The new HFP chat thread – Sunday 29th March

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• David S says:

  29 Mar29 March 12:47

  A bit of advice. Got BA flights to Athens and then Aegean flights to Santorini in June.
  I can get a voucher from BA ( still not sure if I should or not after reading all the messages) but Aegean won’t refund.
  Sit and wait since insurance won’t cover or credit card won’t cover since don’t know what is going to happen in June or any other options?

  • Rob says:

    29 Mar29 March 12:51

    Sit and wait. Aegean may yet cancel.

    • David S says:

      29 Mar29 March 14:37

      Thanks Rob. No voucher or refund with Aegean yet since the flights are operating. So will hang fire. Worse case scenario, I have a flex ticket, so can move the flight to May / June 2021 but will have to wait nearer the time.
      What are your thoughts on BA voucher? Wait till the flight is cancelled by BA to ATH or take the voucher now since wife is not keen to travel till 2021?

  • Chris says:

    29 Mar29 March 13:26

    Not quite: https://en.aegeanair.com/aegean-announcement/

    • David S says:

      29 Mar29 March 14:39

      Thank you Chris. No refund or voucher currently since the flight is still not cancelled. As you have shown, they are only sending out vouchers which are very restrictive and I guess EU protection comes in if flight is cancelled?

• Edd M says:

  29 Mar29 March 12:59

  Colleague flying with Ethiad from France and flight cancelled.

  Ethiad are claiming ‘force majeure’ which thus gets them out of EC 261 and will only give vouchers, no refund.

  Surely this is nonsense? He’s about to take the voucher. He has had multple contacts incl with Amex who are refusing to chargeback even.

  Thanks

  • Charlieface says:

    29 Mar29 March 13:03

    Nonsense. Take Amex to FOS and get compo from then on top for messing him around.

  • Lady London says:

    29 Mar29 March 13:15

    Force majeure=exceptional circumstances only exempts the airline from from paying compensation for cancelled or delayed flights.

    It does NOT exempt the airline from being required to refund in cash, not voucher, if the customer requests this. It also does not exempt the airline from their obligation to provide a replacement ticket on any other airline if the passenger requests this if the airline can’t provide on their own flights. This at no cost to the customer. It also does NOT exempt the airline from its obligation to provide duty of care elements of eu261

    The EC authorities issued a clarification about 10 days ago specifically to reconfirm this after airlines started to refuse refunds or try to force vouchers. This EU law overrides any country’s law and it overrides any terms and conditions of the airline.

    If Amex France has some agreement with Air France to frustrate this then possibly if it’s related to Amex as a charge card then Amex might be able to get away with refusing to refund but Air France is definitely acting illegally. If Amex France’s historic practice had been to charge back airlines due to their no provision of service purchased them I would view this change as understandable, but bordering on corrupt.

    • Edd M says:

      29 Mar29 March 13:21

      Thanks this is extremely helpful 🙂

• Nick_C says:

  29 Mar29 March 13:06

  Anyone trying to contact Virgin Atlantic, note that their WhatsApp number is not the same as their SMS number

  +44 344 874 7747

  https://flywith.virginatlantic.com/gb/en.html

  • Mac D says:

    29 Mar29 March 13:21

    Waiting 13hrs currently

    • Steven P says:

      29 Mar29 March 13:24

      So was I on WhatsApp, I sent it yesterday afternoon and still hadn’t received a reply this morning, so I sent a text with all the details and got a reply straight back. Hopefully you’ll have more success with an sms.

  • Secret Squirrel says:

    29 Mar29 March 14:25

    That’s why my WhatsApp wouldn’t work with them, it kept saying they are not in WA.

  • ankomonkey says:

    29 Mar29 March 17:52

    Hey! That’s my sister’s number!

• Chris says:

  29 Mar29 March 13:28

  I have the Virgin Atlantic Reward card but I was thinking of upgrading to Reward+. Am I going to get any “sign-up”/”upgrade” bonus?

  • Nick_C says:

    29 Mar29 March 13:50

    You’ll get your reward in heaven Chris. Love the optimism.

  • Freddy says:

    29 Mar29 March 13:55

    I’d hold off before spending £160 on a card that may be defunct soon

    • Nick_C says:

      29 Mar29 March 14:14

      Perhaps the best we can hope for is a development of “Virgin Red” as a proper group-wide loyalty scheme for any Virgin branded companies that survive this economic crisis, with Flying Club Miles transferring into Virgin Red.

      • Rob says:

        29 Mar29 March 14:30

        Virgin Red ALREADY owns your miles. On that basis, there is no risk if VA went bust.

        However, I am pretty sure that Virgin Red is technically insolvent and relies on money coming in from the airline to fund redemptions. I very much doubt it has the equivalent of 0.5p per mile in the bank. More like 0.0005p.

        When Jet Airways went bust, Jet Privilege (separately run) effectively became a revenue-based scheme where you could cash out for various things but only at a fraction of a penny per point.

        Air Berlin TopBonus is a better example. TopBonus had no money and so as soon as Air Berlin went bust it was insolvent.

• Tom1 says:

  29 Mar29 March 13:57

  S75 question

  If VS goes bust and I lose my VS prem economy reward flight (miles plus voucher), how do I get compensated?
  They can’t refund me points…
  They can’t book me another flight with VS if it doesn’t exist.
  I’m think cash to go and book same/similar flight in the future?
  Any ideas?
  Thanks.

  • Nick_C says:

    29 Mar29 March 14:06

    I think the fact it is an award flight is not relevant.

    The card issuer is liable for getting you to your destination, or refunding the cash.

    The miles have no cash value. https://www.virginatlantic.com/gb/en/footer/terms-and-conditions/flying-club-earning-and-purchasing-miles.html

    • Charlieface says:

      29 Mar29 March 18:30

      The flight has a nominal cash value though, and the credit card comany would be liable for the miles. We already have legal cases with this.

• Cat says:

  29 Mar29 March 14:08

  Hey all,
  Sorry, I know refund / voucher conversations must be getting dull!
  A friend has reached out – her OH bought a Virgin Holidays package (flight + hotel) for May. They desperately want a refund (not a voucher, for obvious reasons), and she doesn’t think it was paid for on a credit card.
  Has anyone managed this? Any advice for best routes to refunds gratefully received.
  TIA!

  • Rob says:

    29 Mar29 March 14:33

    If it’s a package she gets a refund within 14 days in cash WHEN the flight is cancelled. No chance until that point.

    • stevenhp1987 says:

      29 Mar29 March 14:53

      Yes and no.

      As a package deal “The Package Travel and Linked Travel Arrangements Regulations 2018” apply.

      Meaning that if the FCO advises against travel to your destination then the holiday can be cancelled even if the flight runs.

      Once the FCO advisory is extended to cover your holiday dates or when the flights are cancelled, whichever is sooner, you can cancel for your refund.

      • Cat says:

        29 Mar29 March 14:59

        Thanks Steven – that’s very useful, I’ve passed it on.

    • Cat says:

      29 Mar29 March 14:58

      Thanks Rob, greatly appreciated as always!

• Cat says:

  29 Mar29 March 14:10

  Also, who knew all those pairs of airline PJs, and bars of soap half-inched from hotel rooms around the world would ever be so badly needed?

  • Anna says:

    29 Mar29 March 16:44

    Lol Cat, I am in the process of using all the mini pots of face cream etc I have gathered over the past couple of years when buying cosmetics which come with a bag full of freebies!

    • Cat says:

      30 Mar30 March 00:12

      I’ll need at least a decade to use all of mine!

• Jon says:

  29 Mar29 March 14:17

  I have an ex-EU booking with multiple segments, one of which has been cancelled and rebooked onto a different flight. The remaining segments are operating as normal.

  MMB says “You may obtain a full refund by cancelling your entire booking” and offers me the “Cancel and refund flight(s)” option. The JavaScript workaround works to avoid the voucher screen.

  Bit nervous as the final confirmation page does not confirm my refund amount but says I agree to the refund amount determined by the T&Cs.

  Am I definitely receiving a full refund and not at risk of a part-refund given that only one segment is cancelled?

  • Lady London says:

    29 Mar29 March 20:20

    if your booking comes under eu261 then if even one part is changed significantly or cancelled, then yes you have the right to request a refund for your whole booking (amongst other choices).

    Given it seems no one has actually reported that the process has completed yet we don;t know if refund figures are what people expected.

    I know BA has done some dirty tricks to try to avoid giving refunds that are due to their own cancellations, however I think given the overall circumstances we should all have a bit of sympathy for them and understand that it may take longer than it normally would do for them to be able to have the resources to process the queue of refunds.

    I am sure everyone willl report on here once they start coming through. So we will rapidly know what’s happening when it starts to happen.

    Meanwhile I would be as frustrated as you but let’s cut BA a bit of slack to at least let them try to do the right thing.

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