Covid 19 Thoughts on the likely actions in the weeks to come

Echoing others my thoughts are with all the fab crew and staff and hope things quickly return to normality.

I believe there are still a few VS employees on here - can I send them all my best wishes for the future and thank them all for their service in the past .

I will be among the first to book when the ban is over.

David.

Thanks David.

I really appreciate the comment as I'm sure all my colleagues will at this time.

The situation is certainly dynamic.

The quote 'May you never live in interesting times' has never been so apt right now. Haha!

Thanks again and best foot forward from us.

[mitchja]

My thoughts are also with all the VS staff at this very trying and worrying time.

I’ve said it before and I’ll say this again; it’s the people who work for Virgin that make Virgin what it is.

I’ve been flying VS for over 20 years now so here’s hoping for at least another 20 years

My thoughts are also with all the VS staff at this very trying and worrying time.

I’ve said it before and I’ll say this again; it’s the people who work for Virgin that make Virgin what it is.

I’ve been flying VS for over 20 years now so here’s hoping for at least another 20 years

+1

Well said James, I couldn’t agree more. The staff at VS are truly what make them my first choice when I fly.

Sending my best wishes to all whilst we ride this storm.

Matt

I really feel for all the staff, too. I know a member of CC who is taking a month off unpaid and looking for something to bridge the gap. Really tough!

We are currently in Mexico for work and fly home on Monday evening via AMS. So far no issues are reported, so we are just keeping a close eye on the situation.

Our thoughts go out to Virgin’s wonderful crew too. The loss for us of long-planned time with family in NYC is de minimis when set beside the anxiety and stress of loss of income and job security.

We have been in Florida since Thursday and are not due to fly home until Wednesday 25th March. This will be a week into the banning of uk & Ireland flights to the US.
Anyone got any thoughts on how Virgin will get us home. If they fly empty flights over here, then the crew won’t be allowed into the States

If VS stop flying your route (only 13 US airports, including MIA but not MCO, are allowed to handle European flights), they’ll presumably rebook on DL as required.

Remember it’s not a total flight ban. Americans are still allowed to travel and there’ll be thousands more Brits/Europeans in your situation needing to get home. So there’ll still be flights, and you won’t be left stranded. But you may need to be flexible and connect as required.

SRB requesting £7.5bn from government for airline industry support:
https://news.sky.com/story/virgin-atlan ... t-11957708

I can't see him going down without a fight- after all, he did sell his prized virgin records back in the day for VS legal battle.

Looks like VS are spearheading a lobbying exercise to get some financial assurances from HMG

https://news.sky.com/story/virgin-atlan ... t-11957708

SRB requesting £7.5bn from government for airline industry support:
https://news.sky.com/story/virgin-atlan ... t-11957708

I can't see him going down without a fight- after all, he did sell his prized virgin records back in the day for VS legal battle.

Bit of a "sun" headline from Sky and something that only helps spread more uncertainty - "That support, which the Virgin chairman estimates would be worth between £5bn and £7.5bn across the industry"

Flew into Grenoble yesterday for annual ski trip with family, drove to Courchevel, checked into our chalet, picked up skis etc.
Had lunch on the bottom of the slopes in bright sunshine looking at all the skiers and dreaming of a week of relaxing with true friends and family, woke up this morning to find the French government had slapped an unexpected and immediate ban on all non essential gatherings so now everything is closed for the rest of the season

Long way to come for a pizza and a few glasses of wine --- but these are unprecedented times, all governments will have to make radical and unpopular decisions, I fear there will be a lot of hurt in the next few months.

Best wishes to all V-flyers, Virgin staff and crew and everyone else that will be affected

John

[PS --- there is plenty of loo roll in the Chalets that wont be needed for rest of the season ]

[mitchja]

Something I’ve just though of and I’m really sorry if it’s a silly question, but what happens if you paid for travel using a credit card then request a refund back to that card but you have already paid off the card balance? Your credit card account essentially goes into credit. I know credit card companies used to take a dim view of this and charge you a fee? Do they still do this?

Other than spending the difference to cancel out the credit, what are your options in this situation?

I suspect there will be a lot of people in this situation.

Something I’ve just though of and I’m really sorry if it’s a silly question, but what happens if you paid for travel using a credit card then request a refund back to that card but you have already paid off the card balance? Your credit card account essentially goes into credit. I know credit card companies used to take a dim view of this and charge you a fee? Do they still do this?

Other than spending the difference to cancel out the credit, what are your options in this situation?

I suspect there will be a lot of people in this situation.

If you call them up they will refund to your bank account. Once (with a Tesco CC I think), there was a small fee which appeared on the account but which they said would be cancelled out a couple of days later, which it was.

I think I may have had an MBNA one refunded in the past but on that occasion there was no fee and the funds went straight to my bank account.

On HFP this morning he is saying there will be no refunds only a voucher . We have virgin car hire booked anyone know if they will follow the same procedure.I know its early days for all the companies to get sorted and am not even going to contact BA , Virgin or Heathrow parking as I probably will not get through on the phone. Linda

The talk of Govt bailouts and VS leading on the letter is being misconstrued as VS being in trouble. Whilst they cannot survive long term with these circumstances they are much stronger than ever before and actually make an attractive proposition to investors (Govt).

IAG is Spanish Based via Stock Market. Has heavy impacts across all of its companies, especially IB where Spanish have shut down. Why would the UK Govt bail out by its self a Spanish company? It’s registered in Madrid.

VS can be solved by UK. IAG is an EU issue...

I also don’t think we can underestimate the impact this will have on EZY.

DY on the other hand, I simply cannot see surviving this. At least not in its current form.

[mitchja]

Official line from FCO about travel the the US has now been updated today:

Update on GOV.​UK.

USA travel advice

Change made
The FCO advise against all but essential travel to the USA, due to restrictions put in place by the US government with effect from 03:59 GMT 17 March in response to the outbreak of coronavirus (Covid-19) (Summary and Entry Requirements)

Time updated
11:45am, 15 March 2020

IAG surely won't take government help given their response to the Flybe assistance.

IAG surely won't take government help given their response to the Flybe assistance.

You might be surprised how quickly the tune changes when the tables are turned...

IAG surely won't take government help given their response to the Flybe assistance.

You might be surprised how quickly the tune changes when the tables are turned...

To be fair, IAG and especially BA is an incredibly successful company and well run despite public/armchair CEO opinions. Flybe went bad because of poor management and bad decisions. Don’t forget it was Richard Branson that said that inefficient companies should be allowed to fail, he was criticised heavily for suggesting Flybe be bailed out when it suited him.

Covid19 is a completely different set of circumstances from Flybe.

The travel industry shouldn’t be allowed to fail due to Covid19 and if there are bailouts made available I would totally support it.

President Ramaphosa just announced a ban on foreign nationals from certain countries including the UK entering South Africa from the 18 March.

Lagos and Caribbean only destinations not curently impacted it would seem. Although rumours HKG demand is improving...

https://www.forbes.com/sites/willhorton ... bc61d520c7

It just gets worse every day for VS. The poor customer service teams who are having to deal with this, including parents demanding their money back for their Easter trips to Disney.

IAG surely won't take government help given their response to the Flybe assistance.

You might be surprised how quickly the tune changes when the tables are turned...

Indeed and it is clear now that Flybe would not have survived even if with a £100m loan... genuinely concerned for VS now

Official line from FCO about travel the the US has now been updated today:

Update on GOV.​UK.

USA travel advice

Change made
The FCO advise against all but essential travel to the USA, due to restrictions put in place by the US government with effect from 03:59 GMT 17 March in response to the outbreak of coronavirus (Covid-19) (Summary and Entry Requirements)

Time updated
11:45am, 15 March 2020

Doesn’t that update now mean travel insurance should pay out????