When is a Flexi not a Flexi

[Adrian1975]

I just got off the Platinum line and am shocked.

I purchased a flexi ticket SYD - MELB last week for Thursday this week. I was not 100% locked in for a meeting so thought the prudent thing would be to buy a flexi. Meeting now cancelled so have tried to change to an earlier flight to be told I had bought a cheap flexi and the fare difference to move flights $40.

Apparently Flexi's have different prices. This seems counter intuitive, surely you buy a Flexi so you can be FLEXIBLE with flights. Isn't that the purpose.

I can just fly forward anyway so why try to extort the $40?

I did not even have the option of buying the expensive Flexi when purchasing the first time....

Can somebody explain why I am not going crazy.

As somebody who flies Virgin every fortnight it seems to me this new hard line fee structure is alienating a lot of dedicated Virgin customers.

 

[UP4014]

Welcome.

Not all Flexi's are created equal it would seem. Virgin being the at the lower end.

Matt

 

[markis10]

Fare difference for flexi's is applicable for both QF and VA. Nothing new although VA are now enforcing that part of the rules.

This comes up often, the main difference is actually the flexibility on the day of departure.

 

[Intra]

Why you call the Plat. line is what I want to know, why not do the change of flight online? What was the fare difference online?

 

[anat0l]

Why you call the Plat. line is what I want to know, why not do the change of flight online? What was the fare difference online?

You can change Virgin fares online now? That's pretty cool. (Hands up - I've been under a rock)


Fly Ahead is a benefit at the airport, not usually in advance. Yes they realise you can just do this at the airport, although subject to availability, not being able to get a good seat, so on and so on...

But as markis10 said, even with QF (or almost any airline for that matter), even with a flexible ticket, fare difference still applies.

The point of flexible tickets is, I believe, that by paying a higher fare for your ticket, you're hedging against the possibility that, had you bought a cheap "non-flexible" ticket (Saver), you will end up saving more in the end by paying either nil or little fare difference on your Flexi, compared to your Saver fare plus the change fee plus the fare difference applicable. Also, I'd imagine that if you change a Flexi from one day to another (rather than on the same day), there's a good chance you can find a fare which is equal to what you had, which means again you pay no change fee compared to a Saver where even if you found a fare of the same price, you'd still have to stump up a change fee.

At least, that's why I think Flexis exist. In my field of work (or old field), the imperative need to change flights was so rare that we never hedged by buying any flexible tickets. We just bought the cheapest tickets and wore the cost in the unlikely event that a change of flight was required.

 

[farstar]

I have always thought it was a joke that if you buy a flexible ticket you need to pay extra. It seems that it is a sort of flexible ticket and you pay what ever we think extra you should. I don't care what terms conditions say flexible to me means you can change, please can the airlines change this BS.

 

[medhead]

There are different fare class at different price levels with in the flex group. If you buy a flex fare at a lower fare level and then want to change to a flight where that fare level has sold out then you need to pay the extra for a higher fare class. That's just the way it works. The best way is to look at prices online to find a flight that might be suitable at the same price you paid and then try moving to that flight. There should be no fare difference. You also need to remember you are being charged the extra for purchasing a higher level fare. You are not being charged change fees, so you are getting flexibility.

 

[Fruitcake]

As somebody who flies Virgin every fortnight it seems to me this new hard line fee structure is alienating a lot of dedicated Virgin customers.

Perhaps QF is more suited to your needs? They have simple, fair fully flexible tickets which cost around $560 for SYD-MEL. That's a much better deal than paying $300 for a VA flexi, then $40 extra if you need to make a late change into a higher fare class.

 

[anat0l]

Perhaps QF is more suited to your needs? They have simple, fair fully flexible tickets which cost around $600 for SYD-MEL.

Until you get a flight which for some reason is fully booked with all fully flex tickets taken (then the bucket bumps up). I suppose that's quite rare, but....

Only good thing about Full Flex is that they are fully refundable, even if you no show, completely miss the flight, or check-in. But they are damn expensive.

 

[Fruitcake]

Only good thing about Full Flex is that they are fully refundable, even if you no show, completely miss the flight, or check-in. But they are damn expensive.

Yes, there is a *lot* of flexibility in a full-fare flexi.

The financial markets person inside of me wants to develop an airfare pricing model which prices each fare rule individually. So you start with a fully flexible fare that's fully refundable. Then you can "sell" your rights back to the airline. Give up a cash refund, the fare drops a bit. Give up changes in the last 24 hours, the fare drops a bit. Perhaps you will settle for 50% credit shell in case of cancellation, the fare drops a bit. Give up the ability to reschedule in case of a no-show.

But then reality sets in and I realise that most people can't even read fare rules on existing products. So I'll be sticking to my day job.

 

[Intra]

So basically are we complaining here about Supply/Demand, Prices ect. ect. :? I'm confused why we are whinging. Whinge all you want though, its what we all seem to do anyway
Personally I'm a fan of the simplicty of the VA Fare Structure. Atleast it seemed better than what it was under DJ - Me thinks at one point I went through all five/six/whatever levels of fares for my flight changes BNE-SYD, cost me a fortune and ended up learning one expensive lesson. My hands were tied with work wanting to play games with my New Year's leave...

 

[esquire]

Wanted to change my flexi last night after receiving an email advising my BNE-SYD flight was rescheduled and now leaving after the following flight . So I decided to move to the flight leaving 10-15min earlier.

Go online (having not checked in yet) - What do you know "Sorry you cannot change this online - please contact guest services"

1st call - tried to charge me a change fee ! Was getting the run around so hung up.

2nd call - This time was clearly the local call centre -Not a problem done. No charge. Asked why I couldn't change it online - "yes another bug in the system for the past year... hopefully by this time next year they'll have fixed it" Well at least he was honest !

Whilst the fares are flexible (to a degree) they are certainly not proving to be convenient. (QF wins hands down on this aspect).

Interestingly the rescheduled/delayed flight is still selling at the original leaving time on the web.... you only find out once you book that it actually departs after the following flight.....