New V Australia $999 LA return fare booked out already..

[stuartfaz]

Hmmm... always a problem.

Aside from the fact that we are 9 months out - what time are they expected to be delivered? and what a/c are they flying anyway?

VA will have a fleet of 7 Boeing 777-300ER aircraft, 6 of which they'll own, the 7th will be leased from ILFC.

I'd expect at least two would be delivered before December 2008...

 

[GDSman]

I picked up 3 returns to LAX for the family - $2800 return for 2 + child in Y seemed too good to pass up......combined with a few AA FF flights it should make for a good value break - I was struggling to make dates with QF FF points (and the 'taxes' were pushing it up near $2000 anyway)

 

[Travel Guru]

I'd be pretty wary about making too many land arrangements until they definately have those aircraft in their hands...could be a rather expensive holiday if they refund your tkt price 6 weeks out only to find only 4k fares on other airlines left.

TG

 

[kamchatsky]

I'd be pretty wary about making too many land arrangements until they definately have those aircraft in their hands...could be a rather expensive holiday if they refund your tkt price 6 weeks out only to find only 4k fares on other airlines left.

TG

I thought VA have to arrange all pax on other flights if they did not get their planes, since the tickets have been sold?

If QF and UA are full then they would have to go to other airlines to get the pax to LA, even if it means transits via Asia?

 

[gilby08]

I thought VA have to arrange all pax on other flights if they did not get their planes, since the tickets have been sold?
?

no that's incorrect. If it get's CXLD, they would either get a credit/refund.. Unless they have a huge interline agreement with heaps of other airlines that got to the US, there will be nothing in place for them..

"Flight times do not form part of your contract of carriage with us"

 

[stuartfaz]

I thought VA have to arrange all pax on other flights if they did not get their planes, since the tickets have been sold?

If QF and UA are full then they would have to go to other airlines to get the pax to LA, even if it means transits via Asia?

I don't know if it's something that theyd be required by law/contract terms to do, but I wouldn't put it past VA to voluntarily book passengers on to other services to LAX in the event of a startup delay. DJ booked their passengers on QF when their startup was delayed, so it's certainly not beyond the realms of possibility.

It's about weighing up the options of losing a bit of money now rebooking passengers on to other airlines, or risking the loss of a disgruntled passenger for life, and I think I know which one VA would rather.

However, here's hoping VA get off the ground on time, and they don't have to deal with the issue.

 

[Travel Guru]

I think you'll find V.A. are under no obligation legally to get their pax there on the dates booked, they would be smart enough to have fine print within their T&C's to cover themselves.
They may just rebook pax on other services if their doesn't go ahead, but as an agent, personally I wouldn't be banking my whole holiday on the generosity of Brett Godfrey to get me there should their service fail to be ready on time.

TG

 

[JohnK]

I thought VA have to arrange all pax on other flights if they did not get their planes, since the tickets have been sold?

Are they any different to Tiger or Ozjet? A full refund would be sufficient.

For anyone purchasing V Australia start up flights it would be a good idea to have good cancellation insurance just in case....

 

[oz_mark]

Reading the terms and conditions, I would be inclined to say that they would try to get the pax to their destination

V Australia > Terms and Conditions

12.5 Disruptions NOT due to Events Beyond Our Control. V Australia will use reasonable endeavours to ensure that you arrive at your scheduled Destination or Stopover as soon as possible. Subject to Laws and the Conventions, if your V Australia flight is cancelled, fails to stop at your scheduled Destination or Stopover causes you to miss a connecting flight which is on your Ticket and on which your Reservation is confirmed, V Australia will:
(a) carry you on V Australia’s next scheduled service on which space is available; or
(b) if (a) is not available within a reasonable period of time (having regard to V Australia’s published schedule) re-route you to the scheduled Destination or Stopover shown on your Ticket, using the services of other carriers (or a combination of V Australia and other carrier services) or by other means of transportation; and
(c) if neither (a) or (b) are available, or if V Australia in its absolute discretion decides that (a) or (b) are unsuitable in the circumstances, V Australia will provide a refund to you in accordance with Article 8. The remedies described above are your only remedies in relation to the matters described in this Article 12, and V Australia will have no further liability to you, unless Laws or the Conventions expressly specify otherwise.

12.6 Disruptions due to Events Beyond Our Control. V Australia will try to carry you to your scheduled Destination or Stopover, but does not guarantee that it will be able to do so. V Australia will have no liability to you, and will not be responsible for paying your costs or expenses arising from the delay or disruption, or refunding a non-refundable airfare, unless the Laws or the Conventions expressly specify otherwise.

 

[Travel Guru]

That's all well and good, but who decided what 'Beyond our control' is??

Is Boeing not delivering their aircraft beyond THEIR control??

Is a delay in regulatory approval beyond THEIR control??

Given that these are the two most likely scenarios which might delay their initial flights, i'd suggest they would take the view that it was beyond their control and offer the choice of a refund, or a seat on the first available flight, both of which won't be much good for anyone who's shelled out '000's in land expenses.

But hey, i'm not a lawyer, I'm only a TA who has seen it all before.

TG

 

[oz_mark]

It's not like they have bought a 787 or something! They should get their aircraft. Regulatory approval is probably more an issue, but I would think that would have their ducks lined up on that as well.

 

[JohnK]

I love the part in the terms and conditions about "if your V Australia flight is cancelled, fails to stop at your scheduled Destination or Stopover causes you to miss a connecting flight".

Are these terms and conditions for bus/train travel or for air travel? Apart from being diverted due to unforseen circumstances or overshooting runways how could a plane fail to stop at a scheduled destination?

 

[pauly7]

Its interesting how alot of the analyst commentary has been on how V Australia will severely impact Air NZ more than QF, to be honest I had forgotton about their presence on the route, will be interesting to see if they survive with QF's A380 and Virgin starting up...

 

[ANstar]

I think NZ will actually hurt more than UA

why?

NZ will catch some of the lower yielding pax (lower $$$ due to stop in AKL)

UA's loyal US base will still fly UA, but the outbound Aussies flying NZ may switch to VA

Will be interesting to see how much impact it has....

I also think the latest news on New Zealand wanting to introduce transit visa's will put a dampner on some of their transfer pax.

 

[oz_mark]

Had a look at the prices from Perth (which use VA codeshares on DJ flights across the continent by the look of things). Not many favours on pricing there, and looks as though options of going through NZ, or up through Asia are still better ways for Perth folk.

 

[AlphaVictor]

I think NZ will actually hurt more than UA

why?

NZ will catch some of the lower yielding pax (lower $$$ due to stop in AKL)

UA's loyal US base will still fly UA, but the outbound Aussies flying NZ may switch to VA

Will be interesting to see how much impact it has....

I also think the latest news on New Zealand wanting to introduce transit visa's will put a dampner on some of their transfer pax.

There could be an interesting situation with Air NZ. About 18 months ago chatting with a NZ manager, I asked if they still had the rights to fly non-stop from Sydney to LAX - to which their reply was "Yes". They pulled out of the route back around 02/03 (maybe earlier) but I do recollect they had $999 fares almost every other day (this translates to a $1250 - $1300 in todays fuel prices). At that time we had NW, NZ, UA, CO and QF on the route.

I have no idea why they have not used their rights to fly the route direct from Syd to Lax. Low numbers in J class? Aircraft availability perhaps or other issues? Anyone know? Did they hand back the route or sold it? Would love to see them back on the direct services

 

[dajop]

Always amuses the observations/perceptions that NZ have to offer lower prices because of the inconvenience of the stop of AKL. Sure, ex-SYD. But VA have the equal inconvenience of stop at SYD when flying out of MEL, BNE & ADL (this latter being a market NZ have actively cultivated for US connections). Also NZ have the NZ/US as well as NZ/LHR traffic which VA won't be competing with them on.

 

[StevePER]

Had a look at the prices from Perth (which use VA codeshares on DJ flights across the continent by the look of things).

I noticed PER-LAX is $150 to $200 more expensive than PER-SYD + SYD-LAX. I really don't like that.

 

[simongr]

Just wondering how many rvenue management people from QF might have moved to VA

 

[Travel Guru]

Personally i'd rather fly BNE-AKL-LAX than BNE-SYD-LAX anyday of the week.

Not a big fan of transferring in Sydney, though living on the Gold Coast, it's often easier to transit OOL-SYD-LAX than to fight the traffic to BNE.

TG