Flight delay and cancellation compensation, Virgin Atlantic ONLY

roxyroxy

i was delayed by exactly 24 hours on a virgin flight to st lucia in oct last year (2012) it was my honeymoon. I knew about the claim situation and put in a claim. recieved a letter just before christmas saying they would not pay out as it was a technical fault beyond their control so the claim would not be valid. they gave us 12,000 miles as compensation, this is no good to me as i do not collect miles. it took a long time to save for my 7 nights st lucia honeymoon and i lost a whole day so only had 6 days, i will never get this back. are they correct in denying me my claim and have they covered themselves by giving me some "miles" !!!???

worriedwoman_2

Hi
I was delayed on a flight from Gatwick to Las Vegas last August. Firstly we were told that the aeroplane was damaged on it's way back from Colombia or somewhere and we were going to be on another plane which was undergoing safety checks. Every time we looked at the departure board it was delayed a few more hours. Eventually we were told that although the plane was ok to take off, the flight crew were unable to work as they would be exceeding their duty hours. Surely this means we can claim? Instead of taking off at 11.35am on Thursday, we took off at 10.10am on Friday. We were put up in the Hilton hotel at Gatwick (where the fire alarm went off at around 11pm and we all had to stand outside in the rain for an hour while the fire crew checked it out)
I did complain and received 12500 Virgin miles each for myself and my husband, but I have written the template letter which was on this site and am still awaiting a reply (12 days ago so far)
Hopefully I will receive something but if I am told that I have received the air miles instead I will ask them to take them back and give me the money!
I will update this once I receive my reply.

Elb74

Hello!
I have never been on a Forum before, so please bare with me!
Query over a delayed Virgin claim. Our return flight from Orlando to Gatwick in 2010 was delayed for 23 hours due to Technical issues. The captain even got off plane and came to departure lounge to discuss the fault and problems as other passengers were becoming impolite with Virgin staff/crew. We were given food vouchers and then after many hours, finally luggage removed from plane and we were put up in hotel at MCO airport for the night. Then flew home next day.
Just wondering if husband,myself and two children are entitled to claim.
We were given air miles equivalent as compensation/courtesy does this matter?
Thanks in advance to anyone who has time/patience to respond!

syddarthur

Hi I'm just wondering if I can get compensation for my delayed flight from Havana Cuba to London Gatwick. It was with Virgin and the flight home was cancelled without any notification this January 2013. I turned up at the airport and there was no plane. They didn't fly me home for 3 days!! So I was stranded in Havana with no money - they had a cholera outbreak at the time. I missed 3 days of work and didn't like being in Havana as a woman on my own. From what I've read it seems to suggest that the flight needs to be from a EU country although it says I might be able to claim if it was with an EU airline (is Virgin one?) or returning to EU destination (I did). The flight was really expensive but I took it because it was direct and travelled on the days I needed. Any help appreciated. Cheers Syddarthur

Ladylean

I was delayed 23 hours on a Virgin flight from Gatwick to Las Vegas in April 2012 due to pilot sickness. I tried to get compensation when I got back from my trip, but was fobbed off (when the company eventually deigned to reply to my claim) and told there was no requirement for compensation to be paid. When the ECJ judgement ruled in favour of compensation payments to passengers delayed on flights, I tried again, first by letter (which was ignored) then by using the form hidden away on the Virgin Atlantic website. Virgin has denied my claim for compensation on the grounds that pilot sickness qualifies as an extraordinary circumstance; clearly, it does not. I have contacted the CAA but they are taking up to 8 weeks to reply other than to acknowledge my email. I am so fed up with the attitude adopted by Virgin and the total lack of customer service that I intend to make a claim against them in my local Court under the small claims procedure. I will let you know how it goes. (Perhaps Virgin should set aside some of the advertising budget they have used on their latest ridiculous TV advert to compensate their passengers.....) Needless to say, I shan't be travelling with Virgin again.

noddy1976

Hi
New to the world of forums, but I was wondering if anyone has had the same waffle back from Virgin as our family in 2 separate responses.
Similar to post #3 by gadders we were told that our flight back from Orlando to Gatwick (VS0016 May 10th 2012) was delayed (6 hrs) due to an engine thrust reverser that would not stow, do not have the parts there, blah blah blah, "extraordinary circumstance", goodbye.
We found it odd that they could also mention in the reply that the fault happened on a previous service at one of their outstations, no plane turned up in Orlando close to the scheduled departure time and yet there is nothing to be accountable for.
With 2 young children in tow and being delayed into the next day with not enough supplies for the kids(luggage checked in) in an airport closing down for the night, $9 food vouchers each where the food court is closing too just is not good enough.
Has anyone had a similar reply or any success in getting compensation from Virgin?
Might have to go to the top rather than customer services.

Thanks
Noddy

Fruity1

Hi, this is a long shot. June 2010 from Orlando to Manchester. We were waiting to board when one of the loading vehicles damaged the plane so that the luggage hold could not be shut. They had to fly both the part and mechanic in to fix it. Initially we were given food vouchers and eventually taken to a hotel for the night. However our luggage was not returned to us until we landed in Manchester, so many people had no change of clothes. We were delayed 24 hours. Will they simply class this as technical problems beyond their control?

Many thanks.

syddarthur

Hi Centipede
Yeah my flight was 14th January but I didn't fly out till 17th January and didn't get home till lunchtime 18th January.
I managed to get someone on the phone and they said the flight had been cancelled for ages (would have been good to let me know!).
So it seems I can claim 600 euros for the flight and the 3 days living expenses. I have written to Virgin but haven't heard anything back. From this forum it seems as if Virgin may have a compensation form I could fill in - but its tricky to find! Do you know anything about this?
Thanks for starting this forum - its sooo helpful
Cheers
Sydd

Cescau

My flight from Delhi to London was delayed and then cancelled for 24 hours in 2008. I filled in the forms and they've claimed technical problems qualify as a reason not to pay out. Has anyone successfully appealed their decisions?

normansbaby

Hi Sydd, go to 3w virgin- atlantic.com/content/dam/VAA/Documents/Travel%20Information/EU-claims.pdf

Had to type 3w rather than www as it MSE won't allow me post a link as I'm a new user.
Norm