Virgin holiday in June large group booking concern

MissC13

Please can I get some advice on our group package virgin holiday, we have a trip planned for end of June 2020 deposits paid of nearly £6000 for 33 attendees. Balance due end of this month March 2020. I would like to know where we stand. Not sure if we cancel will we get deposits back or can we rebook for a future date. Can someone tell us where we stand. Some of us have travel insurance but a few don’t. I await some guidance from you. Thank you in advance. 

CKhalvashi

Call Virgin?

You'll get the money back if you can't go anyway, as it sounds like you're on a package deal, so you're better off at this stage paying rather than not, as to not will be deemed a voluntary cancellation.

Westin

MissC13 said:

Please can I get some advice on our group package virgin holiday, we have a trip planned for end of June 2020 deposits paid of nearly £6000 for 33 attendees. Balance due end of this month March 2020. I would like to know where we stand. Not sure if we cancel will we get deposits back or can we rebook for a future date. Can someone tell us where we stand. Some of us have travel insurance but a few don’t. I await some guidance from you. Thank you in advance. 

Taking to one side the fact that you are travelling in a large party group, the current situation and advice is really no different to that discussed on other threads and the information in the MSE guide -
https://www.moneysavingexpert.com/news/2020/02/coronavirus-travel-help-and-your-rights/?_ga=2.30027967.1653696725.1578343562-1344478144.1443270551

The end of June is distant and no one really will know what travel advisories and restrictions will be in place at that time.  You can of course cancel now but normal booking conditions may well apply, so likely a loss of deposit. After reading and understanding the above MSE article, certainly discuss with the group,  it you will likely have to play the waiting game.

Virgin are only dealing currently with those travelling imminently, within next few days and also dealing with the final repatriation of those returning to the U.K.   Right and fair. 

Mrsn

I would very much at this point pay the balance because if they cancel you will be refunded the monies paid to you. If you cancel now you will lose the deposit.

ComicGeek

Mrsn said:

I would very much at this point pay the balance because if they cancel you will be refunded the monies paid to you. If you cancel now you will lose the deposit.

While technically you should be refunded the money, the current approach by Virgin Holidays is to refuse to provide refunds. If I could have cancelled my holiday and just lost the deposit, rather than having the stress of pursuing the full amount now, then I would have done.

Any future bookings may be at an increased cost, and no one knows when it will be safe to travel. £6000 deposit is only £182 per person - perhaps speak to everyone and find out what everyone wants to do. Within a group of 33, there will be a wide range of anxiety levels, health issues, financial security etc.

MissC13

Thank you so much for the advice. I Will weigh up the options and share with the others. 

MissC13

Does anyone know if Virgin holidays will refund you if you do not cancel a booking and they cancel due to the Current situation with the Corona virus. I’m worried as we are a large group travelling. If they cancel as holiday is not until end of June will they refund directly or do we have to claim on our travel insurance as not all of us have travel insurance as yet. I have a large Balance to pay this week and not sure whether to proceed and pay or cancel because if I proceed those without insurance would lose out even though it is a group booking. Would they or wouldn’t they please Can you give me some advice on this as the virgin holiday site T&c is not clear. 

Westin

As the current FCO travel advisory does not (yet) cover your travel dates I think the best you will receive here is assumptions and guesses. Here are mine;

1. Travel restrictions will continue and the FCO advisories will continue and be extended. There are two in place for your trip, one for the USA and one more general for all non-essential travel. I expect these will be extended but perhaps in extensions of two to four weeks at a time.

2. Virgin Holidays will act upon these revised FCO travel advisories and adjust policy to reflect new travel ban dates. 

3. I would expect their current published waivers to move, probably in month blocks. A sort of rolling policy based on date of travel.  You can read these on their website for current travel up to 16 April, end May and end June.  These extend forward as new travel advisories issued.

4. The current option of a refund will be withdrawn and your options will be to reschedule your holiday dates or to accept a credit voucher for the balance paid.

5. Virgin Holidays may also introduce new policy on collecting balances and full payments closer to planned departure dates. Also more flexibility on changing holidays nearer to departure date.  The former will however be too late for you. The advice in the MSE article on continuing to pay holiday deposits still applies at this time.

Just my take.

P.S. Those in your party who did not buy travel insurance and now going to find in very difficult and certainly more costly, to get cover for a USA trip now.

MissC13

Thank you Westin for such a detailed response. This is much appreciated and I know it’s your take on it but it helps. I decided to start another post as I had this further question I am new to the forum and assumed I would need to start a new post. Just to clarify the trip is to Trinidad & Tobago in the Caribbean we go direct to Tobago for the week. Not the USA.

Westin

Sorry I had in mind that your were going to Las Vegas. Must of been another VH poster.

neilanthonyfitness

Westin said:

MissC13 said:

Please can I get some advice on our group package virgin holiday, we have a trip planned for end of June 2020 deposits paid of nearly £6000 for 33 attendees. Balance due end of this month March 2020. I would like to know where we stand. Not sure if we cancel will we get deposits back or can we rebook for a future date. Can someone tell us where we stand. Some of us have travel insurance but a few don’t. I await some guidance from you. Thank you in advance. 

Taking to one side the fact that you are travelling in a large party group, the current situation and advice is really no different to that discussed on other threads and the information in the MSE guide -


The end of June is distant and no one really will know what travel advisories and restrictions will be in place at that time.  You can of course cancel now but normal booking conditions may well apply, so likely a loss of deposit. After reading and understanding the above MSE article, certainly discuss with the group,  it you will likely have to play the waiting game.

Virgin are only dealing currently with those travelling imminently, within next few days and also dealing with the final repatriation of those returning to the U.K.   Right and fair. 

this is all well and good. however whilst also blocking communication with the rest of their customer base, they are ramping up prices on their website, meaning that if you do want to rebook it's going to be virtually impossible to book like-for-like.
If the prices are staying the same I wouldn't mind so much. But the fact that they are blocking communication and ramping up prices leaves us all in the hands of Virgin.