Amex free flight upgrade?

[AdMEL]

OK. Thanks for the info. Are there fees if you book and then need to date change (not cancel)? Thanks.

Yes! Usual Virgin fee for Saver ($80?) plus Amex fee ($20 or $27).

 

[Beta4Me]

Yes! Usual Virgin fee for Saver ($80?) plus Amex fee ($20 or $27).

Damn. I thought through Amex they might be nice. Guess not...

 

[Moopere]

I was going to use mine two weeks ago but left it too late for a trip I needed to take - wanted to try the normal book-cancel-rebook thing. As stated above, the cancel fee from VA is $80 and if you re-book with Amex they will charge you an additional 27$ ($107 in total). However, because I couldn't go through with the whole thing at the time I didn't get a chance to try whether you can avoid the Amex charge by using the credit shell directly with VA ... there is still, and has always been, considerable confusion with the Amex CSR's as to whether this is possible. I'll try again in late Jan and report back.

My feeling, having done this several times in previous years is that it will pan out the same ... rebooking with VA should be fine so long as you remember to get the VA credit shell number from Amex when you cancel ... and then be insistent with VA when you re-book as they will probably start getting confused themselves about whether you are required to go back to Amex for the rebooking...I've struck this in the past but when you insist that they try to use the credit shell directly it appears to work - I don't know, this year, if things have really changed at the back end preventing this.

 

[beni050385]

Does booking fee still exist if it is a Platinum Charge Card, I know they waive the fee for international when using the $200 travel credit?

 

[lobo76]

Anyone know the current status of the book->cancel->rebook method?

I need to make a trip to Perth so was going to book PER-MEL-PER then cancel and rebook the other way around (it's so stupid that we can't just book Perth ) then possibly use my Plat upgrades

Anyone tried it recently?

 

[Plutonus]

Only up to cancel... Will email and ask for credit shell reference and give it a go.

 

[AdMEL]

Anyone know the current status of the book->cancel->rebook method?

I need to make a trip to Perth so was going to book PER-MEL-PER then cancel and rebook the other way around (it's so stupid that we can't just book Perth ) then possibly use my Plat upgrades

Anyone tried it recently?

When I tried to do this in late 2012, initially they would not let me do it, as MEL-PER-MEL is not permitted for my card (Plat Edge). Eventually they agreed to allow a PER-MEL Flexi, which the credit was only just enough to cover, after the $80 cancel fee and $27 reissue fee. And that was when Flexis were around $300, not $500 like they are now! I can't see this working the way it used to. The credit was about half the retail price of the fare (I chose the most expensive Saver fares I could - $400 odd each way retail).

I'm thinking of MEL-BNE return for mine and hoping they a cheap Upgrade me!

 

[Plutonus]

No dice. Called VA, acted like I knew nothing about having to go through agents. Wouldn't cancel. Avoided my question about how credits are held in respect of travel agents.

Cancelled with Amex. Said no reference number for credit hold.

Might try calling VA now to see what they can see on PNR...

 

[SimonF]

No dice. Called VA, acted like I knew nothing about having to go through agents. Wouldn't cancel. Avoided my question about how credits are held in respect of travel agents.

Cancelled with Amex. Said no reference number for credit hold.

Might try calling VA now to see what they can see on PNR...

What was the outcome?

 

[Moopere]

Yes, I'd like to know too - I need to do mine soon

 

[desiredusername]

go to the ACCC site and look for compenation Orders on 'free flights'. You'll see they are really free. Iirc, Amex was required in 2004 to refund annual fees. Now that'd hurt.

So who's coming on the free flight with us? We're chartering a fleet

 

[Plutonus]

I called VA and they were being particularly unhelpful and I was already short on patience and gave up . Might need to try again...

This is the story so far with AMEX trying to book. Try to call up and change route, told fare must be equal or higher to original (fair enough). Fare difference calculated to be $300. The example rep gave was say original booked fare was worth $200, my new fare is worth $100, so I'd need to pay an additional $100 + change fee to make sure it's 'equal or higher'. So I asked why can't I just book a more expensive fare (J) to make it equal or higher. Not sure if she understood the question or not as she just repeated herself. After getting tired I asked for written explanation of how this is done. Received, all it is is the 'equal or higher' Ts & Cs from Virgin. I don't understand why I can't do J fare to get it to equal or higher.... might need to try another rep.

What was the outcome?

 

[Moopere]

I called VA and they were being particularly unhelpful and I was already short on patience and gave up . Might need to try again...

This is the story so far with AMEX trying to book. Try to call up and change route, told fare must be equal or higher to original (fair enough). Fare difference calculated to be $300. The example rep gave was say original booked fare was worth $200, my new fare is worth $100, so I'd need to pay an additional $100 + change fee to make sure it's 'equal or higher'. So I asked why can't I just book a more expensive fare (J) to make it equal or higher. Not sure if she understood the question or not as she just repeated herself. After getting tired I asked for written explanation of how this is done. Received, all it is is the 'equal or higher' Ts & Cs from Virgin. I don't understand why I can't do J fare to get it to equal or higher.... might need to try another rep.

Ok, despite the frustration you have experienced during this call I think this is good news. One thing I'm not sure of though - are you now negotiating with VA or Amex? If you have received the VA credit shell reference number and are are talking with VA then this process sounds the same as it was previously ... and yes, I'd be incredibly surprised if 'higher fare' didn't include a J ticket purchase.

What I used to do, and still want to do with my free ticket is basically cancel it, buy a flexi and then upgrade that to J with points - for a transcon there really shouldn't be any problem with 'higher fare' as Flexis from PER to east coast are pretty expensive. Once the Flexi is secured its a doddle then to up that to J with points. For a modest subsidised fee then one gets flexi points + SC's + nice J transcon service.

 

[Plutonus]

Sorry for my poor writing, I was too dumbfounded that I couldn't get any straight answers.

This was trying to rebook with AMEX. My call to VA went like this:
--------------------------------
Hi I recently cancelled a flight and would like to know the details of the resulting credit shell
"PNR?"
123456
"This booking is cancelled"
Yes
"So you're not on this flight anymore"
Yes, can you please tell me the details of the resulting credit?
"The booking is cancelled"
That's correct
"Did you want it to be cancelled?"
Yes, I'm just after the details of the credit
"Your booking was cancelled so you're not flying any more"
....
-----------------------------
I gave up.

Now with AMEX - the way I'm understanding it is they'll only pay for the value of the flight, no more, and the flight has to be greater or equal value, so the consumer has to cover any difference. For example, my original flight might have been $400. My new flight is $100, so I have to pay $300 to bring it up to same value. AMEX won't pay for the 'gap' (even though they would have originally). This is when I tried to ask if I could book a J fare (thereby using the $400 then paying the difference) and she kept circling back around to "the flight has to be of greater or equal value". I might have to ask in writing to avoid any misunderstanding.

 

[k3nnis]

Hope someone can clarify for me. I have a Amex reserve card which I plan to cancel after I have redeemed the free flight. And hopefully can get some or full annual fee back. So if I book the flight and then decide to cancel and get a credit shell then cancel my card will I then be able to use the credit shell later or will this credit disappear as well?

Thanks,
K.

 

[SimonF]

Plunotus what exact credit card do you have?

 

[Plutonus]

Plunotus what exact credit card do you have?

Reserve.

Hope someone can clarify for me. I have a Amex reserve card which I plan to cancel after I have redeemed the free flight. And hopefully can get some or full annual fee back. So if I book the flight and then decide to cancel and get a credit shell then cancel my card will I then be able to use the credit shell later or will this credit disappear as well?

Thanks,
K.

I don't know. I know when people have taken the flight THEN cancelled that's the end of that, but holding a credit? They might refuse it. The actual terms and conditions don't say you must be an active card holder when booking, just that you earn one credit for each 365 days of membership.

 

[desiredusername]

Try Fos. I know they tried to say it was connected to a card given ages ago when 5k/5t was around (wtf???) but you might have a better chance with them.

 

[SimonF]

Okay does anyone have any experience with the virgin branded Amex?

 

[desiredusername]

No, mine was Amex plat. Free wasn't free. I wanted the 'freebie' before they charged exhorbitant renewal fees.