Virgin Atlantic On The Brink

[kettering_baggie]

I had been hoping to something of a road trip in the States this Summer but I am very glad now that I haven’t booked anything up, especially the flights. Was going to fly to Boston and then drive to Nashville; yes, I know it’s a long way! Had been looking forward to enjoying the music scene there for about a week before going to Yellowstone, another long haul! I’ve done this sort of trip before and regarding the airlines, it can be a bit of pot luck. The last time we went to North America we flew with Air Canada. Their customer service is no better than any airline with the exception of Ryanair, but the flight staff were excellent. I have not experienced problems with Virgin Atlantic, BA, United or Delta. I actually dislike flying, so when I have flown, as one has to to go any distance, I know full well that I am not going to enjoy it, so my expectation of airline performance is probably low to start with! Now I wonder if I will ever manage to go back to Nashville.

[mickd1961]

Good points mate. I refuse to fly with Ryanair as O'Leary seems to hold his customers in complete contempt which filters down to the staff he employs. I bought my partners daughter a ticket as a birthday present as she was going with her mates for a weekend away. Time won't allow to explain how they've acted but its been nothing but lies, stalling for time and going back on commitments to refunds. A mate of mine was quite high up in Worldpay who provide payment gateways for many large companies. He said within 48 hours, Ryanair could implement a fully automated refund process if they wanted to so all this guff that they can't refund for 12 months is purely to exploit their customers. Remember, this is the company who sell their own in flight lottery tickets in the name of 'charity' but only give 0.3% actually to charity. No one has ever won their lottery either. According to William Hill, the odds of winning the Ryanair lottery are 8 times higher than wining the National Lottery. Shows what a lovely company they are. I tend to use Jet2 where I can for short haul European flights. Found them very good and reasonable and above all, friendly. Done 3 long haul flights with BA. Never had a good flight. The staff come across as they're doing you a favour it always seems to me.

At the end of February or very early March I could see how things were going so I contacted Kuoni to cancel the trip to New England in September.

The rep was aghast and tried the stalling tactics.

This was a couple of weeks before lockdown at least and she couldn’t understand my stance.

I told her that I thought Trump would stop people flying into the USA.

She begged to differ........next morning he banned European incoming flights.

I pushed again for my refund and was again met by stalling tactics.

She asked me why I was so aggressive in pursuing a refund at this early stage and I told her......

“Because you lot might not exist in a few weeks time because the world is turning to s h I t and travel companies and airlines are going to crash”.

She got quite huffy and told me my refund would take about a week.

It took a bit longer and I had to chase for it and I lost £200 in cancellation fees.

Next time I book with them I’ll drive down the price and once agreed I’ll then demand another £200+ off to cover those fees.

Customer is going to be king for a good while with travel.

[kettering_baggie]

Hi Mick, I’ve been to New England quite a lot, where were you going to go to?

[mickd1961]

Hi Mick, I’ve been to New England quite a lot, where were you going to go to?

We were going to Boston and then a week touring by coach around NE Kets.

Then spending the final week in Cape Cod around Nantucket.

Glad I cancelled it now because a week on a coach was a mistake in hindsight.

[kettering_baggie]

Cape Cod is nice but my favourite New England destination is the White Mountains in New Hampshire, really lovely place to hang out. I particular, the Lost River Gorge and Boulder Caves is well worth the visit; it’s near Lincoln and North Woodstock. When you plan your trip, take a look online, I think that it would give you something to look forward to. Bar Harbor in Maine is another place worth a visit, lots of good bars/restaurants with live music.

[westcountryvillain]

I think VA is majority owned by American Airlines so Branson won't "suffer" too much, it's the large workforce I feel sorry for.

[baggieal]

I think VA is majority owned by American Airlines so Branson won't "suffer" too much, it's the large workforce I feel sorry for.

Evening WCV - it’s Delta that own 49% of VA and Branson’s Group control the 51%. So in a pre pack administration those Delta shares will be wiped and can see the greedy **** Branson looking at this avenue to take!

[stripes39]

I beg to differ Stripes, flown quite a few times to The States with BA to visit our sone and have never had a bad experience, last year my wife had a bad turn on the plane and the staff couldn't have been more attentive and helpful, they messaged ahead and arranged for paramedics to board the plane and take my wife off before even the first class passengers and they then wheelchaired her through to were our sone was waiting for us.

It’s good to hear you had a good experience with BA Tony. Tbh, I would expect any major ‘premier’ airline to have done the same for your wife in those circumstances. Surely it’s a minimum requirement?

My experiences have not been good with BA. Flew to Los Angeles Sydney and Cancun and felt the staff had an attitude that they really are the worlds best airline and THEY are doing you a favour. Not a patch on Emirates, Thai, Lufthansa or my favourite Singapore Airlines. I once got pulled off a flight by good old BA having passed through customs (yes they can do it) The flight out of Buenos Aires was full and they decided to bump off several male single passengers in favour of a couple of families who arrived very late. Put me up in a 3* hotel for two nights until the next flight out. No upgrade on flight back and had to fight them for taxi fares and compensation. A tired old airline who should have gone to the wall years ago

[mickd1961]

It’s good to hear you had a good experience with BA Tony. Tbh, I would expect any major ‘premier’ airline to have done the same for your wife in those circumstances. Surely it’s a minimum requirement?

My experiences have not been good with BA. Flew to Los Angeles Sydney and Cancun and felt the staff had an attitude that they really are the worlds best airline and THEY are doing you a favour. Not a patch on Emirates, Thai, Lufthansa or my favourite Singapore Airlines. I once got pulled off a flight by good old BA having passed through customs (yes they can do it) The flight out of Buenos Aires was full and they decided to bump off several male single passengers in favour of a couple of families who arrived very late. Put me up in a 3* hotel for two nights until the next flight out. No upgrade on flight back and had to fight them for taxi fares and compensation. A tired old airline who should have gone to the wall years ago

I turned up at Menorca airport with my wife and three youngish kids about 20 years ago and as is my luck I picked the slowest of the three check in desks and got there last.

Handed over our 5 tickets and the staff started talking in Spanish instead of the fluent English used up to that point.

I was then informed there was only 4 seats left so either I stayed behind or we all did but we had no money left and there was no timescales as to what day we’d next get a flight!

We’d booked the holiday through Thompson I think it was many months before so it seemed inconceivable that we were a seat short.

The Thompson rep had disappeared on the coach back to the resort and I started to panic and was kicking off at the desk and then running around trying to find help.

I was then approached by gun wielding police and was told I’d be arrested if I didn’t shut up.

At that point a couple of fantastic young reps from another company intervened and took over at the check in on our behalf.

The reason for the missing seat?

A member of Thompson’s staff wanted to get back to the U.K. quickly and had had a ticket printed manually for them at the desk😤😤

This shows how much contempt airlines have for their customers!

In the end these reps persuaded the necessary people at the airline to put the staff member in the spare cockpit seat with the pilots ( it was pre 911 )

This messing around delayed take off so we as a family we’re treated like leper’s once we finally boarded as everyone blamed us for the late set off.

A horrible and unnecessary experience due to selfishness and the wilful neglect of a family of 5 people.

I never flew with them again.

[stripes39]

I turned up at Menorca airport with my wife and three youngish kids about 20 years ago and as is my luck I picked the slowest of the three check in desks and got there last.

Handed over our 5 tickets and the staff started talking in Spanish instead of the fluent English used up to that point.

I was then informed there was only 4 seats left so either I stayed behind or we all did but we had no money left and there was no timescales as to what day we’d next get a flight!

We’d booked the holiday through Thompson I think it was many months before so it seemed inconceivable that we were a seat short.

The Thompson rep had disappeared on the coach back to the resort and I started to panic and was kicking off at the desk and then running around trying to find help.

I was then approached by gun wielding police and was told I’d be arrested if I didn’t shut up.

At that point a couple of fantastic young reps from another company intervened and took over at the check in on our behalf.

The reason for the missing seat?

A member of Thompson’s staff wanted to get back to the U.K. quickly and had had a ticket printed manually for them at the desk😤😤

This shows how much contempt airlines have for their customers!

In the end these reps persuaded the necessary people at the airline to put the staff member in the spare cockpit seat with the pilots ( it was pre 911 )

This messing around delayed take off so we as a family we’re treated like leper’s once we finally boarded as everyone blamed us for the late set off.

A horrible and unnecessary experience due to selfishness and the wilful neglect of a family of 5 people.

I never flew with them again.

Mate, with some exceptions, the whole industry treats its customers as a tiresome inconvenience. Whether it’s the behaviour of airlines breaking EU law in order to use other people’s money to enable their own broken businesses to limp on or Ryanair and BA cynically exploiting the situation to avoid the refunds they legally should give despite being part of cash rich groups.

The holiday firms are no better and then we have airports where you get treated like a criminal rather than a customer and get exploited every which way by being forced to buy their expensive airside products if you’re carrying hand luggage. As a frequent traveller I’d thought before all of this I was getting fed up with the treatment airports give the customers, might start seeing more of the UK in future I reckon.