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

My guess is LAX, JFK, ATL, JNB, DEL, IAD. Maybe HKG/PVG if there is demand.

I presume they'll be cutting all routes from LGW and MAN and be exclusively operating out of Heathrow then.

As many others have said this is an evolving and dynamic event, with countries adding restrictions all the time. We will hear tomorrow if the EU votes to ban non EU citizens from entering the EU and wether or not the UK follows, again this would be another scenario not yet factored in to today’s multiple aviation news articles.

Shocking.

https://centreforaviation.com/analysis/ ... upt-517512

Important updates on the VS website;

https://flywith.virginatlantic.com/gb/e ... light.html

LAX
JFK
SFO
LOS
DEL
Caribbean

That's it from memory

Preventing COVID-19 Spread in Communities



sourse: https://creazilla.com/nodes/18821-stop- ... rms-vector

We were due to fly to Orlando this Friday so I waited till it was 72hrs before the flight as advised on Virgin's website and phoned this morning expecting to be on hold for hours. The call was answered in about 25 minutes and a very helpful member of their team gave me 3 options.
1. To re book to another flight available on a different day
2. To keep the booking open to arrange a flight up till 30th April 2021 once the seats become available (seats are only currently available until Feb 2021 for now)
3. To have a full refund.

As we already have another flight booked for September this year I decided to have a full refund even though we are planning to go next April, I didn't feel this was a good idea with the current situation being as it is and with the uncertainty of the airline industry.
The lady I spoke with was quite positive and was hopeful that Virgin Atlantic can survive this and I truly hope this is the case. My thoughts go out to all the staff who work for Virgin and for all the airline industry staff.

We used miles to upgrade this flight and also boosted our miles and she said she would sort out a refund for this and the miles will also go back into our account.

Flights that did not operate yesterday

VS7 London Heathrow – Los Angeles
VS8 Los Angeles – London Heathrow
VS9 London Heathrow – New York JFK
VS11 London Heathrow – Boston
VS12 Boston – London Heathrow
VS19 London Heathrow – San Francisco
VS20 San Francisco – London Heathrow
VS138 New York JFK – London Heathrow
VS250 Shanghai Pudong – London Heathrow
VS251 London Heathrow – Shanghai Pudong
VS453 London Heathrow – Tel Aviv
VS454 Tel Aviv – London Heathrow
VS461 London Heathrow – Johannesburg.

We were due to fly to Orlando this Friday so I waited till it was 72hrs before the flight as advised on Virgin's website

Thanks for the detailed update (which I didn't quote in full) it's good to know those waiting times are coming down and a full range of options are being offered.

I'm booked on the VS155/156 combo 24/3 and 4/4 with a miles fare (burning last of my miles) but although it's as certain as can be that the LAS route won't be running (and today's flight status shows as cancelled) the flight status still show as 'on time' for tomorrow and subsequent days suggesting I shouldn't yet use the online refund option until they update flights to cancelled. So I'll keep an eye on flight status and general updates from Virgin and otherwise leave them in peace until 72 hours before so they can keep focussed on the passengers travelling in next 3 to 4 days.

Thanks again for updating us - forum members posting updates here save us bothering Virgin unnecessarily when they are busy enough anyway.

Tim, LAS is not currently a designated US arrival airport under the current restrictions, of course they could add it later or fly via one of the hubs but these are the only airports that international arrivals can fly into;

John F. Kennedy International Airport (JFK), New York;
Chicago O’Hare International Airport (ORD), Illinois;
San Francisco International Airport (SFO), California;
Seattle-Tacoma International Airport (SEA), Washington;
Daniel K. Inouye International Airport (HNL), Hawaii;
Los Angeles International Airport, (LAX), California;
Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport (ATL), Georgia;
Washington-Dulles International Airport (IAD), Virginia;
Newark Liberty International Airport (EWR), New Jersey;
Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport (DFW), Texas;
Detroit Metropolitan Airport (DTW), Michigan;
Boston Logan International Airport (BOS), Massachusetts;
Miami International Airport (MIA), Florida.

Tim, LAS is not currently a designated US arrival airport under the current restrictions, of course they could add it later or fly via one of the hubs but these are the only airports that international arrivals can fly into;

John F. Kennedy International Airport (JFK), New York;
Chicago O’Hare International Airport (ORD), Illinois;
San Francisco International Airport (SFO), California;
Seattle-Tacoma International Airport (SEA), Washington;
Daniel K. Inouye International Airport (HNL), Hawaii;
Los Angeles International Airport, (LAX), California;
Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport (ATL), Georgia;
Washington-Dulles International Airport (IAD), Virginia;
Newark Liberty International Airport (EWR), New Jersey;
Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport (DFW), Texas;
Detroit Metropolitan Airport (DTW), Michigan;
Boston Logan International Airport (BOS), Massachusetts;
Miami International Airport (MIA), Florida.

I guess there must be some variant on the above then because the post written by ‘Southroma’ under the heading flights to Florida-latest they are booked on a VS28 tonight a Tuesday from MCO. Therefore Virgin must be flying into Orlando airport. Hev

According to VS flight status today’s outbound 27 has been cancelled so I assume they are operating a positioning flight into MCO as the restrictions do not apply to departing aircraft.

According to flight radar G-VROM is on her way.

I'm booked on the VS155/156 combo 24/3 and 4/4 with a miles fare (burning last of my miles) but although it's as certain as can be that the LAS route won't be running (and today's flight status shows as cancelled) the flight status still show as 'on time' for tomorrow and subsequent days suggesting I shouldn't yet use the online refund option until they update flights to cancelled. So I'll keep an eye on flight status and general updates from Virgin and otherwise leave them in peace until 72 hours before so they can keep focussed on the passengers travelling in next 3 to 4 days.

My flights (both ways ) were still showing as 'on time' which was why I rang them rather than filling out the online form.

It’s concerning that future flights are still showing as “scheduled” when it’s clear they’ll be cancelled (eg LAS, MCO).

One would hope that it’s simply because VS (and BA - same situation with them) are working through every flight, one day at a time and just haven’t got round to cancelling everything yet. And not, as the cynical side of me fears, that they’re deliberately waiting till as late as possible in the hope that as many pax as possible will cancel themselves and take the voucher rather than claim the cash refund they’d be entitled to if the airline cancels.

Surely VS and BA wouldn’t fly an empty positioning flight to, say, LAS using the original flight number, meaning it’s not technically cancelled even though it’s not allowed to carry passengers?

Surely VS and BA wouldn’t fly an empty positioning flight to, say, LAS using the original flight number, meaning it’s not technically cancelled even though it’s not allowed to carry passengers?

I'd struggle to believe that. Not sure about BA, but VS are usually pretty good to their customers and I do not think they'd do this.

It’s concerning that future flights are still showing as “scheduled” when it’s clear they’ll be cancelled (eg LAS, MCO).

One would hope that it’s simply because VS (and BA - same situation with them) are working through every flight, one day at a time and just haven’t got round to cancelling everything yet. And not, as the cynical side of me fears, that they’re deliberately waiting till as late as possible in the hope that as many pax as possible will cancel themselves and take the voucher rather than claim the cash refund they’d be entitled to if the airline cancels.

Surely VS and BA wouldn’t fly an empty positioning flight to, say, LAS using the original flight number, meaning it’s not technically cancelled even though it’s not allowed to carry passengers?

Within 14 days EU261 kicks in so don't think that it the airlines' game.

You don’t get EC261 compensation for extraordinary circumstances. Which this surely is.

Was due to fly to Tampa next week with BA, staying in Disney hotel, had been hoping to keep the kids from falling sick and there was a chance it would still go ahead, that all went pear shaped on Thursday-Sunday.

Wasn't able to get through to BA at any point but on Saturday morning BA were only offering flight vouchers to move the flight to a different day via the website, I applied for it. Later that afternoon Trump announced the ban and by Sunday morning I had an email from BA saying they’ll send me a full cash refund. I’ve already re-booked (with BA) to go via Miami in December and we’ll do Christmas over there instead.

Took 6 hours to get through to Disney, they offered to move our booking to December but they wouldn’t maintain the free dining offer we were due to receive so we cancelled it and will now stay a villa. Staying in a Disney hotel is only worth it when there’s free food, otherwise you’re paying a premium for the hotel and then locked into paying them for food rather than eating out cheaply.

Initially Premier Inn wouldn’t cancel our hotel at Gatwick as it was an advance rate but now they’ve changed policy so we can move it to suit the new dates from Heathrow. It’s a bit disappointing but at least we’ve not lost anything, others won’t be as lucky.

You don’t get EC261 compensation for extraordinary circumstances. Which this surely is.

That will be a courts decision, so am sure airlines aren't in the mood to have to challenge it, hence hence so many advance cancellations.

Certainly other travel websites are indicating this is why cancellations are +14 days

Thanks everyone for the feedback on my LAS trip 24/3 departure from LHR - just a small update.

Flight Status still shows as on time for dates going forward though of course today's flight, 18/3, shows as cancelled.

The difference from earlier in the week is that already tomorrow's flight, 19/3 , is showing as cancelled …. so it's most likely they are catching up a bit on things in that they still ideally don't want calls more than 72 hours ahead of flights but the automatic refunds route on the website and the call them for taking up the alternative options for cancelled flights must be either more resilient or they are over the 'hump' so that they are pushing an extra day ahead on that. So probably by Saturday the phone lines will be much calmer and they may push the okay to call if flying in next 72 hours out to 7 days, then later next week to flying in next 14 days etc while flight status on flights showing as cancelled similarly edges out on the same path.... so I don't think I'm going to need to call them at all.

Of course I know I'm not going to LAS any time soon, even on a re-route via JFK and onwards with Delta, because Las Vegas itself is closing down to the rest of the USA (my friend closed down her 24/7 casino bar at 23:30 local time for at least the next 30 days and the hotel itself is emptying hotel rooms over next 48 hours … many like MGM and Wynn have already emptied their rooms).

Be safe & healthy everyone, thanks again for the input.

From VS trade on flying schedule 18th - 25th March

As of 17.30 on Tuesday 17 March 2020, our schedule to 25 March 2020 is planned as below but this is subject to change without notice, especially with government restrictions being implemented.

LHR - LAX VS23
LHR - SFO VS41
LHR - JFK VS3
LHR - JFK VS25 19th & 24th only
LHR - JFK VS45 18th & 25th only
LHR - JFK VS137
LHR - ATL VS103
LHR - HKG VS206 19th/20th/22/24 only
LHR - JNB VS461 19/20/21 only
LHR - JNB VS449 18/19/20/21/22/23/24 only
LHR - LOS VS411
LHR - BOM VS354 18th only

LGW - MCO VS15 18/19/20 only
LGW - BGI VS29
LGW -ANU VS33 19/20/21/24 only
LGW - UVFGND VS89 20/23 only
LGW - HAV VS63 19/22 only

MAN - BGI VS77 20/21/23
MAN - ATL VS109 20/21/23

We are on VS32 from UVF to LGW on Saturday 21st and that still shows as operating in the app and the flight status, I guess we'll have to wait and see what develops...

Revivals Lounge closing till 1st June.

I was very impressed yesterday, which is a feat in itself . We have the BT blocker phones so no one gets through only family and friends. So when it rang something made me pick it up and it was Virgin Holidays cancelling our car hire for Vegas next week.
The refund and confirmation have already come through.

Rang BA at 6 this morning took an hour to get through then got cut off. Just rang again just got a foreign call centre but it only took 10 mins to answer and all Avios, Redemption voucher and seat selection will be refunded, very efficient.

Just got to hope we can go in October now, decided to decorate the house and update kitchen. Linda

[honey lamb]

The airlines are actually also telling you not to contact them unless you are travelling within the next 72hrs. VS and Expedia are currently quoting 2hr call centre wait times. I suspect everyone else is in the same situation.

I booked to fly to South Africa on Thursday next with VS. It's not a straightforward booking as I'm flying into LHR from Cork and from JNB to Durban and I've booked it through Expedia. Since last Thursday, I have tried time and time again to phone Expedia to change my booking without success. Several times I have been met with a message that they are having technical difficulties at present and the call is ended. On one of my earlier calls I got through to an agent and requested a date change. He came back to me once when I was on hold saying he was having difficulties in connecting to the airlines and asked me to continue on hold but after 30 minutes of silence, the call dropped. Twice I got through to an agent, each of whom told me that there was a system failure and asked me to call back in 4 hours time. Every other time it's been the technical difficulty response or I'm asked to hold on for an agent and the call drops at some stage in the waiting time.

It would be easier at this stage to cancel and rebook but, like mitchja I'm reluctant to lose my hard-earned money and in any case I can't even get through to cancel! It looks like I'm going to be a no-show next Thursday.

Since posting this I have steadily been climbing the walls. I finally got through to Expedia on Monday after more than 50 calls and having reviewed my options, decided to cancel especially as at this stage South Africa had virtually closed its borders. However just as the call was ending, it dropped. The guy I was chatting to had my number to call me back if this happened but didn't do so and since then I have been unable to confirm whether or not it has been cancelled.

I had sent an SMS to VS to see if they could help but all I got back from them was a reply referring me back to Expedia. In the meantime the two other airlines on that booking, viz. my flight from Cork to Heathrow and Joburg to Durban have both contacted me offering me vouchers to enable me to book flights another time. I must say, I'm rather disappointed with VS right now.

So probably by Saturday the phone lines will be much calmer and they may push the okay to call if flying in next 72 hours out to 7 days, then later next week to flying in next 14 days etc while flight status on flights showing as cancelled similarly edges out on the same path.... so I don't think I'm going to need to call them at all.

Checked today and LHR - LAS is showing as cancelled right the way through to 23/03 now on flight status, so indeed I should be able to do the online refund request by tomorrow or Saturday (providing the suddenly missing refund link reappears on their website) so normally I won't have to call VS at all - hopefully that also means the overstretched VS call centre staff are getting closer to a chance of sanity!