This is the main V-Flyer Forum for general discussion of everything related to flying with Virgin-branded travel companies.
#940116 by Treelo
08 Dec 2017, 16:39
My PE flight in May to Boston from Manchester has been changed from an Airbus 300 to a 200, which doesn't have PE. I am therefore being dumped into Y. This is happening, according to an e-mail from VS, because of the need to look at problems with the engines used on the Dreamliner.
I was never scheduled to fly on a Dreamliner. ?!?
Among a couple of other choices (none of which fit my travel plans) I could choose to fly Premium Economy to the same destination on the same date from a different airport (such as London Heathrow or Gatwick). From this - and this is only my conspiracy theory you understand - it looks like the 333 I originally booked is going to be used to ferry pax from London to Boston, and us folk oop North can just like it or lump it. Oh, good ole VS are offering EU compensation but I would rather have the PE flight thank you.
Now to tell the present Mrs Treelo that we aren't flying PE. :-(
#940117 by pjh
08 Dec 2017, 17:17
I think that's pretty much the conclusion. The route and dates are in this thread. Looks like you have been particularly unlucky as the MAN-BOS swap is only for a week or so.
#940119 by gumshoe
08 Dec 2017, 18:46
Treelo, as pjh says I’m afraid you’ve just been very unlucky. It’s well documented that VS has huge issues with aircraft availability as a result of the Dreamliner engine problems, and has decided to lease some ex-Air Berlin A330-200s - which don’t have PE - to make up the shortfall, rather than just cancel flights (as BA is doing) or transfer them to Delta (as VS has been doing).

As virginboy747 says, VS has opted to use these leased planes on the MAN routes where, in relative terms, it’ll have less of a commercial and operational impact.

None of which will be much consolation to you but your options are essentially:

(a) accept the downgrade to Y (and take the 75% refund of the fare for that leg you’re entitled to under EC261/2004)

(b) change to an LHR flight, which does still have PE

or (c) cancel for a full refund.
#940125 by Treelo
09 Dec 2017, 14:55
Situation now resolved!
As I anticipated, the present Mrs Treelo was not inclined to sit in Y for a transatlantic flight, so a call to very helpful and cheery young lady at VS Customer Services saw us rebooked into PE on the VS11. Hopefully there will be some sort of stability in the engine situation by then and the VS11 will depart as scheduled!!! So a quick flight from MAN to LHR (with BA) now booked and we're hot to trot.
Now if only there was a Virgin flight from MAN to LHR............. :-P
#940241 by Nicksp
17 Dec 2017, 11:01
It looks like we have also been impacted by these changes. About 3 months ago we booked 4 G's (Reward flights) from manchester to Alanta flying out July returning August. Yesterday we received an email to say our inbound flight had been cancelled and we had been rebooked on to the next flight 24 hours later. On checking we also saw our outbound flight is on the Air Berlin flight.

What rights do we have here? We need to hold to the original return date but not sure if it being a reward ticket has any effect? Also my wife and I really don't want to fly out on the Air Berlin planes as we have a young family and the seats makes it very difficult to look after them on outbound flight.

Im going to ring virgin but welcome any thoughts. In an ideal world Virgin would allow us to change the flights to either miami or orlando as we are heading to florida for a month. We really want to virgin experience as it took a long time to get enough miles to do it!

Nick
#940246 by tontybear
17 Dec 2017, 15:20
Nick - I think this thread is more apt for your situation than this one - viewtopic.php?f=4&t=295959

What I would do is have a quick look at what alternatives may be available for you and that are acceptable and then phone VS and put those options to them. The sooner you do that the sooner you'll get sorted - remember there will be other passengers wanting to change as well.

I'm sure I read in the thread I linked to that VS are being flexible in booking onto LHR planes but you will be responsible for getting yourself to and from LHR
#940247 by sickbag
17 Dec 2017, 16:08
We specifically booked the later departure from lhr to Mia on 14/12 to experience the Dreamliner only for it to be swapped out the a very noisy a330 3 days before departure :-(

So even London pax can get affected by these changes.

Having chosen not to fly Virgin for a number of years due to declining in flight service levels due to miserable cabin crew, we were delighted that all cabin crew on our flight were excellent. Even reminded me of what Virgin used to be like in the 80’s/ early 90’s!

The only reason we booked Virgin this Xmas was that the seats were over £200 cheaper each than the other carriers. Fingers crossed we get the same crew on the flight home.
Virgin Atlantic

Who is online

Users browsing this forum: No registered users and 13 guests

Itinerary Calendar