Bahnhof Strasse
Met up with Hannah Courtoy a week next Tuesday
Virgin?
Travel plans, abandoned holidays and refund advice
- Thread starter paul mckenna
- Start date
Virgin?
not-bono-ever
meh
Yup
planetgeli
There's no future in England's dreaming
Covid: Ryanair will not offer refunds for November flights
The airline will allow passengers to change their travel plans for free amid new lockdown measures.
www.bbc.co.uk
Leaving aside you'd have to have been pretty stupid to book with RyanAir for November (though in mitigation to anyone who did, their marketing was incessant) - what a bunch of cunts.
I commented on that BBC story and had my comment immediately deleted. This is what I said.
"I was promised a refund on March 27th and actually got it, after much to-ing and fro-ing and being offered vouchers I didn't want on numerous occasions, 6 months later on Sep 27th. Your story alludes to them paying out 1.5 billion euros. If they've taken six months to pay everyone (and many say they still haven't been paid) then at a very conservative interest rate of 1% (and I'm sure they have better investment managers than that) they have gained 15 million euros in interest alone.
I wouldn't give a damn if they went bust."
I wonder which bit of that was unacceptable for the BBC?
miss direct
misfungled
Would I be really stupid to book a £50 flight to Turkey for the end of December? I have some banking to sort out there, as well as all my worldly possessions, which need to be sorted out/stored/shipped. I can do quarantine on return without a problem.
planetgeli
There's no future in England's dreaming
As long as you're ok with getting vouchers if it does get cancelled, and if you're ok with the possibility of losing those vouchers should the company go bust in the meantime (and more airlines must start going bust sooner or later) then go for it.
But if you definitely can't afford to lose £50 or you have to guarantee going end of December...not so good.
Bahnhof Strasse
Met up with Hannah Courtoy a week next Tuesday
If the flight is cancelled you will get a refund, even from Ryanair, although they have taken ages to do it, as have Swiss Air and Singapore Air (the two worst that I have had dealings with).
What Ryanair is saying is that they won’t refund if their flight operates but you can’t travel due to restrictions, they will allow you to change it without penalty, which is in line with what they and most others have been doing since March. You have to pay any fare difference and I have not seen any Ryanair change that has not had a fare difference to pay...
MickiQ
In My Defence I was left Unsupervised
So what happens if no-one or (nearly no-one) is booked on the flight? do they intend to run an empty plane with no one on it so they don't have to give the money back? There must become a point at the which it is cost-efficient to just cancel and refund.
Bahnhof Strasse
Met up with Hannah Courtoy a week next Tuesday
The flight would normally go as they have obligations to the airports. If it were say London to Berlin and they had three flights in a day and only 100 bookings between the three of them they may consolidate all the passengers on to one flight and come up with some old fanny about technical issues.
But as all airlines are on a massively reduced schedule right now most flights are fairly full.
miss direct
misfungled
I think I'll go for it. I imagine there will be Turkish students and others wanting to go back for New Year (so demand will be there...hopefully).
cybershot
Well-Known Member
My saga still continues. GroupOn were chatty for a while and said they would take it up with the supplier and get back to me in 7 days. 2 months later they replied yesterday telling me a refund was no longer available and to email the supplier to arrange new dates before 30 Dec. Now considering I haven't had a response from the merchant in now 5 months, and it's took groupon 2 months, it doesn't fill me with much confidence that they would even hold that up. Not that I am after that anyway. They offered me a 90% refund in May, and that's what I want minimum.
In between this I filed a section 75 with my bank, and told not to contact them unless I hadn't heard anything for 6 week. Of course 6 weeks past, but thankfully they were quite helpful and apparntly I'd put the wrong date for the transaction on the form (should have took a screenshot) and they had emailed me on the 10th Oct for more info. Of which I never received an email (now starting to make me wonder if my gmail is being iffy, but I doubt it, and I checked my spam and it's not there either)
I should apparently now hear from the bank on the outcome before the end of this month.
In a bit of a rage I told GroupOn yesterday their response isn't good enough, and told them to either refund me 90% or I will let the bank deal with it. Probably shouldn't have given them the heads up on that.
I partly doubt the S75 will go through anyway as GroupOn theortically have supplied what they said they would. A voucher. But therotically, isn't that what all travel agents supply anyway?
We'll see what happens, but I can see this turning into £1200 down the drain. If the S75 fails then I will raise a small claims court as a last resort. As surely someone somewhere has renegaded on what the terms and conditions were at the time, and for EuroPlays to offer a 90% refund and then go back on it, is pretty shithouse behaviour. GroupOn will still be around when this is all over, and I suspect they've more than made up some coffers with shitty £20 spa day offers that many people just can't be arsed to argue the toss over, and I'd probably have been one of those, but this is £1200. Luckily I'm not missing it, but it's the principal, and now the absolute terrible customer service that means I won't give up on this until some court tells me otherwise.
The one time I've used GroupOn. Never fucking again, or any other shitty voucher style website.
cybershot
Well-Known Member
Well, spin my nipplenuts and send me to Alaska!
Not counting my chickens until I see it in my bank account mind!
scalyboy
They’re taking the piss now
Has anyone had any experience getting a private Covid test done prior to flying to a country requiring a certificate? They seem to be shockingly expensive in the UK, £100 and upwards. Cheapest I could find was £86 and that was after a special discount for BA customers!
Bahnhof Strasse
Met up with Hannah Courtoy a week next Tuesday
Not had one myself, but arranged quite a few for customers. And yes, £100 seems to be the starting point. If you need one in less than 24 hours you're looking at >£250 in most cases. More if the nurse comes to you or you need it done on a Sunday (many places only accept a result less than 72 hours old so Sunday testing is essential for some travellers).
This will come down though; as of today Lufthansa's 0910 Munich to Hamburg flight is testing all passengers free of charge at the airport and is a Covid-negative flight, in that only people tested at the airport are allowed on. The test is free, with a view to getting the German (and other) governments to accept this as the way forward, if it does become the standard way of doing things then the cost will be built in to the ticket price, possibly in the taxes as fuel surcharges or airport security fees currently are. Airlines like Ryanair with £10 tickets will be driving down the costs of the tests to keep their overall fares cheap.
not-bono-ever
meh
Positive family COVID test 48 hours before flight. Oh my....that’s a spanner in the works
Bahnhof Strasse
Met up with Hannah Courtoy a week next Tuesday
Contact airline ASAP to convert flight to voucher. Do not be a no-show for the flight.
not-bono-ever
meh
Yep. It’s virgin. They never answer
Bahnhof Strasse
Met up with Hannah Courtoy a week next Tuesday
Did you use miles? If so contact Flying Club.
If not keep trying, if you are a no-show you lose everything...
If you really can't get through by phone, try the Upper Class line, 0844 579 1111, if someone in their Welsh office answers (South Wales, so strong accent) they are much more helpful than the Crawley office who will tell you to fuck off to the pleb line, so keep calling until you hear a lovely Welsh voice answer
If all else fails at least email them: customer.care@fly.virgin.com
Hope none of you get ill.
Johnny Doe
Well-Known Member
Waiting on test results as I type - due by 12 noon tomorrow for Friday morning flight. £300 for the 4 of us
not-bono-ever
meh
Cheers
not-bono-ever
meh
Cancelled and fully refunded by WhatsApp in the middle of the night. Never used WhatsApp for this kinda thing before
Winot
I wholeheartedley agree with your viewpoint
Just cancelled BA flights to NYC in August (bought last Sept when going cheap/flexible).
Was dreading being on hold/long argument etc. but could do it online and got voucher by return email. Needs to be used by end April 2022. Hoping either for Christmas NYC or Tokyo Easter trip, pandemic allowing.
Was dreading being on hold/long argument etc. but could do it online and got voucher by return email. Needs to be used by end April 2022. Hoping either for Christmas NYC or Tokyo Easter trip, pandemic allowing.
Bahnhof Strasse
Met up with Hannah Courtoy a week next Tuesday
Are you sure you must fly by April, check again, should be just book by April for travel after that time.
And every chance they will extend that yet again, especially as the Far East doesn't look like opening much before Easter 2022...
Winot
I wholeheartedley agree with your viewpoint
Ah brilliant just checked and it says:
"The voucher expires on 30 April 2023."
So even better.
trashpony
Hag
Can urban help me make a decision please? I stupidly (before realising covid would become a global pandemic), booked flights to the Azores in January 2020 for August 2020. Of course the only bloody airline that flies direct is fucking Ryanair.
I paid to move my flights to this summer. In theory we can go, but there's loads of restrictions/tests while we're there plus we'd have to isolate for 10 days when we get back (or pay for that 5 day release thing) and the whole thing would be a massive faff and expensive. I can't now move the flights beyond next March.
So my options are either:
1. Go and put up with masks and pay ££ for loads of bloody tests plus a 2 hour drive home at midnight as we can't stay at a hotel overnight on the way back like I was planning
2. Pay £180 now to move the flights to March and then another £180 to move them once the summer flight schedule opens plus extra flight costs (as the summer ones are more expensive so I will have to pay the difference)
3. Just move on - accept I've lost the money I've paid for for the flights. Don't fall for the sunk costs fallacy any more!
Fucking covid
I paid to move my flights to this summer. In theory we can go, but there's loads of restrictions/tests while we're there plus we'd have to isolate for 10 days when we get back (or pay for that 5 day release thing) and the whole thing would be a massive faff and expensive. I can't now move the flights beyond next March.
So my options are either:
1. Go and put up with masks and pay ££ for loads of bloody tests plus a 2 hour drive home at midnight as we can't stay at a hotel overnight on the way back like I was planning
2. Pay £180 now to move the flights to March and then another £180 to move them once the summer flight schedule opens plus extra flight costs (as the summer ones are more expensive so I will have to pay the difference)
3. Just move on - accept I've lost the money I've paid for for the flights. Don't fall for the sunk costs fallacy any more!
Fucking covid
Spymaster
Plastic Paddy
When are you supposed to be going trashpony ? I'm not sure the restrictions will be as harsh as you think.
Why can't you stay in a hotel?
Bahnhof Strasse
Why can't you stay in a hotel?
Bahnhof Strasse
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miss direct
misfungled
Bahnhof Strasse
Met up with Hannah Courtoy a week next Tuesday
Currently travelling to the Azores is fine for fully vaccinated people (2nd jab at least 2 weeks prior to travel). You need a PCR test prior to travel. Unvaccinated people must quarantine for 2 weeks, so no point in going.
The current rules for returning are PCR test before heading to the UK, 10 days quarantine, tests on days 2 & 8 and an optional day 5 test to leave quarantine early.
However...
Portugal's restrictions will be reviewed on 11th July and may well change, (Germany is dropping the requirement for UK arrivals to quarantine from tomorrow). Also the UK's arrival requirements will have changed by August, Shapps will be giving us the finer details later this week, I am expecting it to be no quarantine for fully vaccinated people and just one test prior to travel, or possibly even no tests. Watch this space.
The Azores are stunning, so do try and go if you can.
The current rules for returning are PCR test before heading to the UK, 10 days quarantine, tests on days 2 & 8 and an optional day 5 test to leave quarantine early.
However...
Portugal's restrictions will be reviewed on 11th July and may well change, (Germany is dropping the requirement for UK arrivals to quarantine from tomorrow). Also the UK's arrival requirements will have changed by August, Shapps will be giving us the finer details later this week, I am expecting it to be no quarantine for fully vaccinated people and just one test prior to travel, or possibly even no tests. Watch this space.
The Azores are stunning, so do try and go if you can.
trashpony
Hag
Mid August. Because if we have to isolate when we get back (which we would, even if they change the rules for vaccinated people), you have to go straight to your place of isolation.
The cost of going with tests? I reckon we're looking at around £200-300 for tests plus another £150 kennel fees (assuming I have to isolate for 5 days). So it's about the same/probably cheaper to go now rather than delay until next year (again!). But it's not just the cost. We will also have to test on days 6 and day 12 of the trip, and you have to isolate for 24 hours until you get the results of those tests. It just all feels a bit of hassle and not much fun
trashpony
Hag
Thank you Bahnhof Strasse - that's an even mix of reassuring/alarming! 
I thought the quarantine only applied to mainland Portugal, not the Azores? The foal is only 14 so if he has to quarantine, there's no point in going
I thought the quarantine only applied to mainland Portugal, not the Azores? The foal is only 14 so if he has to quarantine, there's no point in going
Bahnhof Strasse
Met up with Hannah Courtoy a week next Tuesday
Thank you Bahnhof Strasse - that's an even mix of reassuring/alarming!
I thought the quarantine only applied to mainland Portugal, not the Azores? The foal is only 14 so if he has to quarantine, there's no point in going
No, you are right, Azores doesn't require the quarantine.
Wait and see what happens, we'll know by the end of this week what the UK's new rules will look like, we should hear next week if Portugal has changed their rules too.
