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I recently received an email from Virgin Atlantic that my upcoming LHR to JFK ‘flight is overbooked in our Upper class cabin due to recent changes in our flying programme. As a result we’re unable to accommodate all booked passengers on this service.
‘To prevent disappointment at the airport we are looking for volunteers who would be prepared to accept a downgrade to our Premium cabin.
‘If you are able to help us out by accepting this change we will be pleased to offer you a choice of one compensation package per person from the below options for the inconvenience this will cause.’
The compensation options are:
– a voucher exchangeable for a free round-trip ticket, inclusive of tax, in Upper Class, subject to reward seat availability and valid for 3 years;
– 100,000 Flying club points.I wondered if a change in aircraft is the case, but since there is only one less Upper Class seat in the A330-300 & B787-900 than in the A330-900neo, and the A350-1000 has 12 more Upper Class seats, I’m unsure.
There are two people in my party, both of us being Red members, and the aircraft is an A330-900neo. The original booking was cash payment for Premium Economy last summer, then I used points to upgrade to Upper Class (paying taxes, fees & surcharges in cash) shortly afterwards.
Based on the above, does anyone have an idea how likely it would be for my travel party to be bumped down or otherwise not be able to take the flight if not enough people volunteer for the downgrade to Premium?
They usually get enough volunteers plus taking into account people missing connections and others deciding not to fly that they don’t need to downgrade anyone involuntarily.
And I know some have had success asking to be put on other flights so they can stay in Upper
They usually get enough volunteers plus taking into account people missing connections and others deciding not to fly that they don’t need to downgrade anyone involuntarily.
Thank you for your reply. That’s reassuring. Something I just remembered is there are A350-1000 aircrafts with a reduced Upper Class cabin. I just hope things work out—no downgrade, aircraft change or denied boarding.
Compensation looks pretty tasty though for a relatively ’short’ long haul flight. Are you tempted?
The flight vouchers *inclusive of fees* would sound mighty appealing to me. £1k value in the fee element alone. I’d want the PE vs Upper fee difference and points difference also refunded, though.
Otherwise you’re essentially being offered equivalent to a premium trip for free, not an upper trip.
100k flying points would be a hard pass.
I’d take that personally.
I’d be taking the offer in no time….. and then going to LAX with it. I’d also get the offer would of been accepted by enough already.
Many thanks for the additional replies.
Tempting indeed, especially the first option.
One would hope they would refund the Premium vs. Upper difference in points and fees.
Since most of you would accept one of the compensation packages, I imagine a few who received the same email have already jumped at the downgrade, especially since I noticed the email two days after it had been sent.
The flight vouchers *inclusive of fees* would sound mighty appealing to me. £1k value in the fee element alone. I’d want the PE vs Upper fee difference and points difference also refunded, though.
Otherwise you’re essentially being offered equivalent to a premium trip for free, not an upper trip.
100k flying points would be a hard pass.
You’d only be downgraded for the LHR-JFK leg so you’d be getting more than the equivalent of a free Premium trip. A day leg to NYC in PE is in reality a very minor downgrade, I’d count loss of Clubhouse access a bigger penalty than the difference in onboard experience. Add in the arbitrage potential of getting CPT or LAX in return for NYC & I’d have been hitting reply to accept the voucher immediately.
I’d be taking the offer in no time….. and then going to LAX with it. I’d also get the offer would have been accepted by enough already.
Why LAx? Shanghai obviously to maximise 13 hours on UC!
Re ‘loss’ of the CH VS is usually pretty sensible about letting downgraded passengers keep this as well as the UC baggage allowances.
I’d be amazed if they hadn’t solved this within an hour of the email going out.
I’d be amazed if they hadn’t solved this within an hour of the email going out.
I’ve had a similar situation once before, and I got a call about it before an email landed a few hours later. I imagine they’ve found their preferred bumpees first, and are just trying to offload whoever they can at that point.
I agree that the Select voucher is the route to go – it’s 10,000 points for no first meal choice, so I’d be expecting more for the downgrade!
Wow. Re: option 1; for a short day flight … where do I sign up?! I’d jump on that.
Option 2? Nah.
This doesn’t even need thinking about…. I’d have replied instantly
Also, don’t forget, you’d have been able to claim “original mileage credit” ensuring that you got the tier points and, well, points for the cabin you should have flown in
A free, round trip, in upper, inclusive of tax? TAKE MY MONEY!
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