Reward Ticket Date Change Different Answers - Thoughts?

Hey guys,

So, around three months I bought an economy ticket and upgraded to Upper using miles.

I found out I now have a longer holiday than planned and was wanting to change the dates. I called as there was reward availability showing on the website for the return date. I was quoted 240GBP for a date change on the return. I said no at the time, but later found availability on the outbound too so thought I should change dates.

I called back to be told that there was a note indicating that I could not change the date on my ticket at all! The ticket shows as a G on my current booking.

So what should I do? Are they right or can I call them on it? Should I keep calling back until I get the guy who was willing to change the date for a fee? Sticking to my original dates wouldn't be the end of the world, but I'll have three days of nothing either side.

Thanks for anyone who can help!

what fare code was the original EC ticket?

what you have now is an upgraded ticket, rather than a 'pure' reward ticket, so i'd guess the original ticket terms for changes are applicable (rather than the reasonably flexible terms that a straight G booking would have)

the VS terms for upgrades don't mention any option to change date...

http://www.virgin-atlantic.com/gb/en/fl ... miles.html

...see section 4.4, the only allowed change seems to be to cancel the upgrade at the cost of a fee and loss of 25% of the miles

As sungod has said, the original ticket the OP bought was a semi-restricted Economy fare (at least a M bucket if VS allowed them to upgrade to UC using miles). Even so, the M fare is still restricted in terms of date changes.

Therefore the G fare is not a pure G fare, so any date changes will probably involve a change fee (normally £50) plus the difference in M fare from the originally ticketed date(s) to the new date(s)... and if no M fares are still available on either of the new date(s), move up to the next available fare bucket.

This is probably a heads-up to all those not in the know - only book restricted fares if your days & flights of travel are pretty much set in stone. If you need to change a restricted fare, it will cost you (possibly quite a bit). I do know - from on here - that VS do exercise discretion in extreme circumstances (e.g. death of a very close relative - but they ask for documentary evidence & often only let you transfer the fare paid to a future booking, i.e. no refund).

I believe it was an M ticket.

Thanks for your help. I'm not sure why I was originally quoted 240GBP for a date change, but maybe I should have taken advantage at the time. Ah well. As I say, its no biggie, I'll just have an extra three days of fun in Tokyo around the new year period instead of ol' Blighty (which is always fun anyway!).

Annoyingly though, they've now changed the timing of all LHR-NRT from 13:00~ to 11:30, meaning I have to get to the Clubhouse at 7 to take advantage! They've really relegated the NRT route to its death throes, (A340-300 planes only, earlier departures out of LHR... whatever next?!)

it might be worth giving FC a call and gently ask if they can explain why you aren't allowed to change dates

for instance, if it's due to lack of M and/or G seats on the target date(s) then you can keep an eye out for changes and pounce if any come up

but if it's a simple "nope, just can't be done because xyz", then at least you know for sure

Yup, tried that the second time. Got an answer that a note was left on the system that it was restricted and I should have been made aware of this at the time of purchase (I honestly can't remember), but if "thems the rules", as they say its really not a huge issue.

My situation was slightly different but:
I bought upgradeable Economy tickets as soon as my dates were released and immediately upgraded to PE using miles.
After a couple of weeks upgraded the outbound to Upper.
A month later tried to find Upper upgrades for the return and they kept popping up on dates around mine but never on it.
Eventually there was an upper one day later so I rang Virgin and they moved our date and upgraded.
The change day fee was £50 each.
Dick D