Cancelling [VA fare rules & COVID-19 uncertainty]

[Matt_01]

@flyingfan I now have another update to my previous post. In summary I had a total of 8 bookings with VA and disputed all of them when VA went into administration. 3 were cancelled after VA decided not to fly in early April and I received no information or advice from VA that these were cancelled I noticed they were cancelled from my account. Another 3 were cancelled in late May and I did receive and email stating this, it also seemed to be carefully worded around conditional credits whilst in administration however no detail was given.

What I posted back in late April turned out to be not as easy as it seemed at the time, my cases have been closed and reopened on about 4 occasions, I have had to send multiple documents to AMEX, upload the same documents to their website and few calls. Although the process has been slow and painful I can report that the 6 cancelled flights have now been refunded by AMEX. As for the remaining 2 there was a note on the dispute indicating that these appear to be a valid charge, I can accept this for the moment as VA have not yet cancelled these flights however I suspect they will do so in the coming weeks.

 

[Matt_01]

I was not sure to post this in the Feeling properly stuffed by VA and AMEX or here but as I have posted my adventures here I will continue to provide updates

As an update to this little saga I am now back at square one as overnight AMEX reapplied the charges for the 6 cancelled flights. Apparently VA sent AMEX some correspondence and AMEX now considers these valid charges. Coincidentally 2.5 months after requesting VA for the travel insurance claim letter that arrived in my in box this morning. So this is now where I stand:

• x3 flights were cancelled on 9 April and I never received any correspondence. I now have an insurance letter with the details of the cancelled flights, which where not the flights I booked and again received no information about the changes. The letter details that my travel bank was credited for the fare amount, I did not know I had one of these but after working out how to log in and upon checking this was the case again no information from VA that these credits had been applied. What I also found interesting was that the reason given for the cancellation, VA stated it was Covid19 and government restrictions. At the time these flights were cancelled there was no government restrictions placed on domestic travel and it was on 9 April that VA made the decision to cancel all domestic travel. Stating it was a government restriction would negate my ability to claim on insurance.
• x3 flights cancelled 30 May, as these were cancelled after the period VA stopped issuing travel bank credits or refunds I am assuming that VA have informed AMEX that a credit has been provided and suspect they may have forgotten to state these are conditional credits.

I am also a little annoyed as I have letters dated 9 Jun 20 from AMEX stating that the funds have been credited to my account and the case is closed and without notice the charges have been reapplied. Now knowing at least 3 were credited to my travel bank, although not happy with the outcome I will use these for future flights and I have requested that 3 of the cases be reopened and requested copies of the information provided by VA to AMEX.

So the fun begins again.

 

[Matt_01]

This little saga goes on and may have come to a logical conclusion. From the original 8 flights, x3 were cancelled by VA and refunded to the travel bank (see above), x2 I moved to a later date as these would have been cancelled and I did not want to restart the process of chargebacks and dealing with AMEX. That leaves x3 cancelled flights for which conditional credits were issued.

As a further update I have received copies of the information that VA provided to AMEX and after seeing what was provided I requested the cases to be reopened. As for conditional credits - VA are telling AMEX a conditional credit has been issued and that is the end of it, they do not go into detail what this means. VA were also happy to provide VA with an extract from their conditions of carriage highlighting section 12.5 and underlining "events beyond reasonable control." VA also requested that AMEX close the charge backs

After reopening the cases I provided AMEX a copy of the judgement for conditional credits and how they could be used, I also provided another copy of the Guest Compensation policy which details refunds will be given and was published at the time the booking was made. In my email to AMEX I requested a refund for the x3 fights that had been cancelled and conditional credits applied. I have noticed that AMEX have refunded 3 flights and hopefully this time they will stick.

 

[eastwest101]

This little saga goes on and may have come to a logical conclusion. From the original 8 flights, x3 were cancelled by VA and refunded to the travel bank (see above), x2 I moved to a later date as these would have been cancelled and I did not want to restart the process of chargebacks and dealing with AMEX. That leaves x3 cancelled flights for which conditional credits were issued.

As a further update I have received copies of the information that VA provided to AMEX and after seeing what was provided I requested the cases to be reopened. As for conditional credits - VA are telling AMEX a conditional credit has been issued and that is the end of it, they do not go into detail what this means. VA were also happy to provide VA with an extract from their conditions of carriage highlighting section 12.5 and underlining "events beyond reasonable control." VA also requested that AMEX close the charge backs

After reopening the cases I provided AMEX a copy of the judgement for conditional credits and how they could be used, I also provided another copy of the Guest Compensation policy which details refunds will be given and was published at the time the booking was made. In my email to AMEX I requested a refund for the x3 fights that had been cancelled and conditional credits applied. I have noticed that AMEX have refunded 3 flights and hopefully this time they will stick.

Wow, that is persistence, it may be apparent upthread but I assume you haven't gone to AFCA yet? Is that your "final shot in the locker" assuming Amex does not come through in your favour?

 

[Harthagan]

Citibank surprisingly came good for me. I wasn't holding out much hope but got some checks in the mail this week from a virgin high flyer card that had subsequently been cancelled. Put in the claims for the flights over the phone and got not joy, so did a manual claim and posted the forms a few months ago and completely forgot about it.

 

[AIRwin]

There is an update on conditional credits - Virgin Australia will provide customers with a new credit to the value of travel credit balances for bookings made prior to the commencement of the voluntary administration period, including customers with Conditional Credits. Future Flight credits will be available for booking flights up to 31 July 2022 with travel valid until 30 June 2023.

Virgin Australia | Bring on Wonderful

Fly with award-winning service and great value fares to popular destinations across Australia. We can't wait to welcome you onboard Virgin Australia soon.

travel.virginaustralia.com