VS043- Cancelled 30/11/14

Hi,

A friend was booked on the VS043 on 30/11/14 & yesterday received an e-mail to say the flight had been cancelled.
It looks like it's only on this date.....Virgin have offered alternative but all include having a shorter trip or paying more money.
Can anyone shed any light on this or offer any advice about how to play this with them?
Thanks all

[Nottingham Nick]

Not sure what you mean by 'how to play this with them' ?

If you are looking for some sort of compensation, I wouldn't hold your breath, given that over five months notice has been given of the cancellation. The best to hope for is a waiving of any additional fees on the alternatives that cost more money.

If a series of alternatives have been offered, then go for the one that is least unpalatable. This situation is never nice, but is fairly common, especially at quiet times of the year.

If your friend is as annoyed as I probably would be, and has no frequent flier allegiance to VS, then the step that would probably give them most satisfaction is to cancel and go with an alternative carrier. (if a suitable one is available.)

Nick

Hot damn that's the day before we go on that flight...

I was booked on that flight and have (fortunately) been able to move forward to 1st December, at a cost.
VS appear to have cancelled a few flights to Las vegas in November/December.
Had I not booked with Virgin Holidays, I would have asked to be put onto the BA flight departing from Heathrow.
VS are not doing themselves any favours. This is one of their most popular routes.

Hi Again,
VH have extended the stay by a day at the beginning of the trip i.e flying on Sat not Sun & also have done it FOC & thrown in buffet breakfast passes!
Might be worth a call back Silver Surfer....
We weren’t really looking for compensation, just a bit miffed as it's all part a militarily planned birthday celebration weekend..we just wondered if anyone else had had this info & how it worked out for them.

I was booked on that flight and have (fortunately) been able to move forward to 1st December, at a cost.
VS appear to have cancelled a few flights to Las vegas in November/December.
Had I not booked with Virgin Holidays, I would have asked to be put onto the BA flight departing from Heathrow.
VS are not doing themselves any favours. This is one of their most popular routes.

What do you mean 'at a cost'? I'd have thought VH would have been obliged to move you to the next available flight without trying to impose extra costs (based on fare difference maybe)? If that's in their T&Cs then it sounds pretty dodgy to me, although maybe it's an industry practice that I've just never been exposed to before.

Do you not get any greater protection by virtue of it being a 'package' as opposed to a straight flight booking?

I was offered 3 options, one being a full refund, but I decided to go ahead with the trip and stay an extra night at Caesars Palace.
They also said I could bring the trip forward a day, and go for the same duration, at no cost.

With a VH booking the options I would expect would be:
(i) go a day early and stay an extra night at no additional cost
(ii) go a day earlier or a day later and stay the same duration at no extra cost
(iii) go a day later and stay for a day less with some form of refund/compensation