Business Reward Seat Cancellation Fee

[lewyVA]

Has anybody else been stung by the above fee? I have cancelled Business Reward Seats without problems in the past, with no fees however today got hit with a $35 fee payable over the phone. The operator informed me that it was a new 'Reward Seat cancellation fee' when I questioned whether it was just the GCC fee ($35) masquerading as something else I was told it was a different fee. Now I can find no reference to this fee on the website, I admit that I didn't read the small print T&Cs when I made the booking so maybe it was hidden in there. But either way I am farely unimpressed particularly when in the same phone call I had to cancel a saver lite fare made and (happily and knowingly) had to part with the $100 cancellation fee.

 

[williamsf1]

Has anybody else been stung by the above fee? I have cancelled Business Reward Seats without problems in the past, with no fees however today got hit with a $35 fee payable over the phone. The operator informed me that it was a new 'Reward Seat cancellation fee' when I questioned whether it was just the GCC fee ($35) masquerading as something else I was told it was a different fee. Now I can find no reference to this fee on the website, I admit that I didn't read the small print T&Cs when I made the booking so maybe it was hidden in there. But either way I am farely unimpressed particularly when in the same phone call I had to cancel a saver lite fare made and (happily and knowingly) had to part with the $100 cancellation fee.

You could have paid with points

CANCELLATIONS

PER TICKET CHARGE AUD 35.00 FOR CANCEL.
CHARGE AUD35/4500 POINTS FOR REFUND.
----
CANCELLATION REQUESTS MUST BE MADE AT
LEAST 24 HOURS PRIOR TO THE FLIGHTS SCHEDULED
DEPARTURE TIME. THE PENALTY FEE APPLIES PER
PERSON PER TICKET.
----
IF CANCELLATIONS ARE NOT MADE AT LEAST 24 HOURS
PRIOR TO THE FLIGHTS SCHEDULED DEPARTURE TIME ANY
FARE PAID WILL BE FORFEITED. NO CREDITS ARE
RECEIVED IF THE GUEST IS CHECKED IN BUT DOES NOT
FLY.

 

[Plutonus]

Its odd, because on the pricing page drop down it says no cancel or change fee on business rewards.

 

[Fruitcake]

Its odd, because on the pricing page drop down it says no cancel or change fee on business rewards.

Indeed:

Fare Conditions	Business Reward flights
Flight Changes	Up to 24 hours after the flight. - no Fees Conditions apply
Voluntary Cancellations	Up to 24 hours after the flight. - no Fees Conditions apply
Inflight Entertainment	Included (if offered)
Food and Beverage	Included ^
Checked Baggage	2 pieces included (32kg)
Extra Leg Room	Business Seating Extra space and comfort
Advanced Seat Selection	Included
(V) Priority Check in	Included (where offered)
(V) Priority Boarding	Included (where offered)
(V) Lounge Entry	Included (where offered)

But then the detailed fare rules state that:

CANCELLATIONS PER TICKET CHARGE AUD 35.00 FOR CANCEL.

In the words of lovestotravel - FAIL! You can't claim free cancellation except when "conditions apply" if the condition is that all cancellations incur a fee!

 

[lovestotravel]

Misleading and deceptive conduct

 

[serfty]

Certainly any business rewards booked before January 13th can be cancelled or re-validated without fee.

Those booked afterwards do carry the fees. (originally it was $50).

Seems the page quoted by Fruitcake has not been updated to reflect the new rules.

http://www.virginaustralia.com/us/en/plan/fees-surcharges/domestic/#business

 

[Fruitcake]

Seems the page quoted by Fruitcake has not been updated to reflect the new rules.

Unfortunately (from the customer's perspective, as well as that of VA phone operators) that quote is from the pop-up box that the booking engine displays when you hover over the description of a 'business reward' fare. Probably the last place you want something as important as cancellation fees to be 100% wrong.

 

[oz_mark]

Seems the page quoted by Fruitcake has not been updated to reflect the new rules.

Inexcusable, and as it stands I would say their presentation of cancellation charges is possibly illegal.

 

[hummel]

I'm normally a VA fan but that is really just unacceptable if they can't get two pieces of information on their site to match.

 

[legalistic]

Could... not... dodge... the... $35... change... fee...

(despite not being able to change the booking online)

Have to admit was a really friendly local (aussie) call centre dude who was professional. Least I dodged an offshore call centre rep

 

[bullerdude]

Reported issues like this back in Feb, can't believe they are not fixed yet... poor from VA... not to mention that this could be contrued as fraud/false advertising.

 

[Velocity Frequent Flyer]

Yes, we've made the mistake here, by having conflicting info online, and have contacted the OP to refund the cancellation fee.

Fare conditions are as per below:

Fare Conditions	Business Reward flights
Flight Changes	Up to 24 hours after the flight. Fees and Conditions apply
Voluntary Cancellations	Up to 24 hours after the flight. Fees and Conditions apply
Inflight Entertainment	Included (if offered)
Food and Beverage	Included ^
Checked Baggage	2 pieces included (32kg)
Extra Leg Room	Business Seating Extra space and comfort
Advanced Seat Selection	Included
(V) Priority Check in	Included (where offered)
(V) Priority Boarding	Included (where offered)

And as William quoted regarding cancellations:

CANCELLATIONS

PER TICKET CHARGE AUD 35.00 FOR CANCEL.
CHARGE AUD35/4500 POINTS FOR REFUND.
----
CANCELLATION REQUESTS MUST BE MADE AT
LEAST 24 HOURS PRIOR TO THE FLIGHTS SCHEDULED
DEPARTURE TIME. THE PENALTY FEE APPLIES PER
PERSON PER TICKET.
----
IF CANCELLATIONS ARE NOT MADE AT LEAST 24 HOURS
PRIOR TO THE FLIGHTS SCHEDULED DEPARTURE TIME ANY
FARE PAID WILL BE FORFEITED. NO CREDITS ARE
RECEIVED IF THE GUEST IS CHECKED IN BUT DOES NOT
FLY.

 

[Plutonus]

...

Wait, which is the correct one then?

 

[leemin]

Yes, we've made the mistake here, by having conflicting info online, and have contacted the OP to refund the cancellation fee.

Fare conditions are as per below:

Fare Conditions	Business Reward flights
Flight Changes	Up to 24 hours after the flight. Fees and Conditions apply
Voluntary Cancellations	Up to 24 hours after the flight. Fees and Conditions apply
Inflight Entertainment	Included (if offered)
Food and Beverage	Included ^
Checked Baggage	2 pieces included (32kg)
Extra Leg Room	Business Seating Extra space and comfort
Advanced Seat Selection	Included
(V) Priority Check in	Included (where offered)
(V) Priority Boarding	Included (where offered)

And as William quoted regarding cancellations:

CANCELLATIONS

PER TICKET CHARGE AUD 35.00 FOR CANCEL.
CHARGE AUD35/4500 POINTS FOR REFUND.
----
CANCELLATION REQUESTS MUST BE MADE AT
LEAST 24 HOURS PRIOR TO THE FLIGHTS SCHEDULED
DEPARTURE TIME. THE PENALTY FEE APPLIES PER
PERSON PER TICKET.
----
IF CANCELLATIONS ARE NOT MADE AT LEAST 24 HOURS
PRIOR TO THE FLIGHTS SCHEDULED DEPARTURE TIME ANY
FARE PAID WILL BE FORFEITED. NO CREDITS ARE
RECEIVED IF THE GUEST IS CHECKED IN BUT DOES NOT
FLY.

So have you changed the website? Because when you book a reward seat, the right hand side of the page description also says there is no cancellation fee. It's very deceptive.

 

[leemin]

If I needed to cancel my booking and was charged the fee, I'd be contacting fair trading

 

[oz_mark]

Yes, we've made the mistake here, by having conflicting info online, and have contacted the OP to refund the cancellation fee.

Good work - that's why we miss you guys around this place

 

[williamsf1]

The whole thing is a mess .... different info everywhere!!!!

bit OT... but from memory in the old system could you only get a credit shell converted to $$$ ? i guess now you can get your points back to use for other things ( less a fee or no fee depending what link you use )

 

[serfty]

The whole thing is a mess .... different info everywhere!!!!

bit OT... but from memory in the old system could you only get a credit shell converted to $$$ ? i guess now you can get your points back to use for other things ( less a fee or no fee depending what link you use )

Not at all - under navitaire you would ring up until you got an agent who realised what "fully refundable" meant.

The only time I did it it took one call.

 

[knightman7]

I cancelled a business reward seat this past week and had to pay the $35. Tried to argue the point but was rebuffed. Just paid it as I was short of time.

 

[bullerdude]

What I gather is that the new fare rules impose a $35 fee - i.e. it has been introduced into the fare rules as part of Sabre.

Problem is that the VA website still says 'no fees' in many places, including the booking engine whilst making the booking as per the above screenshot.

So again with the 'poor form VA' argument. You have some work to do in fixing this - preferably ASAP.

Edit:

VFF, any comment on why the $35 fee was introduced on the business reward bookign when it was previously free?