Wrong Seating Chart - What do I do?

[robd]

Hi, this is my first post and yes I have been lurking for a while now. Finally booked flights last night VA MEL-LAX return with robd junior accompanying me on the outbound, but different return dates. Outbound Y (27 B & C) & return Y+ (14D). Wasn't particularly happy with 14D and checked EF and checkmytrip which both showed 12A available. Rang this morning and VA re-allocated to 12A - great. Went back to EF and checkmytrip and 12A confirmed. I then checked the booking in Velocity, and again, 12A showing - no problems. When I checked my seat allocation for outbound Y 27B (for which I paid $20) it's gone. Robd junior is still showing 27C. Back at EF and checkmytrip, nothing in 27B ??? Logged in again to Velocity and it shows that I can allocate my outbound seat. Ok, click and up pops Y+ seating. What do I do now?

*Edit - Outbound fare is V promo (cheapest).

 

[koonyaflyer]

Hi, this is my first post and yes I have been lurking for a while now. Finally booked flights last night VA MEL-LAX return with robd junior accompanying me on the outbound, but different return dates. Outbound Y (27 B & C) & return Y+ (14D). Wasn't particularly happy with 14D and checked EF and checkmytrip which both showed 12A available. Rang this morning and VA re-allocated to 12A - great. Went back to EF and checkmytrip and 12A confirmed. I then checked the booking in Velocity, and again, 12A showing - no problems. When I checked my seat allocation for outbound Y 27B (for which I paid $20) it's gone. Robd junior is still showing 27C. Back at EF and checkmytrip, nothing in 27B ??? Logged in again to Velocity and it shows that I can allocate my outbound seat. Ok, click and up pops Y+ seating. What do I do now?

*Edit - Outbound fare is V promo (cheapest).

So there are a few pieces of information missing to give reasonable advice, but I have made some assumptions.

Firstly I assume you are on different PNR's due to different return dates .... So VA would not know you are travelling together.

Secondly it would appear that you have been upgraded to Y+ for the entire journey ...... Bonus!

Thirdly, given the different return dates I am assuming that Robd jr is old enough to travel by himself.

So it seems the dilemma is do you give up your upgrade.......to sit with Robd jr , or make the most of the upgrade. You will need to let VA know if you do not want the upgrade, something I am sure does not happen often.

You could risk letting them know you are travelling together.... And both be upgraded!

No clear answer on this one I think!

 

[robd]

Thanks for your response. Yes, we are on different PNR's and yes robd jnr is old enough to travel by self. Here's the thing - we were originally trying to book both legs in Y+ but there was only 1 discount PE available on the outbound ($1,400 odd) and the 2nd would have been an additional $500 ($1,900) - it was just to many $$$, so we settled for the V promo sitting together. Just checked the V site, and there is still 1 discount PE avail. Would definitely book this if I was guaranteed that i have already been upgraded (gratis). I haven't allocated my seat in PE yet. Should I allocate my seat and see if there is any additional cost and then go ahead and upgrade robd jnr with the 1 available discount PE fare?

*Edit.

So I tried to allocate my seat in PE and got this:- "At least one of your specific seat requests could not be processed. You can update your request in our 'Manage bookings' section which you can access from the seat preference panel below.
An error occurred during creation of your booking. Please contact your Travel Assistance Desk to check if the booking was successful and to obtain further assistance. (9015)"

Booking still shows Premium Economy.

Do you think they will just put me back to economy when I phone VA for seat??????

 

[robd]

Just updating this with the latest. I did phone VA back in March and was seated in 14D which is the PE cabin. We purchased PE seat for Robdjnr at this time too.

I received updated itinerary showing PE on both legs - Yay.

I have paid for a seat alert with E/F for preferred seats in the cabin, and have been checking periodically over the past 4 mths. Yesterday I received a reminder email from VA with attached Itinerary & Receipt, showing both PE legs.

This morning I checked E/F for open seats, and now my outgoing leg seat is vacant. I went back into my booking on VA, to check my seat allocation and now the economy cabin is showing. Our flight is this Tuesday.

Obviously I will be phoning VA, but is having a confirmed Itinerary & Receipt for PE sufficient to seat me back in the PE cabin or are they likely charge me $$$.

 

[robd]

Obviously I will be phoning VA, but is having a confirmed Itinerary & Receipt for PE sufficient to seat me back in the PE cabin or are they likely charge me $$$.

The outcome was $$$, $948 to be exact. Extremely peed off.

If it weren't for this forum, this trip with Robdjnr would have started horrendously. The worst case scenario would have seen us rocking up to checkin on Tuesday, and being told that we would not only NOT be sitting together, but would be in different cabins. I don't want to be misunderstood here, I paid for economy outbound and ultimately, that's what I would have received, but having been ticketed in PE back in March, purchasing the upgrade to PE for jnr on that basis, phoning VA on at least 3 occasions since March to get seat allocations and linking the PNR's and also receiving a "Reminder" email yesterday confirming both legs in PE, surely it was safe to assume I would be travelling as ticketed? It was only the information that I learned from this forum that led me to check E/F for better seating, that alerted me to what could have possibly been the outcome on Tuesday when my seat disappeared.

I know that you should never assume, but ........

A nice little poke in the eye with the $50 service fee and no refund of seat allocation for the economy seat either, which i understand is the fare rules, but I think Virgin should accept some responsibility for what has happened on this occasion.

 

[bullerdude]

Ultimately, you are getting what you paid for from a ticket point of view, but I would most certainly give them another call and ask to speak to a supervisor.

At the very least you can complain about the following:
- Removal of a ticketed upgrade (use the itinerary as proof)
- Being charged fees for Virgin's mistakes
- Buying a PE ticket based off Virgin's confirmation that you been upgraded.

From what you have said above, it seems that Virgin is most definitely at fault for screwing the ticket uo, and making false promises.

Personally, I would be calling them and not letting the matter rest until you and your son are sitting together on the flight, either in PE, or in in E with a full refund of the PE ticket and fees.

Edit: if you don't get anywhere with the guest service centre - try the velocity service desk, they are generally very helpful

 

[robd]

Ultimately, you are getting what you paid for from a ticket point of view, but I would most certainly give them another call and ask to speak to a supervisor.

At the very least you can complain about the following:
- Removal of a ticketed upgrade (use the itinerary as proof)
- Being charged fees for Virgin's mistakes
- Buying a PE ticket based off Virgin's confirmation that you been upgraded.

From what you have said above, it seems that Virgin is most definitely at fault for screwing the ticket uo, and making false promises.

Personally, I would be calling them and not letting the matter rest until you and your son are sitting together on the flight, either in PE, or in in E with a full refund of the PE ticket and fees.

Edit: if you don't get anywhere with the guest service centre - try the velocity service desk, they are generally very helpful

Thank you for your advice. I really appreciate your response and your understanding of what happened here. After paying the additional $948, we are (at this moment, at least) now seated together in the PE cabin. I will be seeking an explanation from VA on this matter and as suggested, the Velocity Service Desk if need be.

Robd.

 

[robd]

After waiting about five weeks after sending off an email to the Velocity Customer Service stating the facts of my case, and not having received any correspondence to date, I followed it up with a phone call last Monday and today received a return phone call from Virgin.

They have offered their sincere apologies "for the inconvenience caused as a result of this experience" and have issued compensation which I consider fair.

Done and dusted.

Moving on..........where to next?

 

[N860CR]

It's incredible that with all the improvements DJ have made they still have such terrible followups to mistakes. I've noticed DJ's "stuff-up" ratio is pretty high and, while that's annoying, they need to improve their complaints handling process in order to deal with it. I guess Qantas are pretty ordinary as well, but if they want to be the best, they have to work on it! 5 weeks is just unacceptable (especially for a valid complaint like this one).