Lesson to learn

This is a lesson to all never to check fares once you have booked and paid for your tickets.

My e-ticket LHR-IAD-JFK-LHR was issued on Tuesday 1 July which I paid 437 for it. Just now checking for those same dates it is 407 or stay in NYC for an extra night its 323 [:0]. Worse still I have to catch the VS26 which departs JFK at 0730hrs so I will be lacking some [|)]. The VS26 had the cheapest fare when I booked but now the VS4 or VS46 all have the same fares which I much prefer departing JFK later in the day.

I'm not happy about this as it was only few days ago I paid for the tickets. The fare class is in X and N respectively. So I presume I can't change the dates or time for free or even cancel and rebook? Do I just suck it and enjoy the holiday? Is there any gesture of goodwill from VS for at least changing to a later JFK flight?

[Darren Wheeler]

Sorry, but N and X are both non-flexible, non-changable and non-refundable.

As the saying goes, prices can go up as well as down, unfortunatly in this case they went down.

[preiffer]

I have a feeling a few people might be going back to estate agents to demand refunds this year as well.

It seems the odd one or two houses were bought just before the prices went down [:0][;)]

Could have a lot to do with BA's latest fare campaign for 4th July with fares now at £299 return?!?

I totally understand the frustration - I recently noticed that for the dame price as I have booked VS PE to the Caribbean I could now fly in The Business with BMI due to a special offer!

Still, thats the way the cookie crumbles. I could have seen the prices go up!

You broke the golden rule.


Never go back and look at the price once you have brought your ticket, its tempting fate[:)]

That's why I avoid clothes sales it's just too upsetting to see all my 'must have' purchases sitting on the 50% off rail !!!!!

Recently bought a ticket on VS website for a friend who is accompanying me in October, and I paid £650 for an econ ticket for him, only to find seats on the same flight TWO WEEKS later for £450...
Not a happy chap, and even less so because VS then telephoned me to say they'd messed-up my connecting flight, SFO-PSP and as a result, I've lost the first night of my holiday because instead of arriving PSP 18:30, I will not get there until after 23:30 now!!

I'm flying UC and feel really let down by VS, to the extent it might be my last purchase with them...[:(!]

The analogy with houses doesn't work, because with flights and indeed hotel rooms (my area of expertise) you haven't had the product when the prices change. Hotels are different because the good ones will let you change rate and realise that incentivising people who leave it to the last minute to book is not a good way to encourage future business.

Take my flight to New York - this was a prize from work so I didn't pay for it, but I love checking flights (partly due to curiosity and also being an ex-agent, that kind of stuff never leaves you!) any my flights have fluctuated between the price I paid GBP465.00, up to GBP499.00 then GBP523.00 until GBP541.00, to the current level of GBP409.00. So what does that tell me? Next time, when I have to pay, should I book so early? Maybe I will leave it later. Don't give the airline my cash so soon. They'll only be getting interest on my money. This is of course balanced with the risk of losing the seats entirely!

This will be the thought of everyone who has checked the price at a later date. Which creates more uncertainty for airlines who are trying to fill those planes outside the surefire busy periods. There is an established trend showing that the travel business is moving towards later booking. Not all down to one reason, but playing the fares game is definitely part of it.

I fully understand why airlines do it, but whatever way you look at it, the result is that early bookers feel ripped off. And perception is reality. But that's not Virgin's fault - because they are not in control of what other airlines do and have to respond to a challenging market. However I feel that the cast-iron booking conditions of airlines, where you can't change a fare class or amend a spelling error without punitive charges (not sure if Virgin are bad at that) is something that will be investigated, just the same way as bank charges are.

So when it comes to me booking a flight, the only thing I go by is: Am I happy with this fare?
If I am happy with the fare, I book.