No fly,no miles even though you have paid

Guy in todays Times Travel complaining that he had paid for a flight on Virgin but did`t fly. He had paid for his fare and expected to get his miles. Not so and he compared it to buying his food from a supermarket and being followed home by one of their employees to make sure he actually ate the food before being able to claim his Tesco points.

[preiffer]

Well, since it's a practice that's been there since FFPs were invented, I'd say he's being very naive.

Hotel schemes do EXACTLY the same - no stay, no credit.


While it may stink to those that get caught out by it, it IS clear in the T's and C's of all programs and is not exactly an 'unknown' way of working.

[Nottingham Nick]

This is an interesting debate, and one that is often mentions over on Flyertalk, when the subjects of Mileage Runs and Mattress Runs are discussed.

Why not book the flights / bedrooms, pay for them; but not turn up?

AFIAK, it is the terms and conditions of the various schemes that state that the flights must be taken, or the beds slept in, before points are awarded. If you breach the T&C, you don't get the points - end of story.

Nick

[Nottingham Nick]

Paul quicker on the draw than me once again. [|)][:I]

[preiffer]

[:p]

Should add, actually, that the one time you WILL get miles for not flying is if your flight is cancelled and/or you're invol. rerouted. But that's a whole different ball-game, anyway... [:w]

[Darren Wheeler]

Not quite sure why of the logic behind that. If you get a refund from Tesco don't they take the points off?

If you fly regularly and you have to cancel at short notice then pay the extra for a flexible ticket and take the risk on the higher price. Most hotels have a 'cancel before xxpm' rule so you don't loose out unless you buy a really cheap advance, no cancellations room.

[mcmbenjamin]

If he wants miles he could either fly or buy them. I imagine his ticket was cheap. I wonder if he got his taxes refunded? Probably the majority of the cost to him.

Just for info, he was flying back from India and missed a connection. VS put him on standby and after 4 days of no joy,he took an Air India flight back to the UK, hence not using the VS flight.

[mcmbenjamin]

Originally posted by Paul H
Just for info, he was flying back from India and missed a connection. VS put him on standby and after 4 days of no joy,he took an Air India flight back to the UK, hence not using the VS flight.

Was the inbound flight on the same booking as the VS outbound to LHR? If not he was not protected as these are two different bookings and VS could have simply voided his ticket as he would have been a 'no-show/no-call'. Did he buy the Air India ticket?

Does VS have a flat tire rule?

[preiffer]

Originally posted by mcmbenjamin
Does VS have a flat tire rule?

Not in the way the US airlines do, but there IS a clause, here.

*Force Majeure means unusual and unforeseeable circumstances beyond your control, the consequences of which could not have been avoided even if all due care had been exercised. Circumstances that are within your control and are foreseeable and therefore not eligible for a future credit include, but are not limited to:


Not possessing valid travel documents for any country you may seek to enter as a point of destination or transit.
Failure to arrange reliable transportation or to leave adequate time to complete your journey to an airport in order to check in at least 120 minutes (or longer as may be specified at time of issue of your ticket) prior to the scheduled departure time of your flight.

So, by definition, since a 'flat tyre' is WITHIN your control, they won't provide much sympathy. Likewise, a connection missed on two seperate tickets will not mean this clause is invoked. It's there as a last-resort, should the entire world be out to get you the day you fly.

Was the inbound flight on the same booking as the VS outbound to LHR? If not he was not protected as these are two different bookings and VS could have simply voided his ticket as he would have been a 'no-show/no-call'. Did he buy the Air India ticket?

It was only a small article, so I don`t know.