Flight delay where do I stand

richardw

pufling wrote: »

Yes I know that (thanks to you guys), its virgin who have brought up the EU regs again stating this is why they cant make the airline cover it.

I have spoken to Qatar & basically they said they reserve the right to make changes & any costs would be due to me

Read the Qatar Airways terms and conditions you have agreed to.

claire16c

pufling wrote: »

There saying now they cant book the hotel due to H&S

What?

Virgin cant book hotels for Health and Safety??

pufling

To quote, just in case I picked it up wrong

As a Tour Operator we don't have a contract with any Doha Airport hotels and so are unable to book this for you. Due to Health and Safety restrictions we are not able to book a hotel for you that hasn't been audited by our H&S team.

However, in the event that we did have a hotel available this isn't something that Virgin Holidays would pay for as this a flight cancellation is outside of our control. As Qatar Airways aren't an EU airline they aren't covered by the same regulations as Virgin Atlantic and other EU airlines and so they won't provide any overnight accommodation.

Voyager2002

pufling wrote: »

To quote, just in case I picked it up wrong

As a Tour Operator we don't have a contract with any Doha Airport hotels and so are unable to book this for you. Due to Health and Safety restrictions we are not able to book a hotel for you that hasn't been audited by our H&S team.

However, in the event that we did have a hotel available this isn't something that Virgin Holidays would pay for as this a flight cancellation is outside of our control. As Qatar Airways aren't an EU airline they aren't covered by the same regulations as Virgin Atlantic and other EU airlines and so they won't provide any overnight accommodation.

Someone at Virgin is either incompetent or is dredging the bottom of the barrel for pathetic excuses. There is no law that obliges a travel agent to inspect a hotel before booking it, and certainly nothing to prevent them from paying for the hotel that you now need. OTOH, since your flight begins at an airport within the EU you are covered by EU regulations in exactly the same way as if you were travelling on Virgin Atlantic.

NMSE12

I have had a simular problem, my outbound flight has been changed from 10.40am to 10.15pm, obviously a massive difference and as i had to book out of my accomodation at 10am i was quite worried as to what i would do with 3 children and all our bags for 12hrs.
I have been fortunate that my travel company have offered to pay 2/3 of the extra night accomodation meaning that we have our room all day now and an extra day effectively of our holiday.
I however did threaten to cancel the entire holiday and wanted a full refund due to the fact that it wasn't the holiday i booked. I was very nervous as knew i was on thin ground etc... but maybe worth a try?

pufling

Voyager2002 wrote: »

Someone at Virgin is either incompetent or is dredging the bottom of the barrel for pathetic excuses. There is no law that obliges a travel agent to inspect a hotel before booking it, and certainly nothing to prevent them from paying for the hotel that you now need. OTOH, since your flight begins at an airport within the EU you are covered by EU regulations in exactly the same way as if you were travelling on Virgin Atlantic.

Thanks voyager2002, problem is that this is my return flight from Doha to Manchester, therefore as its not departing a eu airport but going to one am I covered?

Moonchild

pufling wrote: »

Thanks voyager2002, problem is that this is my return flight from Doha to Manchester, therefore as its not departing a eu airport but going to one am I covered?

Voyager2002 is entirely correct - Virgin are acting disgracefully, and also either lying, or ridiculously uninformed.

I would continue pursuing the 'unhappy customer' on Virgin's Facebook / Twitter as they will pay attention if they cannot delete your comments in time (hint - post on Saturday at around 5pm).

Also if you are happy post your return flight and date (i.e. flying from where to Doha to Manchester) as there may be a better solution that you can present to them. i.e. Virgin could book you a later Bangkok to Doha flight to connect you onto your Manchester flight and therefore put you in a hotel that IS inspected by them.

pufling

Thanks, and yes good idea re the flight, we're doing male, Doha, Manchester 11th April (evening flight) never thought about that but yes why do they have to send us on the same flight home as the one coming out

Only problem with the facebook posting is some woman posting on my posts eg this is getting boring now whoops

kochi1

I once spent 10 hours in Doha airport due to flight delays - that particular one being Qatar having an ingugral flight taking place so that took priority that day understandable. We got vouchers for meals and just hung around the airport fortunately had a good book (always a travel essential in my eyes). From my experiences with Qatar and some of the Gulf airlines only one would complain about would be Gulf who checked us from India to London via Bahrain but didn't tell us our outbound flight was late and would miss out London connection - complained in Bahrain and received appropriate compensation. From what I can gather this is a schedule change - which could happen again prior to departure. Was there no other carrier who flew direct that you could have booked with - Sri Lankan/BA?

Voyager2002

pufling wrote: »

Thanks voyager2002, problem is that this is my return flight from Doha to Manchester, therefore as its not departing a eu airport but going to one am I covered?

In that case no: EU regulations only apply to EU airlines (all flights) and flights departing EU airports (other airlines).

Your airline should be able to put you on an alternative flight with better timings, perhaps to a different UK airport. That would be a sensible solution.