Virgin Holidays - Cancellation

[SidB]

Has anybody out there any experience of cancelling a booking with Virgin Holidays ? We've made a bit of a boo-boo and found something far cheaper.

 

[NatalieD]

I once made a booking for my Dad with Virgin - I booked on the Friday morning and by mid afternoon he had changed his mind (long story!) I phoned them to cancel on the Saturday morning and he lost his deposit. I did read somewhere recently that Virgin are allowing you to change your booking without penalty but I'm not sure if this applies to cancellations though. I would give them a ring.

 

[kipper]

I was recently sent and e-mail from virgin flying club (which I have since deleted )which said that due to the gulf war you could cancel or rebook your flights for another time. I am sorry that i have deleted this e-mail but will try and get some for information

 

[kazzie]

I don't know how you stand with this You would normally lose your deposit or be allowed to change the holiday at n admin cost of (I think) £20 per person which I have done in the past.

But I had that e-mail from virgin too (no longer have it),and if you say you don't want to travel because of the present situation maybe their rules are different?

Why don't you just call them and ask what is the situation if you decide to cancel as your family is now too apprehensive to travel?

Let us know how you get on.

 

[kipper]

Found the detail on the virgin website

"Book Virgin Atlantic flights now, with the flexibility to change for free* later


We understand that booking long-haul travel at such an uncertain time may feel difficult, so we introduced some changes on 14 February 2003 to make booking travel an easier decision for you.

Book and buy your Virgin Atlantic flight now and if, due to the Middle East crisis, you later decide that you want to change your dates, push your travel plans back, or even change your destination, we will make the changes at no extra cost*.

This applies to all existing and new bookings (including flying club reward bookings and to MilesPlusMoney bookings) made in any class on or before 08 April 2003, for travel between the UK and the USA, Hong Kong, Shanghai, Tokyo and Delhi.

We will not charge for the change of booking or for reissue of the ticket at a later date, and would ask that you retain the original tickets to be used as credit towards your next journey with Virgin Atlantic. If you made your booking direct with us (via telephone or our website) please call us to make the changes to your booking on 01293 450 150. If you originally made your booking with a travel agent, please refer back to them for any changes.

All changes must be made by 31 May 2003 and at least 72 hours prior to the original departure date. All travel on the revised itinerary must be completed by 31 December 2003. If your change is to a more expensive flight, then you will need to pay the difference in fare. If your change is to a less expensive flight then we will of course refund the difference.

Terms and Conditions for changes/cancellations

Reservations may either be cancelled and tickets used as credit towards future transportation, or reservations may be rebooked for future dates.
*The passenger will be charged for any difference in fare due to changes in taxes, route, more expensive travel period (i.e. Summer/Easter/ Christmas), day of week (i.e. weekend), higher booking class or cabin.
Refunds will be given where the change results in the passenger traveling in a lower travel period, day of week, booking class or cabin and where taxes have reduced in price.
All changes/cancellations must be made by 31 May 2003 and at least 72 hours prior to departure.
This policy applies to Virgin Atlantic codeshare flights where the ticket/flight number is pre-fixed ‘VS’.
This policy applies to partly completed travel itineraries (e.g. first leg completed but changes required to return trip).
All advance purchase/minimum and maximum stay requirements must be adhered to.
All other restrictions/conditions remain unchanged.
The names of passengers must remain the same as the original tickets.
Any passengers who no-show for a flight will not be eligible to re-book under this policy.
All changes to dates/destinations are subject to availability"



hope this is of some help

 

[SidB]

My wife's been on the phone to Virgin this morning and she's been advised that there is a 7 day cooling off period. She will need to confirm this verbally, and in writing, but it does give us a little while to investigate further.

To fill you in we booked a fly-drive for Easter 2004 for about £2,500. It was a rash decision becasue we could see the seats vanishing hourly. Anyway, I got a quote from Skydeck for £2,200 including accommodation. I've asked them for further details, but I could save a heck of a lot. If I don't like their response i still have the Virgin booking to fall back on.

Fingers crossed it'll all work out.