Help with Schedule Change

Please could I have some advice. I have to plan my flight’s meticulously as I have a disabled child so I need to plan everything around his medical needs. Our flight home from Orlando is Orlando to Atlanta then Atlanta to Manchester. We planned an upper class flight with a two hour connection as this is the maximum my son can handle with his autism as he gets stressed in the airport and sometimes it’s a struggle just to get him on the plane. VA have now changed the schedule and pushed the Atlanta to Manchester on 2 hours 40 minutes which has made it almost impossible for us. I have called today and explained that but no joy and was on hold for 40 minutes while they tried to resolve but could not contact a supervisor to deal with it can anyone advise I don’t mind paying the difference in flight and the last time this happened they helped but there seems to be a reluctance this time around.

Whilst I sympathise with the OP due to their childs autism needs, a schedule change of just 40mins will be considered nothing by Virgin (& most other airlines for that matter).

AFAIK, for international itineraries anything up to a 6 hour schedule change is not considered "significant" by the airline (but it will be by the passenger). As a 40min change is way under the 6hr thresh-hold, good luck in getting anything out of Virgin.

I'he had 1hr+ changes on direct MAN-MCO-MAN flights in the past, last time being in June. They shifted both the departure and return times by over an hour each way.

It’s a 2 hours 40 minutes which change we originally had a connection time of 2 hours and 5 minutes it’s now jumped to 4 hours 45 minutes. I wouldn’t have been bothered if it was the initial flight of the trip as you just delay leaving home but this is basically dumping us in Atlanta for a long time given the circumstances sorry if I didn’t make myself clear.

[mitchja]

At the end of last year VS increased their cut-off for a what they consider to be a significant schedule change limit from what used to be a very generous 3Hrs to 5Hrs now, therefore, unfortunately any schedule change less than 5Hrs from your original arrival time is now considered a minor change meaning you have no significant rights to a reroute or refund.

From VS Trade:

What is changing?

We have updated what qualifies as a 'significant schedule change' from 3 hours or more to 5 hours or more, from the original departure time:


5 hours or more: Customers are eligible for rebooking or a refund under the updated Schedule Change Policy.

Less than 5 hours: Changes will follow the 'standard schedule change' guidance which can be found in our Schedule Change Policy. Refunds would not be permitted.

When did this change come into effect?

This update applies to schedule changes communicated on or after 28 December 2024.