Virgin flight to America

bradders1983

happyandcontented said:

macman said:

happyandcontented said:

If the flight still operates but the FCO advice still stands then are we not entitled to a refund?

Our insurance would be void and we would be going against gov advice.

No, you are not. FCO advice is just that-advisory. Insurance is not a legal requirement to travel. If the flight operates, you are free to travel if you wish to.

It is non-essential travel though. Who would go to the US without insurance?
Why would Virgin still fly under those circumstances?

Because not just British people fly on Virgin Atlantic flights?

happyandcontented

bradders1983 said:

happyandcontented said:

macman said:

happyandcontented said:

If the flight still operates but the FCO advice still stands then are we not entitled to a refund?

Our insurance would be void and we would be going against gov advice.

No, you are not. FCO advice is just that-advisory. Insurance is not a legal requirement to travel. If the flight operates, you are free to travel if you wish to.

It is non-essential travel though. Who would go to the US without insurance?
Why would Virgin still fly under those circumstances?

Because not just British people fly on Virgin Atlantic flights?

Is anyone allowed into the US atm though? Apart from US citizens I suppose?
https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/travelers/from-other-countries.html
People from the uk are not allowed into the US so if that is still the case in October surely we should be able to have a refund?

bradders1983

happyandcontented said:

bradders1983 said:

happyandcontented said:

macman said:

happyandcontented said:

If the flight still operates but the FCO advice still stands then are we not entitled to a refund?

Our insurance would be void and we would be going against gov advice.

No, you are not. FCO advice is just that-advisory. Insurance is not a legal requirement to travel. If the flight operates, you are free to travel if you wish to.

It is non-essential travel though. Who would go to the US without insurance?
Why would Virgin still fly under those circumstances?

Because not just British people fly on Virgin Atlantic flights?

Is anyone allowed into the US atm though? Apart from US citizens I suppose?
https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/travelers/from-other-countries.html
People from the uk are not allowed into the US so if that is still the case in October surely we should be able to have a refund?

Entry requirements are sadly the customers problem, if the flight goes as scheduled and you are not on it then they are under no compulsion to refund you, airlines do generally state this in their terms and I suspect VA are no different. You should be speaking to your travel insurer.

happyandcontented

I accept what you say might be correct, but it seems unfair given that we would be a plane full of people flying from the UK who would not be allowed in.

It is not that we would have to quarantine, they simply wouldn't allow us entry.

Under those circumstances, why would Virgin knowingly fly from the UK?

Westin

happyandcontented said:

I accept what you say might be correct, but it seems unfair given that we would be a plane full of people flying from the UK who would not be allowed in.

It is not that we would have to quarantine, they simply wouldn't allow us entry.

Under those circumstances, why would Virgin knowingly fly from the UK?

The answer has been provided.

bradders1983

happyandcontented said:

I accept what you say might be correct, but it seems unfair given that we would be a plane full of people flying from the UK who would not be allowed in.

It is not that we would have to quarantine, they simply wouldn't allow us entry.

Under those circumstances, why would Virgin knowingly fly from the UK?

You wouldnt get anywhere near the plane to get turned back anyway, but the fact remains it will say in their terms that the entry requirements for countries are not their problem and they dont refund on this basis. You may get a goodwill gesture of a transfer but that's about it.

I suppose if the flight is just going to be full of Brits it may not fly and will get cancelled but bear in mind your flight is just one sector, it may be the plane coming back after you get off it will have 200 Yanks and 100 returning Brits on it and therefore that may make it commercially viable running an empty leg to the US.

macman

happyandcontented said:

macman said:

happyandcontented said:

If the flight still operates but the FCO advice still stands then are we not entitled to a refund?

Our insurance would be void and we would be going against gov advice.

No, you are not. FCO advice is just that-advisory. Insurance is not a legal requirement to travel. If the flight operates, you are free to travel if you wish to.

It is non-essential travel though. Who would go to the US without insurance?
Why would Virgin still fly under those circumstances?

All leisure travel is non-essential. Of course no one should go to the US without insurance (though no doubt plenty still do), but that is not the point. VA will operate or cancel flights based on their own commercial criteria: they may have enough US customers returning home to make it worthwhile, enough business passengers paying premium prices, they may have other routes operating out from LA/NYC that require a plane and crew to be in that location on that day...it's entirely up to them. 
The point is that if the flight operates and you choose not to board it, then there is no automatic right to a refund. The flights may well be cancelled, but you probably won't know about that until after mid-October.

mattyprice4004

happyandcontented said:

I accept what you say might be correct, but it seems unfair given that we would be a plane full of people flying from the UK who would not be allowed in.

It is not that we would have to quarantine, they simply wouldn't allow us entry.

Under those circumstances, why would Virgin knowingly fly from the UK?

Because a certain subset of travellers are still allowed - US citizens, their spouses, those in certain jobs etc.
The flights will probably be 80% empty, but if they operate you're not entitled to a refund as the flight is still running. 

The restrictions on either end aren't Virgin's concern - they're still providing a service to those who can take it, and they don't need to offer anything; a voucher is more than they need to do, so I'd take it with grace. 

icklesurfer

Thank you all. I've requested vouchers and so hopefully they'll agree to that. 

br04

Having read this post - I have decided to request vouchers for my flight to NYC in October. Has anyone had any problems getting access to the vouchers?