A little nervous

I hope your flight goes tomorrow. Have they been having technical, mechanical, or scheduling problems? Is there anybody at Virgin who could give you assurances, or offer anything to ease your nervousness?

Regardless of what happens, Virgin is obligated to get you there. I know that a cancellation would be inconvenient and you might lose financially, but you should be able to get there eventually.

I would also call or email the hotel and explain to them that you might be late. See if there's anything they can do for you. At least they'll know, and they won't give away your room. Did you pay in advance for your hotel? Did you pay for it with a credit card that has travel insurance? You might be entitled to a refund if the cancellation is the fault of the airline.

Also, as Cyn mentioned, do you have any idea why those flights were cancelled? They could have been weird anomalies.

I can see how you’d be a bit on edge. Have you researched the other options Delta/Virgin have to get you from SFO with a layover? Or is this cancelation due to their issues such that they will put you on a direct United flight? I’ve found in these situations I can react quicker in the moments after a cancelation if I know what other flight options exist.

This flight is also subject to UK261, so it’s helpful to familiarize yourself with the compensation you’d be due from Virgin under that policy.

Fingers crossed that all of this is moot!

Hi Katie, I hope all goes well for you! I’ve had a couple of hiccups of flights in the last three years, but eventually arrived a day late.

Look up all of the options for flights tomorrow & the following day, so you have some screenshots of options you want if there’s a delay. I also looked up seats available on them during our situations. Is there a flight earlier in the day that’s an option, or has that one also been cancelled recently? Are these flights cancelled earlier in the day, or are people waiting to board & they’re cancelled? I’m asking because if there’s an advantage of checking tonight or early tomorrow, I’d have my suitcase in the car, ready to leave, if an earlier flight becomes the best option. Good luck!

As far as cancellations I believe Mother Nature has been at fault.

Breathe. You’ll get there.

This flight is also subject to UK261, so it’s helpful to familiarize
yourself with the compensation you’d be due from Virgin under that
policy.

I agree, but compensation is only due if the flight delay was the fault of the airline (through issues like mechanical problems or not having a full crew, etc.). If it's weather-related or due to some other issue like air traffic controller strikes, then you are not entitled to compensation.

There also has to be at least a 3+ hour delay to receive the minimum amount of £220, and a 6+ hour delay for a flight traveling to or from the UK, for the full compensation of £520.

Tomorrow's VS 019 to SFO at 1245 UK time is currently showing as scheduled to run on the Heathrow on line departures board, as of 2330.
That will be an early Indication of any issues, if the outbound is cancelled in the next 9 hours, as hopefully any cancellation would be before check in starts at 0945.
So hopefully you will have a reasonable confirmation that is running before you go to bed tonight.

Cautious optimism there.

Thanks for all the ideas and reassurances. I'm checking alternative flights right now.

And Stuart, yes. Each cancellation of the VS20 SFO to LHR in the last 2 weeks has been preceded by a cancellation of the VS19 LHR to SFO, so if that flight gets cancelled I'll get hustling.

Yikes. I am flying LAX to LHR on Sunday via Virgin Atlantic, so have just gotten a jolt of anxiety. It's not clear to me what caused the cancellations--does anyone know?

I haven't been able to figure it out. I'm hoping someone has a better source than me. They have cited vague things like operational constraints or something. I know two weeks ago there was definitely some weather involved but I haven't heard anything specific about today's flight.

A few years ago I had a flight cancelled (British Airways) six hours prior to departure. Like you, lodging and rental car reservations came into play. I called customer service and explained the situation and after going back and forth over options, we ended up on another flight with a different airline that took off at the same time as our original flight and actually got us to our destination four hours earlier.

For me, the key to our satisfactory result was being nice and polite with the customer service person. A plus for us was on the return flight when we were upgraded to business class.

If you have travel insurance, it may reimburse you for expenses related to a trip delay. Just three weeks ago, I had a flight canceled/delayed and arrived at my pre-paid hotel a day late. My Allianz policy paid my claim for the hotel cost within 48 hours of filing the claim. A few years ago, after a delayed flight, they reimbursed me for an extra night in a hotel, as well as my meals. Read the policy carefully and be sure to save screenshots of everything relevant : original flight details, emails or other communication from the airline about the delay, new flight details, and receipts for expenses.

Renee, good to know they paid so promptly. We have an Allianz policy as well.

VS019 departed Heathrow almost on time at 1301, so it looks promising

Yup! I saw that. Yay!

@ponygirl - Good luck tomorrow!

https://www.thetraveler.org/uk-flight-disruptions-hit-major-carriers-and-key-routes

Katie, fingers crossed that you're good! But that said, you also might want to look at this article. Evidently, this has been happening in the past couple of weeks, like you said, but it offers some theories as to why, none of which are weather-related. Looks like most of it is due to crew issues and a number of other reasons.

But it's good that it's not weather-related, because that would be a reason that you would not get reimbursed under the UK regulations. So you do stand to get some money back if it does indeed happen.

Thanks, Mardee. That explains a bit more. And, yes, glad it's not weather. At this point, I'm trusting that, since the flight from London is in the air, that we will get on that plane and go to London!

Best of luck with your flight. My Virgin flight on Dec. 21 from Dulles to Heathrow was cancelled due to technical issues. I found out while checking in at the lounge. Virgin got me on a British Airways flight for the following day. Upper class wasn’t available so Virgin refunded the difference for the seat downgrade, at least it was a bulkhead seat.

I always purchase insurance through Allianz and they quickly reimbursed me for the expenses.

Happy Travels!!

I agree, but compensation is only due if the flight delay was the fault of the airline (through issues like mechanical problems or not having a full crew, etc.). If it's weather-related or due to some other issue like air traffic controller strikes, then you are not entitled to compensation.

Would a shortage of jet fuel entitle one to compensation?

I’m not sure about jet fuel, but we received “right to care” compensation from United when our flight home was canceled due to the fire at Heathrow last year, which was an extraordinary circumstance. The payment was about $600 each.

About 18 months ago, our flight from Heathrow to Houston was delayed 4 hrs and arrived 4 hrs late. We filed for compensation from United and they offered us the equivalent of £520 cash in USD OR $1,000 flight credit each. As we fly United frequently, we chose the flight credits.

The airlines count on us not being aware of these policies and how they work.

Following this closely as we are on the exact same flight on 4/29. Yikes, thanks for making us aware of this. From what I can tell online now, it looks like your flight took off on time, so I'm cautiously optimistic that ours will as well. Enjoy your visit to the UK!

The airlines count on us not being aware of these policies and how they work.

Not always. When I had my canceled flight in 2024 that I mentioned above, Delta actually sent me an email within three days telling me about the EU regulations, what compensation I would receive and what I needed to do to receive the €600. Delta also promptly refunded me for the Comfort+ seat that I lost when I had to take a different flight.

I hope this gets resolved for you soon. I fly at least twice a year San Francisco to London on Virgin, Premium Economy. Last fall our return flight from London was canceled for "operational reasons " 1 day before the scheduled departure. I called Virgin after looking online for seat availability and chose a flight and seats 2 days later as there were no seats together on the next flight. I filed the forms for compensation and received the max allowed plus they paid for 2 nights hotel and breakfast.

We were not too upset to stay in London for 2 extra days but missing your scheduled arrival to start your trip is a bummer. I found it best to know what you want before calling and and then asking them to accommodate. Bear in mind there are 2 forms...1 for the flight compensation and 1 for the hotel and expenses. Good luck!

Mardee, how wonderful that Delta was proactive and transparent! That hasn’t been my experience with other airlines in the past, which is why I mentioned the policy here.

Pleased to see that the flight arrived 16 minutes early.

Enjoy your time in the UK, Katie !! So glad it worked out for you.

Nancy, I was very happy, too! I do know that other airlines are not as good about contacting people and sometimes make it even more difficult by making them jump through more hoops than they should have to.

Katie, have a great trip! I can't wait to read about it!

We made it! Just settled in to our hotel in Oxford. All went well. We are so happy to be here.

@kathyhunt3 - I think the key is using FlightAware and tracking the London to SFO flight that immediately precedes your flight (vs19)

Woohoo! Glad you're there.

And that is great advice about tracking with Flight Aware!

wow, that takes a load off

Enjoy your visit!