Virgin Atlantic drops Shanghai flights, its last East Asian destination

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• Tim416283 says:

  19 Jul19 July 18:34

  I’ve called again and apparently been booked onto BA (original was rewards flight with a 2-4-1). Been sent the confirmations and the BA booking references, so might just need to keep trying and hope you get the right person.

  The first time I rang, she apparently sorted it, but then called me back 15 mins later to say they can’t re-route reward flights, so my only option would be a refund.

  The second chap was much better, sent the confirmations through and said it’s all sorted. Will keep an eye on it to make sure but hoping it’s all good!

• Mcrpanda says:

  19 Jul19 July 18:48

  I used points to book the return flights and then called (It took me over 40 mins to connect) to rebook for the same day and same cabin class with British Airways (BA). The experience has been smooth so far. The representative provided me with the BA reference so I can check my booking with BA. I also received confirmation from Virgin, and I can see the changes in the Virgin system. I’m new to BA, and the only difference I’ve noticed so far is that I have to pay for seats at the moment, whereas Virgin allowed me to choose the last two rows of Premium for free!

• Dan says:

  19 Jul19 July 22:18

  I have an Upper Class points booking with Virgin Atlantic for January 2025. I called earlier, and the agent offered me a British Airways flight on the same day, stating that the details were sent to ticketing and I would receive confirmation within 24-72 hours.

  However, a few hours later, I received an email from Virgin Atlantic stating they won’t rebook my redemption ticket on British Airways. What are the next steps?

  Virgin’s email:

  I hope this email finds you well.
  This is in regards to the booking reference: XXXXX.
  I received a response from our ticketing department that we cannot reprotect your flight to british airline because your flight was booked using points and we can only reprotect the flight with ba if the tkt was booked using revenue.

  We can only reprotect your flight with virgin atlantic revenue tkt however there is no available flight so what we can only offer is to cancel the flight and you will receive a full refund for taxes and points will be credit back to your flying club account. I do apologized for the inconvenience. Once your available, kindly give us a call back.

  Thank you!

• Liam says:

  20 Jul20 July 11:42

  I’m is the same boat as you Dan – flight out to Shanghai in January and back in March (with airmiles).
  Plus I’ve booked onward flights to New Zealand !!!
  What is the solution ???

• TH says:

  24 Jul24 July 16:24

  I called virgin and they told me they could book me a ticket for China Eastern for the same dates in the same cabin. I have a reward business class flight.

  I asked them if I would be able to modify my booking in the future and they said no. It seems absurd since I originally booked a business class flight with the option to modify at £30.

  Has anyone else successfully get a China Eastern flight and can you confirm if you can see an option to modify travel dates?

  • Rob says:

    24 Jul24 July 16:38

    If this is a reward ticket, you can’t expect Virgin to buy you a fully flexible cash ticket as a replacement. It also wouldn’t be fully flexible as a reward. If you’ve got a cash ticket which is fully flexible, you might as well cancel and rebook on China Eastern as it shouldn’t cost more. I suspect you’d still be able to cancel the China Eastern seat.

• veggieg says:

  24 Jul24 July 20:14

  I just want to update everyone my experience with a premium/upper mixed cabin reward booking for Jan/Feb 2025.

  I first called as soon as I heard the news and was told that there was only refund option. I called two days later again and was given the additional option of rebooking onto a date before the route closure.

  I called again today and was offer rebook onto either MU or BA, and I chose MU. Confirmation email was received about three hours later, and I was booked onto ourbound eco (R)/return biz (Q) class of MU.

  Potentially the for the outbound there could be EC261 downgrade reimbursement but I am planning to explore after I take the flights. Anyway MU is even better result than VS and I am very happy for the result.

  • veggieg says:

    24 Jul24 July 20:20

    Just to clarify my original reward booking was premium for outbound and upper for return.

• Tao says:

  29 Jul29 July 09:44

  Quick update,

  I phoned customer service again at the end of last week. The agent rebooked me with China Eastern airline. It’s the only alternative airline for points booking, for now.

  Called China Eastern and selected the seats. I won’t be able to manage the booking online as their system doesn’t talk to each other. All communications will be funnel through Virgin.

  Hope you all have sorted out your bookings. Thanks for all the support/advice from this forum.

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