Redemption on VS - a painful process and concerning outcome

[theevilmuppet]

Hi all,

After buggering around with Award Nexus, I managed to find availability in Business on Virgin Atlantic from LHR to SFO in August.

For those who haven't investigated, VS award seats are not able to be secured online. The process took 40 minutes, and it's clear that the integration between VA and VS is minimal at best.

Receiving the details of the PNR results in only more questions. The documentation provided stated that the ticket was in Economy, even though the fare basis clearly showed that the booking was in class G (Upper Class Award). A follow up with VS directly confirmed that the PNR won't see me flying with the proles, however it's an interesting bug.

At the end of this, there was another slight issue. The PNR shows that the flight will occur on an A340, whilst every single flight on this route for the last 3 months has been on a B789. As there are far fewer Upper Class seats on a B789 than an A340, I'm now worried about being sent to the back of the plane should there be an equipment change to match what seems to be the normal aircraft for this route.

Not the most fun redemption experience!

 

[Mattg]

Thanks for taking the time to share your experience.

Hopefully you won't have any further problems!

 

[TomVexille]

Looking at a random week in VS's August schedule, every flight is an A346.

 

[anat0l]

It's funny how redemption partners forget to correctly map class codes with classes of service. Yes there are plenty of standards, but that's no reason to slip like that.

I wonder if VA and VS use the same GDS, because there would be no excuse then.

Going to the operating carrier to check is always advisable on any partner redemption on any system. In any case, it's likely the most common way you'll be able to select seats, so checking the eticket at the same time isn't such a bad idea.

As long as you have your confirmed ticket in Business, if you get downgraded at the airport, you'll be protected by EU 261. You won't receive a compensation if they don't put on the version of Business that you like, however.

 

[BettyB]

You can get a redemtption on VS????

 

[Mattg]

You can get a redemtption on VS????

You certainly can, just not on the Virgin Australia website. You need to call up.

 

[theevilmuppet]

Thanks for taking the time to share your experience.

Hopefully you won't have any further problems!

Let's hope! I wrote to VS to confirm a few things, and all should be fine.

 

[theevilmuppet]

Looking at a random week in VS's August schedule, every flight is an A346.

Indeed. I wrote to VS about this (as all their flights on this leg have been operated by nothing but B789s for over 3 months) and they confirmed that the A346 would be utilised throughout August.

 

[theevilmuppet]

It's funny how redemption partners forget to correctly map class codes with classes of service. Yes there are plenty of standards, but that's no reason to slip like that.

I wonder if VA and VS use the same GDS, because there would be no excuse then.

Going to the operating carrier to check is always advisable on any partner redemption on any system. In any case, it's likely the most common way you'll be able to select seats, so checking the eticket at the same time isn't such a bad idea.

As long as you have your confirmed ticket in Business, if you get downgraded at the airport, you'll be protected by EU 261. You won't receive a compensation if they don't put on the version of Business that you like, however.

Regarding the GDS question, it's definitely an interesting one to ponder. The process when redeeming involves a long time on hold, as the VA staffer involved has to request an award seat from VS that then takes quite a while to confirm (and this is the only way VA can comment on award availability as well).

Excellent advice on the eTicket check. I did that whilst I still had the VA staff member on the phone to confirm I was definitely booked in Upper Class.

 

[davidj]

Booked an award ticket on a Partner airline this week.. only successful after being passed onto a 3rd CSO and a good 40 mins later. They sure don't like making it easy!