Flight disruptions

Updated 10 February 11:00H (UK time)

New York and Boston airports are full operational and all our flights are running as scheduled.

If your flight was cancelled on 8 or 9 February contact your travel agent or travel provider to rebook on the next available flight.

Contact Information

For direct bookings only call our flight disruption line on + 44 (0) 844 209 8711 in the UK, or 1-800-862-8621 in the USA.

View telephone details of our other worldwide service centres.

As you would expect our telephone lines are busy and we have long call waiting times for which we apologise. If you don’t need to call us straight away please wait until call holding times reduce.

It is our intention to carry passengers from cancelled flights to their destination, at the earliest opportunity. Space however may be limited and therefore one of the following three alternative options are available to passengers:

Refund of unused flights, if travel has not commenced.

Passengers requiring a refund should go back to the point of sale.
If you purchased your ticket from a travel agent, you should apply to that agent for your refund, there is no need to call our flight disruption line.

If your ticket is part of an inclusive package you should contact your tour operator or travel organiser for more information, there is no need to call our flight disruption line.

If you purchased your ticket directly from Virgin Atlantic via our service centres or website please view our refunds process here.

or

Re-book to a later date.

Take a Virgin Atlantic flight to your destination at a later date convenient to you, subject to availability of seats in the same ticket class.

or

Re-book on a Virgin Atlantic flight to/from another destination.

Subject to availability in the same ticket class, any additional fare or seasonal supplements will be collected.

General information about rebooking when your Virgin Atlantic flight is cancelled

• Passengers on through tickets involving other carriers must notify us before travel commences. Passengers with connecting flights issued on separate tickets must make their own arrangements with the other carrier including the payment of any additional costs and amendment fees.
• Passengers on package holidays must refer to their tour operators who may not operate the same policy. Passengers should also be aware that any applicable refund would only relate to the airfare portion of the inclusive package and not the whole cost of the holiday.
  

Contact your travel agent or travel provider to rebook on the next available flight.

For direct bookings only call our flight disruption line on
+ 44 (0) 844 209 8711 in the UK
or
1-800-862-8621 in the USA.

View telephone details of our other worldwide contact centres

Virgin Holidays customers in the UK should contact them directly during normal office hours on 01293 496883. Virgin Holidays Cruises customers should call 0871 226 8185.

Virgin Holidays customers already on holiday should make immediate contact with their nearest Virgin Holidays representative.

As you would expect all telephone lines are busy and we have long call waiting times for which we apologise. If you don’t need to call us straight away please wait until call holding times reduce. If you are calling from outside the UK please remember that mobile roaming charges are usually more costly and therefore consider using a landline to a local number instead.

The EU regulation 261/2004 establishing common rules on compensation and assistance to passengers in the event of denied boarding and of cancellation or long delay of flights requires us to offer affected passengers on cancelled flights or flights that have been delayed overnight the following care package.

• Meals and refreshments in reasonable relation to the waiting time
  
  Plus
• 2 short telephone calls, or telex, or fax, or e-mail messages.

Plus

• Hotel accommodation if the delay goes into the following day

Plus

• Transport to and from the hotel.

This care package is offered to passengers who are away from their usual residence/home and is usually arranged by our airport staff however, if your flight was cancelled or delayed overnight before you started to make your way to the airport and you chose to make your own care arrangements, you may make a claim for reimbursement of the reasonable costs of hotel accommodation and meals for the number of days you were delayed between the original scheduled departure, up until the next available flight we offered, as well as transport to and from the airport and two communications defined above.

We respectfully remind all passengers that we will not reimburse accommodation or meal costs if you declined to travel on the first available flight we offered you.

Our assessment of 'reasonable' is based upon the following principles:

Hotel accommodation - Is based on a minimum of two people sharing one room in a 'no-frills' /express type hotel (with the exception of passengers travelling alone on a single reservation).

Meals and refreshments - Include breakfast (if it has not been included in hotel offering) followed by one snack and one main meal per person per day, plus approximately six regular soft drinks or beverages per person per day.

Transport between the airport and hotel - Using public transport

Two short telephone calls -  No longer than 10 minutes each using the most economic means available.  Please remember that mobile roaming charges are usually more costly, consider using a landline instead.

How to make a claim

As soon as you have returned home and have had the chance to gather all your paperwork and receipts, please email eucare@fly.virgin.com attaching scanned copies of your receipts (preferably in a .pdf format).

OR

Please send a letter and copies of your receipts to:

Virgin Atlantic

EU Care

PO Box 747
Dunstable
LU6 9AH

All claims for reimbursement should be submitted no later than 3 months after your return flight date.

We require the following details to be sent to the addresses above:

• a list of the passengers and booking references being claimed for
• a summary listing all your expenses
• all itemised receipts
• contact details of the lead passenger to whom reimbursement should be paid.

We are unable to reimburse any of the following:

• Un-receipted expenses
• Top range and/or luxury hotels and/or restaurant/eateries
• Payments to friends/relatives offering bed and board
• Alcohol
• Room service
• Entertainment
• Replacement flights on other airlines
• Any other purchases not related to meal and accommodation requirements

EU Financial compensation

In certain circumstances the EU regulation requires airlines to pay financial compensation to passengers if their flight is cancelled within 14 days of departure or delayed more than 3 hours. However this requirement does not apply if the cause of the delay or cancellation was due to “extraordinary circumstances” which include weather conditions and the closure of airports.

Flight cancellations and delays due to the recent disruption qualify as “extraordinary circumstances” and therefore we will not be issuing financial compensation to passenger on cancelled or delayed flights, other than reimbursement of reasonable costs of accommodation, meals, transport to and from the airport and two short calls or e mails as detailed above.

When adverse weather affects your flight you may be able to claim on your travel insurance. The extent and level of any cover will vary between policies, so check with your insurance provider.

We have been working with the Association of British Insurers (ABI) to make the claim process a little easier. The ABI have advised us that many of their members will accept a generic 'confirmation of flight disruption' posted on our website detailing the flights that were cancelled or heavily delayed as a result of the recent weather conditions, as long as it is supported by a valid ticket and/or boarding pass.

We will update this document regularly so if you don't see your flight listed straight away please try again a couple of days later.

We hope this will eliminate the need for you to contact us directly for individual letters to support your claim. Print the page relating to your flight and present it to your insurers along with any other documentation they require.

Please note that under certain circumstances you may need to contact us in the following circumstances for additional evidence. Please speak to your insurer if the following applies to your claim:

• Your flight was cancelled and you accepted an alternative flight from us.
  
• To validate any incidental costs refunded by us.
  

If your insurance company does not accept the confirmation of flight disruption document please email requestaletter@fly.virgin.com, with the following details:

• Your full name (as well as any former names you might have been known by)
  
• Your full address (as well as the address where you were living when you made your booking, if it's different)
  
• Your booking reference number (It will be a 6 character with a mixture of numbers and letters e.g. BJVC1X)
  
• Your original date of departure along with your actual date of departure
  
• Your original flight number along and your actual flight number
  
• Your current postal address

We will then send the letter to your postal address as soon as we can

Whilst we can issue a letter confirming flights were cancelled or delayed, our customer privacy policy does not allow us to confirm if particular passengers were booked on the flight. If you require this type of documentation please ensure you also enclose with your request

• A signed letter requesting the information
  
• A photocopy of your photo drivers licence or passport, showing your name, address, photograph and usual signature.

TICKET REFUNDS

If your flight was cancelled and you wish to claim a refund of the unused part or parts of your ticket please view our refunds process here.

If you purchased your ticket from a travel agent, you should apply to that agent for your refund.

Otherwise, if you have a paper ticket, please cancel your booking and provide us with a brief explanation of your refund request and return your unused paper ticket(s) to Virgin Atlantic Airways.

Virgin Atlantic Airways,
UK Refunds,
PO Box 340,
LU6 9LF

Fax: 01293 444456
Email: refunds.hq@fly.virgin.com
Opening hours: 09.00 - 12.00, Monday to Thursday.

Please note - send us all relevant supporting documentation to avoid any delay.