Virgin Atlantic refuse refund

[Sandra & co]

I had the same with BA back in sept, my flights went to Toronto even tho we weren’t allowed into the country. I argued with everyone I could find and they wouldn’t budge and in the end I took a voucher! Everyone who was going to my sons wedding got refunds because their flights were cancelled. I was told to claim with travel insurance but couldn’t be bothered with all the faffing.

[Posiesmum]

I'd have thought they would have a force majeure clause that would override frustration?

[KBRB]

O great they have been holding back my refund for ages.

I suspect they will try the same thing then.

I will attempt to claim via holiday insurance or bank if needs be

[neil1489]

Originally Posted by YorkshireT

Contract is clearly frustrated as OP cannot take the flight due to unforseeable circumstances.

This offers basic guidance

gov.uk/government/public...on-and-refunds

Also read this:


theguardian/money/20...ds-coronavirus

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Do you think this would apply to villa bookings with private owners ?

[YorkshireT]

Originally Posted by neil1489

Do you think this would apply to villa bookings with private owners ?

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Yes it would. If a UK contract.

[YorkshireT]

Originally Posted by Posiesmum

I'd have thought they would have a force majeure clause that would override frustration?

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Depends on FM clause, as most won’t apply due to the way they are drafted (at the time, not now) which is to absolve them of responsibility due non performance, not to keep the money. But in any event, assuming the flight was booked before the pandemic then any FM allowing them keep money would probably be deemed unfair.

[bighal]

I would also let the CAA know as they are trying to stop these sort of practices and have Virgin on its radar for not following the rules. As to Virgin not knowing they would not be allowed thats bo@! #$s as they have to send the passenger manifest list to the US they would be informed who cannot travel and as the OP would almost certainly not be travelling on a recently issued work visa they would have been denied boarding.

[Thorpy]

Originally Posted by bighal

I would also let the CAA know as they are trying to stop these sort of practices and have Virgin on its radar for not following the rules. As to Virgin not knowing they would not be allowed thats bo@! #$s as they have to send the passenger manifest list to the US they would be informed who cannot travel and as the OP would almost certainly not be travelling on a recently issued work visa they would have been denied boarding.

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what practices are they wanting to stop ?

Somebody is missing something here and I don't think it's me, but am more than happy to learn if it is. I can't see how this is any different to normal times. Virgin sends a manifest, and expects nearly all passengers are cleared. If you personally are not cleared to fly, you don't get to board, and you don't get a refund. It's up to "you" to then try your insurance with your inability to fly.
If Virgin don't operate the flight, then "they" can't fly so it's up to them to put right the people they were contracted to fly. That's how I understand it !

[Thorpy]

Originally Posted by KBRB

O great they have been holding back my refund for ages.

I suspect they will try the same thing then.

I will attempt to claim via holiday insurance or bank if needs be

See more...

I'll get this going with what I think is the case, others that have direct knowledge will no doubt contribute. The fact they've held on for ages isn't necessarily a bad thing, they will want to be certain the flight doesn't go before refunding people. They will naturally leave this as close as possible to the flight date.

In normal times where flights don't materialise people eventually end up with their money back. Sometimes the full refund is well below the cost of a replacement flight, and this is what leaves the customer annoyed enough to come on forums posting their displeasure, however the legal position seems to be if they can't take you, you are simply entitled to your money back.

If they offer an alternative that you accept, but later feel is unacceptable, then your acceptance of the "new deal", overrides the old deal. This is why some are reluctant to take vouchers, because if you can't use them, that's your problem not the airlines. The acceptance of them overrides your initial claim to a refund.
That's what I think, but I've pickled it up from non authoratitive sources over the years, so I may be wrong in details.

[silver_age]

I’m most surprised that Virgin are still running flights to Florida. This deep into the pandemic and restrictions how many people can there be that are eligible to enter the US that choose to do so with Virgin to Florida? I’d be interested to see how many passengers were on this flight.

To Florida, Virgin are essentially running holiday flights and that’s how they are being sold. If they are still running these flights despite none of their target customers being allowed to enter the country, that’s bizarre. If they are then forcing these customers to accept an open ticket rather than a refund, they damn well better have actually run the flight.

What’s the situation at the moment? Are Virgin actually running any flights at all to Florida? I thought they were just being cancelled on a rolling basis.