Flight delay and cancellation compensation, Virgin Atlantic ONLY

Cally1

My son is on the final part of his Round the World trip and was due to fly from JFK -LHR this evening. Virgin phoned him on Monday and bumped him to 6th September. We told him to get back to them and get a better deal. So, he is on a flight on 26th August (one week later) with £600 compensation offered.
Is this a good deal or not? He has no money obviously, having been travelling for 8 months, so to him £600 seems a lot :-)
I think Virgin have taken advantage, as one week delay seems ridiculous when you think of the multiple flights per day that they operate.
Thanks!

Caz3121

Cally1 wrote: »

Virgin phoned him on Monday and bumped him to 6th September. We told him to get back to them and get a better deal. So, he is on a flight on 26th August (one week later) with £600 compensation offered.

I think this needs further investigation as Virgin are still selling tickets for their flights today and many other flights over the next days
Did he have a confirmed booking on the flight today? was it booked direct with Virgin?
Is he wanting to stay longer? The EU261 compensation amount would be €600 not £...will that cover his costs of staying an extra week or are Virgin paying his accommodation costs

Cally1

I checked the website too, and could buy a seat on is exact flight. Yes, he had a confirmed ticket, which was part of a RTW ticket, booked through Trailfinders.
No he doesn't want to stay longer. I know that he is getting more than they HAVE to pay, but £600 doesn't get you far in NYC - and no, they are not paying for accommodation on top of that.
They have also said they will refund the cost of this portion of his trip, but currently Trailfinders and Virgin are arguing between themselves on who should process the refund....

JPears

Aren't virgin obliged to pay for his accommodation for the week under reg 261/2004?

DebraB14

Can anyone help me please
We have recently returned from a holiday to Dubai and the return flight was delayed 16 hours. We have put in a claim for compensation but this has been declined because the pilot who due to fly us home was had taken ill.
Is it worth appealing this decision?

Justice13075

Can you explain the circumstances of your flight, time and date of flight also flight no if known What airport did you land back in the UK. I assume it was a virgin flight?. Crew illness is not necessarily an extraordinary circumstance

Caz3121

I expect there are times when crew sickness isn't extraordinary and is part of running an airline, eg having standby crew available for the % of staff that call in sick so the flight can operated as planned with no disruption. I suspect a crew member having a seizure mid-flight may be different as they cannot plan for that....depends on how the judge on the day treats it

DebraB14

Thank you for your replies. We were due to fly at 11.00 am Dubai time on the 5 August and eventually took off at 3.00 am, Dubai time on the 6 August, flying to London Heathrow. Virgin advised us :

The Captain who was due to operate your flight was taken ill in the early hours of the morning and we had to source a replacement Captain. We arranged for a Captain who landed in to Dubai that morning to step in and operate your flight, however, we were legally obliged to allow them a minimum rest period before they could operate your flight back to London.

Tyzap

DebraB14 wrote: »

Thank you for your replies. We were due to fly at 11.00 am Dubai time on the 5 August and eventually took off at 3.00 am, Dubai time on the 6 August, flying to London Heathrow. Virgin advised us :

The Captain who was due to operate your flight was taken ill in the early hours of the morning and we had to source a replacement Captain. We arranged for a Captain who landed in to Dubai that morning to step in and operate your flight, however, we were legally obliged to allow them a minimum rest period before they could operate your flight back to London.

http://www.bottonline.co.uk/press-releases/judge-rules-crew-sickness-does-not-excuse-airlines-from-paying-flight-delay-compensation

guesswho2000

Just thought I'd add my experience. OH & I were delayed for just over four hours departing LGW, landing just under 4 hours late into LAS, this was about three weeks ago. VS stated it was a reactionary delay but gave no further detail, didn't bother enquiringly or asking for refreshments at the airport, just waited around and watched the screen for updates.

Submitted a EU261 claim, got an email a few days ago settling the claim, €300 each with no issues. Quite impressed as I was expecting an uphill battle, but there you go.