Hi everyone,
I’ve joined this forum to see if any of my fellow travellers can offer any advice.
Just over two weeks ago (Friday 4th March), after a terrible connecting flight with Delta from Minneapolis, I checked in at LAX to board VA8 to BNE thoroughly looking forward to my Business Class seat so I could work for a few hours and then sleep the rest of the way (it had been a long week in the freezing cold of the northern Mid West).
On check in at LAX, I was informed that Delta had cancelled my flight and that there were no seats available in Business Class, the best that they could do was Premium Economy for the same flight or Business Class the next day.
Neither option was attractive to me as I had to fly to Melbourne on the Monday morning (with Virgin Blue) to present to our companies regional annual customer conference and had hoped to spend the flight working on my presentation and then sleeping to get ready for the week ahead.
My protests that a) I was a Velocity Gold member (3 years +), b) had a valid Business Class ticket and c) Delta booked my baggage all the way to BNE so would not have cancelled my ticket all fell on deaf ears, in fact, the whole check in experience was far from what I would have expected.
So, I opted to get the Premium Economy seat as it was essential that I made the flight that day so I would arrive in BNE on the Sunday morning, as it was made clear this was the only way I would get home.
Once seated (in the middle, not too happy about that), I then found that the PAX next to me had been upgraded from Economy due to the flight being overbooked – confirming my thoughts that my ticket had not been cancelled, just that I was the unlucky one who checked in last and had to sacrifice my seat.
I do have to say that during the flight, the FAs could not have treated me better. I was served dinner and breakfast in the Business Class bar and the head FA was constantly coming to check on me during the flight when I was seated – he even brought me a pair of pyjamas at the end of the flight to take home for my girlfriend as a souvenir!
Where my disappointment lies, and where I would like advise, is as follows:
Has anyone had any similar experiences, know where I stand with my rights, or have any advice they can give?
Does anyone know what I should be asking for in terms of compensation and what I am likely to receive?
All advice greatly welcomed!
Thanks
I’ve joined this forum to see if any of my fellow travellers can offer any advice.
Just over two weeks ago (Friday 4th March), after a terrible connecting flight with Delta from Minneapolis, I checked in at LAX to board VA8 to BNE thoroughly looking forward to my Business Class seat so I could work for a few hours and then sleep the rest of the way (it had been a long week in the freezing cold of the northern Mid West).
On check in at LAX, I was informed that Delta had cancelled my flight and that there were no seats available in Business Class, the best that they could do was Premium Economy for the same flight or Business Class the next day.
Neither option was attractive to me as I had to fly to Melbourne on the Monday morning (with Virgin Blue) to present to our companies regional annual customer conference and had hoped to spend the flight working on my presentation and then sleeping to get ready for the week ahead.
My protests that a) I was a Velocity Gold member (3 years +), b) had a valid Business Class ticket and c) Delta booked my baggage all the way to BNE so would not have cancelled my ticket all fell on deaf ears, in fact, the whole check in experience was far from what I would have expected.
So, I opted to get the Premium Economy seat as it was essential that I made the flight that day so I would arrive in BNE on the Sunday morning, as it was made clear this was the only way I would get home.
Once seated (in the middle, not too happy about that), I then found that the PAX next to me had been upgraded from Economy due to the flight being overbooked – confirming my thoughts that my ticket had not been cancelled, just that I was the unlucky one who checked in last and had to sacrifice my seat.
I do have to say that during the flight, the FAs could not have treated me better. I was served dinner and breakfast in the Business Class bar and the head FA was constantly coming to check on me during the flight when I was seated – he even brought me a pair of pyjamas at the end of the flight to take home for my girlfriend as a souvenir!
Where my disappointment lies, and where I would like advise, is as follows:
- I was informed by the head FA (after a 20 minute interview after dinner about my experience) that I would be contacted by VA customer service the next week to sort out compensation - no contact has been made
- I made a separate formal complaint to VA on my return home (via the web site form – anyone know of another ways of complaining?) and have had no reply (apart from the automated response with ref number) after nearly two weeks
Has anyone had any similar experiences, know where I stand with my rights, or have any advice they can give?
Does anyone know what I should be asking for in terms of compensation and what I am likely to receive?
All advice greatly welcomed!
Thanks