Alitalia Facing Possible Shutdown

About's Senior Travel Guide Nancy Parode has the latest on economic woes at Alitalia Airlines in Italy. Flights are being canceled and deals with unions designed to keep the airline operating appear to be collapsing. From a budget traveler's perspective, what should you do if you need tickets in such a situation? If you must buy tickets from an airline in trouble, use a credit card and work through a travel agent. In each case, you are more likely to get your money back if there's a problem. Be careful out there! Airlines aren't the only travel businesses in trouble. About's London Travel Guide Laura Porter recently wrote about the U.K's third largest package travel company XL, which went into the British version of bankruptcy.