Virgin EU261 Claim
Aug 7, 2021, 11:35 pm
#1
Original Poster
Join Date: Dec 2019
Posts: 23
Virgin EU261 Claim
I'll spare all the miniscule details but I had a VS flight LAX to LHR cancelled on my family and me in Dec 2020, 5 pax total. No notification of cancellation, I only found out whilst trying to check in 24hrs prior to departure. I went through the motions of claiming 600EU per passenger and of course was rebuffed. All sorts of nonsense (lies actually) from Virgin about the circumstances surrounding the cancellation such as "Covid", a "WHO pandemic" , that the contract of carriage guarantees basically nothing, that I was notified > 14 days out etc. etc. The 3 month email thread between their claims dept. and me was ridiculous. Eventually I sent it to Aviation ADR who found in my favor this week for 3000 EU total.
I was surprised - not because the claim was ill founded but because I was under the assumption that all the ADRs are in the airline's pocket.
First time I've done the ADR route myself. In times past I've had success handing off EU261 claims to Bott and Co. In fact on the outward leg of this RT flight I was rerouted via MAN / AMS (on KLM) which resulted in a sizeable delay. Bott served Virgin for these flights a couple of weeks ago. I am quite sure this will also be successful.
I was surprised - not because the claim was ill founded but because I was under the assumption that all the ADRs are in the airline's pocket.
First time I've done the ADR route myself. In times past I've had success handing off EU261 claims to Bott and Co. In fact on the outward leg of this RT flight I was rerouted via MAN / AMS (on KLM) which resulted in a sizeable delay. Bott served Virgin for these flights a couple of weeks ago. I am quite sure this will also be successful.
Aug 9, 2021, 4:19 pm
#2
Join Date: May 2016
Posts: 1,167
I'll spare all the miniscule details but I had a VS flight LAX to LHR cancelled on my family and me in Dec 2020, 5 pax total. No notification of cancellation, I only found out whilst trying to check in 24hrs prior to departure. I went through the motions of claiming 600EU per passenger and of course was rebuffed. All sorts of nonsense (lies actually) from Virgin about the circumstances surrounding the cancellation such as "Covid", a "WHO pandemic" , that the contract of carriage guarantees basically nothing, that I was notified > 14 days out etc. etc. The 3 month email thread between their claims dept. and me was ridiculous. Eventually I sent it to Aviation ADR who found in my favor this week for 3000 EU total.
I was surprised - not because the claim was ill founded but because I was under the assumption that all the ADRs are in the airline's pocket.
First time I've done the ADR route myself. In times past I've had success handing off EU261 claims to Bott and Co. In fact on the outward leg of this RT flight I was rerouted via MAN / AMS (on KLM) which resulted in a sizeable delay. Bott served Virgin for these flights a couple of weeks ago. I am quite sure this will also be successful.
I was surprised - not because the claim was ill founded but because I was under the assumption that all the ADRs are in the airline's pocket.
First time I've done the ADR route myself. In times past I've had success handing off EU261 claims to Bott and Co. In fact on the outward leg of this RT flight I was rerouted via MAN / AMS (on KLM) which resulted in a sizeable delay. Bott served Virgin for these flights a couple of weeks ago. I am quite sure this will also be successful.
Anyway well done, but perhaps pay closer attention to future bookings and the news.
Aug 9, 2021, 5:08 pm
#3
Original Poster
Join Date: Dec 2019
Posts: 23
Good result getting some dosh back, but not checking your flight is operating smoothly until just 24hrs beforehand seems somewhat strange on your part? I dont think its a lie for anybody (including virgin) to say Covid/WHO pandemic is responsible for the cancellation of their flights etc... this seems quite plausible, given we are still in a global pandemic (you do read the papers etc right?), now whether that means virgin don't have responsibilities to get you to your final destination etc thats another story...
Anyway well done, but perhaps pay closer attention to future bookings and the news.
Anyway well done, but perhaps pay closer attention to future bookings and the news.
The same flight # the day before and the same flight # the day after was not cancelled.
What is plausible about them telling me "Covid/The Pandemic" caused my flight to be cancelled ? If an airline gave you a throw away statement like this to avoid paying compensation you would not believe it would you ?
The pandemic was here and covid was here when they sold me the ticket. EU261 allows plenty of wiggle room to the airline to cancel for any reason they want as long as it is > 14 days out.
(I had checked several times in Dec the flight was still operational, it was - this isn't the first time I've flown. I'll largely ignore the patronizing advice about reading the papers, following the news etc..)
Last edited by Shagger12; Aug 9, 2021 at 5:25 pm
Aug 10, 2021, 2:35 am
#4
Join Date: May 2016
Posts: 1,167
They lied.
The same flight # the day before and the same flight # the day after was not cancelled.
What is plausible about them telling me "Covid/The Pandemic" caused my flight to be cancelled ? If an airline gave you a throw away statement like this to avoid paying compensation you would not believe it would you ?
The pandemic was here and covid was here when they sold me the ticket. EU261 allows plenty of wiggle room to the airline to cancel for any reason they want as long as it is > 14 days out.
(I had checked several times in Dec the flight was still operational, it was - this isn't the first time I've flown. I'll largely ignore the patronizing advice about reading the papers, following the news etc..)
The same flight # the day before and the same flight # the day after was not cancelled.
What is plausible about them telling me "Covid/The Pandemic" caused my flight to be cancelled ? If an airline gave you a throw away statement like this to avoid paying compensation you would not believe it would you ?
The pandemic was here and covid was here when they sold me the ticket. EU261 allows plenty of wiggle room to the airline to cancel for any reason they want as long as it is > 14 days out.
(I had checked several times in Dec the flight was still operational, it was - this isn't the first time I've flown. I'll largely ignore the patronizing advice about reading the papers, following the news etc..)
PS I did think EU261 compensation was not being paid for flight delays during the pandemic, but clearly you got paid, thanks for the post.
Aug 12, 2021, 11:40 am
#5
Original Poster
Join Date: Dec 2019
Posts: 23
It was tricky to pickup on exactly what happened by the way you wrote the post... i read that you hadn't checked until 24hours before the flight... i couldnt tell if virgin had/had not actually sent you a cancellation notification +14 dy... i couldnt tell if you believed there was a pandemic etc... Anyway you are right i was patronizing, so I apologise about that.
PS I did think EU261 compensation was not being paid for flight delays during the pandemic, but clearly you got paid, thanks for the post.
PS I did think EU261 compensation was not being paid for flight delays during the pandemic, but clearly you got paid, thanks for the post.
"I did think EU261 compensation was not being paid for flight delays during the pandemic" - this is exactly what the airlines likes us to believe.
In reality EU261 is extremely difficult for the airlines to weasel out of. "Weasel", because this is exactly what they do.