Need advice from Disfriends so angry with virgin

[wildwood]

Hello fellow disers please stay with me , as some of you may know I reserved flights last week using our free vouchers we where given last august by virgin because we came of a over booked flight for them . Phoned them on friday to confrim the booking everything was going along nicley detaisl all given when she started to read through the detaisl and I here here say outbound flight 27th agust retun on the 10th september no I say the booking was for the 19th August and back the 2nd september as I am a aschool teacher there is no way I would book returning on the 10th september . After 2 hours on the phone and the adviser I spoke to on the foirst phone call being spoken to and she addmiting to me that she did say the 19th but put on the 27th I was left with no flights and they would not help as it was not a confrimed booking just a held reservation , I had gone from felling sick to busting into tears and then explaining to my DS and family that we would not be going .

Move on to today and I contacted virgin again and they have found me flights going from Gatwick to Orlando on the 19th and then flying home from NEWARK on the 2nd , we have now got to buy internal flights down to newark and where thinking of going down the day before on a early flight and seeing a bit of new york, then stay overnight at a airport hotel . So I wondered if any one had flown home from Newark and is there anything I should know that this would not be a good idea to do .
Soory for the long thread but it is good to vent and I know my Disfriends would be happy to help . This experience would make me think alot before every volutering to come of another flight as the vouchers are so hard to use .

 

[15isto2]

Unfortunatey avalability on the MCO route with virgin is extremely limited for any free fights. I have been looking for UC rewards flights on a weekend for a while now with no success but could pick any day of the week on LAX route! It MIGHT be worth asking them to look at flights to MIA as they seem to have better avalability

 

[wildwood]

We tried every route possible even looked at coming back form las vegas until I found out how hard it was to get from Orlando to las vegas . I will be phoning them again tommorow to confirm we want those flights from newark hopefully no one has messed around with the dates this time , I did make her confrim the dates of travel three times as they made me feel like I was going around the bend Just need to sort our flights down to newark now got prices today for $119 each if anyone knows any good places to search for these let me know .

 

[2Tiggies]

All I can say is there is no love lost between me and VA at the moment

We flew through Newark both ways this year with Continental and I only have good things to say about the airport. They were so incredibly efficient. It was hectic at customs and immigration when we arrived, yet they had a very effective system going and we sailed through in no time. Ditto for security when going airside. A few things you need to keep in mind if booking your own domestic fights is that many of the US airlines operate their luggage policy pretty much the same way as our budget airlines do - you pay to check any bags. I know that Southwest do give a luggage allowance but you will pay a little more to fly with them. US airlines are fairly generous by UK and European standards when it comes to cabin baggage, which helps a bit, but we have way more luggage with us on the return than we do on the outbound so this is something to keep in mind. It would be worthwhile working out the per bag fee for your checked bags on top of discounted airfares with lower cost airlines vs those like Southwest, where you get your checked bags included in the fare.

 

[penlanspice]

We flew in and out of Newark last month with Virgin and had internal flights with us airways down and back with jet blue, we have flown a number of times with jet blue and for a budget airline they are better in my opinion than a number of US carriers, you get the first bag free think it's 21kg, seat back tvs with live tv, good size seat etc.

I would say if your going to try and see some of New York a day isnt enough, by the time you arrive and get to the hotel I don't think you would have much time, if you try and get an early morning flight to have as much of the day as possible.

 

[DisFanJen]

Unfortunatey avalability on the MCO route with virgin is extremely limited for any free fights. I have been looking for UC rewards flights on a weekend for a while now with no success but could pick any day of the week on LAX route! It MIGHT be worth asking them to look at flights to MIA as they seem to have better avalability

This.

We're flying to and from Miami for exactly this reason, no Miles Flights in or out of MCO, period but no problem to and from MIA.

 

[wildwood]

Thanks for the advice about Newark I have reserved flights with continental at £82 pound each and £70 for my DS , we have got an 8am flight down so it arrives at 10.30 am hopefully giving us plenty of time for a look at new york we dont fly home until the next day at 8am . Got my head around having to fly home this way now and DS is quite excited about going to new york , it was either this or no Florida for us this year and I will do anything to see Mickey mouse

 

[T16GEM]

Glad that you have got it sorted, I was just going to say that we have done the Newark route quite a few times and we really enjoy it.

We like the airport, the facilities there are very good (having spent 12 hours sleeping on their floor once we found that there were lots of things too look at ) we always find that it's a good way to break up the journey too.

Enjoy NY!

 

[Heva2015]

Personally I'd tell them you don't want the vouchers and claim the correct compensation under EU 261/2004 denied boarding but that's just me being awkward!

 

[wayneg]

This.

We're flying to and from Miami for exactly this reason, no Miles Flights in or out of MCO, period but no problem to and from MIA.

Reward seats into MCO are not easy to get but they are there, we got 3 seats for next summer in the sale, we opted for PE (25k pp each way) but eco was also available.
We have also had some great deals in the past with Miles & Money thru the summer, others struggled to find but we managed with a lot of time and patience(eg 5, 6, 7 searches a day, every day for 4 months)

Personally I'd tell them you don't want the vouchers and claim the correct compensation under EU 261/2004 denied boarding but that's just me being awkward!

Doubt that would be possible after they accepted the vouchers intead, wouldn't that waive their rights to the compensation?

 

[Heva2015]

Not if their rights weren't fully explained to them at the time. Airlines must fully explain your rights under the same regulation.

 

[daipp]

Personally I'd tell them you don't want the vouchers and claim the correct compensation under EU 261/2004 denied boarding but that's just me being awkward!

Doesn't that only apply to flights within the European Union?

David

 

[Heva2015]

Nope...

The regulation applies to any passenger:

departing from an airport located in the territory of a Member State to which the Treaty applies;
The protection accorded to passengers departing from OR to an airport located in a Member State should be extended to those leaving an airport located in a third country for one situated in a Member State, when a Community carrier operates the flight and where a community carrier is defined as any carrier licensed to operate within that community.

departing from an EU member state, or
travelling to an EU member state on an airline based in an EU member state
if that person has:

a confirmed reservation on the flight, and
arrived in time for check-in as indicated on the ticket or communication from the airline, or, if no time is so indicated, no less than 45 minutes prior to the scheduled departure time of the flight

 

[irongirlof12]

If you complain and have the energy to do so you may get somewher as Heva suggests, personally i can complain sucessfully for others but not for myself.
I think i just run out of energy. If it helps i think you have a good case but you do need to persist and speak to the right people.

 

[wildwood]

Hello all and a merry xmas , just a bit of an update I have now sorted out all flights down to Newark and booked a hotel at Newark airport all at a price we are happy with . I have also recived just yesterday an answer to my two page email to customer services where I outlined all the trouble we have had trying to book , the up shout is that they have now started an investigation into the adviser who dealt with me and have appoligised for the way I was treated and have given myself and husband 5000 flying club miles each . Although I am happy that they have made an effort to respond I just wish I never had to complain in the first place and hope when we fly with them in August they do not give my any grounds to complain again .

 

[cabmom]

We tried every route possible even looked at coming back form las vegas until I found out how hard it was to get from Orlando to las vegas . I will be phoning them again tommorow to confirm we want those flights from newark hopefully no one has messed around with the dates this time , I did make her confrim the dates of travel three times as they made me feel like I was going around the bend Just need to sort our flights down to newark now got prices today for $119 each if anyone knows any good places to search for these let me know .

Try the flight search website called www.kayak.com, then go to the actual airline website.
Travelling from Newark Airport to NYC is not easy around 12am, plan accordingly. You either take the bus from the downtown terminal or a train.
Good luck!

 

[penlanspice]

Try the flight search website called www.kayak.com, then go to the actual airline website.
Travelling from Newark Airport to NYC is not easy around 12am, plan accordingly. You either take the bus from the downtown terminal or a train.
Good luck!

OP has already booked her flights.

 

[kizzy212]

Glad everything is sort for you all..

 

[seashoreCM]

Before accepting a voluntary bump you need to know the terms and conditions of vouchers etc. Seasoned U.S. travelers who volunteer opt for dollars off vouchers instead of free trips (or don't bother to volunteer) because the free trip is quite restricted in choice of dates and destinations.