Virgin Atlantic Refund ...

Pattielabelle

Can anyone please advise me why airlines will not accept cancellation on flights only.

Last May we independently booked two return flights only from Manchester to Florida with Virgin Atlantic for March/April 2018. However at the beginning of September, and with more than six months prior to the proposed trip, we tried to cancel. On speaking to Virgin Atlantic via email, they state that there’s no cancellation without losing just about all of the money for the upgraded seats. We’d only be refunded the tax. They also state that it’s not possible to transfer the tickets into someone else’s name if we were able to sell the tickets on. The silly thing here is that should we cancel and accept the loss, with all the time between now and the end of March 2018, they’d be able to re-sell our seats and roughly double their money!

I take it there’s no way around this, but I’m just checking with you out there to see if anyone knows something I’m not aware of. Any sensible advice welcome.

eDicky

So the tickets you bought were non-refundable, according to the conditions that you were informed of when purchasing. Refundable tickets cost a lot more than the cheapest. 'Reselling' of seats has no relevance.

Instead of canceling when there's virtually nothing to be refunded, it's usually best to hold on to your booking in case there's a flight change or cancellation that requires the airline to offer a refund - you may be lucky.

Gleeful

Company in acting exactly as is their policy shocker!

So what if they are paid twice for the same seat, them's the terms and conditions you agreed to when you booked

Pattielabelle

It appears from the two responses received so far that we should have made ourselves more aware of the T&C’s. Nether of us remember seeing them, but I guess they will have been there somewhere!

stevenhp1987

Generally speaking flights are non-refundable, unless you pay a hefty premium for flex-tickets.

Much like when you book a train ticket or bus ticket. Once you've paid, you cannot refund if you decide not to go.

malkie76

Pattielabelle wrote: »

they’d be able to re-sell our seats and roughly double their money!

Just as a minor aside - all non-budget airlines oversells their planes because they know a certain number of people won't show up on the day, or will need to cancel. It's how their revenue works, and contributes towards cheaper tickets.

blindman

Pattielabelle wrote: »

The silly thing here is that should we cancel and accept the loss, with all the time between now and the end of March 2018, they’d be able to re-sell our seats and roughly double their money!

I take it there’s no way around this, but I’m just checking with you out there to see if anyone knows something I’m not aware of. Any sensible advice welcome.

This case proves that it can be argued that the operator is not losing the money.

I think that if you cancel now and then can prove that Virgin flew with a FULL economy class on your trip (both ways) then you may have a chance at some refund. Though it may take a fight.

Or you can as suggested keep hold of the tickets and hope that a schedule change allows you to cancel.
And in any case if you are a no show the airline have less chance of making more profit.

Caz3121

Pattielabelle wrote: »

It appears from the two responses received so far that we should have made ourselves more aware of the T&C’s. Nether of us remember seeing them, but I guess they will have been there somewhere!

when booking on the Virgin website, when you choose flights, under the total price there are links to the "Fare Breakdown" "Fare conditions" and "currency calculator" - the fare conditions will give you an indication of flexibility, change fees etc
In addition there would have been upgrade options shown (assuming economy ticket purchased) - "Upgrade to Upper Class", "Upgrade to Premium Economy" and "Upgrade to a Flexible Ticket"(in the dummy booking I made this Upgrade to flexible ticket was £942 so flexibility is expensive
I also would not cancel at this point in the hope of a schedule change - summer schedule will start end March and the slots for that are likely not fully confirmed till into January

blindman

Were you booked into Premium economy or even Upper class?

Virgin are asking passengers to change or get a refund from Manchester

TadleyBaggie

OP said they were flying to Florida, the article suggests that only the following flights are affected:

VS 127 / 128, 01 March 2018 to 14 May 2018 Manchester (MAN) to New York (JFK)
VS 109 / 110, 02 March 2018 to 31 May 2018 Manchester (MAN) to Atlanta (ATL)
VS 121 / 122 , 23 May 2018 to 30 May 2018 Manchester (MAN) to Boston (BOS)
VS 125 / 126, 22 May 2018 to 29 May 2018 Manchester (MAN) to San Francisco (SFO)
VS 77 / 78, 17 May 2018 to 31 May 2018 Manchester (MAN) to Barbados (BGI)