Some one please help - I believe Virgin have made an error with my booking and given me incorrect advice (See full detailed story below). On the back of this I find myself with separate booknigs for connecting flights and face additional baggage charges of between 130 - 3,000 !!!! (not to mention a lot of stress and inconvenience) virgin reps say they're very sorry but they can't do anything - surely something can be done. Please help - I'm desperate !!
I booked flights from Gatwick to Orlando with Virgin in September. I specifically selected Virgin due to their reputation for in flight service, customer care and the generous baggage allowance (including golf clubs). These issues were all important to me as I am travelling as a group of 8 including two small children and 3 older relatives not accustomed to flying.
I wanted to book flights from Belfast but the connections between Belfast and Gatwick were unavailable at that time as Virgin's partner airline for the route had not released their flight schedule for April / May when we wanted to travel. I decided to proceed at this time with the Orlando flights as there was a flight sale on and I was assured by the Virgin representative at the call centre that the connecting flights could be added to my booking at a later date.
A month later Flybe released their schedule and I called again to add the connecting flights. There was no problem with this but a few days later I contacted Virgin again as I had not received any confirmation. It transpired my booking had not been processed and I had to go through the process again. When I received two separate confirmations for the Belfast leg I called Virgin again to query why the orginal hadn't been amended and was assured the connecting flights were in place and if I asked at check in, my bags would be checked through - even though we we overnighting in London. It should be noted that these flights were approximately twice the cost of booking directly with Flybe but we deliberately returned to Virgin as we wanted to 'connecting' flights to ensure we were protected in the event of any delays, that we would get the baggage allowance the whole way through and that we could check or bags through.
In the last two days my husband looked over the documentation and asked me to contact Flybe to confirm everything would be ok at check-in in Belfast as we couldn't see that leg of the journey online with Virgin. I spoke to two different Flybe agents who tell me I do not have a connecting flight, am not entitled to the baggage allowance and can't check my bags through to Orlando. To make things worse my booking with Flybe does not include hold baggage for which there is an additional charge of 16 per bag. I was never advised at any stage by Virgin that I needed to book hold luggage for the Belfast leg or that there would be an additional charge. Today I have spoken to 3 different agents at Virgin all of whom have told me its fine, ask at check-in for the bags to be put through - they seem to know nothing about additional baggage charges.
I feel this is not a simple error but in fact I have been misled by no less than 6 different agents from Virgin. I am now being advised that Virgin can do nothing to help, albeit a representative called Pankaj and his supervisor Rubina have agreed to speak to Flybe and see what can be arranged. Apparently the existing tickets can not be cancelled and reissued as continuous through tickets (which seems to be the terminology I needed).
If Virgin do nothing to resolve this situation, my family and I face a further charge of at least 130, a substantially smaller baggage allowance (26kg per person less),penal excess baggage charges, the hassle and inconvenience of collecting and rechecking bags and the stress of any delays causing us further expense to continue what was intended to be a once in a lifetime trip.
I would be grateful if you would please advise if anything at all can be done to resolve this situation in advance of our travel on 29th April.
I booked flights from Gatwick to Orlando with Virgin in September. I specifically selected Virgin due to their reputation for in flight service, customer care and the generous baggage allowance (including golf clubs). These issues were all important to me as I am travelling as a group of 8 including two small children and 3 older relatives not accustomed to flying.
I wanted to book flights from Belfast but the connections between Belfast and Gatwick were unavailable at that time as Virgin's partner airline for the route had not released their flight schedule for April / May when we wanted to travel. I decided to proceed at this time with the Orlando flights as there was a flight sale on and I was assured by the Virgin representative at the call centre that the connecting flights could be added to my booking at a later date.
A month later Flybe released their schedule and I called again to add the connecting flights. There was no problem with this but a few days later I contacted Virgin again as I had not received any confirmation. It transpired my booking had not been processed and I had to go through the process again. When I received two separate confirmations for the Belfast leg I called Virgin again to query why the orginal hadn't been amended and was assured the connecting flights were in place and if I asked at check in, my bags would be checked through - even though we we overnighting in London. It should be noted that these flights were approximately twice the cost of booking directly with Flybe but we deliberately returned to Virgin as we wanted to 'connecting' flights to ensure we were protected in the event of any delays, that we would get the baggage allowance the whole way through and that we could check or bags through.
In the last two days my husband looked over the documentation and asked me to contact Flybe to confirm everything would be ok at check-in in Belfast as we couldn't see that leg of the journey online with Virgin. I spoke to two different Flybe agents who tell me I do not have a connecting flight, am not entitled to the baggage allowance and can't check my bags through to Orlando. To make things worse my booking with Flybe does not include hold baggage for which there is an additional charge of 16 per bag. I was never advised at any stage by Virgin that I needed to book hold luggage for the Belfast leg or that there would be an additional charge. Today I have spoken to 3 different agents at Virgin all of whom have told me its fine, ask at check-in for the bags to be put through - they seem to know nothing about additional baggage charges.
I feel this is not a simple error but in fact I have been misled by no less than 6 different agents from Virgin. I am now being advised that Virgin can do nothing to help, albeit a representative called Pankaj and his supervisor Rubina have agreed to speak to Flybe and see what can be arranged. Apparently the existing tickets can not be cancelled and reissued as continuous through tickets (which seems to be the terminology I needed).
If Virgin do nothing to resolve this situation, my family and I face a further charge of at least 130, a substantially smaller baggage allowance (26kg per person less),penal excess baggage charges, the hassle and inconvenience of collecting and rechecking bags and the stress of any delays causing us further expense to continue what was intended to be a once in a lifetime trip.
I would be grateful if you would please advise if anything at all can be done to resolve this situation in advance of our travel on 29th April.
