How best to play this ? - Hotel only booking ( USA) Virgin Holidays.

deejaybee

There might be flights going, but the border is closed to UK citizens...

JGB1955

The flights aren't the problem.  The hotel is... and it's still available.  The fact that a UK citizen can't use the hotel room is of no consequence to them.

Upsidedownandaround

MalMonroe said:

deejaybee said:

I cant find any specific references in the T&Cs relating to Hotel-only bookings, apart from the fact i obviously do not get ATOL protection..

BUT these are unusual circumstances, and won't be covered by the T&Cs, will they?  You do get protection from your credit card, as I said, Section 75. 

S.75 means the credit card company is jointly and severally liable. If the hotel isn’t liable to refund neither is the credit card company.

deejaybee

So the majority view is that its a Travel Insurance job if Virgin / The Hotel  refuse to play nicely ?

SpreadableToast

deejaybee said:

There might be flights going, but the border is closed to UK citizens...

That's not actually true.  You're not ineligible by virtue of nationality (not being British anyway) you're ineligible based upon where you've been in the past 14 days.  So the OP could, in theory, fly to a country not on the prohibited countries list, wait 14 days, and THEN fly into the US.  But at the end of the day the hotel is open, that is all that matters.  Whether the OP can get to it or not is not Virgin's problem.

jonesMUFCforever

OP - You have paid Virgin holidays so the room is paid for - why not contact Paris customer relations and ask them what your options are.
Advise them that the border is closed to you - they may agree to move the dates until next year to you.
Vegas is a place I would always go back to so you could rearrange flights for sometime in the future.

Next time book direct with the hotel - most have rates you can cancel until 72 hours before you arrive.

There seems to be some confusion as to whether you have a S.75 claim - you do not as long as the hotel remains open - it is there for your use - it is not their fault that you cannot get there.

Enjoy when you eventually get there it is a fabulous place to holiday.

deejaybee

Hi jonesMUFCforever

good point about booking direct.

To be honest in the short/medium term i no longer want to visit Vegas - it was to be for a specific special birthday...

If i have to go thru travel insurance to get my cash back  - so be it, thats what i paid the premium for.

deejaybee

SpreadableToast said:

deejaybee said:

There might be flights going, but the border is closed to UK citizens...

That's not actually true.  You're not ineligible by virtue of nationality (not being British anyway) you're ineligible based upon where you've been in the past 14 days.  So the OP could, in theory, fly to a country not on the prohibited countries list, wait 14 days, and THEN fly into the US.  But at the end of the day the hotel is open, that is all that matters.  Whether the OP can get to it or not is not Virgin's problem.

How do i get in without an ESTA ?

SpreadableToast

deejaybee said:

SpreadableToast said:

deejaybee said:

There might be flights going, but the border is closed to UK citizens...

That's not actually true.  You're not ineligible by virtue of nationality (not being British anyway) you're ineligible based upon where you've been in the past 14 days.  So the OP could, in theory, fly to a country not on the prohibited countries list, wait 14 days, and THEN fly into the US.  But at the end of the day the hotel is open, that is all that matters.  Whether the OP can get to it or not is not Virgin's problem.

How do i get in without an ESTA ?

What difference would that make?

Frankly, you shouldn't make a booking for the US unless you have an ESTA or a Visa so you should already have one  You could just have easily waited until the last minute to apply for an ESTA and have it declined and not be able to get in.

It's not even clear from the official ESTA page that they aren't issuing ESTAs for people from the UK.  The only mention seems to be about cancelling peoples ESTAs if they breach the Presidential Proclamation over travel.

And none of this is Virgin's problem either.

rosiesposies

No one books an esta as far in advance as they book travel. They are only valid for a short amount of time. And unless you have criminal convictions they are nearly always issued. But to the OP, it’s worth looking at credit/refund with VH or insurance. No point in looking at chargeback or s75 as will fail.