Janice Dittman expected a full refund when she canceled her Virgin Atlantic flight from San Francisco to London. Instead, the carrier credited her for the taxes and offered no apologies for pocketing the rest of her money. Read more “Am I not entitled to a ticket credit, Virgin Atlantic?”
Tag: virgin atlantic
I fainted at the airport, and then I lost my vacation
When Beth Langston faints at the airport and is taken to the hospital, her nonrefundable trip to London is the first casualty. Is her refund DOA? Read more “I fainted at the airport, and then I lost my vacation”
Are lax rules slowing down airline ticket refunds?
Kathleen and Eugene Bianucci paid $5,770 for a pair of round-trip tickets between San Francisco and Dublin this year on Virgin Atlantic Airways. A few days before their trip, Kathleen, a fitness instructor from San Bruno, Calif., broke her leg and had to be hospitalized for a week. Her doctor grounded her for six months, and when she told the airline about the accident, a representative promised her a full refund.
Read more “Are lax rules slowing down airline ticket refunds?”
Why is Virgin dragging its feet on my ticket refund?
Question: I am having a problem with Virgin Atlantic Airways over a refund for two tickets I purchased last year. My husband and I planned to travel to England in August, but he had a serious stroke and his doctor advised him not to travel for at least six months.
Read more “Why is Virgin dragging its feet on my ticket refund?”
Ridiculous or not? Airlines fall in love with fuel surcharges all over again
When Sylvia Dawson tried to book airline tickets from New York to London for a group traveling next month, she was taken aback by the fare.
“We were told by Virgin Atlantic that there would be a fuel surcharge of $98 per person,” she says.
Dawson isn’t a novice who would be shocked by news like that. She’s a travel agent who specializes in tours to England, and books a lot of flights over the pond. The reservation was for a group of 20 clients headed to the U.K. on a tour.
“We know that the price of oil has skyrocketed,” she says. “But this group has been booked with Virgin since the beginning of the year. It seems that the increase is somewhat over the top.”
Worse, her group couldn’t pull out of the trip without incurring heavy penalties. The airline had them over a barrel, figuratively speaking. Either they would pay 14 percent more for the price of their tickets or lose their vacations.
Fuel surcharges are a peculiar thing. On domestic flights, the price of fuel must be included in the base fare quoted to passengers. But international flights aren’t regulated the same way, and an airline can quote a low base fare but then add a “fuel surcharge” later.
Is Virgin Atlantic out of line?
Read more “Ridiculous or not? Airlines fall in love with fuel surcharges all over again”
Strike update: Virgin Atlantic deploys larger aircraft to accommodate stranded air travelers
You knew this would happen.
Virgin Atlantic Airways just announced it would deploy larger aircraft on key routes over the 12 days of the planned British Airways cabin crew strike “in order to carry stranded passengers.”
Virgin Atlantic has identified a number of flights on routes such as New York (Newark), Boston, Washington and Delhi where it is feasible to operate the flights with larger aircraft. These selected flights will now be operated by an Airbus A340-600 rather than an A340-300, thereby providing 68 extra seats per flight. The extra seats will go on sale over the next 24 hours.
British Airways and Virgin Atlantic are bitter rivals, of course. Which makes the following quote from Virgin’s Richard Branson so — well, let me just play the clip for you:
It is a nightmare for passengers, and you have to feel for them at Christmas time. Any strike would obviously be extremely damaging to everybody – the company, employees and most importantly the traveling public.
But a good PR opportunity for Virgin Atlantic. Why else would you issue a news release on this? (Actually, let me rephrase: What took you so long?)
Meanwhile, British Airways has bigger fish to fry. It’s going after its own employees.
Read more “Strike update: Virgin Atlantic deploys larger aircraft to accommodate stranded air travelers”