Originally Posted by mechteach

It's taken a little while, but the ultimate outcome of the date/flight changes for my trip are as follows:

- V Australia canceled my travel without penalty
- I rebooked us on United flights the whole way

Even though this ended up saving us money, and netted us each 15,000+ more EQMs on my preferred alliance, I actually have mixed feelings about this. The V Australia product looks like it will be pretty awesome, and my UA flights will be in economy (albeit E+) on a 747 - yuck.

When you call the reservation number, they can't do anything for you in terms of rebooking on another carrier/fee-free cancellation. They can change your flight dates, even very far into the future, without penalties. They can also add in a stopover/side trip for you free of charge. The reservation agent can pass along your information to the special "guest relations" office, or give you the direct number in Australia to call for that. That office ALWAYS goes to an answering machine, and then they call you back, ostensibly within 48 hours.

Everyone I talked to at V Australia was very, very nice, and seemed sincerely apologetic about this situation. I don't feel comfortable posting the full back story of my discussions with them here, but feel free to PM me if you would like more info.