARTUE ONE OF OUR

RELATIVES HAD TO SUFFER AN URGENT OPERATION. CAN I CLAIM FOR THE TICKET I DID NOT

USE?

To claim a refund in this case you will need:

· to inform your travel agency where you made you reservation at once

· to get all the documentation about the accident

In any case the ferry-boat line can keep a penalty of 25%. These rules are also

valid for flights.

Beware:if your air ticket was bought at a special fare (for instance on ticket is

written PEX or NON REF) this ticket is not refundable.