Virgin flight - London/NY 3rd Dec 20

Lions_john

Hi all

Ive reviewed other threads and cant quite see the information I am looking for .....hopefully I am not duplicating!

Back in Jan 20 I booked upper class flights as a special treat for my wife's 40th directly using friends and family (a friend works for Virgin). The cost is £3k but, obviously that is very reasonable for what it is, and is for Dec 3rd out , Dec 7th back.

As I understand it the US still bans UK residents from entering (doesn't seem likely to change given growing covid cases in both countries), the UK has a leisure travel ban until the 2nd (assume for now it won't be extended) ....yet the flights continue to go, presumably with very few people on them. 

I have managed to get through to the poor souls working in the call centre via whatsapp and they seem to be saying I have to either roll the dates or accept a 50% refund. 

My question really boils down to peoples views on whether I should take the 50% hit (painful but wont bankrupt me fortunately) or stick tight and hope I can claim on the annual insurance i have had consitently during this period.....assuming the US and/or UK travel ban still prevent us travelling. 

I understand that airlines are stuggling to stay in business and my situation isnt as bad as some....but my insurance company wont talk to me until a week before travel due to high call volume. It seemed to me that an option would be for me to cancel the flight and claim the 50% back from the insurance co...but I guess cancelling would mean I am expressing 'disinclination to travel'?

Anyway, youur views would be appreciated so I can feel confident in the decisions I make over the next few weeks. 

Many thanks

Caz3121

If you are likely to be want to travel with Virgin before the end of 2022, I would consider the voucher/credit. Although I would hold off until nearer the time to request it in case one/both of the flights are cancelled between now and then, entitling you to a full refund.
Likewise the refund, I am guessing the 50% offered is based on the fare rules of the ticket purchased. Again I would hold off in case of cancellation (should make no difference to the amount refundable if you cancel today or on the 2nd December) This would give you time to speak to your travel insurance to discuss the "what ifs"
Virgins policy - https://flywith.virginatlantic.com/gb/en/news/coronavirus/no-change-fees-policy.html

bagand96

It would appear that the T&Cs of your ticket allow a refund of the 50%, which isn't bad, many seats in that price range would be completely non-refundable.  I think you understand the situation correctly, you can't travel, so the options are:

1) Reschedule the dates with Virgin, or take an open ticket (they're offering that for most customers, I'm assuming it's an option for you, on a friends and family ticket?)

2) Wait and see if Virgin cancel the flight, giving you the right to a refund (as you say flights are going with cargo and a few pax, so it's probably unlikely on your route)

3) Choose to cancel your flight, take the 50% refund from Virgin, and then hope you can claim the remaining 50% from your travel insurance.

I can see it's frustrating with your insurance co, as you really would like to know if you're covered, but they won't speak to you yet.  All I can suggest is having a good read of your policy to see what you are covered for (are pandemics excluded?) as well as their website, which should have a C-19 FAQs. 

sheramber

Does your policy say anything about being covered for FCO advice against travel. If not, then if you cancel it will be 'disinclination to travel' and your insurance company are unlikely to cover you. 
If they do cover you they will say how many days in advance it applies- some are day before flight, some are 28 days , some are 30 days. 

silvercar

Go for the future travel. Eventually you will get there and if not it may be that the future flight is cancelled and you can then have a full refund.

mattyprice4004

I'd also take the future travel - if the flight goes ahead but you can't board due to Government rules you'd actually be entitled to nothing, so it's a very fair offer from Virgin.

sheramber

One of the party has a terminal illness. Hardly appropriate to recommend a flight 21 months away.

bagand96

sheramber said:

One of the party has a terminal illness. Hardly appropriate to recommend a flight 21 months away.

Have I missed something?

Lions_john

Thanks all. Appreciate the comments...I'm going to give it another week, try the insurance co then take the open credit if I need to. Agree...it is.pretty fair from virgin given how hard they are being hit....

By the way...there are no termnal illnesses in this party, that I am aware of at least!

bagand96

Lions_john said:

Thanks all. Appreciate the comments...I'm going to give it another week, try the insurance co then take the open credit if I need to. Agree...it is.pretty fair from virgin given how hard they are being hit....

By the way...there are no termnal illnesses in this party, that I am aware of at least!

I think maybe there was confusion between this thread and another where someone did have illness in their party.

Let us know how it goes whichever way you sort it!