historyphd

I did something rather stupid earlier this year and just want to confirm my stupidity.

I had a return flight from Delhi to London, and another from London to the US, booked on two separate itineraries. I missed both my flights & did not bother to call the airlines in advance for complex reasons.

I am assuming there is no way I can re-coup the value of these tickets. Am I correct? Both were on Virgin. Yes, I know this was dumb . Thanks!

Server

I'm assuming they were not refundable? In which case, there's really no hope. Why did you miss both flight might I ask?

eigenvector

Depending on fare rules a no-show pax may be able to ask for a refund of government-imposed surcharges. I have seen language like "if ticket is not cancelled prior to departure, no residual value; taxes can be refunded" in fare rules of European carriers. You need to find the specific detailed fare rules that applied to your ticket.

historyphd

Pasted below are the rules. I think Server is probably right?

Are those government charges worth recouping? I am not seeing the breakdown of the fares on the itinerary.

Server, I missed the flights because I wanted to stay in India longer. Still here in fact! Now I am looking for a one way ticket back to USA.

THANK YOU both!




**
Cancellations before departure charge usd 100.00. note - text below not validated for autopricing. refunds apply to completely unused tickets as long as reservations have been canceled prior to the ticketed flight departure time. all refunds must be processed through bsp/arc by the ticketing agent. penalty does not apply to infants under 2 years of age not occupying a seat. after departure ticket is non-refundable. note - text below not validated for autopricing. if reservation for ticketed flight is not canceled prior to flight departure - ticket has no value changes before departure charge usd 100.00. note - text below not validated for autopricing. where changes are permitted the passenger must abide by all rules of the fare including advance res/tktg for the outbound flights and min/max stay. the passenger must be rebooked in the same booking class as the original reservation. - reservations must be changed on or before the original travel date shown on the flight coupon concerned. all changes must be made in the original reservation. changes which are requested after the original travel date shown on the flight coupon concerned are not permitted and the ticket has no value. - before departure - inbound/outbound date/flight changes permitted free of charge when made at least 7 days prior to the scheduled date 100usd change fee applied to the date/flight changes made within 7 days of scheduled flight plus the fare difference when upgrading to a higher booking class or travel period. after departure charge usd 25.00. note - text below not validated for autopricing. where changes are permitted the passenger must abide by all rules of the fare including advance res/tktg for the outbound flights and min/max stay. the passenger must be rebooked in the same booking class as the original reservation. - reservations must be changed on or before the original travel date shown on the flight coupon concerned. all changes must be made in the original reservation. changes which are requested after the original travel date shown on the flight coupon concerned are not permitted and the ticket has no value.

JY1024

Welcome to FlyerTalk, historyphd.

As it appears that the flights and fare rules in question pertain to Virgin Atlantic, we'll move your thread over to the more appropriate forum. Thanks. /JY1024, TravelBuzz co-moderator

historyphd

Thanks! Very impressed you figured that out. You guys know your stuff!

Nottingham Nick

To the OP - You are a little vague, but I sense that your missing the flights was a choice you made - rather than some bad thing that happened to you?

On one hand this is good news, but on the other hand I don't suppose it is possible to claim on your travel insurance, if this was the case?

Good luck with your quest for one way flights - you may be able to hop back to the UK on LCC's that sell one way tickets for half the round trip fare, (maybe via Dubai?) but a one way transatlantic will be VERY expensive, unless you have points to burn.

Nick

ANstar

Norwegian offer some pretty competitive one way fares from London Gatwick to various points in the USA.

Nottingham Nick

Hmm, didn't know that. So...... Fly Dubai from India to Prague, Bucharest or other Eastern European city via DXB then Easyjet / Ryanair to UK then Norwegian to the US? - not easy, not particularly cheap - especially if you are booking last minute with non-flexible dates, but I would imagine that it is cheaper than a one way with a major carrier.


Nick

UKtravelbear

If you cancelled in advance then the most you would get back (unless on a full fat refundable ticket) would be Government taxes (APD etc) and airport fees less the admin charge.

However as the OP simply no-showed and didn't contact VS at the time then they may not get anything back

There won't be any 'credit' held for them to use on a future flight (unlike what happens with US airlines)

OP would need to contact VS for this. No need to make up a story just state the facts - 'I no showed on X booking will I get the taxes and fees back?'

historyphd

Thank you all for these very helpful posts. I was finding a pretty decent rate (sub $700) for my return flight, have a little over a month.

Yes, nothing bad happened to me! I got a good opportunity and took it but this fell through the cracks in the rush.

I will do as UKtravelbear suggests & will also report back what fare I got.

historyphd

DEL-AUH-FCO-DTW
There is a long (~22 hours) layover in Rome. It was around $590.

Using Priceline/Hipmunk...

Since I have more time than money, it will work for me. The other fare I was getting was around $750. I figure with the money I saved I can pop into Rome during the long layover and eat some good non-vegetarian food after 10 months in India, possibly spend the night in the city!

Thank you for your help. :-)