Virgin Australia is not exactly known for its excellent IT. But even the most basic function of the Virgin Australia website – the ability to search for flights – has not been working properly for weeks.
If you too are experiencing what some AFF members have described as the “circle of doom” – a blank page that doesn’t load, showing nothing but a rotating circle – there are some workarounds. But it really should not be necessary to go to such lengths just to search for and book Virgin Australia flights on the airline’s own website!
The problem appears to affect users on multiple types of browsers and devices. AFF members have reported suffering the “circle of doom” when trying to search for Virgin flights on Safari, Firefox and Internet Explorer. The problem has also been encountered on both desktop computers and mobile devices.
Some members report that browsing with Google Chrome or Microsoft Edge results in fewer problems. The problem also does not affect the Virgin Australia App, so that could be another option if you want to book a Virgin flight and can’t get the website to work.
Here are some AFF member suggestions for workarounds when the Virgin Australia website does not work…
Have found F5 works. The thing that always stuffs it up is searching then going to another tab or window. If I stay put and watch the wheel, 99% of the time the results show as normal.
I have had the same problem, consistently, with Safari on Mac for the past few weeks. Using Chrome and/or Firefox on the same Mac works fine.
Pretty much only use the app to book and it’s been fine.
I’ve also found great success (for a period of time at least) in clearing all cookies for the VA website.
One member takes a slightly different approach… this doesn’t solve the problem with the Virgin Australia website, but at least it’s more fun than staring at the circle of doom for hours on end!
I go and make a cup of tea while the page loads. If that doesn’t work, I try a scotch. After 2 or 3 scotches, I lose interest and go play elsewhere.
Join the discussion on the Australian Frequent Flyer forum: Can’t search for flights on VA website
