Virgin Ticket Availability ( Is this normal)

[stickshaker]

Good Morning,

I am just wondering if this is usual practice for Airlines.

I have to leave Alice Springs for a family emergency tomorrow morning(22/6-26/6) and i looked at the tickets available on the virgin website and there was only business class on the return leg which were $1500+ which i thought was way to expensive for me and weird so i rang the Velocity team and asked is it correct that there are no more tickets available and was informed that it is a full flight. I then asked the lady " i'm not going to check tomorrow and there are extra seats available" the reply " oh no its definitely full".

So i went to Qantas and booked my return trip on the given dates and this morning i jump back on the Virgin site to check and there are Elevate and Freedom fares available as well as business and cheaper than my Qantas flights:evil:

I want to build my status back up after dropping to Gold this month and will find it difficult if things like this happen.

Disgruntled Velocity member

 

[bean]

Good Morning,

I am just wondering if this is usual practice for Airlines.

I have to leave Alice Springs for a family emergency tomorrow morning(22/6-26/6) and i looked at the tickets available on the virgin website and there was only business class on the return leg which were $1500+ which i thought was way to expensive for me and weird so i rang the Velocity team and asked is it correct that there are no more tickets available and was informed that it is a full flight. I then asked the lady " i'm not going to check tomorrow and there are extra seats available" the reply " oh no its definitely full".

So i went to Qantas and booked my return trip on the given dates and this morning i jump back on the Virgin site to check and there are Elevate and Freedom fares available as well as business and cheaper than my Qantas flights:evil:

I want to build my status back up after dropping to Gold this month and will find it difficult if things like this happen.

Disgruntled Velocity member

Hard to say-many people book flexi fares or whatever they are now called. I personally have probably canceled around 6 flights this year due to changing arrangements. You could always try calling and asking what changed as Id be interested in the response?

 

[mannej]

As we are close to the date of the flight it's hard to tell.

However being a domestic trip, could you have booked 2 x one way trips if the price for the return sector was not to your liking?

 

[stickshaker]

As we are close to the date of the flight it's hard to tell.

However being a domestic trip, could you have booked 2 x one way trips if the price for the return sector was not to your liking?

It was an option but as you have to go via Adelaide the Adelaide-Alice Springs leg was $1100 in business alone:shock:

 

[Jack_OC]

It was an option but as you have to go via Adelaide the Adelaide-Alice Springs leg was $1100 in business alone:shock:

I think Mannej meant book VA on the outbound leg (22 June) and Qantas on the return (26 June), if it was only the return leg that was expensive with VA.

Hard to say what went on here, but seems unlikely that VA would tell a customer who wants to book one of their flights that there are no seats, if that wasn't actually the case. As others have said, there are a few potential explanations. One is that people who were booked on the flights you want have cancelled or changed their dates. Another is that people booked in Y have upgraded to J, thus freeing up seats in Y. This could be due to points upgrades, upgrademe bids, Platinums using free upgrades from Flexi, or even op-ups (much more likely to happen when there is a full Y cabin and space in J). Given that it suddenly changed a few days before the flight, my guess is it might be upgrademe bids clearing?

 

[Mattg]

It was an option but as you have to go via Adelaide the Adelaide-Alice Springs leg was $1100 in business alone:shock:

I'm not saying that this was not necessarily the case on this occasion, but it would be quite possible that Alice Springs-Adelaide-Sydney is cheaper than Alice Springs-Adelaide (only). Airfares have very little to do with the actual distance flown.

 

[clipped_wings]

There is always movement at T-48. Chances are, everyone above who mentioned the last minute shuffle, are correct.

My husband (WP) sees an almost empty load on our flight to LAX this year, while I (NR) see an almost full flight.

Sometimes they just tell you what they want you to hear.

 

[Jack_OC]

My husband (WP) sees an almost empty load on our flight to LAX this year, while I (NR) see an almost full flight.

Sometimes they just tell you what they want you to hear.

That's for seat selection though, right? It just looks full to you because you aren't (yet) allowed to select most of the available seats - that doesn't really tell you much about how many seats have been sold. Availability of fares when you try to book online is a completely different scenario. To the best of my knowledge, if the website shows no Y tickets available, that's exactly what everyone will see, regardless of status. While Platinum members have the ability to purchase Y seats on a sold out VA flight, they still won't see any availability online - they have to phone VA to book.

All things considered, I think it's probably fair to assume that what the agent said to the OP on the phone was true (at the time).

 

[737NG]

I'm guessing an aircraft switch could be the reason more seats have been released. VA have 2 configs in the 737-800 fleet, the older aircraft are configured 8J 162Y the newer aircraft 8J 168Y.

 

[HeavyElectricity]

VA have 2 configs in the 737-800 fleet, the older aircraft are configured 8J 162Y the newer aircraft 8J 168Y.

Do you know if this is related to which aircraft have the 'sky interior'? It's always difficult to predict which aircraft have power sockets in business on the 737 flights - just wondering if the economy configuration could be a clue?

 

[737NG]

The Boeing sky interior aircraft have have the 8J 168Y config but some of the early sky interior aircraft are not fitted with power sockets. Also the 10 aircraft (VUR-VUZ & BZG) delivered just prior to the BSI aircraft are also in the 8J 168Y config.