Virgin cancelled flight but didn't tell me

Jennyfish

Hi money savers, this is my first ever post but it's a doozy.

I booked flights to NZ for my honeymoon back in November for the low low price of a grand each. However when I checked back in December to book my seats, the connecting flight was missing.

After spending a couple of hours on the phone, I learned that the 2nd connecting flight had been refused due to lack of availability but no one had called to let me know!!

They were going to dump me and my husband in San Francisco and leave us there!

We had to arrange a refund and then rebook the flights but this time it was for £2,250 each.

That's an extra 2.5k we've just had to magic up.

I've been going back and forth with the VA customer team since then and they're refusing to do anything about it since they gave a refund and we chose to rebook.

Do I have any rights with this?

They knew about the cancelled flight the day after I booked the tickets but I didn't find out until 3 weeks later when I investigated. 

Any help would be appreciated. 

visidigi

How long before the flight did you take the refund?

goater78

I don’t think you’ve got any recourse as you’ve taken the refund. You would have been better negotiating changing your existing booking as opposed to cancelling and rebooking. 

Jennyfish

I took the refund about 3 weeks before the flight.
But on the phone with them we tried to get them to rebook us on a flight but they said there weren't any available with them for the next month.
No offers of an upgrade or points.

We ended up having to rebook through air new zealands portal. So we still ended up on a virgin flight but through a 3rd party carrier agreement.

They even admitted in an email to me that there was a note on my file to call us about the cancellation but they never did it.

the_lunatic_is_in_my_head

OP my understanding is if there is a serious breach of the contract the innocent party is entitled to be put in the position they would have been had the contract been fulfilled. 

To refuse to perform the contract would be a serious breach but you would have to look at any termination clauses should they exist and if they do determine whether they are fair. 

Virgin probably have clauses giving them, the right of termination due to unforeseen events or events outside of their control but where they may fail is to balance the terms and afford you the same under the contract. 

I doubt you will get many responses here based on sound understanding of the law (mine included), given the amount I would recommend seeking actual legal advice to determine whether the terms are fair and what you may possibly be able to claim, it may be loss of a bargain, it may be damages, if anything at all. 

Some places offer a free half hour and beyond that you'd have to decide whether it's worth paying any money to chase this. 

You could send them a letter before action as a bluff but of course the better you display your knowledge in that letter the better the chances of getting an offer from Virgin which goes back to seeking proper advice.  

jon81uk

Virgin Atlantic don't fly to New Zealand? Do you mean Virgin Atlantic or Virgin Australia when you say VA?
Looking at booking to Auckland with Virgin Atlantic it would be a Virgin Atlantic flight to San Francisco and then a Air New Zealand flight to Auckland. Not sure how you are getting a "Virgin" flight from San Francisco to New Zealand when Virgin Atlantic don't operate that route.

Wonka_2

Not sure you've answered above but it's an important point - did you book directly with Virgin on a single booking or was there a 3rd party involved in the booking ?

Seems very strange if just Virgin that a) you weren't advised and b) you weren't offered a replacement flight

eskbanker

jon81uk said:

Virgin Atlantic don't fly to New Zealand? Do you mean Virgin Atlantic or Virgin Australia when you say VA?
Looking at booking to Auckland with Virgin Atlantic it would be a Virgin Atlantic flight to San Francisco and then a Air New Zealand flight to Auckland. Not sure how you are getting a "Virgin" flight from San Francisco to New Zealand when Virgin Atlantic don't operate that route.

https://flywith.virginatlantic.com/za/en/partner-airlines/air-new-zealand.html

We codeshare on several Air New Zealand routes including flights between San Francisco and Auckland...

born_again

Just who were the flights booked with?