Virgin Atlantic Refund--What Has Happened So Far

I don't know if you are aware but Virgin Atlantic declared bankruptcy last Tuesday. They are still flying but trying to raise needed capital.

With bankruptcy you probably no longer have a claim. However, you may be able to deduct the loss from your taxes. You have to check with a tax professional.

FYI--Delta Airlines owns 49% of Virgin Atlantic.

Dare I ask whether you kept the email that you received for the cancelled flight? Surely that would show MC that they instigated it? Or....travel insurance?

In your position, I would contact mastercard and tell them the basis for their denial is based on false info and advise them you have the proof. Then ask how do I submit this to MC to get reconsideration.
I would not give up on that just yet.

Good luck!

I went through the same with Lufthansa--I did cancel, but under circumstances entitling me to a refund (flights were changed drastically, and Greece was not allowing in US visitors anyway!). My credit card company refunded me, so don't give up.

Frank II, thank you! That will probably be all we can do.....tax deduction for the loss.

MariaF, thanks for those suggestions!
"Dare I ask whether you kept the email that you received for the cancelled flight? Surely that would show MC that they instigated it? "
--Yes, we have that email in which VA notified us they had cancelled the flights.
--Yes, that has been forwarded to MC.

"Or....travel insurance?"
--Denied our claim because Covid 19 was a known factor at the time we bought our ticket, they said. But we had bought our ticket a month before we had heard of Covid. But they're not going to budge on this issue.

"In your position, I would contact mastercard and tell them the basis for their denial is based on false info and advise them you have the proof. Then ask how do I submit this to MC to get reconsideration.
I would not give up on that just yet.
Good luck!"

Thanks Joe. I took your advice and did just that.
Called them and they said to send them screen shots of the texts and emails.
Done!

Paper copies printed off and mailed with a letter to MC also done.

Thanks again. Will let you know how it goes.

Hi valadelphia,
The UK was not allowing Americans in at the time our flight was supposed to run, so similar situation to your trip.
Which makes it even more ridiculous that MC would not refund--clearly goods or services paid for and not delivered by the airline.

Thanks, I am indeed still hopeful about a MC refund.

What good are they if VA goes bankrupt?

No good at all. Unless some other airline decide to accept them as goodwill, it has happened before but the likelihood of that happening in a post-Covid world is propably not that big.

I don't know if you are aware but Virgin Atlantic declared bankruptcy
last Tuesday. They are still flying but trying to raise needed
capital.

They have applied for bankrupcy protection in the US, which AIUI is very different to actually declaring bankruptcy.

But keep asking them, and remind them that if they cancel the flight they have to refund your money if you asked for it according to EU laws.

Badger, thank you. We will keep reminding them.

There's pretty much no way to get in touch with Virgin Atlantic, but I'll keep trying.
Call them by phone.....get put on hold, then they hang up.
Text them......no answer or return text.

"They have applied for bankruptcy protection in the US, which AIUI is very different to actually declaring bankruptcy."
And thanks for your explanation!

Rebecca, what a terrible experience! I agree with others that MasterCard is your best bet, since you have documentation from VA.

Please let us know how this works out.

Jane, thank you! I will indeed report back here what results I have.

Thanks Frank II...there was a comment, and now it's gone. But thanks.

What would add insult to injury is if VA gets some kind of federal bailout money and then still does not do the right thing and refund customers.

If 'federal' means US govt money, I do not see that happening. VA is a British airline. If Delta were to funnel some of its bailout $$ to VA, then its time to march on Atlanta and hold the scoundrels accountable

Yes, I was thinking because VA is 49% owned by Delta they might get federal bailout, at least partial.

You should be able to book any Delta flight with a VA voucher.

Is this just optimistic hope or is there some reliable source to support the thought this could happen?

What would add insult to injury is if VA gets some kind of federal
bailout money and then still does not do the right thing and refund
customers.

The British government are not that keen on bailing out Virgin atlantic. After Branson tried to sue the NHS it might not be popular among the electorate to bail out one of his businesses using tax payer money. But the last I heard was that Branson claimed to have raised the money needed to save the airline (although that was a while ago, so a lot could have happened since then).

Is this just optimistic hope or is there some reliable source to
support the thought this could happen?

Delta and Virgin Atlantic has a code share agreement so it should be possible to book Delta flights via Virgin Atlantic and it might be possible to pay with a voucher.

I can't actually pull up any domestic Delta flights on
virginatlantic.com. I would ask at flyertalk.com and see it this is
possible, maybe by phone, before you settle for the voucher.

That is a very good idea, otherwise you might end up sitting with a useless voucher. And that is not fun. I know the feeling, I once lost €200 (or so) in an airline bankrupcy…

Tom, Joe, and Badger, thanks for your comments.
All very helpful.

Tom, thanks for the link to FlyerTalk.

Badger, sorry that you lost that money.

Tom, if you pull up flights to London on Delta you will see VA flights on some, I was to go over this past May, my flight over was on Delta, flight home was on VA.

Hi Robin,
I hope you got your money back. We were told we were getting our money back by VA, but then........that was the last we ever heard from them.

Yes, I was thinking because VA is 49% owned by Delta they might get federal bailout, at least partial.

Delta's ownership is non-opertional. It's basically the same as owning stock. Just because I own stock in a foreign corporation doesn't mean the U.S. government is going to help that company.

The only government that might help VA is the UK but they are not doing so well right now on their own.

If 'federal' means US govt money, I do not see that happening. VA is a British airline. If Delta were to funnel some of its bailout $$ to VA, then its time to march on Atlanta and hold the scoundrels accountable

What Delta has done is postpone payments from Virgin Atlantic to Delta so that VA can use that cash.

After the Trump tax law changes, who is still itemizing and can deduct a loss? AFAIK that avenue is closed.

Certain items are no longer deductible but financial losses are allowed.

Tom and Frank II: Thanks for your comments.
This is all helping me to make sense of this mess!

These are the latest comments from the Civil Aviation Authority regarding the refund processing of Virgin Atlantic, published at the end of July:

Virgin Atlantic – Virgin Atlantic is one of the airlines that our review identified as not
processing refund requests sufficiently quickly and as having a sizeable backlog of refund
requests. In relation to refund processing timescales, at least initially the airline was taking
up to 60 days to process refund requests. However, the airline’s performance became
significantly worse and it provided a commitment to consumers that the maximum wait
would be 120 days. The CAA was not satisfied with this level of performance and
requested that Virgin Atlantic provide it with commitments to reduce the time taken to
process refunds, such that they are processed in a reasonable timeframe and one which is
aimed at the 7 day period set out in Regulation EC261/2004. Virgin Atlantic has committed
to reducing the maximum time taken to process a refund and it expects to process all
claims made in August within 80 days, all claims made in September within 60 days and all
claims made in October within 30 days. We recognise that even with these improvements
to processing times it still results in a lengthy wait for consumers. However, we consider
that the improvement in the processing time is a step forward and provides greater clarity
for consumers. We will continue to work with Virgin Atlantic and push them for further
improvements to the timescales. Given the extended timescales even in September and
October, we will be monitoring Virgin’s performance particularly closely and will consider
the use of formal enforcement powers if necessary.

to Marco - it is great to see you back at the old stand. I've missed you ... Welcome back

I've been dipping in but not commenting much recently.

Marco, thank you very much for that information. That is very helpful.

I did find the text messages exchanged between us and VA, if anyone is interested.

On May 2, 2020, my husband received an email and a text message from Virgin Atlantic, advising that they had canceled our flights. (We were supposed to fly out of Dulles May 15, and back into Dulles on June 2)

My husband called the VA refunds phone number, and was told that they preferred to communicate by text message, and to text our request for a refund to a certain VA email address, which we did.

Here are the text messages that first went back and forth between my husband and VA:

VA: Hi, I'm Martin. How can I help you today?

My husband: We have received notice from VA that our flight has been cancelled, and we'd like a refund.

VA: Would you like a voucher instead?

Husband: No, I went all through that with your representative on the phone. He assured me I could choose either one I wanted; a refund or a voucher for future travel. I am requesting a refund.

Martin: Sure, I can do that for you.

Husband:
At 5/2/20, at 10 AM:
Please confirm you are giving me a full refund including the extra paid for making a seat selection, Martin.

Martin/VA: I can certainly arrange this for you, please can I take an email address and I can arrange this for you.

Husband: Yes. (Then our email address).

VA: Hi. You are now speaking with Rob. I have set this all up for you and a full refund of the booking and seats will go back on the (credit) card ending in xyzq. Your refund reference will be the same as the booking reference xxxx so keep that safe. At some point, you will get emails through from the refunds department but no time frame on these so please bare [his typo, not mine] with us."

Husband: Thank you. How soon can we expect a refund?

We were told we would receive a refund within a matter of days or weeks. We were told some receive theirs in 7 to 10 days, but the longest wait might be 30 days.

It has now been 103 days since that conversation.

This is far longer than was promised for our refund.

Rebecca! My word...just catching up on the forum today and am dismayed at what you've gone thru. Know you keep good records so I'm happy you've got the text conversations a well as other documentation. Hopefully MC will come thru for you as I'm sure you are not the only ones VA has tried the "they cancelled" gambit with.

Pam, thank you. Yes, we do have the texts, emails, all records. So eventually maybe either VA or MC will come through for us.

If VA does issue a refund at the 120 day period, it will renew my faith in them.

Oh gosh...it would be heartbreaking to lose that amount of money!

Sorry to hear about your troubles getting a refund. We had our difficulties as well and I had lost hope but finally we got a refund back to our credit card in July. I meant to post this on a previous thread but haven't been doing much forum time.
Rather than post on 2 threads I am pastiing my history into this thread. Hope this helps. (From my July 6 post)

Getting a refund from VA has been a chore. The communications from
them have been very pleasant but not remotely satisfying until now.
Here is my story.

I have been waiting for a refund from VA since my March 19 flight from
San Francisco to London was cancelled. As I reported in another thread
I used text to initiate and follow up on my refund. so that I would
have some elctronic trail rather that phone conversations. Long delays
occurred. At one point early on I was informed in the text that it
could be 90 days. Arrgh!

On occasion I would get a text that it would someday be processed. In
my texts I gave them various contact information. Ultimately I
received an email with similar information. Then a few weeks ago I got
another email that said 40 days was the magic number. Then about a
week later a smilar email with no mention of the 40 days, just a vauge
promise.

Low and behold a few days ago, on June 30 I received a refund
confirmation email with an official accounting and notification that
my refund is processed and that I should expect it to be refunded to
my credit card. So far it is not on my credit card but it often takes
a few days. I will post again after it actually appears. finally I am
optomitic that all will be well. Perseverance furthers.

Here is the contact information for the refund email initially
received form VA. I resonded to this email and receive a reply so I
suggest that you and others use this . Good Luck!

[email protected]

Refunds Department PO BOX 1243 The Base Fleming Way CRAWLEY RH10 0HW

MA Traveler, thank you. Many thanks for your post.
It is very helpful to me.
Thanks for the email address you included.
Perhaps what is needed is for me to start all over again by sending them details of my story, and ask that they take a look at the texts we were sent, and issue us a refund as soon as possible, please.
We have always been very polite and respectful when communicating with them.
Perhaps that's a mistake and angry-sounding people get serviced first?
I don't know.

Thanks again for taking the time to post here.
Much appreciated.
Cheers, Rebecca

I recall something from Virgin A in one of the newspaper reports that some early refund requests had been 'miskeyed'. Whilst that doesn't mean anything at all really, it may have been the case with yours.

Thank you, Marco. "Miskeyed"....no doubt that may have contributed to the delay. Good to at least know what may be the reason for the delay.

Today, about 15 minutes ago, we have received an email back from VA. We used the email address posted here by MA Traveler, and had sent a brand new message earlier this afternoon.

It is a form letter, stating that VA is experiencing a high volume of emails due to Covid19 and the cancellation of flights.
Then 3 to 4 more paragraphs of the same form letter, promising nothing except they will try to get to all requests in a timely manner.

At the bottom is a paragraph, requesting that the contents of the email NOT be copy-pasted and posted anywhere else.
So honoring that, I have briefly stated only what the "gist" of the message is.

They asked that we hereafter communicate by text message to "the following number",
which is the one we have been communicating with for several months.
So we have sent them yet another text with all our information in it, requesting a refund, and referencing our previous request.
No answer.

So we are right back to there.
All communication leads back to "send us a text" then that's the end of it.

I guess the text goes into a Black Hole somewhere out in space.

I feel your pain, Rebecca. Virgin canceled my May flight on April 20. I requested a refund via text either that day or the next. Virgin responded (via text) on April 27 that I would get a refund. Didn't get a refund reference number till June 1 though. I don't even know when to start the 120-day calculation: from the date Virgin said they would refund me (April 27), or the date I got the refund reference number (June 1)? Either way, it's taking an unacceptably long time to get my money back. I should've booked with BA like I ordinarily do.

Hi Teresa,
Thanks for your post, and thanks for saying "I feel your pain".
Sorry to hear that you're having to go through the same thing that I'm going through--and that many other people are also going through.
I wish you good luck getting your refund.
I am sorry to hear you have been waiting longer than I have.
I feel your pain, too!

No matter when you start counting the 120 days, it really doesn't mean anything.
No one knows when you will get your refund.
When I started this, I was told the following, from my post above:

"We were told we would receive a refund within a matter of days or weeks. We were told some receive theirs in 7 to 10 days, but the longest wait might be 30 days.
It has now been 103 days since that conversation."

Keep in mind the time period we were told in May. 7 to 10 days, or 30 days at the longest.
We were not told it would be 120 days.
I'm sure that's how long it is now, because they have gotten so far behind with a backlog of payments.

Rebecca -

I don't have anything useful to add to this thread. I just wanted to say how sorry I am to hear of the struggle you're having to get the refund you were promised. I've only flown with VA one time, but I enjoyed the experience greatly. It's very disappointing to hear that they're being so awful in the refund department.

The one piece of practical advice I have from doing refunds - which I'm sure you already know and sounds like you're doing - is to be politely persistent. At the end of my waiting period for a refund from Delta, I was texting them almost daily to simply request an update on the status of my refund which I had submitted on such and such date. I don't know if it helped, but at least it added to the paper trail. I kept a huge chart, separate from my emails, text messages, and listed that I'd contacted this person at this phone number on this date and they said blah, blah.

Fingers crossed for your refund!!!!

By the way, if this influences any future choices, the three airlines identified by the CAA to have promptly refunded with little backlog were American. Jet2, and United. The three with the biggest issues were Ryanair, TUI, and Virgin Atlantic.

Who's paying $10,000 for lie flat seats to London?

Plenty of people, myself included although not for one seat, that's typically for four but of course it's not just lie flat seats. I want my holidays to start when I leave my house not after a tortuous 10+ hours crammed into a seat with insufficient room for me to sit comfortably. With VA Upper Class tickets I can be taken to the airport in a limousine, dropped off at Virgin's private check in, go through their dedicated security and straight to the excellent Clubhouse where complimentary food, drink, haircuts, beauty treatments etc are all available. After that it's on board to their very well designed cabin including a full size bar where you can mingle with other passengers and crew, far better than spending hours with the reclined chair of the person in front of you in your lap.

Yes it's expensive but it boils down to what you place value on. I like Virgin's product so I hope that they can survive this period. My only disappointment with them is that they don't fly many routes, I refuse to fly Delta so it often leaves BA as the only viable option flying from the UK to the US.

aquamarinesteph, thank you for all your good advice! Yes, I will be be politely persistent, and keep messaging them. Yes, fingers crossed; thanks!

Marco, thank you. That information helps me and everyone else who will read this thread.
"the three airlines identified by the CAA to have promptly refunded with little backlog were American. Jet2, and United. The three with the biggest issues were Ryanair, TUI, and Virgin Atlantic."

JC, thanks for your comments. I also have been pleased up until now with the quality of my VA flight experience from start to finish; easy booking, great website at which to do so, on-time flights, clean plane interiors, great service, food, flight attendants--very attentive and professional.
I do agree with you that the benefits you describe make it worth it for some people to book the expensive seats.
Like you, I hope they survive this fiasco, and continue on.

Those with Virgin Atlantic or any other packages qualifying for CAA Atol protection can cash in previously accepted vouchers or credit notes with their operator at any time and have the security of knowing that they have the protection against the operator going out of business to the value of the original holiday until 30 September 2021.

Hi Rebecca,
I was happy tp post my experience. Too bad you ended up back in the loop. One thing more I will add is that as others have suggested is be persistant. I too had about given up after periodic text messages ,when one day unexpectedly I receive my notification of an impending refund. Then it took a bit of time to actually get it back on my credit card.
This is no way to run a business for sure. I have enjoyed flying on Virgin but really???
Good luck!

MA Traveler, thanks. I won't give up, that's for sure.

SO sorry to read about the scrum you are having with VA. The Husband wonders if VA is held liable for US Department of Transportation regulations given that this was a flight operating in the US. The DOT requirements are crystal clear regarding refunds.
https://www.transportation.gov/individuals/aviation-consumer-protection/refunds

No doubt that how businesses treated customers during this crisis will have a ripple effect throughout the next decade. Once burned, twice cautious right?

Rebecca , I don't know if this is any help , but I thought I might as well let you know . I had tickets ( purchased from Delta ) for JFK - MAN , and return LHR - JFK , out 8/23 return 11/5 . Both flights were to be Virgin Atlantic . When they cancelled the JFK - MAN leg , I called the Delta line and received a full refund for both legs the next day . Perhaps approaching Delta directly might have some impact , although I would doubt it . Sorry to hear about this , best wishes , Steve

Traveling Mom, thank you. And thanks for that link. Very helpful.
Yes, once burned, twice cautious, indeed.

Steven, thank you for that information. I am glad you received your refund. Do you by any chance have the phone number you used?
Was it this one? Delta Reservation Sales at 800-847-0578. This is the number their website gives for requesting a refund.
I'll try anything at this point.
Many thanks for your comments; very helpful.

Rebecca , Yes , that's the one I used . Good luck !

Thank you Steven!

Finally received an email with my refund calculation from Virgin yesterday -- 120 days from the date Virgin canceled my flight. Per the email, it will be “anywhere between 1 and 14 working days” before I see the money back in my account.

Teresa, so glad to hear that! I'm happy for you! Thanks for coming back here and posting to let me know that.

It has now been 110 days for us, so hopefully we are ten days away from receiving a refund. Fingers crossed.

Posting to say that the full refund turned up on my credit card today. I'd been checking since 8/18, which is when I received the refund calculation from Virgin (120 days after they canceled my flight), but I didn't see anything in my account till today. Suspect Chase put a 10-day hold on the funds.

There is hope! Good luck to you, Rebecca, and to anyone else waiting for a refund.

Thank you, Teresa!
Thumbs up to you getting your refund!!
Glad to hear you have your money back!

Good news.
We finally got our refund back from Virgin Atlantic!!!!
It has hit our credit card statement overnight, so it's really there.
Refund was for the 2 flights, not for the seat choice.
Will wait and see if that extra shows up.
Yay!!!

We had received an email this past Sunday from VA, saying that they had our information and that our refund would be processed shortly. This was exactly 120 days after we requested our refund.
It did say that the refund for seat selection may be processed separately.

I waited until the money actually hit our credit card account before I believed it.
So then I wanted to report back to all of you.
So, there is hope, if you are waiting for a refund from VA.
Good luck to you, if you are, and hang in there.

VA has issued us a refund on the 124th day after our request, and it has renewed my faith in them.
Rebecca

Woohoo! SO happy you got your refund Rebecca! Thanks for the update.

A happy ending! Glad Virgin did the right thing.

Thanks Pam and Tammy!
And thanks again everyone for all the helpful comments and advice throughout this thread!

Calls for a class of cognac ! Glad it worked out !

So happy for you Rebecca!! Boy, you sure went through hell with them, and you definitely did not deserve that. What an ordeal, so glad it ended well!

Nice to hear that you finally got your money back!

Steven, Susan, and Badger; thank you!
Cheers!
Raising a glass of wine to celebrate later this evening.

Perfect! 🥂🍷🍾

Rebecca,

Glad you finally got your refund. I was so happy and relieved too when I finally got mine as I earlier reported in this thread and another.

FYI and for others I am posting a portion of what I just received in my inbox , hopefully real and not just PR. It is too bad as I have liked flying with them.

from Virgin.

The last 6 months have been the toughest in our history, as they will have been for many of you. Despite the amazing efforts of our teams, at times we have not lived up to your expectations of us. We know we need to rebuild your trust in us and we will do everything in our power to achieve that.
We have always been, and remain committed to, refunding every customer who has requested one from us. We are working hard to increase processing capability and unlock some of the systems constraints we face. Our intention is to be able to process all refunds raised in October within 30 days and, once the whole backlog is cleared, return to 7 and 14 day time frames for Virgin Atlantic and Virgin Holidays respectively.

Susan, hopefully raising a glass of wine (to toast friends like all of you) will happen again in spring of 2021, as we all go back to enjoying travel and Rick Steves tours once again!

MA Traveler, thanks for that information. So glad you got your refund, too!
I have also enjoyed flying with Virgin Atlantic.

Best regards, everyone. Thanks for all of your comments, suggestions, and support.
Rebecca

Excellent news, Rebecca!

Teresa, thank you!

I am wishing good luck to everyone else waiting for a refund.
Hang in there! Your day (or refund) will come, hopefully!

I have had several text messaging and phone calls and was told twice that I will be getting a full refund. But I received an email saying that my refund was processed and it may take 14 dyas to get ot my credit card, but when I downloaded the refund form the amount of my ~3k booking was being refunded at $0.00! I am sooooo angry right now. Plus the refund reference number was not the one I was given by one of the customer service people. Right now I am on hold AGAIN to speak with someone. I am NEVER booking with them again. This is the worst experience ever! Any suggestions would be helpful.

Text messages work best with them. Do read the suggestions from others, above in this thread. Good luck to you. Keep trying. Don't give up.

Well, I just go off the phone with Ian from VA and he said to ignore the email I just received as there were 2 reference # associated with my refund. So the email I received was for one that they closed out and I will be getting a full refund via the second reference #.
So, hopefully that will be accurate. I am wondering why there were 2 ref# associated with my refund? Was it just to make me more frustrated? If so, it worked! Will let you know how it ends......

Thanks Rebecca, I have had better luck with calling them than the texts. I didnt get any response from the texts! It was only a 30 min wait on the phone. I guess cause it is so late there in the UK and perhaps less callers at this time.

I like Virgin Atlantic enough to have willingly accepted the voucher/credit rather than requesting a refund when my flight in July/August was canceled, as I have every intention of taking this trip at some point and flying with them again when I do it (and having that credit hanging around out there helps give me incentive to make the trip happen once it's again safe to do so).

Having said all that, it is fairly astonishing they've done such a poor job refunding folks and taken so long with the process. These are customers who've proven themselves willing and able to spend money on Virgin Atlantic, and yet I suspect a great many will have been chased away from the airline due to their refund experience. And these are customers Virgin Atlantic can ill afford to lose.

I have also liked Virgin Atlantic, but was unwilling to accept a voucher from a company that looked like they would certainly go out of business, until about a month ago. Then the vouchers would have been no good, quite obviously.

When our flight was first cancelled by VA back in May, during the first 3 phone conversations we had with them, the customer service reps we spoke with promised us a full refund. Cash back in the same manner in which we had paid. I took them at their word.

If they weren't going to honor the promise they made, then they shouldn't have made that promise. It's that simple.

We attempted to make them keep the promise they made to us, and kept on reminding them of that.

If you're not going to keep a promise, then don't make a promise in the first place.

I totally understand, Rebecca, and don’t fault you at all for that!

I suppose I took a bit of a gamble - I’d been following their story and efforts at assistance/bailout money/investors so wasn’t too worried about them going completely out of business. I had called my credit card company a couple times to feel them out on my odds with filing a chargeback if the airline went under, also. All that left me willing to take the voucher. But certainly I can see the sound rationale behind getting that refund, having one’s money safely back in hand, and starting fresh with a new booking (and potentially new airline) when the time comes.

Just my experience here. I had paid for a SEA-LHR flight on May 18th that was cancelled on May 7th. I immediately contacted them via text message (the only way I could contact them) and requested a full refund. On May 11th, “Zoe” responded (via text message) and after requesting a full refund again, she cheerfully confirmed that a full refund had been requested for me, although she could not give me a time frame.

Fast forward to today, almost 120 days since my cancelled flight, and I just received an email expressing their sincere apologies, that my refund has been processed, and that depending on the original method of payment, I should see it in my account in one to fourteen days. This was my last refund to come through, YooHoo!

Davey, great! I am glad you have your refund!

If you paid extra to have a seat reservation, they refund that on a different day from the flight refund.
We have not yet received that.