NetFlights.com - Virgin - USA, hmmmmmmmmmm

StuieUK34

Hey all,

Like any situation at present, i gotta wait to see how this plays out, but curious if anyone else in a similar position......

I Booked a flight for x3 peeps back in Jan....  It was booked with Netflights.com  , for seats on a Virgin Atlantic plane, from London - San Francisco...........   Return leg being:  Los Angeles to London....
As we all know, no Tourists are allowed into the US.
Some flights have resumed to key locations in the US, but i guess this serves flyers who have dual passports, or friends in very high places...

I can see on my Virgin account that the Outbound flight is cancelled, but the return is still showing...
On my Netflights account, it still shows same data from Jan (flight in Sep: LHR - SFO  ,  Oct= LAX - LHR )..

As we cannot get into the US anyway, and the outbound leg is cancelled, am guessing the whole ticket should be cancelled, and then i wait 1yr to get a refund ?
Part that worries me,  what if they say as the flight is still happening, and irrelivant whether tourists can get into the US, where does that leave us, the tourist customer ?
(In 1 hand,  i would have said my contract is with netflights, so give me a refund, etc...  But netflights state they are a booking agent and not a broker/operator, and that they wait for refunds from the airline to pass to the customer if applicable).........
Interesting times ahead!

mattyprice4004

If the flight still operates, the airline won't refund - Virgin offer vouchers in this situation. 
The US restrictions aren't their doing, so they're not responsible for refunding customers who don't meet the US entry requirements - this will probably be an insurance claim. 

Unfortunately Netflights will say they've given you a ticket and that's all they were paid to do - and Section 75 won't work for the same reason.
One thing this crisis has really brought to the forefront of my mind is how useless these cheap online travels agents are, and how it's better to spend a little extra and book with the airline direct for better customer service.

Westin

“As we cannot get into the US anyway, and the outbound leg is cancelled, am guessing the whole ticket should be cancelled, and then i wait 1yr to get a refund ?”

As the outbound flight has been cancelled you should be able to claim a refund for the flights (outbound and inbound) if you so wish. Virgin were very poor at paying refunds quoting up to 120 days but now seem to be clearing back log. You certainly won’t wait one year.  Contact Netflights for next steps.

“Part that worries me,  what if they say as the flight is still happening, and irrelivant whether tourists can get into the US, where does that leave us, the tourist customer ?”

If this had been the case and VS operated the flight but you could not travel on it because of entry or visa requirements then you would need to potentially claim from travel insurance.  VS are however also offering options to move flights or obtain a credit on flights.


(“In 1 hand,  i would have said my contract is with netflights, so give me a refund, etc...  But netflights state they are a booking agent and not a broker/operator, and that they wait for refunds from the airline to pass to the customer if applicable).........”

Correct. Your dealings must be via Netflights. Netflights for obvious reasons will typically wait for the refund from the airline before passing this to you.

Alan_Bowen

Netflights is not, as suggested above, some cheap online agency. They are part of the Emirates Group and employ 450 staff at their offices in Leyland and are frequently praised on this website. There are cheap on line agencies who employ virtually no staff and whose names adorn these pages day after day but Netflights has always seemed to be head and shoulders above them

StuieUK34

agree with alan, netflights are good guys, used them for years...
My post was on the curiosity side of the what if's........
If Netflights said u can postpone the flight (assuming 1yr from now all is good), i would happily postpone the flight till then (we paid £375 inc bags which is an awesome price i believe!).   Whenever i book airmile flights, i end up paying £300 in tax anyway, so this works out to be good!

StuieUK34

Well......
According to Netflights when i log in, the flights we booked in Jan to San Fran (rtn from LAX) going next Friday, are still going ahead according to the detail i see when i log in..
Yet A:   We cant get into the US,
and B:   Virgin cancelled the SanFran flight anyway.......

Anyone know if 3rd party firms are cancelling last minute with consumers ?  or for those who have had flights cancelled in the past, were you given plenty of notice ?