Cancellation / downgrade / refund

Was wondering if someone could possibly advise on what to do.

I had a direct flight on UC reward seat which was LHR-BOS in early May 2024. Evening before it was cancelled and they put us on LHR-JFK in UC but JFK-BOS on delta in economy/main.
I had a message on my booking to contact customer services for a refund as original booking was UC/Business , I have been downgraded and should have been in First class on the domestic JFK-BOS.
I have already received EU261 compensation for the cancellation less than 24 hours before flight for the LHR-BOS flight.

Contacted Customer service who lodged refund request on 8th May. Advised 30 days due to partner airline.

It has been 80+ days and nothing, I’ve contacted them several times but their response has not changed “awaiting response from Delta”…

Is there anything I can do apart from waiting?
Their refund automatic email says 30 days and it’s been nearly triple the time I have waited…

I really can’t imagine you’re going to get much of a refund here, but escalate with:

https://www.aviationadr.org.uk/

I’m with Mike on this one regarding what you would actually get back in real terms…

There is no “fare” as such on a reward flight it’s just tax and I stand to be corrected but BOS/JFK tax I’m sure are pretty similar. I often book DL reward flights as standalone sometimes in First but the tax is like $6USD. Whilst you’ve had an erosion to your experience I honestly can’t see you getting anything meaningful back.

If you feel particularly pressed about it I’d more highlight to VS the fact you didn’t receive first on that leg and negotiate a compensation in points but I don’t see any meaningful cash value coming back for the agro. You’re probably experiencing a delay getting the money back as they are more than likely struggling to calculate it too.

Let us know how you get on I think many will be interested in the outcome should we experience disruption. Especially if your connection was a JFK-LAX for example? Sorry I can’t advise further just thought I’d add my 2 cents considering what I usually pay for DL first awards.

Thank you for the advice!

Yes I wasn’t expecting a « cash refund » as it was a points booking and I did clarify this with customer services and they said it would be cash refund regardless.

I’ll go back to them and try and negotiate points instead of cash refund.

To be honest the re-booking after cancellation was great. Albeit received cancellation email at 9pm just after I boarded the flight GVA-LHR so was a tough 1hr or so waiting to get service to sort it out.
They gave loads of options on manage my bookings for the alternative flights.

Getting the compensation was easy enough for the cancellation, however it was delayed as they were trying to send it in GBP to CHF bank.

Whether I get a refund back or not I’ll have to wait and see. I think it’s just the principle of advising 30 days and it’s been 80+.

On a side note, I see less and less AF Business reward flights available. I cannot find a single GVA-CDG-USA flight… I know AF release very low Reward seats to VS, but a few weeks ago I could find plenty and nothing at all. I love Virgin , love the Neo and staff have always been great, but cannot justify £2k in taxes where from EU it’s half. I priced up 2 weeks ago, 2x adults: GVA-CDG-SFO then IAD-CDG-GVA and it was 250,000 points ( I think 20k more points than VS) but 700CHF taxes (550GBP)..

I too simply struggle to justify the taxes that VS charge so I too now actively look for AF/KL flights. I know it’s each to their own and we all have different experiences but consensus seems to be quite good with AF/KL J class. I’ve got a few points flights coming up to Asia to test the waters. Decent tax and mileage rates. I looked for flights to IAD on AF recently the flights were visible today when I checked the day later they were gone! However I’m content with them being there in whatever level of figure versus the DL J class seats which I struggle to find ex Europe to the US. I don’t have trouble with DL on domestics or US-Caribbean for example. Doesn’t seem like they give VS anything from Europe up front…

Virgin for me is the easiest program to accrue miles and especially with all the sales they have for 70% more, or half price reward seats. But paying £1400 for for surcharges for 2 adults in UC return is quite high… reward seats in the past meant free seat (apart from taxes). This November will be our first time flying AF in Business.

(I live in Geneva). Delta introduced GVA-JFK direct last year , but can only get economy reward seats. However, yesterday I did find a number of dates in Delta One from Zurich to JFK.
However when I am searching, I am only finding other routes which are routed to FCO and then fly with ITA which they have the neo - but the points are like double but then only like 50gbp taxes…

Just booked my next trip but with Delta. I booked GVA-JFK return in Premium Select. Was 2,000 CHF (1750GBP) for 2 adults. Upgrade price was 1,400 CHF per person each way - basically same price as just booking D1.

However; I messaged Delta to change the booking as D1 from LHR was cheap. So they re routed me LHR-JFK in Delta one, then JFK-GVA in Premium Select. Additional cost was 465$ more per person. Received email confirmation of new flights but tickets not re issued.

Last night I received a phone call from Delta. Basically for Europe flights to USA; it had to originate and end in the same country e.g LHR-JFK-LHR or GVA-JFK-GVA. It was a bit of back and forth for a good 40 minutes. They acknowledged payment but payment is being held and would be returned due to my booking being international and payment taken in CHF, the change fee was $ so they cannot apply it to my booking… advised based on confirmation email I received, I had already purchased GVA-LHR flight. Agent on phone said that agent might have been confused and « didn’t want to upset me » and « I have no idea how they calculated the fee of 465$ per person » … I even asked the original agent who I made the change with , to calculate the change on 5 other flights leaving LHR. I had to send all these screenshots to them via email as proof.

After all that, they agreed to re issue the tickets and confirmed the booking as LHR-JFK in Delta One and JFK-GVA in Premium Select for the original price (2,000 CHF). No extra payment as they cannot send payment link in any other currencies apart from USD.
A good win and luck of the draw for them being understanding … do not think Virgin would have been so cooperative in that situation. Delta did say that if flights would have been with another carrier such as Virgin, my booking would have been cancelled.

Virgin came back to me and offered 20,000 points as compensation for the JFK-BOS downgrade. Which I find really reasonable as to buy these it would cost £315. So quite happy with the outcome