VA Cancelled flight 6 weeks out - what are my options?

[ajobbins]

I was booked to fly OOL to MEL in early November, but I've got a 'Flight Change Notification' email from VA asking me to accept an earlier flight (have not taken any action yet).

I was booked on a 1655 flight - the last of the day, and did do purposely because I am attending an event. They have asked me to accept the previous flight that day at 1355, 3 hours earlier. Doing that is going to screw up my entire weekend and 1355 just wont work. Not ideal either, but flying back the following day would at least mean I could have the trip I planned. Looking online, it looks like they have cancelled the original flight entirely.

Would/should VA cover the cost of a hotel in that case? I had a took at their compensation policy, but it's not clear with so much notice whether they could or would put my on the flight the following day and cover the hotel costs or if I have to take the earlier flight.

Any experience/advice appreciated before I call them

 

[mannej]

Can you cancel that leg and find an appropriate flight on another carrier?

 

[dajop]

A couple of other alternatives that might be worth considering asking them about:

• routing via SYD if there is a SYD departure around the same time.
• Departing from BNE later that evening (depending on course where on the Gold Coast you will be)

 

[ajobbins]

Can you cancel that leg and find an appropriate flight on another carrier?

Maybe, but has it's own challenges. Looks like QF have a flight. It's gets back into MEL quite late, but that shouldn't be an option. TT and JQ has some flights, but I'd prefer not to. Also - I have no status on other airlines (well, QF (nothing) silver) so would miss out on lounge access etc.

Also, my wife is on the same flight, but on a different PNR (I'm tagging along to the end of her work trip), so getting her flight moved to another airline may not be easy.

Ultimately, if VA will move my flight to the next day, that will work for me - but I'd prefer they pay for the hotel I'll need seeing as it's their doing.

A couple of other alternatives that might be worth considering asking them about:

• routing via SYD if there is a SYD departure around the same time.
• Departing from BNE later that evening (depending on course where on the Gold Coast you will be)

There is a VA flight that would get me to SYD around the same time as my original flight, but no SYD to MEL until the following morning.

BNE - maybe, but also painful. I have a rental car I'm returning to OOL, so I'd need to go to OOL anyway, then travel all the way to BNE which would just be painful.

 

[dajop]

BNE - maybe, but also painful. I have a rental car I'm returning to OOL, so I'd need to go to OOL anyway, then travel all the way to BNE which would just be painful.

Sometimes, depending on agency, can return car to BNE free of charge, but granted most do not. If that was the case, overall time difference (extra 1 hr of driving) may be preferable to staying overnight (almost certainly at your own expense) or the extra time transiting SYD.

Let me guess, six weeks out, that would make it around cup weekend ... ? Cancelled flight due to low loadings in the middle of the extended long weekend?

 

[ajobbins]

Sometimes, depending on agency, can return car to BNE free of charge, but granted most do not. If that was the case, overall time difference (extra 1 hr of driving) may be preferable to staying overnight (almost certainly at your own expense) or the extra time transiting SYD.

Any idea which rental companies do this? I can always cancel my current car booking if I can do this without it costing a fortune

 

[dajop]

Any idea which rental companies do this? I can always cancel my current car booking if I can do this without it costing a fortune

Can't for the life of me remember. I did look into it earlier in the year, and there was one. In the end I flew out of OOL back to SIN, a $160 fare was too good a deal to resist, only marginally more than I paid for MEL-OOL.

 

[CPMaverick]

When there are flight schedule changes, they typically give you two options: reschedule, or refund.

They are usually pretty flexible with the rescheduling options so you can sometimes use that to your advantage (even changing it to the next day shouldn't be too difficult). However they aren't going to take care of your accommodation. They won't cater to secondary effects in people's schedules. All they really owe you is a refund if they can't fly you at the originally booked time.