VA1 cancelled on 7th August 2014?

[pythonisman]

I've had no email or call or anything from VA, but I looked at my bookings today and noticed something really weird - my prior booking SYD-LAX-LAS next week has changed.
My Bookings is now showing I've "flown" the SYD-LAX segment, but also have SYD-BNE and BNE-LAX on the 8th (but still LAX-LAS on the 7th).

No phone call, no email, nada.

I have a conference I need to get to on the 7th I was already going to be a half day late for, so I called up with the intent of asking if I could be moved to the 6th instead. Long story short, got the "there are no upgrade seats" excuse but pushed hard, and got a call back about a half hour later and they'd made the change.

I find it pretty poor that they made all these changes without any phone call or email outbound and that I've found this by looking myself... I'm a VA advocate and personally funded WP but feel that's pretty poor.

For anyone in a similar situation, do I have any grounds to ask them to put me up for the extra night's accommodation, now that I'm arriving a day early?

Also a heads up for anyone who was scheduled to be on VA1 next Thursday - go take a look at your booking!!

 

[Mondo]

I am in a similar position. I was booked to fly back on VA8 LAX-BNE on 08/08/14. Logged in today to see my flight has been "Flown" and booked on a flight the next day. No call or email. I wonder if I will have a night's accommodation covered in LA. I was in transit from LAS so no idea if my bags get checked through to BNE or if I have to collect my bags at LAX and somehow find something to do for the night with all my bags! Let's hope we hear something more soon....

 

[markis10]

Without knowing when the changes were made it's hard to expect a call, rather than waiting I would be proactive and call the airline, as you will be ahead of others in the same position that are waiting. That should mean you get better options, given alternatives are likely to be inventory limited.

 

[Travel Guru]

There was a trade release put out on Wednesday:



[FONT=&quot]Virgin Australia Sydney-Los Angeles (VA1 & VA2) Flight Cancellations[/FONT][FONT=&quot][/FONT] [FONT=&quot]Due to unscheduled maintenance requirements, Virgin Australia has needed to cancel two flights between Sydney and Los Angeles and change the departure time of four flights. Customers that have already booked on Virgin Australia operated services will be re-accommodated onto alternative flight options.[/FONT] [FONT=&quot]The following Virgin Australia flights will be cancelled:[/FONT]

[FONT=&quot] [/FONT][FONT=&quot][/FONT]	[FONT=&quot]VA001 SYD-LAX Thu 07 Aug 1340/1025[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot] [/FONT]	[FONT=&quot] [/FONT]
[FONT=&quot] [/FONT][FONT=&quot][/FONT]	[FONT=&quot]VA002 LAX-SYD Sat 09 Aug 2215/0620+2[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot] [/FONT]	[FONT=&quot] [/FONT]

[FONT=&quot]The following Virgin Australia flights will be rescheduled:[/FONT]

[FONT=&quot] [/FONT][FONT=&quot][/FONT]	[FONT=&quot]VA002 LAX-SYD Thu 07 Aug 2215/0620+2 to VA9552 Fri 08 Aug 0830/1635+1 (Delayed 10hrs 15min)[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot] [/FONT]	[FONT=&quot] [/FONT]
[FONT=&quot] [/FONT][FONT=&quot][/FONT]	[FONT=&quot]VA001 SYD-LAX Sat 09 Aug 1340/1025 to VA9551 Sat 09 Aug 1835/1520 (Delayed 4hrs 55min)[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot] [/FONT]	[FONT=&quot] [/FONT]
[FONT=&quot] [/FONT][FONT=&quot][/FONT]	[FONT=&quot]VA008 LAX-BNE Fri 08 Aug 2350/0700+2 to VA9558 Sat 09 Aug 1030/1740+1 (Delayed 10hrs 40min)[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot] [/FONT]	[FONT=&quot] [/FONT]
[FONT=&quot] [/FONT][FONT=&quot][/FONT]	[FONT=&quot]VA007 BNE-LAX Sun 10 Aug 1015/0630 to VA9557 Sun 10 Aug 1940/1555 (Delayed 9hrs 25min)[/FONT]

 

[Deleted member 29185]

Without knowing when the changes were made it's hard to expect a call,

I disagree with this. VA know when they cancelled a flight. VA know who were booked on that flight. VA should have immediately contacted the pax and advised them of their alternatives. After all, the destination is not just around the corner yet the scheduled flight is only next week! People need to make schedules sometimes but it seems VA have just assumed on this occasion that everyone is flying for leisure and can arrive at will.

I do think VA should be liable for any accommodation costs and the like, but airlines are funny. An AA LAX-MIA I was on went tech and only got as far as DFW that day. I approached AA for an accommodation voucher and all I received was a blank stare. Seems my expectations were somewhat different to AAs expectation.

 

[blackcat20]

I disagree with this. VA know when they cancelled a flight. VA know who were booked on that flight. VA should have immediately contacted the pax and advised them of their alternatives. After all, the destination is not just around the corner yet the scheduled flight is only next week! People need to make schedules sometimes but it seems VA have just assumed on this occasion that everyone is flying for leisure and can arrive at will.

I do think VA should be liable for any accommodation costs and the like, but airlines are funny. An AA LAX-MIA I was on went tech and only got as far as DFW that day. I approached AA for an accommodation voucher and all I received was a blank stare. Seems my expectations were somewhat different to AAs expectation.

Annoying and disruptive when people have other flights and accommodation booked based on their original flight date/time. I do think VA should cough up something to make things easier for passengers affected.

 

[serfty]

Maybe they have had their hands full with the VA23/VA24 (IMHO) debacle.

... Still not good enough ...