Canceling flight - refund?

[epcot.girl]

Has anyone got any experience with canceling a flight and getting a refund? Specifically from Virgin Atlantic.

We're thinking about potentially canceling our September holiday this year. We're fairly certain we could get the money back from Disney US (apart from deposit?), but I'm unsure about flights. I've looked at Virgin's FAQ and I'm really none the wiser! lol

Anyone?!
TIA

ETA: Also, we booked miles+money flights. Will we get our miles back?!

 

[Claire L]

If you paid upfront then no chance really as even with cancelling the day before due to being in hospital with kidney stones and not fit to fly I had to claim most back through our insurance, although the taxes were refunded.

Claire

 

[Claire L]

Just seen you booked with miles and money, get the feeling the miles will be lost.

Claire

 

[wayneg]

Last time we bought M & M flights the were booking code X. Here is conditions for that code. Highlighted what you don't want to hear. You will be able to get your tax back but not the base ticket price.

X
Economy Megasaver Fare/MilesPlusMoney Flying Club Miles and Tier Points will be earned on this fare. 100% of mileage flown earned (125% for Flying Club Gold members). 2nd Lowest level of fare class for Economy, non flexible, non changeable and non-refundable. One of the 4 fare classes that are used for Economy Flying Club MilesplusMoney fares (MpM). There will need to be availability in this or the other MpM fares class (N, Q or M, though latter is only for Orlando route during peak season) for you to be able to take advantage of MpM. MilesplusMoney tickets do not earn Tier Points or Flying Club miles regardless of whether its booked under N or X class. Advance Purchase will be required. This fare class is also utilised on all routes (except Delhi route – see N Class) for redemption of Select voucher, if there is no availability in X and a customer wishes to use a Select voucher – Virgin will manually check through the sold allocation of X Class to see how many are Select voucher redemptions, as they are allowed to oversell this class to take them up to a maximum of 4 Select voucher redemptions.

 

[Red-Snapper]

Had to cancel once - zero refund. Had to claim on the Insurance.

Unleess you have a "proper" reason for cancelling - your Insurance wont cover it either.

You could possibly change the flight to a different date or desination depending on ticket type - the fee is usually £50.

 

[wideeyes]

I booked a M&M fair with virgin and was able to change my flights to another date(£50 admin fee per person) however if I cancelled I would of just got the taxes back which was about £500 just less than half the fair(It was for PE) Taxes add up quite a bit so you should get something back.

 

[epcot.girl]

Oh balls! lol - thanks for all your help guys. Best part is that we haven't even got insurance yet either, so even if we had a really 'good' reason to cancel we'd be, well, in a pickle. That needs to be our next purchase.

Guess it's back to Plan A - 12 nights at CSR with free dining (hardly anything to complain about though really :rofl: ).

 

[wayneg]

Best part is that we haven't even got insurance yet either

Highly recommend taking insurance as soon as you know your travel dates. It costs no more to buy when you book your flights than buying day before you travel(probably cheaper now way things are increasing). Might as well have cover sooner than later.
My Mum didn't have cover when she passed away suddenly 5 years ago, had a right job getting refunds, Expedia were useless, thankfully Continental Airlines were more understanding and got Expedia to refund me but they didn't have to under T&C's.

 

[epcot.girl]

OMG Wayne, that's awful. A little compassion would go a long way in helping companies establish a good reputation IMO.

I agree though - we weren't worried about getting insurance until closer to September, but this thread has made me re-think that. Next thing on the to-do list now.

In fact, we were talking about this again late last night and realised that even if getting a refund was no problem we probably wouldn't have been able to bring ourselves to cancel anyway Actually kind of relieved that the decision has been made for us, so to speak.

Thanks again

 

[team harris]

Do you have to cancel? Could you not transfer to another date? Friends of ours have just done this (flights to LAX) and just paid a nominal fee to do so.

 

[Twilight Terror]

I had a long chat with the people at VA because our May trip (which isn't going ahead anyway), was going to be very dependent on how well my mum was when we went, and I was trying to find out what our options would be if we had to cancel.

I did inform them that the only reason we would cancel would be if my mum was admitted to hospital either just before we were due to go away, or her condition deteriorated to the point that the doctor would not declare her fit to travel. With that in mind, these are the options the lady gave me, in regards to purchasing normal airfares (no m&m):

If we purchased the flexible/higher price range tickets (don't know which category they are, but economy tickets are upwards of £800 for one adult return), then we would be able to get a full refund, but the tickets would cost double, if not more than standard tickets.

If we purchased the normal/lowest price range tickets (the standard £400-500 per adult economy seat), then we were entitled to get the taxes back only. However, she said there was another option, which was swapping the flight for another day. The only catch is the new flight date has to be within 12-months of the original date that you booked. So, if you were efficient and booked the flights at the 11-month window, then you won't have much room for maneuver!

Thanks what we were told, and of course, we would have had medical letters/admissions papers should we needed to have canceled. I assume the same rules apply to those who just decide that they want to cancel for whatever reasons. Phone the UK switchboard and speak to someone for clarification.

 

[wideeyes]

she said there was another option, which was swapping the flight for another day. The only catch is the new flight date has to be within 12-months of the original date that you booked. So, if you were efficient and booked the flights at the 11-month window, then you won't have much room for maneuver!

That's what I did, swapped my flights I had booked for April to September, very pleased they let me do that as I was definitely going in September so saved me losing money and having to pay out on new tickets.

 

[Twilight Terror]

That's what I did, swapped my flights I had booked for April to September, very pleased they let me do that as I was definitely going in September so saved me losing money and having to pay out on new tickets.

Exactly. It was that flexibility and fact that we wouldn't loose everything that meant we were going ahead, until mum's doctor said no anyway! Anyway, looks like we will be there again at the same time... are you copying us?!?!

 

[wideeyes]

Anyway, looks like we will be there again at the same time... are you copying us?!?!

it just worked out that way

What are your dates? were going 16th-30th staying at Beach club till the 27th and then AKV for our last 3 nights.

 

[Twilight Terror]

it just worked out that way

What are your dates? were going 16th-30th staying at Beach club till the 27th and then AKV for our last 3 nights.

We're just before you - 7th-24th staying at SSR first in a 1BV , then over to OKW for the remainder, but only in a studio! Going to MNSSHP and at some point, I actually have to book our flights! Here's me worrying I've covered all the bases about canceling them, but haven't actually booked them in the first place yet

 

[wideeyes]

cool, what dates are you doing MNSSHP? we are doing the 22nd. Already brought our tickets for that, I have everything storted, just got to get our APs next.