Forced to book return flights as one way at extra cost

[Lisee]

Hello VFF,

My Mum is trying to book BNE-LHR return using Velocity Reward points. Website displays lots of outbound & inbound options (Economy Saver) on the exact dates that Mum would like to travel if the search is "one way". All of these available fares disappear, showing as "Sold Out", if the search is "return". The points cost of 2 x one way vs 1 x return fare is identical. However, Mum cannot book this itinerary as 2 x one way because that would incur an extra $30 credit card fee compared to booking same itinerary as 1 x return.

Mum did call the Contact Centre to try to resolve this problem with the website. The consultant confirmed the multiple outbound & inbound options (Economy Saver) were definitely available for points redemptions... & advised Mum that the public website would let her book them as a return. Mum explained again that the public website does not allow this. The consultant then offered to book the itinerary for Mum for a $60 charge. Mum refused & reiterated that she is unable to book the redemption on the website due to a website problem... the consultant told Mum the problem is caused by cookies. Mum did not believe that was the case, but could not persuade the consultant to assist any further.

I can confirm that the website issue described above is not caused by cookies. I have tested the 'one way vs return' bug on 5 different computers after clearing cookies using 4 different browsers; this includes a PC I had just built & was thus naïve to the internet.

Mum is very happy to pay the $30 credit card fee for the return redemption booking she would like to make for the flights which are still available. Mum is not happy to be forced into paying a $60 credit card fee for the exact same booking which the website is erroneously splitting into one ways, & which the Contact Centre is not willing to assist with.

Many & sincere thanks for your help!!

 

[serfty]

Looks like your mum is trying to book cash and points awards ... generally a poor use of velocity points.

I would suggest you guys do a test and see what happens if you try a revenue (non points) booking.

Or better yet, post the dates and some here can have a look at what may be up with this.

(Personally I would be checking the cash cost of such a booking.)

 

[bullerdude]

I did some trial searches in October and noted the following:

- For a one-way search Etihad economy reward seats are show as available.
- For a return search, the same Etihad economy reward seats show as unavailable but some singapore seats show as available.

Personally, I would book the two flights as one-way and incur the additional $30 fee before the seats you want disappear.

 

[Lisee]

Hi & thanks Serfty - this is a points only booking. Appreciate your suggestion re. cash & certainly understand your point here, unfortunately Mum cannot afford full fare & thus has been diligently collecting those Velocity points for years across various earning schemes. Gee, I was shocked at how low the taxes & fees are for points only redemptions with Virgin... being a dyed in the wool QF supporter myself (until Simpler & Fairer[SUP]TM[/SUP] came along at least).

Cheers Bullerdude - you have hit upon the issue, thanks for taking the time. This is happening for every month Mum has searched including well into next year. I can see the logic in paying the extra $30, but it is not an insignificant amount to Mum & also she is quite upset at how the consultant was treating her on the phone when refusing to believe the website problem existed. I am hoping VFF team may be able to assist once the work week kicks in!

 

[bullerdude]

Well I had look for reward seats flights early next year given that when you mum is looking to book tickets.

I can see some flights on one-way searches but no flights when doing return searches - So yes I agree that the booking engine is definitely behaving weirdly.

Perhaps just try the 'Hand Up Call Again' approach to see if you get a better agent that understands that issue.

Basically just have her be very clear that she cannot book a return reward seat flight online and as such she is well aware that Virgin waives the call center booking fee when the website is not working correctly.

 

[Mark3000]

The worst thing though will be if those seats disappear. I would grab them and then argue about the $30 later

Or is booking with vouchers an option?

 

[Lisee]

Thanks to everyone for replying! I waited until COB today before deciding how best to advise Mum. I did not hear from VFF at all... but take the point made about missing out on the seats if leaving it too long before booking...

I instructed Mum to try the Contact Centre again & to be resolute about how Virgin should waive the phone booking fee given the fault is on their side (per suggestion from bullerdude). I think Mum was feeling more confident as I let her know that my AFF colleagues agreed the website was buggered.

So - good news - Mum landed a consultant who was empathetic & willing to look into the website issue, which was in contrast to the previous consultant. Result being; flights booked by consultant as 2 x one way with full waiver of the phone booking fee, plus offer to place notes into booking about how it should be treated as a return itinerary/ fare in case of any future change to booking. Mum is very relieved!

Thanks again

 

[Buzzard]

Great outcome Lisee

 

[JohnK]

Great to see you found someone willing to help.

Hang up and call again. I do that quite a lot. It shouldn't be necessary if all consultants were trained properly and cared about customer service.