Virgin Flight Time Change

Deanus69

Hi

My flight times for a Virgin flight have just been changed but not significantly. I was just wondering where this leaves me in terms of a refund. The ticket is a non-refundable class.

From Virgins Terms and Conditions:
Penalties
Changes any time charge gbp 90.00. Note - before departure of the outbound journey for changes made prior to the departure of the scheduled flight - reprice using current fares. After departure of the outbound journey for changes made prior to the departure of the scheduled flight - reprice using fares in effect at time of original ticket issue. No show - for changes made after departure of the original scheduled flight charge gbp140 and reprice using current or historical fares as above infants - no penalty - reprice fare as above. Children - no discounts - apply as per adult. Waiver - for death/illness of pax or immediate family member as evedenced by a death/hospital certificate - keep the original fare and rebook as required. Upgrades - prior to departure of the original scheduled flight - may be upgraded to a higher cabin without penalty. Reprice using current or historical fares as above. Resulting fare must be equal or higher than original fare. Residual amounts - no refund will be given if repricing results in a lower fare. Multiple charges - apply the highest charge of all fare components within a pricing unit regardless of whether that fare component has changed. Cancellations any time ticket is non-refundable. Note - waived for death of passenger or immediate family member as evidenced by a death certificate

So in Virgins terms and conditions it states a change entitles you to a refund at current cost? The change was to a return flight but as this was bought as a package could you get a refund on the whole lot? Also would there be a charge for this?

Has anyone else had experience of this and what would be the best way forward?

luci

The T&C's you have quoted are for changes made by the passenger and not by Virgin.

A major change which might entitle you to a refund is normally 12 hours or more. Look again at the T&C's for changes made by Virgin.

Deanus69

Does anyone know where these are? The only T&Cs I could find are for the website and the flying club.

Caz3121

If you have booked a package, did you not receive any paperwork with the booking confirmation either in the post or by email

Doshwaster

Deanus69 wrote: »

Hi

My flight times for a Virgin flight have just been changed but not significantly. I was just wondering where this leaves me in terms of a refund. The ticket is a non-refundable class.

Airlines change the times of flights all of the time for operational reasons. If the times have not changed significantly, why do you want a refund?

Alan_Bowen

If it is a package it is the tour operators terms that apply, not Virgin's. They only kick in with a 12 hour change, you seem lucky, Virgin have been reducing flying over the winter to a lot of destinations so some flights are simply not operational every day anymore

RobertCoxwell

I have the same sort of query - but regarding a change of flight with British Airways.

I have booked two tickets to New York in November, however due to unforeseen circumstances I have to change them.

On the British Airways website it quotes the total cost to change the tickets as £240 however it does not let you make the change.
Instead says you should call the BA call centre.

According to the call centre, the cost to change the Economy-class tickets is £323 per person, a total cost of £646!

The initial tickets cost £505 each.

How can it be right that their website quotes one number (which doesn't work) and the call centre quotes another, hugely inflated price. Is that legal?

Any advice anyone had would be hugely appreciated and gratefully received.

I have written a blog which has more details (and pictures) which you'll find by Googling "Robert Coxwell" and "British Airways"

And finally, yes, I know I should have booked with Virgin!

claire16c

RobertCoxwell wrote: »

I have the same sort of query - but regarding a change of flight with British Airways.

I have booked two tickets to New York in November, however due to unforeseen circumstances I have to change them.

On the British Airways website it quotes the total cost to change the tickets as £240 however it does not let you make the change.
Instead says you should call the BA call centre.

According to the call centre, the cost to change the Economy-class tickets is £323 per person, a total cost of £646!


And finally, yes, I know I should have booked with Virgin!

Have you called the call centre and told them you want to change your ticket, the website states a change fee of £240 but it will not work online so can they please do it for you? And see what their response is?

Ive only had nightmares with Virgin so I wouldnt be so sure!

Edit - Im just reading your blog now..

The only thing I can suggest is to not fly on the exact new dates you have put in - because I could be wrong but isnt that the school half term? If you shifted it by a week or two it would probably drop. And do you have to come back in World Traveller Plus?

btw your booking reference is showing on one bit of your blog you should blur it out.

I dont know about the legalities of the website showing one price and then them not carrying it out.. I know that in a shop if something is mispriced, they do not have to legally sell it to you at that price, they can refuse to sell it. So if you applied that to this, it would be them refusing to sell you the change fee at that price. I dont know if it works online like that though.

RobertCoxwell

Yeah, the call centre says that the website is mis-quoting the number and that it should be £646. They say they will look into the problem and report it to their IT department but the website continues to quote the charge at £240...
The most annoying thing is that the figure they are quoting, the airline knows to be incorrect.
Instead of apologising and charging me what they quoted, they seem intent on digging their heals in to charge the maximum amount, as I see it.

claire16c

I had a problem with Air Canada last year with their website. I was trying to book tickets, 2 adults and 1 child. The child price was for sake of argument about 70% of the adult price, ok fine. Except that every time i got through to putting the credit card details in, it would go up to the adult price.

I rang their call centre, paying goodness knows what per minute, to have them make me go through the entire process again, whilst the guy on the phone did it too so he could see what I meant, only for him to say 'Oh yes it doesnt seem to be working does it' He told me it would be corrected. After about a week of it STILL doing it, I ended up booking the flights over the phone. (which then ended up costing me £20 in phone calls, partly due to them booking my flights on the wrong day and me having to call back when I realised).

But anyway my point is, they often say they will fix things online, and they never seem to happen. I dont know why seeing as it would probably take someone 2 minutes to do it. I dont know how Air Canada ever sold a child ticket on their website that week as it never got fixed the entire time.

Westin

How old was your child? Just wonder if it displayed a child fare when you input the initial search for the number of adults and children in your party, but if your child was over 12 on travel date and having input dates of birth in the booking process, the system might then have changed to 3 adults. Just a thought.