Can't Reschedule Sydney-Perth Return Flights with Virgin Booked through Trip.com

pupdog on 23/12/2020 - 20:15
Last edited 24/12/2020 - 11:46 by 1 other user

I bought a Sydney-Perth return ticket flying Virgin through Trip.com back in March this year, before the virus broke bad here.

I was due to fly last Saturday but I cancelled (or tried to) 24 hours or so beforehand because of the newly imposed border restrictions which would've meant a 2 week holiday in quarantine, which of course makes no sense. First I tried to reschedule through their website but as I couldn't do it beyond 2 months, I emailed them and asked them if I could fly later without scheduling a date. They said they'd contact Virgin and get back to me. They have finally done so and are now saying that according to Virgin, they can't extend the validity of the flight. Which leaves me gobsmacked.

Is this just a case of tough luck or is there anything I can do about it? It does seem unfair. I have yet to reply to their latest email. I'm hoping for some good advice here.

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• 

  st1ng on 23/12/2020 - 20:25

  Virgin quite clearly state they are offering free rescheduling on all flights before 31/3/2021. https://www.virginaustralia.com/au/en/plan/fare-types/Domest…

  trip.com should be honoring the same, although they may charge you a change fee.

  • 

    pupdog on 23/12/2020 - 20:59

    Trip.com claim that they are simply following Virgin's decision. But thanks, I'll put this to them.

    They also mentioned before that any fees would be the airline's and not theirs.

    • 

      Seraphin7 on 23/12/2020 - 23:14

      +1

      They also mentioned before that any fees would be the airline's and not theirs.

      cough

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  Stewardo on 23/12/2020 - 20:40

  Is trip.com an Australian travel agent? Or an Australian company? Could it be that the ticket was cheaper because you don’t have the same protections you would have, if it was purchased thru virgin or a bonded Australian agent operating under Australian consumer law.

  • 

    pupdog on 23/12/2020 - 21:01

    I assume that they are American. But as I mentioned above, they claim to be following Virgin's lead.

    • 

      The Wololo Wombat on 23/12/2020 - 21:08

      +2

      Trip.com is a Chinese company. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trip.com_Group

      See if you can charge back though credit card, if possible.

    • 

      Stewardo on 23/12/2020 - 21:20

      Your contract is with them, not Virgin. The arrangement they have with Virgin 2.0 or their resellers may/will have different conditions.
      This is the problem with super cheap flights/hotels/car rentals that are found on kayak, skyscanner etc. When it all goes well, it’s great, because you save $$. However when you have an issue, you have to deal with the reseller, who doesn’t have to comply with Australian consumer laws, difficult to contact etc. There is a reason they are cheap, cause it’s not the same product.
      Have you read trip.com reviews?
      Can your credit card provider help?

      • 

        pupdog on 23/12/2020 - 21:56

        +1

        You may well be right regarding the seller not having to comply with Aussie law. Still, I might start by pointing out Virgin’s policy and see what they say before pulling out the big guns with cc chargebacks.

        Thanks for your advice.

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  Stewardo on 23/12/2020 - 22:19

  1. Purpose of this information.
     Virgin Australia is committed to complying with the Australian Consumer Law (ACL). This page sets out information about your consumer guarantee rights under the ACL where we have delayed or cancelled your flight. It is not intended to be an exhaustive statement of rights available to consumers and we recommend you refer to the ACCC website or talk to an independent legal representative if you would like to learn more about your rights under the ACL.

  If you booked through your travel agent, your refund will be processed in accordance with the terms and conditions you have agreed with your agent. Please contact your travel agent directly for more information.

  • 

    [Deactivated] on 24/12/2020 - 10:40

    Does ACL apply to the end user if they procured the item from an overseas seller though? I know it doesn't apply to overseas transactions, but just because this is an AUS company and the end user is in AUS, the item was purchased through a non AUS intermediary. Given the purchase was made through a Singapore based operation I don't think ACL will apply.

    • 

      Stewardo on 24/12/2020 - 11:14

      That was my point, the conditions on the ticket are from trip.com not virgin. Virgin states this, the contract is between you and the foreign travel agent, and not subject to Virgins conditions or ACL.

      • 

        [Deactivated] on 24/12/2020 - 11:23

        Ah, fair enough. I thought you were going down the "if TA doesn't comply, apply ACL pressure to Virgin' route. We are of the same opinion.

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  pupdog on 24/12/2020 - 10:08

  I have written what I hope is a polite but firmly worded email pointing out Virgin's flexible no fee cancellation/rescheduling policy. I am not hopeful but it is worth a shot. Unfortunately, I just realised this morning that I used my debit card to pay for the tickets. So I probably won't be getting my money back. An expensive and painful lesson.

  The funny thing is that I had a different experience with another Virgin/Tiger Airways Sydney-Perth flight booked for June through a different third party reseller (also not Australian, I think). They contacted me automatically offering credit with Virgin.
  Anyway, I'll keep you posted as to what they say.

  • 

    Love a bargain on 24/12/2020 - 17:54

    If it's a Visa/Mastercard debit card that you've used, you can still initiate a charge back. Those debit cards operate the same as credit card when it comes to payment processing and protection. It's just that your bank doesn't offer you any credit.

    • 

      pupdog on 24/12/2020 - 19:28

      Great. Thanks for that. I’ll keep it in mind if it comes to that.

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  Fapple on 24/12/2020 - 11:06

  Has anyone had any luck changing their flight on virgins webpage? I'm trying to change a flight from the 28th to the 29th, when I click confirm it hangs for a bit and takes me to my itinerary, which is still showing that my flight is on the 28th and I don't receive any e-mails with my updated itinerary. I've tried on multiple different devices and browsers. They are also impossible to call right now, just get hung up on by a robot that tells me to try again later.

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  itx on 24/12/2020 - 15:09

  Virgin's general policies for agents is actually publicly available (though note that some agents have special tickets/arrangements with Virgin that may override these): https://www.virginaustralia.com/au/en/bookings/agents-corpor…

  Sounds like the one that should apply to your ticket is the "COVID-19 Commercial Policy v27". The basics of the policy seem to be (my interpretation only):
  - Ticket must have been issued prior to 20 April 2020
  - change fees are waived but fare differences have to be paid
  - need to cancel your original flights prior to departure date
  - can rebook for any date that's available in the system (typically next 11 months or so)
  - agents need to apply a "waiver code" to the booking when making changes to the ticket

  The agent should be able to find a copy of the policy on their own system to verify this.

  • 

    pupdog on 24/12/2020 - 19:56

    Thanks, I may mention this in my next email but I suspect that it is Trip.com’s policy/arrangements with Virgin that are at play here.

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  pupdog on 24/12/2020 - 19:46

  So they came back to me today and after a couple of emails back and forth emails, they’ve agreed to allow me to reschedule the (yet to depart) return flight up to 2 months from now. However, they refuse to refund or reschedule the departed flight, as they say that no refunds/reschedules are allowed after departure. Which wouldn’t be unreasonable apart from the fact that I initiated the reschedule process nearly 24 hours before departure. I told them I didn’t think I should bear the loss because they were too slow to act. However they ignored this, simply restating the line no refunds after departure.

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  cnmarine on 06/01/2021 - 00:14

  Trip is useless, booked china air (codeshare qantas) -> qantas to return from japan in one ticket. Due to a typhon, the japan -> Taiwan leg was delayed which means I can't make the Taiwan to Australia flight……..but the real issue is that due to some stupid Taiwanese rule that ppl with Chinese passport can't stay in Taiwanese airport overnight (even when I've lived in Australia for most of my life and it's for a transit flight to Australia), they won't let me board the delayed flight to Taiwan due to a visa issue, in effect forfeiting the whole ticket. The response from Trip was to just buy another ticket………wtf. Had to kick up a huge fuss at the airport in the end to sort it out (china air got us free tickets to tokyo then back to Australia the next day - had to pay for 1 night hotel cost).