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

SpreadableToast

rosiesposies said:

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. 

Really?

ESTAs are valid for two years.  Do you routinely book your holidays more than two years in advance?  I don't and I guess most people don't either.

And sure, they may almost always be issued, but what if they aren't?  For the sake of $14 and for a travel document valid for 2 years, you'd get the ESTA first, then book the travel.

But it's a moot point because all issued ESTAs are valid and there is no indication that they're not being issued for nationals of countries on "the list" (which is hideously outdated now anyway almost all of them have lower infection rates than the US.)

And as has been said repeatedly, how you get there (or if you can even get there) is not Virgin's problem

deejaybee

Once again, thanks folks for ALL the feedback.

Its almost a month till travel date, so i will hopefully get some sort of communication from Virgin pretty soon...

bigbean

deejaybee said:

Once again, thanks folks for ALL the feedback.

Its almost a month till travel date, so i will hopefully get some sort of communication from Virgin pretty soon...

Have you tried contacting them on WhatsApp +44 20 3322 3289. We got our holiday in November all sorted this week and we asked them to call us, which they did. Good luck!

mattyprice4004

MalMonroe said:

If you have booked a UK to USA flight which has been cancelled, then how can you actually get to Las Vegas? Is what you should say. The fact that hotel Paris is open for US residents is nothing to do with you. If you live in the US it's obviously going to be much easier for you to get there. But you don't.

You should be able to make a claim under Section 75 on your credit card for the £1200 anyway.
Doesn't the Stay Sure insurance you paid for cover you for this though? Not being able to get there because of travel disruption seems to fit in your case.

That’s not how it works - the hotel is providing the service but the OP just can’t get there. 

Book a concert, then don’t turn up and tell them your car broke down and ask for a refund - see how far you get.
After all, it’s not your fault you couldn’t get there - so you should be entitled to a refund, right? Wrong.

The business is open, and it’s not their fault the OP can’t get there - so they should not be out of pocket. 

mattyprice4004

To the OP - I got a non-cancellable room cancelled free of charge in NYC for September - but I had to turn up the charm to 11 and go at it from the 'I know you don’t have to, but pretty please’ angle. 

It worked, and as a result of the excellent customer service we’ll be staying in the same hotel when we reschedule. 

deejaybee

Have Whatsapped Virgin, though they are prioritising people due to travel in next 21 days, which i am outside of at present.

phillw

deejaybee said:

I have a Hotel-only booking in Las Vegas for Sept 11 - 18 with Virgin Holidays - My flights are already cancelled ( American Airlines - have started refund process )

How did you pay for the flights? If it was by credit card then you might have a section 75 claim against them as you can't use the hotel without the flights. Although you may just want to phone your travel insurance company and ask them.

Westin

phillw said:

deejaybee said:

I have a Hotel-only booking in Las Vegas for Sept 11 - 18 with Virgin Holidays - My flights are already cancelled ( American Airlines - have started refund process )

How did you pay for the flights? If it was by credit card then you might have a section 75 claim against them as you can't use the hotel without the flights. Although you may just want to phone your travel insurance company and ask them.

How so?

This is not a package holiday. American Airlines are already refunding against the cancelled flights so no S75 claim valid. The hotel was booked as a separate transaction, not linked or conditional of a flight or a method to travel to Las Vegas so again not S75 claim valid against Virgin Holidays.

I’m not quite sure why some seem to think that S75 is a massive free ‘I have chanced my mind’ or ‘Who can I blame’ free insurance policy.  Sometimes the stars are just not aligned and you may lose money and have no one to blame. That’s life.

To the OP, I would politely speak to VH to see if they will allow a free cancellation of the hotel. Be nice as I don’t think they need to refund if this is a non-refundable hotel only booking, but they may allow this if a request is made.  I think a credit or date deferral is more likely.

Ganga

I noticed that the person who originaly posted the question has not come back and answered wether the the hotel was a cancellable  booking or not 

deejaybee

Ganga said:

I noticed that the person who originaly posted the question has not come back and answered wether the the hotel was a cancellable  booking or not 

In fact i responded to that question on the 8th August @ 2.37 PM