VA Cancellations, Delays growing?

[MooTime]

Hello AFF brain trust.

VA562 from Perth to Sydney was cancelled yesterday, while on the tarmac we were in a sauna of a plane for half an hour before we headed back to the gate. They then put the Plat and Gold members on VA471 Perth to Brisbane arriving at 1:40am and subsequent connections in the morning, meaning some of us are sleeping in the terminal for hours with no food.

First they cook us in there Perth sun in a tin can, then they make us deal with the chaos of re-checking in for a flight that departs 15mins after we deboarded the original flight, and not offering accommodation and it being too late to book any accomm for the night or some sort of compensation when we land in Brissy.

Is there anyway as a someone who's plat and flown with Virgin many times for work and recreation to get any compensation? Has any one had any experience in clawing something from Virgin like credit or something?

Sorry to sound pretentious, second time dealing with a virgin cancellation, got cancelled in Tokyo and still going through the travel insurance claim on that. Thanks for the help y'all.

So you were on the BNE airport floor from say 2am to what 6-7am departure to SYD? Shirley not.....
Others had to stay in Perth for the night? Prob better option.

Not good enough imo, even for WP's?
Any families with kids?

 

[AviatorInsight]

Hello AFF brain trust.

VA562 from Perth to Sydney was cancelled yesterday, while on the tarmac we were in a sauna of a plane for half an hour before we headed back to the gate. They then put the Plat and Gold members on VA471 Perth to Brisbane arriving at 1:40am and subsequent connections in the morning, meaning some of us are sleeping in the terminal for hours with no food.

First they cook us in there Perth sun in a tin can, then they make us deal with the chaos of re-checking in for a flight that departs 15mins after we deboarded the original flight, and not offering accommodation and it being too late to book any accomm for the night or some sort of compensation when we land in Brissy.

The crew noted the cabin temp was high. The standby aircon pack temperature control valve wasn't working, causing the temps to skyrocket. So back to the gate you went. A talk with engineering meant the flight now needs to fly at 25,000ft as a maximum altitude on the remaining air conditioning pack.

 

[buggy00]

So you were on the BNE airport floor from say 2am to what 6-7am departure to SYD? Shirley not.....
Others had to stay in Perth for the night? Prob better option.

Not good enough imo, even for WP's?
Any families with kids?

Yeah, retrospectively would of stayed in Perth. But there was no time to think unfortunately as they booked us on a flight that departed in a few minutes (which was delayed).

And yeah, families slept on the floor at BNE airport baggage collection area. Even as a Plat, wasn't treated any differently (which is a good sign, I'd rather see families helped first).

 

[PERLHR]

Hope you have Established some positive feedback from VA on this event. Sounds like a crazy nightmare. I find it incredible that airlines in Australia get away with this behaviour.

 

[buggy00]

Hope you have Established some positive feedback from VA on this event. Sounds like a crazy nightmare. I find it incredible that airlines in Australia get away with this behaviour.

I did actually get a reply in a few minutes of sending a complaint, let me know what everyone thinks:

Thank you for taking the time to write to us regarding your cancelled flight from Perth to Sydney on 26 March 2024.

We value your loyalty as a Platinum member and we would like to apologise for the disruption to your travel plans. We always want our guests to have an enjoyable and trouble-free experience with us, and we are sorry this has not been the case for you on this occasion.

Thank you for supplying receipts confirming the details of out of pocket expenses as a result of the disruption along with your bank details. We have assessed your claim in accordance with our Guest Compensation Policy and Conditions of Carriage and can advise a total payment of $19.00 AUD has been arranged.

This payment includes the meal costs. Please allow up to 14 business days for this amount to appear in your nominated bank account.

In light off your disappointing experience/Given your poor experience, I’ve taken the liberty of issuing 7500points in your velocity Platinum account.

We have also forwarded your status credit concern on our velocity team that will contact you as soon as possible.

Thank you for your patience and we look forward to welcoming you on-board again soon.

So tl;dr got my in-flight meal paid for and an extra 7500 points. Also technically the SC and Points from the new BNE-SYD flight.

What does everyone think, sufficient?

 

[Saab34]

I mean, without customer protections in place, I guess it’s likely the best you will get.

Now if we had some laws in place, I’d expect to be compensated about ten fold.

 

[Must...Fly!]

It's the lack of support on arrival at BNE that really irks me. The 7500pts and meals reimbursed is fine. Things happen, and I'm actually quite sure VA would've had a spare frame to tail swap with in PER, it's literally useless due to the absurd curfew situation in Sydney.

 

[AustraliaPoochie]

MEL expecting lots of mms of rain Mon.
Just as I am due to fly out.
Same as Boxing Day last year.
Lots of delays.
Well, more time in the lounge, then.

 

[Saab34]

HND-CNS cancelled tonight. Aircraft remains on the ground in Toyko, did leave Cairns no issues.

The other 3 MAXs are all overnighting in BNE tonight so I assume one will head up in the morning.

 

[ben95]

HND-CNS cancelled tonight. Aircraft remains on the ground in Toyko, did leave Cairns no issues.

If I'm not in a rush I'd enjoy the complimentary upgrade to NH and/or a direct flight and an extra night in Tokyo with hotel and meals paid for , but if you are a Japanese tourists with accom booked in Cairns for your holiday then it would be an issue.

 

[Saab34]

Well they just cancelled today’s CNS-HND flights. I assume the stuck aircraft will just operate tonight’s flight