Huge Cost of Flight Change

I booked my flight to St.Lucia with Virgin Atlantic in August. It seems I got a "special" on the flight out Premium Economy and back Upper Class. Cost was £1,749.

I was nervous that if I waited until closer to my departure date I may not get the dates I wanted.

Now of course Hurricane Tomas has devastated the island and the main road from Hewanorra airport is pretty dangerous. In addition there is a water emergency according to the FCO site.My son has advised me to postpone my departure as where he lives in the north of the island water is very scarce.

I see on the website that those travelling on November12th can cancel or rebook without penalty, but because my flight is on the 14th November, if I postpone my flight it will cost me £515 extra for the administrative reasons they quote.

Today I could have booked the same ticket for less than £1,300.

I find the attitude of Virgin upsetting. They have rules and they are sticking to them no matter what. I do not mind paying a small extra fee....but £500???

I have been told to wait until Friday to see if the situation changes. I cannot see those on Virgin Holidays wanting to fly out as many of the hotels have either closed or are very short of water.

Sorry that my first post is a moan, but as a frequent flyer I do think they could be kinder.

Anniel34

Hello and welcome.

It must have been awful for your son and his family so I hope they are all ok and didn't suffer too much damage.

Although I appreciate it's hard for you too understand this but I do think VS are being reasonable.

VS have allowed a group of people travelling on certain dates to make changes for free. This is due to the circumstances at the time - circumstances that won't go on for ever - and obviously on the advice of the Government of St Lucia about the safety of travel to the area.

As you don't fall into that category your change is voluntary and so VS can and will charge fees for making changes (it's part of the 'special' deal you got).

Of course VS could make a further assessement and extend the free change policy dates but that would depend on what the Government of St Lucia does. The FCO is not advising against travel - they will take advice of FCO staff in St Lucia. Your insurance company will look at what St Lucia and FCO says so I don't think they are an option.

The fact you could have got the same fare today for the same flights for £450 less than you paid has no bearing either. This has happened to a lot of us on here where we book a fare we are happy with then it turns out a sale started a week later. Not much comfort I know but the reality of air travel.

I checked the BA website and they state that those (now) due to fly up until the 14th can rebook. BUT BA updated their infomation this morning and the info from VS was from last night so it is possible thay could do the same.

At the moment you can really only 'sit tight' and see what VS will do regarding to its change policy during these difficult circumstances.

Welcome to V-Flyer!

I am sorry that your first post is one that is upsetting you, what I would say is that a lot can happen in a week (and 14th is more or less a week away...) amd the situation may change.

Foreign Office advice
Still current at: 09 November 2010
Updated: 06 November 2010

However, visitors are advised that large parts of the island, including many hotels, are without mains water, and that a state of disaster is in force which is likely to last until 14 November.


However I would do some PRINT SCREENS of the flights that are now being offered, I don't hold out much hope of Virgin reducing your price, but it may strenghen your 'moral' argument.

Virgin charging £515 to change tickets which are on sale at £1300 does leave a sour taste, but that is aviation in general and it's very unfortunate that you currently fall foul of the "rules". If it's any consolation, I see fares in PE, back UC in the range of £3200...

That said, and without wanting to sound patronising, remember that if all fails, you will get to see your family, in the relative luxury of PE and Upper Class, and get somre decent mileage and Tier Points.

[Nottingham Nick]

Welcome to V-Flyer, I agree it is difficult situation, but I am afraid I would echo the sentiments of Sealink and tonty.

I also think the VH passengers are in a different situation to flight only passengers. If you have booked a ticket from A to B, and that flight is going to take off and land as planned, then I can understand the airline sticking by the rules. If they fly you from A to B, they have fulfilled their obligations. If however, the FCO advice changes, then I am sure VS will react accordingly.

If on the other hand, you have booked a package holiday with the flight only being a component of that trip, then I would expect the holiday company to be more flexible and accommodating. It is doubtful that many VH customers would insist of flying to St Lucia, and would accept alternative hotels elsewhere in the Caribbean.

I have read that the devastation caused by Tomas in St Lucia has already become the forgotten catastrophe by the British media, and I am struggling to understand why this may be.

By all accounts, the damage caused is pretty horrific, but there appear have been very few news reports, and I can't say I have sen any mass appeals for aid. ?|

I hope it goes okay for you. If the FCO advice changes, then I am sure VS will react accordingly.


Nick

If you talk to VS, do mention that BA are allowing rebooking "up to and including the 14th".
VS do not like to be outdone.
It would seem likely that they will only decide so many days in advance - so there must be a good chance it will be updated if conditions do not improve.

The "I have been told to wait until Friday to see if the situation changes" seems like good knowledgeable advice

thank you all for your replies. It was very useful to see that BA are including Sunday 14th in the dates when passengers can rebook their flights at no extra cost.

I have left a message for the supervisor to whom I was speaking this am and have also emailed Customer Relations to quote the piece on the BA website.

Look, I do not mind paying a fee for the rebooking, but I still think £515.00 is an outrageous amount to charge a passenger who has already shelled out £1749.00 for a ticket. I am a retired woman of 76 and I cannot travel to St. Lucia until the water supply is sorted out and the main road is passable.

I am flying out to Australia next April and was intending to fly Virgin. Now I am not so sure.

I do appreciate all your comments.

Anniel34

The reason for the addtional £515 is because you more then likely have restricted tickets (aka your 'special') and to change your travel dates (no matter the circumstances) will have a cost as you need a ticket in the right 'bucket' to be able to change.

Normally this does not matter to most people (as they don't want / need to travell) but it does to you now. There may also be a fare difference between your current dates and the dates you wanted to change too. It could be that VS have already excluded any change fees but will apply the different fares for different dates and they have just not explained it very well.

At present it is you that (for understandable reasons) wants to change your travel plans so VS are perfectly within their rights to charge for that. BA would charge for a passenger instigated change as would every other airline.

At the moment all you can hope for is that VS reviews its policy and includes the 14th in the 'free' change period. But even then (based on the current policy) you still have to travel within 30 days. I can't see VS extending that period especially as St Lucia have listed travel restrictions into the country.

Please don't think we or VS are unsympathetic because we and they are. They will be dealing with 100's of passengers at the moment and are obviously taking a staged process to be able to manage the current circumstances

[mitchja]

Latest update from VS:

If you are due to travel to St Lucia on the 12th or 14th of November and no longer wish to travel, you may rebook to St Lucia or to another Caribbean destination, subject to availability in the same cabin free of charge within 30 days of your original departure date.

Please note that if you wish to travel outside of 30 days of your original departure, the original ticket class must be available and any additional fare cost and seasonal supplements will be charged. Travel must completed be within ticket validity or within 3 months of your original flight.

(with corrected typo, looks like VS are inventing new months - Novemberember )

(Edit - VS have now spotted the typo and corrected it)

Looks like you should now be able to change your flight FOC as long as it's within 30 days of your original travel date and in the same cabin.

Does no one proof read this stuff before it's uploaded?

No wonder people get confused and angry if VS can't even get the date(s) right !

But it does look like this is what the OP was after so we should have a happy lady.

[mitchja]

VS have now corrected the typo!!

[Darren Wheeler]

This has now been extended up to and including November 21st.

Wonder how Annie got on?