V-Flyer

My Son's girlfriend is not longer coming with us on holiday (for reasons her Father only knows) however this ticket has been paid for and I know for a fact I can get no money back or change the name and anything else.

Should I tell Virgin she is no longer coming or shall I just leave it, hate the fact I will tell them and they then sell the seat on, getting double the money, the only problem I may have which you experienced people on here could tell me is, I want to upgrade my son (instead of him sitting on his own in PE to upper class on our return leg, but I cant do this without them asking questions about the girlfriend, can this be done at the aiport on our return home, if there are any spare seats left. Sorry to go on and before you ask no her or her father did not pay for the ticket I did!!!! never again

I suggest you say nothing about it but select her the seat next to your son for the outbound - that way he will likely end up having an empty seat next to him. (you do not have to tell them anything - she will be classed as a no show).

For the return you can just ask them to upgrade your some and not his travelling companion. No need to tell them she will not be there anyway. You have paid for her seat so I don't see why you have to tell them you ill use it or not.

Thank you for that JCBR, I will do just that, many thanks

You may not automatically end up with an empty seat though as if the flight is overbooked then the seat will be used.

you will get the tax back if you cancel which is better than nowt.
you could try calling VS and asking ...if you dont ask you dont get. you might get some credit,maybe some miles maybe nothing -but you wont be any worse off and as Tinks says the empty seat plan may well backfire because if she doesnt check in then her seat wont be kept.

throw yourself on VS' mercy see what happens -IMO of course

I have tried calling Virgin and as you say got "nowt", thought as they felt sorry for me they might have upgraded my son for the return leg to UC to join us, but nothing, I will think about it re the tax but that will be only £150 if I am lucky, or might send a email and see if I get any further with that. Thanks anyway peoples, if only you could change the name I would have a queue a mile long with friends wanting the ticket lol

Surely you'll want the £150 back? I don't know anyone who would turn down £150!

Did'nt say I didnt want it back, but if it was guaranteed (which its not) that no one would sit in that seat I wouldnt cancel at all, would not give Virgin the opportunity to resell the seat and make double the amount, which they will

I would 100% get the tax back, better to have £150 in your pocket then Virgins.

I also agree with Tink, there is a good chance you won't end up with an empty seat next to you. 13 hours before the flight, if you haven't done OLCI then VS will remove any pre-allocated seating requests anyway, plus they are always moving pax at the airport to get better seating arrangements, so there is a good possibility that you won't get an empty seat.

If she doesn't check in (i.e. turn up at the airport on the day), the seat is available to someone else, so there may very well be someone sitting there.

Airlines routinely sell more seats than the capacity of their aircraft for scenarios such as this.

Why don't you use the £150 (if you get it back) towards an upgrade for your son?

you can still get the tax back in the event of a no-show.

if she doesnt show up for the outward flight, the return flight would automatically be cancelled anyway

What about if you check her in online next to your son. Better chance of the seat remaining unallocated. (I did say 'chance')
If you do OLCI would you still be able to also be a no show and claim your tax back ?
Mr Slinky will no doubt answer that !

JCBR wrote:What about if you check her in online next to your son. Better chance of the seat remaining unallocated. (I did say 'chance')
If you do OLCI would you still be able to also be a no show and claim your tax back ?
Mr Slinky will no doubt answer that !

I did this once (long story). Booked a reward flight 12 hours before the flight, paid taxes and checked in. I couldn't fly, did a no-show and claimed the tax back.

I think JCBR has answered with the best response.

OLCI with a wish but no guarantee that the seat will remain empty, confirm a no show after the event and claim the tax back. Note that a no show will automatically cancel the return so you won't get the option to OLCI your son's GF in the same way on the way back.

BTW why can't you upgrade your son on the return after your departure? VS has no reason to ask about the GF before you fly or later, you can just ask to upgrade the one person ...

And probably best not to cancel the girlfriend's ticket in the unlikely event that there is another change of plan and she can come after all! ii)

Surely the OP would need the ex-girlfriends passport number / expiry date etc to be able to do APIS prior to OLCI?

No OLCI = no seat reserved = open for others to jump into.

As to the refund - I'd still claim it. £150 is better than nowt but could be more if the fuel surcharge is refunded too.

tontybear wrote:Surely the OP would need the ex-girlfriends passport number / expiry date etc to be able to do APIS prior to OLCI?

Someone is on the ball y) .

She is not an ex girlfriend, and virgin already have her APIS its been done by me before her father said no, and virgin have to ask about the GF as she is only 17 and not allowed to be on her own or so they tell me