VA rerouted me to NZ (invol), won't credit to partner airline

[CPMaverick]

VA rerouted me on NZ (invol), won't credit to partner airline

All-

Although this involves my Skymiles account I felt that more experience flying VA with partner FF numbers in general might be found here.

I recently arrived to MEL booked on a MEL-SYD-ZQN flight, VA metal and VA booked. Upon check-in my original itinerary was gone and I was involuntarily switched to a direct MEL-ZQN flight on Air NZ metal. I tried to get back on the original routing the but agents would not allow it because MEL-SYD was oversold.

The issue here is I was crediting to Delta Skymiles, which obviously doesn't work with Air New Zealand metal. I needed the Delta MQM to achieve 2016 status, so it is an important matter.

I have tried with VA customer service (via email) to credit my originally booked itinerary to Delta Skymiles but they refuse to do this.

Has anyone else been able to get original routing credit with a partner airline? Or does VA not offer original routing credit at all? My CS replies are very unhelpful, both in outcome and in explanation of what is happening.

 

[exceladdict]

All-

Although this involves my Skymiles account I felt that more experience flying VA with partner FF numbers in general might be found here.

I recently arrived to MEL booked on a MEL-SYD-ZQN flight, VA metal and VA booked. Upon check-in my original itinerary was gone and I was involuntarily switched to a direct MEL-ZQN flight on Air NZ metal. I tried to get back on the original routing the but agents would not allow it because MEL-SYD was oversold.

The issue here is I was crediting to Delta Skymiles, which obviously doesn't work with Air New Zealand metal. I needed the Delta MQM to achieve 2016 status, so it is an important matter.

I have tried with VA customer service (via email) to credit my originally booked itinerary to Delta Skymiles but they refuse to do this.

Has anyone else been able to get original routing credit with a partner airline? Or does VA not offer original routing credit at all? My CS replies are very unhelpful, both in outcome and in explanation of what is happening.

I feel that this will depend on DL's policies and whether they offer original routing credit, as that's where you're trying to claim it.

 

[CPMaverick]

Delta does offer original routing credit, but only VA can post credit for VA flights. They just need to tell Delta, but I'm not sure if there is a system in place for that.

If I had booked through Delta, it would be no problem. But Delta cannot post partner airline miles as the partner has to pay for these.

 

[exceladdict]

Delta does offer original routing credit, but only VA can post credit for VA flights. They just need to tell Delta, but I'm not sure if there is a system in place for that.

If I had booked through Delta, it would be no problem. But Delta cannot post partner airline miles as the partner has to pay for these.

Ah ok, I get you. Maybe a VA rep on here can help?

 

[serfty]

Tough gig that one.

You could try sending a PM to "Velocity Frequent Flyer" to ascertain if they can assist?

 

[TomVexille]

Have you talked to DL? I would be pushing them to contact VA on your behalf.

 

[CPMaverick]

I spoke to DL first and they advised me to contact VA and have them post the original flights.

I contacted VA via PM here (and they did respond promptly to their credit), but they say I need to pursue with Delta.

VA email support has been pretty terrible (one told me to get travel insurance for this next time... geez).

Typical passing the ball, but I felt like at least the VA PM response here was listening properly. I will try to work through DL again.

 

[drron]

Did you ask Delta for Original Routing credit.Americans are very au fait with this.
As previously stated I missed an AA connection on this last trip.put on Bahamas Air which basically doesn't credit to major programs.Flight booked with Qantas,QF ticket stock but my only contact was with AA.Knocked back originally but followed up asking for ORC and got my points.
It is Delta's program so it is up to Delta to grant you ORC.They probably will need evidence of your original booking and ticket numbers but it should then be granted-for the MEL-SYD-ZQN original booking.

 

[CPMaverick]

Did you ask Delta for Original Routing credit.Americans are very au fait with this.
As previously stated I missed an AA connection on this last trip.put on Bahamas Air which basically doesn't credit to major programs.Flight booked with Qantas,QF ticket stock but my only contact was with AA.Knocked back originally but followed up asking for ORC and got my points.
It is Delta's program so it is up to Delta to grant you ORC.They probably will need evidence of your original booking and ticket numbers but it should then be granted-for the MEL-SYD-ZQN original booking.

I agree the US airlines are pretty liberal in these cases and I have asked for ORC many times with DL, UA, and AA, never had an issue. However you were rebooked from an AA flight to the Bahama Air flight, yes? That's easy, of course you contact AA, they know exactly what happened. They were part of the original reservation and it was their flight that got rebooked.

But in this particular case, DL has nothing to do with the itinerary except after it is completed, VA should notify them to post flight credit. I'm not saying contacting DL again is the wrong thing (I am going to try it), but the situations are definitely different. Normally VA takes the initiative to contact DL if the flight was flown as expected.

 

[JohnK]

I am sure this would be one for Delta to look into giving you original routing credit.

P.S. Why did they cancel your original itinerary? Overselling is not good enough. People book and pay for specific itineraries for specific reasons. Drink/lunch with friends/family, frequent flyer status etc.

MEL-SYD-ZQN <> MEL-ZQN. I would be pushing for compensation as well as they cannot make these changes without consulting the customer.

 

[dajop]

I had a similar issue with an Air India flight, on an Air India ticket, in which they put me onto Jet Airways to make a connection, and I wanted to credit flight to SQ. I only dealt with SQ on the matter (would not have wanted to, or even known where to start dealing with AI), and after providing details or original ticket, new boarding passes and a document called "flight interruption manifest" (which I took a photo of using my phone) they eventually (after four or five months) credited the Air India flight to my account. Of course I submitted a retro-claim with a Jet Airways partner (AA I think) and got credit there as well , although that wasn't so important as it had no bearing on status.

 

[CPMaverick]

Thanks all. I managed to get Delta to put in a request to VA for VA to submit for the miles. Not sure how long it will take, or if it will work, but it seems to be the only thing I have going for me at the moment.

P.S. Why did they cancel your original itinerary? Overselling is not good enough. People book and pay for specific itineraries for specific reasons. Drink/lunch with friends/family, frequent flyer status etc.

MEL-SYD-ZQN <> MEL-ZQN. I would be pushing for compensation as well as they cannot make these changes without consulting the customer.

They didn't say, I just didn't have a booking anymore for that flight. It went out on-time, but they couldn't put me back on it as it was oversold. I was never checked in, since it was a international flight, but I was only booted off the morning of the flight.

I agree it seems unsatisfactory. What are the regulations / rights in Australia? I've tried to find them, but no luck. In the US, what they did would be allowed without compensation because I arrived at my destination within 2 hours of the originally booked flight. I know that doesn't apply here, but knowing that made me not push them too hard. I would love to know what the rights in Australia are.

 

[JohnK]

They didn't say, I just didn't have a booking anymore for that flight. It went out on-time, but they couldn't put me back on it as it was oversold. I was never checked in, since it was a international flight, but I was only booted off the morning of the flight.

I agree it seems unsatisfactory. What are the regulations / rights in Australia? I've tried to find them, but no luck. In the US, what they did would be allowed without compensation because I arrived at my destination within 2 hours of the originally booked flight. I know that doesn't apply here, but knowing that made me not push them too hard. I would love to know what the rights in Australia are.

In your case SYD was a destination as well. Meeting friends/family? Lunch. Any excuse.

I am not sure what your rights are in Australia but they didn't deliver what you requested.

e.g. Say I book SYD-BKK-HKG on the one booking with a say a 4 hour transit in BKK to have lunch/dinner with my wife. Turn up to airport in morning to find they put me on direct SYD-HKG. That is not good enough and totally unacceptable.

How about booking SYD-SIN-PER in business class for checking out specific aircraft and extra SCs and points finding they have moved you onto SYD-PER direct on 737.

I would not let this go. They rebooked without consulting. They cannot determine if they are doing you a favour just by looking at destination. I would ask for compensation over and above original routing credit.

 

[exceladdict]

In your case SYD was a destination as well. Meeting friends/family? Lunch. Any excuse.

I am not sure what your rights are in Australia but they didn't deliver what you requested.

e.g. Say I book SYD-BKK-HKG on the one booking with a say a 4 hour transit in BKK to have lunch/dinner with my wife. Turn up to airport in morning to find they put me on direct SYD-HKG. That is not good enough and totally unacceptable.

How about booking SYD-SIN-PER in business class for checking out specific aircraft and extra SCs and points finding they have moved you onto SYD-PER direct on 737.

I would not let this go. They rebooked without consulting. They cannot determine if they are doing you a favour just by looking at destination. I would ask for compensation over and above original routing credit.

It's worth asking. AA put us out by holding us up overnight when our last flight of the day LAX>ABQ was cancelled due to mechanical failures, and we flew the next day instead. On top of putting us up in a hotel, paying for food, transfers etc, I wrote them an extremely soft letter along the lines of "it was a shame we missed out on a day with our friend". $200US of flight credit each for 3PAX.

 

[CPMaverick]

In your case SYD was a destination as well. Meeting friends/family? Lunch. Any excuse.

I am not sure what your rights are in Australia but they didn't deliver what you requested.

You don't have to explain it to me, I didn't get what I expected out of my ticket. However, the contract between an airline and the passenger is all about the destination and the origin (and the timing). The routing is not part of the contract. If they deliver you on time, they have satisfied the contract, regardless of routing.

Of course reroutes are subject to compensation from a purely customer service perspective. I did suggest that I was owed additional compensation to VA but they did not bite. Right now I am more worried about getting my DL credit, and I am worried if they shove some compensation my way they will consider the matter closed.

 

[Fiches Mouser]

You don't have to explain it to me, I didn't get what I expected out of my ticket. However, the contract between an airline and the passenger is all about the destination and the origin (and the timing). The routing is not part of the contract. If they deliver you on time, they have satisfied the contract, regardless of routing.

Of course reroutes are subject to compensation from a purely customer service perspective. I did suggest that I was owed additional compensation to VA but they did not bite. Right now I am more worried about getting my DL credit, and I am worried if they shove some compensation my way they will consider the matter closed.

I would argue that the routing is a part of your trip – each stopover is a destination in itself. What would be the difference between it being a destination and a stopover? 24 hours? What if you only wanted to visit that "stopover" destination for less than 24 hours?

AFAIK, the itinerary doesn't make a distinction between what is considered a stopover in a multi-city booking.

 

[CPMaverick]

I would argue that the routing is a part of your trip – each stopover is a destination in itself.

You can argue that, but the contract does not always reflect that thinking. As I said I'd love to know the passenger rights in Australia, so I could stand on more solid ground. But what someone 'feels' isn't worth a whole lot. Even as a 'victim' I do understand that the contract for a one-way ticket is to get to your destination by a certain time, not which route you take.

So far, all I have been able to find is that there are no rights for Australian passengers. Virgin will follow US law when necessary, but if they get you to your destination within 2 hours of the original time they claim no compensation is given.

http://www.virginaustralia.com/au/en/about-us/legal-policies/conditions-of-carriage/

If We Cannot Provide a Seat on Your Flight

On rare occasions we may request for volunteers to move to a later flight, or may need to ask a guest to do so. If this happens to you, you will be moved to the next available Virgin Australia service at no additional cost to you.

For Domestic and Short Haul International flights, if you are not moved to a Virgin Australia flight that is within 2 hours from your original departure time you will be provided with a credit as an apology for any inconvenience incurred as a result of the disruption. The value of any credits will be determined by Virgin Australia (consideration will be given to your departure port and disruption time).

If you are delayed overnight at a port away from home we will arrange and pay for hotel accommodation, transfers and meals for you (limits do apply).

For departures from the USA, we will provide you with compensation as per the requirements of US Denied Boarding Legislation.

The biggest gripe I have is they did not ask me. They just did it. Personally I think they should have asked for volunteers first. The Air NZ flight was several hours later, I could have been accommodated on it after my original flight left, if they couldn't find volunteers.

 

[CPMaverick]

An update, after working through VA I was able to get my flights posted. They contacted Delta on my behalf and provided them with the required information.

It wasn't without a fight, after seemingly hitting a dead-end I then responded with a lot of language from the VA policies that state I am due compensation if not placed on a 'VA flight within 2 hours of my original flight'. I also pointed out that I was not asked to volunteer, etc etc. I asked for $500 AUD cash or voucher if the miles could not be posted. Then they started actually trying to help me, finally. I didn't actually pursue that compensation when I was able to get my miles posted.

The VA rep here told me I had to go through Delta... that was not the case in the end. Maybe pushing Delta hard would have gotten them to contact VA for me, but VA had the information Delta needed to post the miles.

According to VA, this only worked because Delta's policies allow for Original Routing Credit, you may not get this result with other airlines.

 

[JohnK]

Well done. Perseverance can pay off.

 

[serfty]

It would be interesting to know what the other partners would do.