Help! Virgin International Award Booking in Delta-VFF Limbo

[goldenhorn]

I'm in a predicament with a VFF award booking made on DL before the Delta/VA partnership ended.

The flight is 2 pax on DL J class, HND-HNL for March.

I 'accidentally' discovered my original flight has been cancelled (it seems DL is no longer flying direct HND-HNL) and I was not rebooked or notified of the cancellation.

Upon calling Delta, they rebooked me on HND-LAX-HNL (7 hours originally, now 18 hours - but I don't mind if it's in J) and said they 'protected' the booking so I can call VA and have them re-issue the ticket. I got an email from DL with a new trip confirmation number and the flight days/times/numbers I am rebooked on.

Upon calling VFF they said because the agent booked a new flight instead of amending the cancelled flight, they could not re-issue the ticket. They also couldn't find my protected booking with the new trip confirmation number but did find us on the new flights searching via other ways.

5 hours later I'm going back and forth between DL and VA with no progress. VA says they can't access the flight because the points were not brought across to the new booking (and they no longer have a partnership with DL) and DL says that VA owns the ticket and they cannot touch the ticket - VA has to manually re-issue the ticket.

Does anyone have experience with such a predicament? I am really hoping I can find a way to get a new e-ticket issued for the DL flights I've been rebooked on but I'm afraid the fly in the ointment is there is no longer a partnership between DL and VA so there's little either seem to be able to do.

VA also looked for other award flights on partner airlines and couldn't find any around the dates I need to travel. They are suggesting I cancel and get the points back. And of course the fare-based economy flights are very expensive at the moment if we have to buy cash fares.

Any help or suggestions are appreciated!

 

[Digicola]

Not a solution but if you really are in limbo then I suspect you’ll have to take the first flight before DL can touch your booking. If you really don’t mind going the long way around me says enjoy the 18h and talk to DL whilst you’re in LA see if you can get a direct on the way back.

 

[odysseus]

I can see both sides here. As I understand it, Delta have made a new booking, so it's not linked to VA's old/current reference, hence VA can't see it. And because it's purely in DL's system and they're no longer partners, VA no longer has access to new bookings.

The only way out I can think of: is it possible for Delta to amend the old booking instead, which is what would typically happen with a reschedule. That doesn't seem to be mentioned above. DL's response about them not owning the ticket is valid, but it can then be put back on to them that VA cannot take ownership of new bookings so need the previous booking amended instead.

 

[goldenhorn]

I can see both sides here. As I understand it, Delta have made a new booking, so it's not linked to VA's old/current reference, hence VA can't see it. And because it's purely in DL's system and they're no longer partners, VA no longer has access to new bookings.

The only way out I can think of: is it possible for Delta to amend the old booking instead, which is what would typically happen with a reschedule. That doesn't seem to be mentioned above. DL's response about them not owning the ticket is valid, but it can then be put back on to them that VA cannot take ownership of new bookings so need the previous booking amended instead.

This is where I seem to be going around in circles between the two. I've asked Delta to amend the original booking so VA can see it but after another 3 hours on the phone yesterday with DL supervisors, they said they tried and cannot touch/manage the VA booking.

I think this might be a case of having to throw in the towel and buy a cash fare. The end of the partnership seems to be the core issue here.

 

[goldenhorn]

UPDATE: VA confirmed they cannot ticket the DL flight, so I cancelled it for a points refund.

Booked ZipAir lie-flat seat NRT-HNL for $1900 pp (including all added extras). Will be good to still get a lie-flat seat and some sleep during the red eye.

 

[Scr77]

Since the partnership is over, VA refunds points and gets no refund from Delta?

 

[Must...Fly!]

Since the partnership is over, VA refunds points and gets no refund from Delta?

I imagine there would be contingencies in the separation agreement for things like this.