Travelling mid July 2020

[goggles]

Tinklebell thanks. You're in a similar position to us!
I've just messaged Virgin too and will wait and see their response.
I thought change fees were being waived because of the coronavirus outbreak? £50pp is a lot.

[Tinklebell]

They have waived them for travel up to mid April but not for our departure timescales unfortunately. I hope you hear soon. I found them very helpful. No other way to contact them. Phone lines and stores were closed, and no central email to deal with it. I have to admit if someone had said to me a few months that I wouldn't be upset if I had to cancel I would not have believed them but this situation has really brought home to me what's important. yes i love my trips to Florida and hope at some point to go again but at the moment and focussed on my family , friends and working for the NHS for which I am immensely proud of the spirit at work. Good luck sorting your plans and to you and your family stay well.

[lam]

Originally Posted by goggles

Thank you. Much appreciated. Yes we do have free dining but we booked one week at The Beach Club direct with Disney last year - we're going for 3 weeks in total so got flights, car and all other hotels with Virgin Holidays at the end of Feb (awful timing...)

I haven't called Virgin as they say only contact them if travelling in the next few weeks which we are not.

Should I contact Disney first and see if I can rebook for next July with free dining before I call Virgin?

We stand to lose £700 Virgin deposit plus £200 Disney deposit which is a lot so if there was anyway too minimise that loss I would obvioulsy rather explore that than just resign myself to losing £900. I realise it's not their fault, but it's not my fault either.

We took out travel insurance with added travel disruption but unless the FCO ban remains in place until July, I fear we may not be able to claim on that! Then again if the ban is in place when my balance is due on April 20th, surely that's a basis enough to be ask to re-book for next year, don't you think?

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Wait until the free dining comes out (if they do it this year) before contacting disney. If booked with them direct, you have until 8 DAYS BEFORE the first day of your hotel booking with them to cancel and only lose your deposit.
They ask for payment much earlier BUT you are entitled to a full refund if you invoke the cancellation clause. Check this first.

Re virgin, I know £700 is a lot of money to lose and i'm not sure how much your flights were. So you can;
pay the money and hope you can travel OR that virgin cancel or FCO extend in which case insurance should cover a refund.
If you've paid by credit card, may be some cover there too.
OR
wait it out.
My flight cancellation clause says I can cancel up to 2 hrs before departure,I wont get my money back but I will get taxes back (less admin fee).It covers pandemic.
So check this out for virgin and get the exact figures so as you can make a decision.

Maybe also check out what the flights cost NOW for your dates as it may be cheaper to re-book flights for 2020 and just suffer a 'loss' with virgin.

I saw some flights for my july/aug dates with klm for exactly 50% of what i paid AL in October-yikes


good luck


Wait and see if virgin cancel flights,If not, you should still have time to cancel them yourself and get back the taxes paid.(just check your contract re flight cancellation conditions)

[goggles]

Thank you Iam. Very helpful.

We've got a Virgin Holidays (hotel, flights and car) package but since I've lost work because of the coronavirus we can't really afford to go now.
I paid by credit card for the deposit so I'll look into that option.

I've heard Disney free dining might be offered early April so may call them in a week or so. These are unprecedented times.

[goggles]

Virgin site says fees are waived for bookings after 4th March which is a bit odd as it was officially declared a pandemic just a week later on 13th March (so no-one would have booked after then, would they?) So just a window of a week in which those who booked all eligible to have their fees waived.
Thank you for your help and look after yourself and your loved ones.

[goggles]

Originally Posted by Tinklebell

Our booking was for 5th July so in a similar position to you (with balance due 12th April). I contacted them on whatsapp. The alternatives are Cancel entirely and lose deposit OR change the date to 2021, changing date incurs an admin charge of £50 per person. They were very helpful on whatsapp. There is a message to only contact them if travelling imminently but they understand that there are some of us with a large balance to pay imminently soon too.

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I've just had a response from Virgin Holidays on whatsapp telling me that our reservation for mid July still stands and we are still bound by the terms and conditions of our booking. Not very helpful and no mention of being able to change the date to 2021!

Really can't afford to go this year now so unless we can transfer it we will just have to lose our deposit which is very frustrating.

[discostu]

British papers talking about a 3 month lockdown/slowdown Irish papers not even that optimistic. My relations in Florida are worried that given the age demographic it could cause major problems there. I would still love to go but unless there is a total turnaround I think my wife would be very nervous especially with an autistic daugther

[Warkman58]

My concern us tgat if this is like a flu virus, will this become the norm? Will this winter will there be a Covid-20 version?

[tspill]

Originally Posted by goggles

I've just had a response from Virgin Holidays on whatsapp telling me that our reservation for mid July still stands and we are still bound by the terms and conditions of our booking. Not very helpful and no mention of being able to change the date to 2021!

Really can't afford to go this year now so unless we can transfer it we will just have to lose our deposit which is very frustrating.

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But I am sure this will change in May or June. When we get into May/June and if we are not out of the woods on CV, then Virgin will then have to cancel trips for July/August and maybe even later.
They are handling imminent days and weeks. We cant expect them to even be thinking of July at the minute (we go in early July).

[Kasalic]

Originally Posted by tspill

But I am sure this will change in May or June. When we get into May/June and if we are not out of the woods on CV, then Virgin will then have to cancel trips for July/August and maybe even later.
They are handling imminent days and weeks. We cant expect them to even be thinking of July at the minute (we go in early July).

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Exactly this ^^

We have flight only booked for end of June, and as far as Virgin are concerned we are still flying. All we can do is wait and see if they allow rebooking/refund or if FCO are still recommending no travel and we claim on insurance.

I do not expect to know until the beginning of May at the earliest.

We will probably cancel the villa as this can be done up to 22 April, and if a miracle happens and the flights go ahead I’ll book another villa last minute.