ITA Joins SkyTeam Status Match
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This is actually a very short blog post to let you know that the answer is no.

The slightly longer answer is that the integration with SkyTeam and ITA has been poor at best. Some people that have status matched to ITA Volare status have been able to get benefits when flying (and often they are denied even that despite ITA being a full-fledged SkyTeam member).

Since there are few ways to get to Italy non-stop, I tried quite hard to figure out a way to make this happen. I even found the relevant award inventory on ExpertFlyer. But calls that lasted quite some time and included very knowledgable agents to Delta and Air France were wholly unsuccessful. The award inventory can not even be secured via a long sell (two points if you know what that means).

There is some speculation that because Lufthansa may be trying to buy a majority stake in ITA, in which case it would probably become a part of Star Alliance, that may be the hold up.

Personally, I think that ITA is just the same old Alitalia and this is to be expected…

Of course, if you HAVE been able to do what I’m saying you cannot do as of the time of this post, please do correct me in the comments.

If you’re simply curious about what benefits people are or are not getting with either SkyTeam Elite Plus status or Volare status, check this FlyerTalk thread.

Thoughts?

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Dave Grossman
I got "in the game" in 2003 and since then I've collected literally millions and millions of frequent flyer miles and hotel points. I've flown around the world in first class seats that would cost $29,000 using frequent flyer miles and a few bucks in tax. And I've stayed in some of the finest hotels - all for free! Several years ago, I realized many of my friends actually thought I was paying for these!! So I started sharing my tips. It's long been a passion, but when I hosted a session on Miles and Points at the South by Southwest festival, my love of the game intensified and this blog was born. Since then, I've written my book, MilesTalk: Live Your Wildest Travel Dreams Using Miles and Points (2nd Edition) - (author profile), give seminars on miles and points all over the world, and occasionally write for publications such as Frommer's and Forbes Advisor.

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