Virgin Atlantic orders 14 new long-haul A330-900neo aircraft

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• Howard says:

  18 Jun18 June 05:16

  Am still waiting for Groupon Avios to appear on my Iberia Account. Have had very poor response from Groupon Spain to date. Purchased via Capital on Tap so now considering chargeback possibility as based on Groupon response I have little confidence points will appear. They say an IT glitch. My voucher was redeemed correctly to my correct Iberia number. Anyone else with issues. I bought them 1 month ago

  • Londoner says:

    18 Jun18 June 06:21

    Yep. Been waiting 2,5 months for mine now. They have been very poor at answering and have completely ignored my e-mails. Got a refund this Saturday of one of the two vouchers I purchased with a promise of the Avios from the other one this week. Reverted to say I just wanted all my money back, but they said they already started the process of crediting the Avios and if I did not receive it this week I could have the other voucher refunded. As soon as I informed them that I am a lawyer they said they have now processed the refund and that it will be in my account in a few days. We will see, I don’t trust them at all.

  • Gavin says:

    18 Jun18 June 08:18

    Mine took 9 working days to credit this time. In your position I’d probably use Section 75 to get my money back (assuming you paid by credit card)

  • Paul says:

    18 Jun18 June 09:14

    I am waiting nearly three months. I ‘ve had may conversations with Groupon, told I cant get a refund as the voucher was redeemed and I need to be patient. I ended up have to putchase avios from BA. Three weeks ago I involved AMEX. The chargeback has happened but can be reverted under some circumstances before case fully investigated. Would NOT recommend Groupon route to anyone.

    • Leafwarbler says:

      18 Jun18 June 09:54

      Almost 3 months for me too. Hopeless!

      • Shoestring says:

        18 Jun18 June 10:46

        There could be a sizeable silent majority for whom the Groupon deal was straightforward. When my wife & I did it, it was no hassle at all – admittedly not the last iteration of this deal.

        ISTR there was a bit of Spanish to navigate – but nothing too difficult.

        • Londoner says:

          18 Jun18 June 12:17

          I have used it several times for the 2.000 Avios deal previously, but this time I needed 40.000 for a 2-4-1, and then it all went wrong. Never had any issues previously either, which is why I thought it would be fine to purchase through Groupon, but they have admitted a lot of complaints this time.

        • Paul says:

          18 Jun18 June 12:33

          Buying and redeeming the voucher is simple with google translate. Problem is with process/interface between Groupon and Iberia – either way buyer suffers.

• Mark says:

  18 Jun18 June 05:25

  O/T
  I was wondering if anybody has had there luggage lost before and had any advice.

  I booked a flight on Iberia’s website from Buenos Aires to Gatwick via Barcelona, fly level to Barcelona then vuelling to Gatwick. My bag got lost and it’s been logged but is it vuelling I claim against or Iberia? it was an IB flight number.

  I’m told I will have it back within 5 days but all I had for heading to Scotland (I head home to Jersey in a week) was what I was wearing, what’s my limits for buying things ? Can I buy new clothes? An iPhone charger and ear phones ? Or just socks boxers and toiletries? 5 days is a long time, I don’t even know who I claim against if at all. If I buy a t shirt at £30 is the too much? Doesn’t seem to be any info.

  Anybody had this happen and have any advice ?

  Thanks

  • ChrisC says:

    18 Jun18 June 05:58

    You claim from the last carrier so Vueling and they sort it out with Iberia.

    Yes you can buy essentials – toiletries and clothes etc – and they will be reimbursed but that’s not an excuse to go mad so go for mid range clothes. An iPhone charger.would be OK but probably not headphones.

    A good guide is to ask yourself if you would buy the item if the reimbursement for it was refused and with the expectation you would get your luggage back in a couple of days

    • JamesLHR says:

      18 Jun18 June 06:31

      It would be very strange to commit to having the bag back within 5 days.

      This is usually the tracing period between the ground handler and the airline, in your case whoever handles VY at LGW. After this period, the file will be handed over to VY CBT (central baggage tracing).

      Technically under the Montreal Convention you can claim against any airline involved in the carriage of your bag. It is up to the airlines then to claim from one another and pro-rate the amount based on the at fault carrier. However, usually when you contact the carrier that is not the end carrier, they will refer you to the end carrier.

      In terms of limits, the Montreal Convention has no definition of what you can/cannot buy. It’s only statute of limitations is the SDR amount convertible into local currency. Who is to say you don’t need the headphones for a purpose?

      In order to get claims settled, the majority of people go for essential items and claim these, however, should the airline not settle or entertain your claim, you can always direct this claim to the CAA. This normally results in the claim being settled. If not, the small claims court will if the airline is still being unreasonable.

  • AJA says:

    18 Jun18 June 09:15

    Whoever did the lost baggage claim at LGW should have told you what you can claim.

    This is from Vueling’s website:

    If you are away from home and need to acquire basic items that you were carrying in the checked bag, you can claim back such expenses. Keep all pertinent receipts along with the P.I.R. code and claim a refund on the aforementioned expenses. Please note that you have 21 days from submitting the P.I.R. to request a refund via our online form.

    https://www.vueling.com/en/vueling-services/more-vueling-services/damaged-and-delayed-baggage

    • AJA says:

      18 Jun18 June 09:22

      Also check what your travel insurance covers you for though I suspect, as with all insurances, they expect you to claim off the airline first and only go to them when all else fails.

      I’ve never had to claim off my insurance as when I’ve had baggage go missing my bags have always been returned to me within a couple of days. I’ve bought shorts, 2 x t-shirts, 1 pair of jeans and underwear and successfully claimed off Iberia. I was travelling business class and they gave me two amenity kits with toiletries, including a disposable razor at the airport.

      Good luck with Vueling/Level.

• Joe Green says:

  18 Jun18 June 06:31

  OT virgin card
  Anyone know if need to keep to use companion voucher?
  Also does one get pro-rata refund when cancelling?

  • Doug M says:

    18 Jun18 June 09:34

    I think no refund, although a couple of people have said they did, most don’t. I assume you keep the voucher as it’s in your FC account not your credit card account.

• JamesLHR says:

  18 Jun18 June 06:44

  I am very curious about this VS order.

  They already have A330’s, yes.
  They already have A350’s on order.

  As they are both Airbus products, the A330-900 and A350-900 are very similar. The A350 is about 5t heavier on average OEW. It’s MTOW is 30t different which means it is a much more versatile aircraft. It holds slightly more cargo capacity and can hold 25 passengers more based on standard configurations. The cabin is also wider.

  In terms of commonality it would be compliment the A350’s already coming online. The IATA codes mean both aircrafts are handled the same at airports.

  This either means that a) the A330neo is tremendous on fuel economy, b) VS got a fantastic financial deal or c) the A359 is too much aircraft for VS, both on cargo or seats and they’d struggle to fill the additional space consistently to make the slight trip costs worthwhile.

  • BJ says:

    18 Jun18 June 07:12

    a330neo is substantially cheaper than an a350.

    • JamesLHR says:

      18 Jun18 June 11:39

      This is true but with pre-existing relationships that delta can be narrowed or not exist.

      I imagine Airbus was keen to get a strong order on the books of the NEO. Plus, Delta is already an operator.

      The CAPEX is almost insignificant compared to the OPEX savings on commonality. They are enormous especially with small fleets.

  • mradey says:

    18 Jun18 June 07:18

    I actively avoid the VS A330 the UC cabin feels rather claustrophobic. Hope the new model is way better.

    • Nigel says:

      18 Jun18 June 08:42

      The A330 UC cabins were dense but I think they were all refurbished to match the 787 layout (3 rather than 4 columns of seats) a while ago.

  • Nigel says:

    18 Jun18 June 08:44

    and/or d) the order backlogs for the 787 and A350 are now very long and ordering the A330 is the option which allows them to renew and expand fleet much sooner

  • Doug M says:

    18 Jun18 June 09:36

    A complete guess, price. Discounting likely to be much heavier on a re-tooled old plane than the new model.

  • Michael Jennings says:

    18 Jun18 June 12:46

    The A350 is a bestseller and the A330neo has sold okay – not terribly but not wonderfully either. This could also mean that earlier delivery slots are available for the A330neo. Regardless of how its fuel efficiency compares with that of the A350, it is a lot better than that of the existing A330s, so making the switch is probably worthwhile if the capital cost isn’t too great. The “not a bestseller” factor makes this more likely to be so.

• JohnT says:

  18 Jun18 June 07:14

  My Amex Avios does say £335 or more.

• chris says:

  18 Jun18 June 07:20

  As this is a purchase via AMEX, I assume it still does not count as a BA purchase with double AVIOS if using the BA Amex card?

  • BJ says:

    18 Jun18 June 07:47

    I think it goes through points.com so no. However, not sure if it might trigger the amex offer for spend £500 get 500 avios etc with BA and selected partners. Never been clear to me who exactly the selected partners for this offer are.

    • chris says:

      18 Jun18 June 17:28

      Does anyone have a list of “selected partners”?

• Shoestring says:

  18 Jun18 June 07:25

  In case you missed it, Extinction Rebellion called off their threat to disrupt LHR flights today and 10 days in July. They did, however, say they were likely to protest for 10 days later in the year.

  • BJ says:

    18 Jun18 June 08:07

    Good to hear. If these people expended the same energy on lobbying for practical solutions and facilitating informed public education they would likely receive much sympathy and achieve much more meaningful results.

  • Phil says:

    18 Jun18 June 08:16

    I imagine the threats of long prison sentences for endangering aircraft focused their minds somewhat

    • JamesLHR says:

      18 Jun18 June 11:39

      I hear the cancellation of the 747 jollies May have also helped.

• Shoestring says:

  18 Jun18 June 07:49

  20% off code for No1 lounges HSBCADVANCE20

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