V Australia Delay Launch

[ausi ski bum]

Bugger I have spent $24,000 on a holiday and now they cancell the dates I am flying ARrrrggggg

[skijacski]

Can you claim on insurance?

Or can you find other flights with other companies?

[Tobi]

That's got to bite in the big one.

[Altheau]

r well they are offering refunds or alternate flights organised at their expense, not to bad . . . could be worse, feel you pain, we just booked for 2nd feb - march, hopefully the boeing strike will be dealt with soon

[Vet]

Details please. The Vets are flying out 22 March 09 and V called to ssy we're leaving 45 minutes early.

I hope V get their act, and planes, into gear.

They can do Hawaiian to Hawaii, and then Hawaiian goes to LA. Get a suntan on the way over coutesy of your credit card or travel insurer.

[Vet]

V are hoping the jets are flying by 28 February. As we fly out on 22 March that gives me three weeks 'grace' if V under-estimate the delay.

I better read my Citibank travel insurance very carefully.

[hackett007]

this happend with us aswell, there trying to issue us new flights for the same day. hope they do

[Altheau]

I actually think they are hoping to get going before that as they have not informed us that our flights have been canceled. I think that they have stopped booking flights till the 28th cause they are thinking that worst case they will be up by then. In the mean time booking more flights just puts them at risk as I am sure that it will cost them a bit rebooking peoples flights with other airlines as well as causing grief to people by allowing them to book when they might not get into the air

So i am crossing fingers that they get up earlier if not, then we will take it as it comes I guess

[Podlettte]

From the vaustralia website link you sent through Altheau, it looks like regardless of what happens, we'll be taken care of either with a refund, or put on another carrier at their expense. Happy for that to happen, so long as we know well in advance.

They are offerring those conditions to flights booked up to 16th January which leaves a big gap to 28th Feb, so they are possibly hoping Boeing can get it sorted in time to fly 16th Jan.

[chunky]

I fly 26th Jan so I am concerned still :(

[Altheau]

Yeah reading about the boeing strike, sounds like they are in grid lock due to the fact that the employees are well prepared for the strike and Boeing as scared of giving in as they have other employee contracts comming up as well among other things

[chunky]

Ouch in 1995 the Union went on strike for 69 days!

[skichic]

fly Jan 14th, back Jan 29th. I got an email saying they would either refund or try and put me on another flight at their expense. I have accom and ski passes booked, non refundable. The email said they would contact us in departure date order, but I'll ring tomorrow anyway and see if I can sort something out. Luckily I haven't booked internal flights/hotels yet.

I got flights ultra cheap through them, not sure how keen they will be to pay full freight on another airline :(

[Altheau]

I would have thought at their expense would mean they would cover the cost of the flight. I hope that is what they mean, hope it goes well, I guess we are a bit lucky that we had only booked flights so far and nothing else

[chunky]

Originally posted by skichic:
fly Jan 14th, back Jan 29th. I got an email saying they would either refund or try and put me on another flight at their expense. I have accom and ski passes booked, non refundable. The email said they would contact us in departure date order, but I'll ring tomorrow anyway and see if I can sort something out. Luckily I haven't booked internal flights/hotels yet.

I got flights ultra cheap through them, not sure how keen they will be to pay full freight on another airline :( The only consoling thought is that there are only 1000 of those really cheap fares so hopefully they will honour. I can't delay my departure but i could fly earlier if that is what is required if they offer that for my flying dates which are outside the initial period they have announced.

[skichic]

I have a couple of days up my sleeve on the way over...but accom is booked and is an non refundable. To be honest I'm not too concerned, I think they will do what's needed to preserve their reputation. And the trip home will be covered under insurance. But will try and contact them tomorrow anyway.

[Legolas]

aw maaaaan that saaaaaarks.

It's only V?

So will they get you onto other carriers at their expense? or is it worth cashing in your travel insurance and making sure you do get on another carrier?

...or does it not work like that.

Poor you ASB, hope the rest of you get sorted too.

[ 02.10.2008, 11:28 PM: Message edited by: Legolas ]

[ausi ski bum]

I fly out on 27 Dec and return 10 Jan. I havent heard from them yet and have tried calling with no luck. There seems to be a lot of seats on QANTAS still so here is hoping, maybe I can get the ff points as well.

anyone been contacted yet

I had not got around to travel insurance yet

[ 02.10.2008, 11:32 PM: Message edited by: ausi ski bum ]

[chunky]

From their website -


Boeing Strike forces V Australia delay
Virgin Blue Airlines Group announced today that an ongoing strike at The Boeing Company’s Seattle plant has forced a delay to the planned 15 December, 2008 launch of its long haul international airline V Australia.

The announcement comes after Boeing advised its customers including V Australia that it cannot predict the duration of the dispute and therefore cannot guarantee the delivery date of the airline’s launch aircraft.

The manufacturer has ceased to assemble aircraft at the Seattle plant since the strike commenced on 6 September, 2008 when 27,000 members of the International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers downed tools.

V Australia has three Boeing 777-300ER aircraft in advanced stage production at the plant. The strike however has no bearing on services operated by Virgin Blue, Pacific Blue or Polynesian Blue.

In the continuing absence of a revised aircraft delivery schedule, Virgin Blue said it considered the only responsible course of action was to nominate a revised V Australia launch date of 28 February, 2009 to protect the interests of its Guests. V Australia’s Brisbane-Los Angeles direct services, due to launch on 1 March, 2009, are not affected.

Effective from today, V Australia will commence contacting all Guests booked to travel in the Christmas/New Year period from 15 December, 2008 to 16 January, 2009 to offer alternative arrangements.

The airline has also suspended further advance ticket sales for travel between 15 December, 2008 and 28 February, 2009 in case the Boeing strike, now in its fourth week, should be prolonged.

Virgin Blue said should the industrial dispute be resolved in the short term, the airline would move swiftly to bring forward V Australia’s start-up schedule. The company said the impact of the serious delay would be addressed between Virgin Blue and The Boeing Company at a later date.

V Australia said it appreciates the support of those Guests who have already booked on the new airline and whose travel will be unavoidably impacted by the Boeing strike. Accordingly the airline will honour its commitments and offer one of the following alternative arrangements to Guests booked to travel between 15 December, 2008 to 16 January, 2009:

Guests who rebook on V Australia on or after 1 March, 2009 will be reaccommodated on their choice of flights. As a gesture of goodwill we would also provide a $200 voucher for travel on Virgin Blue’s Australian network.
A full refund, if our Guests prefer.
An alternative flight on another airline, arranged at our expense, if our Guests prefer.

[chunky]

Did you use a gold credit card ASB? Most have an insurance built in as complimentary.

[chunky]

Well we got through to them this morning. The rep claims they will provide the same arrangements for those flying after 16 Jan but they cannot go ahead with that decision yet until they know if the strike is continuing or not. They are in discussions with Qantas and United to provide the alternative flying arrangements.

[BrumbyJack]

Looks like they are doing everything possible they can to make sure their clients have minimal impact.

I can't wait to see what happens with Boeing :eek:

[skichic]

on hold now

[ausi ski bum]

I gave up yesterday after three one hour waits on hold, am back on hold this morning, its been 40 minutes so far, thank god i have a speaker phone in my office. I know they said they would contact me but I have looked and the Qantas flights are getting pretty full on my dates. Would prefer not to fly United.

I wonder if they will let me add a few days :)

[skichic]

might go and have a shower while I wait ;)

[ausi ski bum]

Still on hold, need coffee

[ausi ski bum]

I spoke to Virgin just now and they tell me they are transfering people to other airlines, I would prefer Qantas they have much better aircraft than United. I told them we are quite happy to be seated in Business Class if there are not other economy class seats left.

They will get back to me over the next few days

Must be costing them a fortune, the flight I booked was $1000 per ticket being an opening ofer for the first 1000 seats sold and the replacement flights are $3000 - $3500 each minimum and we have three seats booked.

[skichic]

yay that's promising ASB.

Still on hold here, had a shower while waiting, phone went flat had to swap to another graemlins/big_laugh.gif

They would have insurance to cover their losses.

[skichic]

they really should change their message on hold..."just to let you know we will be flying to the west coast of USA from December this year...." graemlins/big_laugh.gif

[skichic]

OK got through. They should be able to get us on a flight with Qantas no problem. Will hear back within the week.

[skichic]

Glad I was waiting for the $$ to improve before booking internal flights/hotels/cars etc!

[Vet]

Well I'm glad I got the flight on United in Feb, the accom and the $43 per day lift tix at around 92c.

Nice to hear Virgin are not offering you China Air via Timbuktoo or forcing people to claim on insurance. I'm also impressed they called and emailed so far out.

[skichic]

They do seem to be handling it very professionally. I'm confident my plans won't be disrupted. We also got accom and lift tix at around 94c, so I'm happy too tongue.gif

[ausi ski bum]

I bought all my internal flights, accom and tours when the dollar was up over 94 so I saved a lot there, I suspect once the US Govt starts its bail out the inflation pressures will push the US $$$ down helping us for our trip.

If not everything in the US is so cheap anyway we really don't lose

[chunky]

I am holding off on further bookings until I know what is happening with flights. I have a window of about 8 weeks before final payments are due on some things.

[Legolas]

sounds like you'll be well taken care of. That's good news.

I reckon they can afford a few bucks to ensure very satisfied first flyers and first reviews!

[Vet]

United emailed me re special fares from Melbourne until 1st Feb, in case that helps anyone. See their website for further info.

[ausi ski bum]

On a 14 hour flight I at least want a TV in the seat in front of me, I believe United is still big screens and head sets.

[chunky]

That's why I was looking forward to using V :(

[Vet]

At least United's extra flights creates extra seats needed by people getting bumped off vaustralia.

What's United's baggage limits for skiis? All I see is a generic 'length + breath + width' can't be more than 158 cm. Uuum, that's pretty short.

Vaust though specifically refers to skis and sports gear as simply needing to be in a ski bag.

[Podlettte]

hmmm I want a screen in front of me too :( Maybe I do need a new ipod!

[ausi ski bum]

I got my flights on Qantas, the only drawback is i now depart two days earlier on Xmas day, I was offered United on Boxing day but I asked that they look for Qantas seats and they did.

If you are still waiting for a call, don't ring them again and they will sort it on the spot not they are not so busy.

[BrumbyJack]

Originally posted by Vet:
At least United's extra flights creates extra seats needed by people getting bumped off vaustralia.

What's United's baggage limits for skiis? All I see is a generic 'length + breath + width' can't be more than 158 cm. Uuum, that's pretty short.

Vaust though specifically refers to skis and sports gear as simply needing to be in a ski bag. In the past it was 2 x 32kg bags...incl the ski bag. No, that isn't a typo, but it may have changed.

[Altheau]

I think that skis are listed as special items that can be included as part of your baggage allowance as long as they do not weigh over 23 kg

it does state that it is 1 ski bag with 1 set of skis 1 set of poles etc

does that mean you can't use a double bag and put 2 peoples skis in them? or just that you can only have skis poles etc in the bag?

[skichic]

Got a call from VA this week. All rebooked on Qantas, same day, just a few hours earlier. Domestic flights changed no prob, still earning velocity points.

Since I'm due to fly home at the end of Jan, the VA lady said that I would be flying home with them. Either a marketing thing or they really do expect to be up and flying by then.

All really professionally handled I reckon.

[Vet]

Originally posted by Altheau:
I think that skis are listed as special items that can be included as part of your baggage allowance as long as they do not weigh over 23 kg

it does state that it is 1 ski bag with 1 set of skis 1 set of poles etc

does that mean you can't use a double bag and put 2 peoples skis in them? or just that you can only have skis poles etc in the bag? Virginblue'srep and superviser were adamant I must, on Mel-Syd, use 3 ski bags for 3 people even though we fly on Vaustralia from Syd-LA. Oh well. I'd rather be cautious and get 3 bags because somewhere a check-in nazi will ping me if I take 1 bag with 3 sets.

[chunky]

Hmmm. I might have to look into this as well Vet. We have a double bag but we won't use our luggage allowance as we can take 10 bags if we wanted to so I wonder if they will take that into account.

[Vet]

And virginblue say 23kgs limits apply. Huh? This is supposed to be a sector on an international flight. I'm starting to wonder if the virgin deal was really cheaper by the time I factor in a night in LA, drive or fly to Reno, waste a day travelling, and possible excess luggage nazis. I'm tempted to look into cancelling virgin and go United or Qantas direct Mel-SFO. The price difference is much the same when I add LA-related costs like an internal flight, waiting for the connecting flight, etc.

[chunky]

OH YUCK!

Up to 31 January flights that have been booked on V have been guaranteed now but flights will be on United - certainly not the same service or comfort level I was going to get if flying V. Expect calls by V out to these people within the next 2 weeks.

[Podlettte]

I just rang Vaustralia, we haven't received an email yet, after reading a thread on the other ski website that people on the 12th had been rebooked on qantas.

No qantas flights available to Vaustralia between 1st Feb and 6th Feb, so the only option they are offerring us is United.

Has anyone accepted the full refund to rebook with someone else?

there are some good deals on bestflights right now that are actually $200 cheaper than our Virgin flights! graemlins/big_laugh.gif

pretty annoyed that they have no supervisor on for night shift when all this is going on and that we haven't received an email about it grrr

[chunky]

Ooh that is getting close to our fly home times.

[chunky]

Got an email from them today about the new US entry requirements.

[Vet]

At Flight Centre I saw ad add $2020 to LA including 5 nights (in Taiwan???) and car hire. Is this one of their 'via China' specials?

[Podlettte]

yeah, but for anyone heading to the US the requirements aren't new, they've been around for a while, information on them at least. I would have thought they'd send them with your booking email?

Anyway, after several calls tonight, including to one poor girl who didn't understand I wasn't confident in her response of "I guess the refund will go through in 21 days" and asked for clarification from finance. She said oh no, it'll be 21 days, yep, for sure, how could it be longer?

*sigh* breath deeply, exhale.....

So the upshot is, if you want to find out any info, don't make an enquiry, say you are adjusting a booking, the 2 guys there are much better! smile.gif

So, if you have premium economy or business class, you'll be swapped to qantas if flying anywhere between Feb 1st and Feb 12th/13th. after that i have no idea, and I don't think they do either!

[chunky]

Great. My arguement will be that you flew us Qantas there and you can fly us Qantas back if that happens. Due to come home on the 16 Feb.

[Podlettte]

SPoje with a really lovely Vaustralia person this morning, Stephanie. She did her best and could get 2 out of 4 onto Qantas, however, there weren't any more seats available in economy to change us to (that VA had been allocated).

We're now cancelling VA flights and flying Qantas to San Francisco for roughly $230 cheaper smile.gif graemlins/woohoo.gif

[Altheau]

just goes to show that some times the worst things turn out for the better =]

[ 10.12.2008, 03:24 PM: Message edited by: Altheau ]

[chunky]

Flying into San Fran is probably better than LA too!

[Podlettte]

Exactly Chunky, so we're all pretty stoked and relieved to have it all sorted, what a palava!

[ausi ski bum]

Boeing have really damaged V Australia, I wonder if they ever get over this

[Willy]

As long as they are still going in jan 2010 when my rescheduled flights go, i and my 7 other travel crew will be happy!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[Podlettte]

according to another person I spoke with at Vaustralia last week, they could have taken delivery of the plane before christmas, but "all the staff are on holidays" etc because of the delayed launch.... now i would have thought they'd be on standby so they could be ready when the planes were ready!!

[chunky]

Well Virgin are finding it tough so I guess they had to enforce holidays otherwise the V Aus staff could be employed to just twiddle their thumbs with nothing to do.

[Xena]

x

[Vet]

Has Vaustralia told the Dept of Homeland Security to add it to the dept's drop down list of airlines??

[chunky]

Well no need for me to worry about V not being on that list atm. They contacted me today. The same person who looked after me last time. V will not have their planes ready by Feb 16 so they have booked me on Qantas direct back to Brisbane.

Supposedly they will not take delivery of the planes until late Jan and certification and approvals are still pending. A bit of a balls up but in the end they have looked after me.

[Podlettte]

you flying premium economy chunks?

[chunky]

No - cattle class :(