Virgin Atlantic name change on ticket ..please help ...
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Ginger_Tango
Posts: 8 Forumite
I'm really hoping someone can help here because I'm completely stressing myself out!
In January this year, we booked 6x return flights with Virgin Atlantic for August 2016 year which involves 3 legs -
Manchester to New York
Orlando to Atlanta
Atlanta to Manchester
The tickets are for myself, my partner, our 2 teenage daughters and our nephew and his wife. This was to be a holiday of a lifetime, with a 2 week road trip from New York to Florida followed by 2 weeks in Orlando.
A few weeks after we made the booking our nephew and his wife found out they were (unexpectedly) expecting a baby, meaning she will be 7 months pregnant by the time we return at the end of August. The trip we have planned is in no way suitable for a pregnant lady in her third trimester. We will be doing a lot of travelling, activities, cities and of course theme parks - all in the heat of the summer.
However she is still within Virgin's allowable travel period for pregnancy. Not only this, since finding out they are expecting, our nephew has had to give up his job as a self employed joiner and go to work for a firm so that he has a guaranteed wage once the baby is born. There is no way his new employer will let him have a month off, just after he's started.
So this is where the dilemma starts..
I telephoned Virgin to explain the problem and ask if we can change the names on my nephew and his wife's tickets (hoping that we could take 2 other family members in their place) . I was not being unrealistic enough to think we could cancel their flights and get our money back.
Initially I was told yes, for a fee of £50 each I could change the names. I was so relieved! However, after looking at our booking in more detail, the representative informed me that although I had booked the flights through Virgin Atlantic, 2 legs of the flights are operated by Delta and name changes are not allowed where another airline is involved - despite the fact it was all booked through Virgin Atlantic on one booking. I have written to them and pleaded with them, and even written to Delta pleading with them to work with Virgin! All to no avail.
Virgin have suggested our nephew and his wife try and claim on their travel insurance but there is strictly speaking, no medical reason why they can't go so why would the insurance pay out?
Oh, and one last thing I should mention, as this was to be a holiday of a lifetime, we used our savings to upgrade us all to first class tickets so the value of the tickets is over £3,500!!!
We are frustrated, devastated and desparately hoping someone can come up with a miraculous loophole to help us out of this situation....
In January this year, we booked 6x return flights with Virgin Atlantic for August 2016 year which involves 3 legs -
Manchester to New York
Orlando to Atlanta
Atlanta to Manchester
The tickets are for myself, my partner, our 2 teenage daughters and our nephew and his wife. This was to be a holiday of a lifetime, with a 2 week road trip from New York to Florida followed by 2 weeks in Orlando.
A few weeks after we made the booking our nephew and his wife found out they were (unexpectedly) expecting a baby, meaning she will be 7 months pregnant by the time we return at the end of August. The trip we have planned is in no way suitable for a pregnant lady in her third trimester. We will be doing a lot of travelling, activities, cities and of course theme parks - all in the heat of the summer.
However she is still within Virgin's allowable travel period for pregnancy. Not only this, since finding out they are expecting, our nephew has had to give up his job as a self employed joiner and go to work for a firm so that he has a guaranteed wage once the baby is born. There is no way his new employer will let him have a month off, just after he's started.
So this is where the dilemma starts..
I telephoned Virgin to explain the problem and ask if we can change the names on my nephew and his wife's tickets (hoping that we could take 2 other family members in their place) . I was not being unrealistic enough to think we could cancel their flights and get our money back.
Initially I was told yes, for a fee of £50 each I could change the names. I was so relieved! However, after looking at our booking in more detail, the representative informed me that although I had booked the flights through Virgin Atlantic, 2 legs of the flights are operated by Delta and name changes are not allowed where another airline is involved - despite the fact it was all booked through Virgin Atlantic on one booking. I have written to them and pleaded with them, and even written to Delta pleading with them to work with Virgin! All to no avail.
Virgin have suggested our nephew and his wife try and claim on their travel insurance but there is strictly speaking, no medical reason why they can't go so why would the insurance pay out?
Oh, and one last thing I should mention, as this was to be a holiday of a lifetime, we used our savings to upgrade us all to first class tickets so the value of the tickets is over £3,500!!!
We are frustrated, devastated and desparately hoping someone can come up with a miraculous loophole to help us out of this situation....
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Comments
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I would the suggest the first thing your nephew should do it contact his insurance provider, at least then you'll know exactly where you stand rather than guessing whether or not they will pay out. If they do, problem sorted.
Just because his wife is within Virgin's allowable flying time, doesn't mean they won't pay out, after all she could be going in a sky-diving holiday whereby the latest date to fly would be completely irrelevant.Accept your past without regret, handle your present with confidence and face your future without fear0 -
Ginger_Tango wrote: »Oh, and one last thing I should mention, as this was to be a holiday of a lifetime, we used our savings to upgrade us all to first class tickets so the value of the tickets is over £3,500!!!
You say you have booked first class tickets although that seems far too cheap for 6 of you. That aside, what fare bucket are you in, that is the only way to find out what flexibility (if any) you have.0 -
Most doctors would agree that flying at seven months in inadvisable medically so the first step would be for the Mum to be to speak to her GP and explain the situation and see if he is prepared to prohibit travel on medical grounds. This shouldn't be a problem.I Would Rather Climb A Mountain Than Crawl Into A Hole
MSE Florida wedding .....no problem0 -
theonlywayisup wrote: »You say you have booked first class tickets although that seems far too cheap for 6 of you. That aside, what fare bucket are you in, that is the only way to find out what flexibility (if any) you have.
Virgin don't have first class so it'd be Upper class on the summer sale so that figure for two tickets sounds about right.I Would Rather Climb A Mountain Than Crawl Into A Hole
MSE Florida wedding .....no problem0 -
Does insurance cover pregnancy?travelover0
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littlereddevil wrote: »Does insurance cover pregnancy?
Provided the doctor is prepared to say air travel is inadvisable then most (not all) do. OP needs to read the exclusions on their policy.I Would Rather Climb A Mountain Than Crawl Into A Hole
MSE Florida wedding .....no problem0 -
Most doctors would agree that flying at seven months in inadvisable medically so the first step would be for the Mum to be to speak to her GP and explain the situation and see if he is prepared to prohibit travel on medical grounds. This shouldn't be a problem.
Duchy
Even if the GP said 'don't fly' , surely the insurance would say "congratulations on the impending birth, but why are you talking to us ?"
OP - Mrs Cat was 5 and a bit months pregnant when we did one of our road trips to America. We still had a wonderful time, just amended our plans accordingly. Obviously a lot of theme park things became off limits, but we still packed in an awful lot.
On the assumption that you're staying in a villa in Orlando and that you're prepared for the reality of hiring two cars for the flexibility it offers whilst in Orlando, don't dismiss the idea just yet.
However, your nephews empolyer may be a much harder sell. This may really kybosh your plans.0 -
Sorry yes I meant upper class ! These terms are all new to me because we haven't done such an upgrade before. I booked it in the sale in January as we couldn't have afforded it at full price. Not sure what you mean by "what bucket" are we in but we're in Z class - if that means anything to you??0
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Murphy_The_Cat wrote: »Duchy
Even if the GP said 'don't fly' , surely the insurance would say "congratulations on the impending birth, but why are you talking to us ?" .........
see post #7.The questions that get the best answers are the questions that give most detail....0 -
see post #7.
cheers mgdavid.
That was posted whilst I was typing my post.
a quick google of travel insurance if I become pregnant opened my eyes.
It looks like a )who you're insured with and
b) what the good Dr says.
The Direct Line policy is here #9.
I read that as being we'll cover you if you're not medicallly able to fly or your airline won't fly you. Rather than letting you cancel, just beacuse you're well on the way
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