Virgin Online Booking Trap

[kublakhan]

Beware of the opt out travel insurance scam.
The fee is the same no matter if you have checked in baggage or not. And it automatically gets added to your account (unless of course you click the No thanks button.
If you are in a hurry, it is easy to miss.
Then the insurance company doesn't respond to your emails to cancel until after you flight.
I cannot think of one other web site that has an opt out scheme such as this.
Beware of the Virgin scam
KublaKhan

 

[Saab34]

jetstar does it, as does tiger.

 

[gilby08]

Ummm it's not a scam at all, most airlines do this AFAIK (jetstar, tiger)..

Also didn't the price look odd to you when you put in your creditcard details after all those comfirmation screens?

Anyway you should just be able to call up the insurance company and get a refund anyway as they have cooling off periods.

 

[kublakhan]

Mondial Assistance and Virgin Online Rip Off

If booking online with Virgin, do it slowly, take your time and make sure you opt out of their insurance cover.
The fee is the same even if you have no checked baggage (the cause of most claims I would think)
The cover is automatically charged to you - unless you notice the ticked box and cancel it.
And of course, Mondial do not get back to you prior to departure of you want to cancel.
A great little money earner for both companies.

 

[DJ737]

Ryanair has it as well, only it's not quite as obvious as the Australian ones

 

[777]

It has caught me when i've been in a hurry before. It really should be opt in not opt out.

 

[straitman]

Re: Mondial Assistance and Virgin Online Rip Off

If booking online with Virgin, do it slowly, take your time and make sure you opt out of their insurance cover.
The fee is the same even if you have no checked baggage (the cause of most claims I would think)
The cover is automatically charged to you - unless you notice the ticked box and cancel it.
And of course, Mondial do not get back to you prior to departure of you want to cancel.
A great little money earner for both companies.

kublakhan,

Thanks for the warning as this is one of the easy hazards to get tripped up with. The forum is here for that type of help and warning.

 

[Jeffrey O'Neill]

Re: Mondial Assistance and Virgin Online Rip Off

Air Aisa do the same thing with their Go Insure.

They make it less than intuitive on how to get rid of the insurance - you need to click cancel rather than Ok when their Are you Sure pop up appears.

I can sort of accept that for international trips airlines try to push you to get some travel insurance, but having it as a default yes, rather than an opt in is a bit sneaky.

 

[Mal]

Re: Mondial Assistance and Virgin Online Rip Off

Yep. never book an airline ticket too hastily! There are sometimes checkboxes ticked which really shouldn't be ticked!

 

[drron]

Re: Mondial Assistance and Virgin Online Rip Off

Welcome kublakhan.I do hope though that you will make more of a contribution than the 2 posts on the day you joined both about the same gripe.
I have made the same mistake with DJ,Air Asia and MH.But when the amount for my CC payment was more than i expected I start again.I agree with Jeffrey O'Neill that Air Asia is much harder to work out than the others-also to try and find out where to pay for your baggage online rather than the higher fee at the airport.

 

[oz_mark]

Re: Mondial Assistance and Virgin Online Rip Off

THey have been doing this for over a year: http://www.frequentflyer.com.au/com.../virginblue-sneaky-opt-out-baggage-14364.html


In the EU they'd get slapped down in one of the sweeps that the EU have been doing. One of the things they check is

2. Are all the optional price supplements of the flight offered on an "opt in basis" without the need for the consumer to remove a tick from any box to opt-out? (article 23 Air Services Regulation)

EUROPA - Press Releases - Airline Ticket selling websites – EU Enforcement Results. Questions and Answers

My own view is that their presentation of the fee on an opt-out basis is wrong. Perhaps we need some EU style laws here

 

[Mal]

Re: Mondial Assistance and Virgin Online Rip Off

My own view is that their presentation of the fee on an opt-out basis is wrong. Perhaps we need some EU style laws here

I'm sure RyanAir (and who wants to be associated with them!), have been flaunting this regulation for ages... regulations are useless unless enforced.

Consumers need to be savvy when they shop and book tickets, not rely on Govt bodies to protect them against their own stupidity.

 

[kublakhan]

That's all I ask for. Opt in not opt out.
Opt out schemes are just short of extortion.

 

[odysseus]

Agreed that it should be Opt in, but that doesn't make it a scam.

 

[alien]

I got cought out earlier this year. I make sure I untick. I think its a trap for extra $$$ and believe it should't be automatically selected....