V Australia..any clue on delay to first flights

[bnroz]

Yup, bought one of their $1k rtn airfares when they first released them. Travelling Y with Virgin, and when they rebooked me with Qantas on the way over, they've booked me in (O) class, so I can't use my QFF to upgrade!

Up the back all the way!

im in the same boat, you flying on the A380 i assume as well? although it would be great to fly on the A380, i still would have like to travel on V Australia's planes along with their very attractive Flight Attendants!

i assume we will earn QFF points on the rebooked flight?

 

[banjalot]

im in the same boat, you flying on the A380 i assume as well? although it would be great to fly on the A380, i still would have like to travel on V Australia's planes along with their very attractive Flight Attendants!

i assume we will earn QFF points on the rebooked flight?

I've talked to Qantas r.e. mine, and they've even allocated me a QF booking number for my flight, so I should get the FF points.

The only issue that I've come to so far is my QF connecting flight to Sydney was after my departure on QF11, so I had to change and pay the change fee to Qantas. V Australia have said they won't reimburse me for the change fee, but suggested I call their 'Guest Relations' department to discuss it (they suggested that without any prompt from me for further resolution), so I'll see how I go.

Unfortunately QF11 on Feb 17 is scheduled to be a 744 service I do see however that under my QFF profile, I've already had my seat allocated though for that flight!

 

[bnroz]

I've talked to Qantas r.e. mine, and they've even allocated me a QF booking number for my flight, so I should get the FF points.

The only issue that I've come to so far is my QF connecting flight to Sydney was after my departure on QF11, so I had to change and pay the change fee to Qantas. V Australia have said they won't reimburse me for the change fee, but suggested I call their 'Guest Relations' department to discuss it (they suggested that without any prompt from me for further resolution), so I'll see how I go.

Unfortunately QF11 on Feb 17 is scheduled to be a 744 service I do see however that under my QFF profile, I've already had my seat allocated though for that flight!

oh, i just checked and the 15th feb is with A380

so did you ring Qantas direct and said that you have been rebooked with them, i dont have a booking ref number, only a VA one.... as i like to seat which seat i have been allocated

 

[serfty]

Contact Qantas on 131313 with your name and flight details and they should be able to provide you with the Amadeus booking reference.

With that you can employ Qantas.com's MYB and CheckMyTrip ...

 

[banjalot]

oh, i just checked and the 15th feb is with A380

so did you ring Qantas direct and said that you have been rebooked with them, i dont have a booking ref number, only a VA one.... as i like to seat which seat i have been allocated

I just punched in my VA booking ref in the add booking to your QFF profile and it came up. QFF SC gave me to Amadeus ref when I asked him about changing my connecting flights

 

[drron]

It seems though the start dates have firmed up with Feb 27th from SYD and April 8th from BNE.
Aero-News Network: The Aviation and Aerospace World's Daily/Real-Time News and Information Service
Also now quoting business class fares that do not seem a great deal.Discount J $10000 and full J $14000.Certainly many cheaper business class fares out there.

 

[notzac]

i assume we will earn QFF points on the rebooked flight?

Seeing as I'm able to speak from experience - yes; as far as QF is concerned it's a revenue flight with all the normal entitlements:

16 DEC 08 QF 093 ECONOMY/BUSINESS 15DEC08 MELBOURNE/LOS ANGELES
UPGRADE REF xx_xx_ 7,923 - 3,962 11,885 45 ~

(Oh yeah, and I was able to score an upgrade on an A380 service as well. Cheers VA! )

 

[Nigelinoz]

Copied from the V Australia site:

[
Wednesday 17 December 2008: V Australia Airlines is bringing Australian travellers an early Christmas treat, offering return airfares to the United States of America for up to 45% off the normal economy fare.
V Australia goes on sale today with thousands of $1199* fares up for grabs from Brisbane, Sydney and Melbourne to Los Angeles.
The sale follows confirmation of V Australia’s new launch date of 27 February 2008. The airline’s original launch date of 15 December 2008 was delayed due to industrial action at the Boeing factory in Seattle, which slowed down the delivery of V Australia’s launch aircraft.
V Australia has announced it will take delivery of its first brand new 777-300ER on Australia Day (26 January) with the aircraft due to touch down on Australian soil for the first time on Monday 9 February, following the fit-out of special cabin features post Boeing handover.
The delivery date has paved the way for V Australia to confirm the launch date of Friday 27 February 2009 for its historic trans-Pacific inaugural flight from Sydney to Los Angeles. The airline will initially operate three weekly direct services before ramping up to daily flights from 20 March 2009 following the delivery of additional 777-300ER aircraft.
V Australia Executive General Manager, Scott Swift, said, “While we never took our foot off the pedal, the team is now in full flight preparing for the delivery of our first aircraft, subsequent approval processes and of course the actual launch of Australia’s newest long haul airline.”
He continued, “From the outset, we committed to launching an airline that offered an outstanding and innovative three class option across the trans-Pacific. We also committed to offering value for money fares and the $1199* return all-inclusive fare currently on offer is almost half the normal fare and is very much in the spirit of V Australia and the festive season.”
The $1199* sale is for flights from Brisbane, Sydney and Melbourne to Los Angeles and is on sale now until 29 December 2008 with a travel period 1 March 2009 – 24 October 2009.
V Australia has also confirmed Wednesday 8 April 2009 as the revised launch date for direct Brisbane-Los Angeles flights, with three weekly direct flights to LA, the gateway to the USA.

Edited to add that apparently VA will take delivery of the first aircraft on January 26 so if
anyone is around SYD airport at that time they may well see the ferry flight arrive from Seattle.

 

[pauly7]

Seeing as I'm able to speak from experience - yes; as far as QF is concerned it's a revenue flight with all the normal entitlements:



(Oh yeah, and I was able to score an upgrade on an A380 service as well. Cheers VA! )

I bet VA are just DELIGHTED that they have parked you on their major competitors brand spanking new and most probably superior aircraft!
Congrats tho!

 

[simongr]

Copied from the V Australia site:


V Australia has announced it will take delivery of its first brand new 777-300ER on Australia Day (26 January) with the aircraft due to touch down on Australian soil for the first time on Monday 9 February

Edited to add that apparently VA will take delivery of the first aircraft on January 26 so if anyone is around SYD airport at that time they may well see the ferry flight arrive from Seattle.

Does not compute...

 

[Nigelinoz]

Originally Posted by NIGELINOZ
Copied from the V Australia site:


V Australia has announced it will take delivery of its first brand new 777-300ER on Australia Day (26 January) with the aircraft due to touch down on Australian soil for the first time on Monday 9 February

Edited to add that apparently VA will take delivery of the first aircraft on January 26 so if anyone is around SYD airport at that time they may well see the ferry flight arrive from Seattle.

Does not compute...

Very fair point! Maybe by "Taking Delivery" they mean ownership is transferred to VA on January 26 and the ferry flight touches down on Feb 9 .

 

[NM]

I bet VA are just DELIGHTED that they have parked you on their major competitors brand spanking new and most probably superior aircraft!
Congrats tho!

And V Australia's aircraft will be even newer when it is delivered!

I wonder how much of the rebooking cost is being recovered from Boeing due to the delayed delivery?

 

[banjalot]

And V Australia's aircraft will be even newer when it is delivered!

I wonder how much of the rebooking cost is being recovered from Boeing due to the delayed delivery?

I'd say they'd be pushing to have as much of it as possible, it would most likely be in the contract for delivery. If I recall correctly Emirates claimed from Airbus when the delivery of the A380 was delayed.

 

[trooper]

I don't understand the confusion...

Unless Boeing was going to fly the aircraft out here (which sounds incredibly unlikely to me!) , said "delivery" was always going to be in the US surely?.. then VA undertake whatever post-delivery stuff is required and fly it out here...

Makes sense to me!:mrgreen:

 

[oz_mark]

I'd say they'd be pushing to have as much of it as possible, it would most likely be in the contract for delivery. If I recall correctly Emirates claimed from Airbus when the delivery of the A380 was delayed.

Depends on the contract, but apparently with the 787 delay Qantas can go after the portion related to the rivet problem, but not the delay caused by the strike. I imagine however, that V will certainly be looking at what it can recover.

 

[Milosh]

I was booked on the first Brisbane LAX direct flight on 1st of March, and discovered buried in the Media Release about the specials that those flights have been delayed until April!

It's in the xmas specials media release posted before, can't link it here as i'm a new member.

Notice the last paragraph there:

V Australia has also confirmed Wednesday 8 April 2009 as the revised launch date for direct Brisbane-Los Angeles flights, with three weekly direct flights to LA, the gateway to the USA.

I haven't received any updated itineraries or any other information from V Australia since the original itinerary emailed when I booked.

Just sat on hold for half an hour to their GCC center today, even the guy I talked to wasn't really aware of the direct BNE LAX delay, I had to direct him to the media release on the web site.

Apparently people who were on direct flights are now on connecting flights through Sydney. I'm not overly impressed with this as it turns a 13 hours trip into an 18 hour trip. Also we should have gotten into LAX at 7am on the Sunday, now we arrive at 4:30pm.

I'm hoping they can give me a refund at this point, though if they can rebook me on another airline that provides direct flights I would be happy with that. I asked if I could get a full refund when I got through to GCC, and they are going to call me back once they find out what penalty rates may apply!

Oh and apparently I was on queue to be phoned by some one at some point. seemed i didn't answer when they rang a few weeks ago so I guess I must go back to the end of the queue.

In a bit of limbo at the moment not overly impressed with the communication at the moment, but they could redeem themself if they give me some viable options here.

 

[_kab_]

I have just rang V, and they had already rebooked me on a Qantas flight on the 19th Feb, when i was due to fly with V. I asked to rebook me a bit earlier, on the Sunday 15th and she did, also she said they will change my domestics flights that i booked to get into sydney to make sure i will get there in time for my QF flight on the sunday.

She was very helpfull and very fast and easily done! The VA Customer Service is great i must say!

im still looking forward to flying with them on my return leg to oz in March!

Thanks V Australia!

:evil: Wow I am happy for you but Im due to fly out before you and V have done bugger all! Ive contacted them a few times and it's either been very vague or very definite - no middle ground - "Er, we dont know" or "Yes you'll definitely be flying with V!"

How bizarre. Maybe my telephone technique needs some work...

 

[_kab_]

:evil: Wow I am happy for you but Im due to fly out before you and V have done bugger all! Ive contacted them a few times and it's either been very vague or very definite - no middle ground - "Er, we dont know" or "Yes you'll definitely be flying with V!"

How bizarre. Maybe my telephone technique needs some work...

Well! I took the bull by the horns (again ) and....told the SO to call them and speak very sternly! And he did!

First call was advised we had been re-booked to Qantas outbound. "I will check with that heinous woman I call my OH and get back to you"

Second call after speaking to said heinous woman who was not happy being plunked on 747 was advised that to re-book on another day would incur ~$500 fee. "I'll tell the boss you can't do it"

Third call after being informed by said boss that this was total BS we were miraculously re-booked at no charge on to A380 direct out of MEL.

:

 

[straitman]

Well! I took the bull by the horns (again ) and....told the SO to call them and speak very sternly! And he did!

First call was advised we had been re-booked to Qantas outbound. "I will check with that heinous woman I call my OH and get back to you"

Second call after speaking to said heinous woman who was not happy being plunked on 747 was advised that to re-book on another day would incur ~$500 fee. "I'll tell the boss you can't do it"

Third call after being informed by said boss that this was total BS we were miraculously re-booked at no charge on to A380 direct out of MEL.

:

Good to see some +ve outcomes although it's a shame that you have to get so pushy :!:

said heinous woman who was not happy being plunked on 747

What's wrong with the 747 :?:

 

[docjames]

What's wrong with the 747 :?:

It's no 380 (better Y seats, better J seats)