Booked Award Travel. Can I cancel the booking and receive a refund of taxes and Fees?
Dec 26, 2010, 6:46 am
#1
Original Poster
Join Date: Jul 2005
Location: East Coast
Programs: UA Lifetime Gold, AA Lifetime Platinum, Delta PM, Marriott Gold, Hilton Diamond
Posts: 1,522
Booked Award Travel. Can I cancel the booking and receive a refund of taxes and Fees?
I booked an award traval from LHR-IAD for Jan 3rd but I found award on BA for my desired destination on LHR-PHL. Will VS refund me the fees and taxes if I cancel the award travel.
Thanks
Thanks
Dec 26, 2010, 12:12 pm
#3
Original Poster
Join Date: Jul 2005
Location: East Coast
Programs: UA Lifetime Gold, AA Lifetime Platinum, Delta PM, Marriott Gold, Hilton Diamond
Posts: 1,522
Dec 26, 2010, 2:45 pm
#4
Join Date: Jan 2007
Location: Canary Wharf, London
Programs: MyWaitrose, IC Spire Ambassador, Hilton Diamond & BAEC Gold
Posts: 2,685
Not sure about the miles, but on my last e-ticket for a miles booking it says
Changes Charge gbp 25.00/usd 50.00.
Cancellations Before departure charge gbp 30.00/usd 50.00 for cancel.
Cancellations Before departure charge gbp 30.00/usd 50.00 for cancel.
Dec 27, 2010, 5:06 am
#5
Join Date: Aug 2007
Location: Wellington, NZ
Programs: NZ *Gold
Posts: 1,371
You might be too late for miles recredit?
T&C's are quite specific. 75% miles will be returned for cancellations OUTSIDE of 7 days, within 7 days no miles will be returned. I guess outside 7 days means -8 days before - today is 27 Dec - travel on 3rd - you're cutting it really fine.
4.2.1 Once reward tickets are issued, you may amend your travel date, route or class of service prior to travel for an amendment fee of £25 for changes in the UK, US$50 for changes in the US or local currency equivalent of US$50 for changes in any other region. Where the reward is a companion ticket and the person travelling on the paying ticket changes his or her flight or class of travel, the companion ticket may be similarly amended for the same amendment fees, subject to availability of seats and other conditions laid down by Virgin Atlantic.
Once tickets are issued, no name changes are allowed. If for any reason a flight reward is not taken up outside 7 days prior to departure, 75% of the miles will be recredited to the member's account. A cancellation fee of £30 for changes in the UK, US$50 for changes in the US or local currency equivalent of US$50 for changes in any other region will apply. If for any reason a flight reward is not taken up inside 7 days of departure, no miles will be refunded and a refund administration fee of £30 will be charged. Once travel has commenced miles cannot be refunded. Miles are not refundable and changes or revalidation are not permitted in case of no-show.
Regards
R3Dv
4.2.1 Once reward tickets are issued, you may amend your travel date, route or class of service prior to travel for an amendment fee of £25 for changes in the UK, US$50 for changes in the US or local currency equivalent of US$50 for changes in any other region. Where the reward is a companion ticket and the person travelling on the paying ticket changes his or her flight or class of travel, the companion ticket may be similarly amended for the same amendment fees, subject to availability of seats and other conditions laid down by Virgin Atlantic.
Once tickets are issued, no name changes are allowed. If for any reason a flight reward is not taken up outside 7 days prior to departure, 75% of the miles will be recredited to the member's account. A cancellation fee of £30 for changes in the UK, US$50 for changes in the US or local currency equivalent of US$50 for changes in any other region will apply. If for any reason a flight reward is not taken up inside 7 days of departure, no miles will be refunded and a refund administration fee of £30 will be charged. Once travel has commenced miles cannot be refunded. Miles are not refundable and changes or revalidation are not permitted in case of no-show.
Regards
R3Dv
Dec 27, 2010, 3:59 pm
#6
Original Poster
Join Date: Jul 2005
Location: East Coast
Programs: UA Lifetime Gold, AA Lifetime Platinum, Delta PM, Marriott Gold, Hilton Diamond
Posts: 1,522
T&C's are quite specific. 75% miles will be returned for cancellations OUTSIDE of 7 days, within 7 days no miles will be returned. I guess outside 7 days means -8 days before - today is 27 Dec - travel on 3rd - you're cutting it really fine.
4.2.1 Once reward tickets are issued, you may amend your travel date, route or class of service prior to travel for an amendment fee of £25 for changes in the UK, US$50 for changes in the US or local currency equivalent of US$50 for changes in any other region. Where the reward is a companion ticket and the person travelling on the paying ticket changes his or her flight or class of travel, the companion ticket may be similarly amended for the same amendment fees, subject to availability of seats and other conditions laid down by Virgin Atlantic.
Once tickets are issued, no name changes are allowed. If for any reason a flight reward is not taken up outside 7 days prior to departure, 75% of the miles will be recredited to the member's account. A cancellation fee of £30 for changes in the UK, US$50 for changes in the US or local currency equivalent of US$50 for changes in any other region will apply. If for any reason a flight reward is not taken up inside 7 days of departure, no miles will be refunded and a refund administration fee of £30 will be charged. Once travel has commenced miles cannot be refunded. Miles are not refundable and changes or revalidation are not permitted in case of no-show.
Regards
R3Dv
4.2.1 Once reward tickets are issued, you may amend your travel date, route or class of service prior to travel for an amendment fee of £25 for changes in the UK, US$50 for changes in the US or local currency equivalent of US$50 for changes in any other region. Where the reward is a companion ticket and the person travelling on the paying ticket changes his or her flight or class of travel, the companion ticket may be similarly amended for the same amendment fees, subject to availability of seats and other conditions laid down by Virgin Atlantic.
Once tickets are issued, no name changes are allowed. If for any reason a flight reward is not taken up outside 7 days prior to departure, 75% of the miles will be recredited to the member's account. A cancellation fee of £30 for changes in the UK, US$50 for changes in the US or local currency equivalent of US$50 for changes in any other region will apply. If for any reason a flight reward is not taken up inside 7 days of departure, no miles will be refunded and a refund administration fee of £30 will be charged. Once travel has commenced miles cannot be refunded. Miles are not refundable and changes or revalidation are not permitted in case of no-show.
Regards
R3Dv
You are correct. I finally got through to a VS rep on the phone after trying for teh past three days. I was told no crediting of miles and a $50 charge 9which is ok for me) but the no miles credited part was too much to take in. Thus, I lost it all and any hopes of VS ever seeing my butt on their plane. My miles were accumulated flying in UC. No more!!!
While VS is a good airline, this farcade of a rule pretty much does it for me. BA, AA, CO/UA it is for travel to and from the Atlantic from JFK/EWR/PHL.
Dec 28, 2010, 1:01 am
#7
Join Date: May 2010
Posts: 138
Well after reading the rules, I think you were too hasty...
I don't know if its possible, someone chime in here, but wouldn't it be possible to change the flight to the same one say 2 months in the future for the change fee of $50 and then later just cancel it (more than 7 days out from departure) to receive 75% of the miles back (for another $50 fee) ?
I don't know if its possible, someone chime in here, but wouldn't it be possible to change the flight to the same one say 2 months in the future for the change fee of $50 and then later just cancel it (more than 7 days out from departure) to receive 75% of the miles back (for another $50 fee) ?
Dec 28, 2010, 4:07 am
#8
Join Date: Aug 2007
Location: Wellington, NZ
Programs: NZ *Gold
Posts: 1,371
RedVee,
You are correct. I finally got through to a VS rep on the phone after trying for teh past three days. I was told no crediting of miles and a $50 charge 9which is ok for me) but the no miles credited part was too much to take in. Thus, I lost it all and any hopes of VS ever seeing my butt on their plane. My miles were accumulated flying in UC. No more!!!
While VS is a good airline, this farcade of a rule pretty much does it for me. BA, AA, CO/UA it is for travel to and from the Atlantic from JFK/EWR/PHL.
You are correct. I finally got through to a VS rep on the phone after trying for teh past three days. I was told no crediting of miles and a $50 charge 9which is ok for me) but the no miles credited part was too much to take in. Thus, I lost it all and any hopes of VS ever seeing my butt on their plane. My miles were accumulated flying in UC. No more!!!
While VS is a good airline, this farcade of a rule pretty much does it for me. BA, AA, CO/UA it is for travel to and from the Atlantic from JFK/EWR/PHL.
Not sure if Catch 23's suggestion would have worked, but don't see why not. On revenue fares, if you pay to upgrade a non cancellable fare to a cancellable one, and then cancel, you only get back the fare difference. But on miles I don't think they would track.
A painful lesson - but you're not the first person to get p*ssed off by something where the onus really was on you to understand the T&Cs of the programme, sorry if that sounds harsh.
Regards
R3dV
Dec 28, 2010, 9:48 pm
#9
Original Poster
Join Date: Jul 2005
Location: East Coast
Programs: UA Lifetime Gold, AA Lifetime Platinum, Delta PM, Marriott Gold, Hilton Diamond
Posts: 1,522
I thought about writing but I'm not going to. They can keep the miles and I learned a valuable lesson flying them.
When all else fails, I will stick to an American flagged airline(AA, UA, and CAL in that order). Their redemption policies, albeit somewhat hard to find a decnet award seat as of late, is still fair and well documented.
VS just lost a bunch of JFK-LHR-JFK C-Class business I planned on doing to obtain Gold status in 2011.
When all else fails, I will stick to an American flagged airline(AA, UA, and CAL in that order). Their redemption policies, albeit somewhat hard to find a decnet award seat as of late, is still fair and well documented.
VS just lost a bunch of JFK-LHR-JFK C-Class business I planned on doing to obtain Gold status in 2011.
Jan 3, 2011, 11:29 am
#10
Moderator: American AAdvantage & Marriott Bonvoy
Join Date: Oct 2002
Location: PHX
Programs: American ExPlat; Marriott/SPG Lifetime Plat; Hyatt Globalist
Posts: 8,116
I don't know if its possible, someone chime in here, but wouldn't it be possible to change the flight to the same one say 2 months in the future for the change fee of $50 and then later just cancel it (more than 7 days out from departure) to receive 75% of the miles back (for another $50 fee) ?
Oct 30, 2011, 4:07 am
#11
Join Date: Apr 2002
Location: london, uk
Programs: some blue some silver some gold
Posts: 550
4.2.1 Once reward tickets are issued, you may amend your travel date, route or class of service prior to travel for an amendment fee of £25 for changes in the UK, US$50 for changes in the US or local currency equivalent of US$50 for changes in any other region. Where the reward is a companion ticket and the person travelling on the paying ticket changes his or her flight or class of travel, the companion ticket may be similarly amended for the same amendment fees, subject to availability of seats and other conditions laid down by Virgin Atlantic.
Once tickets are issued, no name changes are allowed. If for any reason a flight reward is not taken up outside 7 days prior to departure, 75% of the miles will be recredited to the member's account. A cancellation fee of £30 for changes in the UK, US$50 for changes in the US or local currency equivalent of US$50 for changes in any other region will apply. If for any reason a flight reward is not taken up inside 7 days of departure, no miles will be refunded and a refund administration fee of £30 will be charged. Once travel has commenced miles cannot be refunded. Miles are not refundable and changes or revalidation are not permitted in case of no-show.
Regards
R3Dv
Also are the fees still waived for Gold card members?
Thanks
Jul 22, 2012, 1:54 pm
#12
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: May 2002
Location: NC
Programs: AAConciergeKey/1MM, DL DM/2 MM, UA Gold,Hilton Diamond, IHG Plat, Hyatt Globalist, Marriott Titanium
Posts: 11,967
Still wondering about if there are any fee waivers for Gold members? Also, what if you book an award for a basic member from a Gold card member account? Does the waiver still apply?
Jul 23, 2012, 3:22 am
#13
Join Date: Oct 2011
Posts: 632
I had a look at the T&Cs for mileage bookings and I actually couldn't find any mention of the fee waiver, which is odd because I thought I read on vflyer recently that it was still applicable. So: not sure about that one and thus (by definition) I can't answer the second question either. Sorry not to be more helpful.
Jul 23, 2012, 3:37 am
#14
Moderator, Virgin Atlantic
Join Date: Mar 2001
Location: www.V-Flyer.com
Programs: VS Red, Bonvoy Lifetime Titanium - earned out of our own pocket!.
Posts: 2,392
In the 'old days' they also used to have quite a few gold card events, and they also had a few other unwritten perks, and the occasional nice freebie. They also used to op-up golds on a regular basis, and generally make them feel valued.
Now all they seem to do for 'valued loyal customers' is sting us with massive fuel surcharges on redemption flights.
Hey ho - worse things happen at sea.
Nick
Mar 19, 2013, 11:35 am
#15
Join Date: Jul 2011
Posts: 6
I have currently a booking in such a situation.
They seem to have added into their T & C:
"If for any reason a flight reward is cancelled less than 7 days prior to departure, no Miles will be refunded and no fee will be charged. If you change the original travel date (within 7 days of departure) and later decide to cancel your flights, you will forfeit the mileage used for the reward"
Can anyone confirm that it worked recently?