Bumped from Etihad first to business [Velocity Award]

[Mile hi Si]

Hi guys

Has anyone had any experience with being downgraded? I had a call from Virgin today to say our flight from Abu Dhabi to Zurich had changed planes and there was no first class available on the new flight. It didn't sound right as the flight is on a 787-9 which has the new first cabin, and I could see on EY's website that first was full (EY73 on the 4th July next year). It appears they've oversold the cabin and now we've been bumped, and I've now received an email from VA to say that flight is on hold.

Considering the amount of points required for 2 of us, not to mention the exorbitant surcharges, it's far from ideal, and I just wondered if anyone might have any advice for us?

Appreciate your help!
Thanks in advance

 

[Mattg]

That's unfortunate (to say the least). I can see that your flight will not have a first class cabin, so Virgin is correct.

Can you change to a destination where first class is available? E.g. Munich, Paris or London?

 

[Mile hi Si]

Hi Matt, thanks very much for your help, and great webinar the other day mate....you definitely know your stuff!

Our biggest issue is that our final destination is Split, where we've confirmed accommodation that night, plus we'll be travelling with a 7 month old (due in Dec), so the thought of staying overnight somewhere to catch a flight the next day is logistically a lot harder than if we were on our own. The only option I could see that worked was EY451 / EY11 into LHR, as there's a BA flight leaving at 11.20 which we would make - the other options all arrive too late for us to catch connections as far as I could see. After saying that there was an option into Munich and then out with Lufthansa but the layover was very tight (90 mins), so I was a bit apprehensive....

I spoke to Etihad and they said if VA called the Guest dept they may consider releasing 2 more seats under the circumstances...no sure if that's the case or not but I've given it a try anyway!

It's great when everything works in your favour but frustrating when things like this happen...

 

[bam71]

Hi Matt, thanks very much for your help, and great webinar the other day mate....you definitely know your stuff!

Our biggest issue is that our final destination is Split, where we've confirmed accommodation that night, plus we'll be travelling with a 7 month old (due in Dec), so the thought of staying overnight somewhere to catch a flight the next day is logistically a lot harder than if we were on our own. The only option I could see that worked was EY451 / EY11 into LHR, as there's a BA flight leaving at 11.20 which we would make - the other options all arrive too late for us to catch connections as far as I could see. After saying that there was an option into Munich and then out with Lufthansa but the layover was very tight (90 mins), so I was a bit apprehensive....

I spoke to Etihad and they said if VA called the Guest dept they may consider releasing 2 more seats under the circumstances...no sure if that's the case or not but I've given it a try anyway!

It's great when everything works in your favour but frustrating when things like this happen...

the GDS is showing only up to J class on the 4th July, it's showing there is no first class cabin that day from Abu Dhabi to ZRH, so I doubt they can "release a seat" for a cabin that doesn;t exist (anymore) :-(

 

[Mattg]

Hi Matt, thanks very much for your help, and great webinar the other day mate....you definitely know your stuff!

Our biggest issue is that our final destination is Split, where we've confirmed accommodation that night, plus we'll be travelling with a 7 month old (due in Dec), so the thought of staying overnight somewhere to catch a flight the next day is logistically a lot harder than if we were on our own. The only option I could see that worked was EY451 / EY11 into LHR, as there's a BA flight leaving at 11.20 which we would make - the other options all arrive too late for us to catch connections as far as I could see. After saying that there was an option into Munich and then out with Lufthansa but the layover was very tight (90 mins), so I was a bit apprehensive....

I spoke to Etihad and they said if VA called the Guest dept they may consider releasing 2 more seats under the circumstances...no sure if that's the case or not but I've given it a try anyway!

It's great when everything works in your favour but frustrating when things like this happen...

Frankfurt could be another option. I see that there should be 2x first award seats on EY451/EY1 SYD-AUH-FRA arriving in Frankfurt around 7am on 4 July. You then have a comfortable 5 hour layover before the Croatia Airlines flight to Split departs at 12:05.

 

[Mile hi Si]

Thanks for that.. I tried that option but there wasn't any availability. I just checked again and there still doesn't seem to be any on expert flyer or Etihad's website. Are you seeing something I can't see perhaps?
Thanks in advance
Simon

 

[Mattg]

Thanks for that.. I tried that option but there wasn't any availability. I just checked again and there still doesn't seem to be any on expert flyer or Etihad's website. Are you seeing something I can't see perhaps?
Thanks in advance
Simon

Screenshot from the Etihad Guest website:



If you call Virgin, they should have access to the same availability and be able to move you to the Frankfurt flight.

 

[im.daniel]

There are several B789 in EY's fleet that don't have F (eg to PER).

 

[Fran&Tan]

Good luck Mile Hi. a bit rough downgrade.

 

[Mile hi Si]

Good luck Mile Hi. a bit rough downgrade.

Thank you. At least its the short part!

 

[Atleastonce]

This happened to us on a VA reward fare on Etihad F from IST to AUH a few years ago. They actually cancelled the complete flight and we needed to go in J a day earlier and forfeit a night at the Hilton in instanbul because it was part of a prepaid tour. Don't not know if it was coincidence or not, but our AUH to SYD flight (which was also a J reward flight get) we were both upgraded to F.

 

[Mile hi Si]

It seems the airline can pretty much do what they want when it comes to this sort of thing, probably somewhere in the t's & c's. I actually asked VA to contact EY and see if they could open up 2 more seats on a flight into Heathrow that worked for us, and we were pleasantly surprised when they came back saying EY had agreed to it. We're now booked in F the whole way, and even better than that, in Apartments the whole way, whereas before the AUH - ZUR leg was on the 787. Pretty happy all round