V-Flyer

I am posting on behalf of a friend @_raymatthew (a bit fan of VS) who was due on the VSA3026 from ABZ to LHR this morning and then onward to Miami. From what I gather the Aberdeen flight was cancelled this morning, Virgin have put him onto a British Airways flight but will miss the connection at LHR. They have therefore offered two options, fly with BA Economy to Miami or cancel.

He was due to fly Premium Economy with Virgin and there are PE seats available with BA, why are they only offering economy seats? Additionally they will charge him for excess baggage as they are only offering economy luggage allowance.

What are his rights?

Additionally, it looks like VS have really dropped the ball with their customer service this morning both at the airport and at the call centre.

Thanks.

I am sure more will have advice on this, but I would say if I booked PE and there are PE seats on BA then I want one!

They cancelled the flight, so they have a duty of care to get this sorted... I would call again and speak to a different advisor!

Dan

Is he all on a single PNR (otherwise known as a 'through ticket')?

clarkeysntfc wrote:Is he all on a single PNR (otherwise known as a 'through ticket')?

That is the key, all on one PNR, then he is a very position to get it sorted.
If booked separately, he is lucky that VS have offered to move him to the BA flight and should snap their hands up.

Fuzzy14 wrote:He was due to fly Premium Economy with Virgin and there are PE seats available with BA, why are they only offering economy seats?

Maybe it's not as simple as there just being empty WT+ seats on BA.

BA have to be prepared to give them to VS and if they think they'll need them for their own customers due to upgrades on the day or whatever, they won't release them.

Others are correct though: if your friend booked from ABZ-LHR-MIA on one ticket, VS have a duty to get him to Miami in the class he paid for, or compensate him.

If it was separate tickets, unfortunately they're only legally obliged to get him from ABZ-LHR, which they have. Technically it's his fault he missed the MIA flight - but normally VS are quite good at resolving problems like this.

He's on a through ticket but due to the fog in London this morning his 0920 BA flight was delayed until 1125! Now a bit touch and go he's going to make his connection... MIA flight due off at 1335 he only landed 30 mins ago.

Fuzzy14 wrote:He's on a through ticket but due to the fog in London this morning his 0920 BA flight was delayed until 1125! Now a bit touch and go he's going to make his connection... MIA flight due off at 1335 he only landed 30 mins ago.

Chances are that he will miss it.

However, if he travels in WT on BA I believe that he is entitled to involuntary downgrade compensation from Virgin. This is 75% of return fare.

How did your friend get on - did he make his flight..? How did VS handle this and BA..?

Daniel Armstrong wrote:How did your friend get on - did he make his flight..? How did VS handle this and BA..?

He made the BA flight after being bussed across. Not sure about his baggage though! From his messages VS have kept him totally in the dark (staff at ABZ knew nothing, call centre couldn't help) and BA have came out champions saving the day.

Fuzzy14 wrote:

Daniel Armstrong wrote:How did your friend get on - did he make his flight..? How did VS handle this and BA..?

He made the BA flight after being bussed across. Not sure about his baggage though! From his messages VS have kept him totally in the dark (staff at ABZ knew nothing, call centre couldn't help) and BA have came out champions saving the day.

It may appear that way on the face of it, but without the 'totally in the dark' VS staff he would still be sat in ABZ or at a hotel in LHR.

StillRedHot wrote:It may appear that way on the face of it, but without the 'totally in the dark' VS staff he would still be sat in ABZ or at a hotel in LHR.

I'm only going by the information he provided, I linked his twitter account above so judge for yourself however on the face of it the only reason he is now in Miami is due to BA staff.

In my experience VS haven't got a clue about connecting flights in the same way a network carrier does.