Update: While I confirmed the information in this post with Virgin’s press office before posting, several readers reached out to me showing that their claims were denied.
I followed up with Virgin’s press office asking why their claims were denied, and they clarified that claims had been made for EC Compensation which covers delays and cancellations as opposed to expenses,
“EC Compensation claims are not valid due to the ‘extraordinary circumstances’ beyond the control of Virgin Atlantic. I believe the customers have confused EC Compensation with EC Care, which covers reimbursement for hotel accommodation, transport and meals. They must apply for EC Care to be reimbursed for these specific expenses.”
Sure enough, they followed up with claims for EC Care for food, hotel, and transportation expenses and those claims were paid in full!
Commenter Steve writes, “Just received over $3000 from Virgin for reimbursement after cancelled flights. Thanks Dan, would’ve never known about this without you.”
Kudos to Virgin for showing extraordinary customer service by honoring these expenses!
Originally posted on 10/15:
Virgin Atlantic suspended their flights to Tel Aviv last week. Currently, they plan to resume service on October 20th, though of course that it subject to change.
Most airlines are telling passengers they are on their own for expenses due to the war in Israel. Credit card coverage may or may not cover expenses due to the war as well.
However Virgin is standing behind their passengers,
“If your flight has been cancelled and you are away from home, we will offer reimbursement for hotel accommodation, and transport to and from the hotel, in addition to meals and refreshments. You can find more information by visiting our Flight Disruption Policy.”
As with most airlines, you can also request a refund or reschedule canceled flights with no fees or fare differences.
Kudos to Virgin for sticking up for passenger rights during these tough times! Have any other airlines made similar announcements?
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39 Comments On "[Update On Filing Claims] Bravo! Virgin Atlantic Will Offer Reimbursement For Hotels, Transportation, And Meals For Passengers With Canceled Virgin Flights To/From Israel"
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Does chase sapphire or Amex platinum cover?
+1 @dan?
You can try, but I assume there was wartime exclusions.
If anyone was successful with any reimbursement from chase sapphire please share
i was succesful with amex platinum.
as a sidenote, i never use my sapphire card for insurance, although it has better insurance, because when it comes to a actual claim they give you such a hard time, having you upload a ton a documents, and after all that declining it. when i filed with amex they asked me for about 10 documents, i uploaded maybe half of that. 5 days letter i get a email “your check is on the way”!
Isn’t this legally required under UK261?
Also, what about the passengers who had to buy new tickets out of pocket? Any word on that?
EU261/UK261 have tons of loopholes that airlines use to get out of paying for anything. That’s especially the case when there are external (non-airline) factors that cause the cancellations. I doubt any airlines will pay out full EU261 for these flights.
It’s very nice to see an airline preempt those concerns by saying what they will be covering.
I don’t think any airline will cover the cost of new tickets.
I wonder how much of VSs response to this war has to do with their CEO being Israeli.
How can I request a reimbursement for the expanses?
Is there any way at all to get anything? These flight cancellations and extended Israel stay costed me thousands of dollars. Would taking a lawyer help at all? Like a class action lawsuit?
Try a class action suit against Hamas.
let us know how that goes.
Chase sapphire told me that this will fall under trip interruption because they are considering it terrorism (not war) – two different reps told me this. Haven’t heard anything from our airline that cancelled our tickets – not even an offer to refund the ticket (they didn’t even inform us via email that our flight was cancelled.)
Can you remind us what the story is with Chase protections when you pay for you ticket entirely with UR, as I did? And if that doesn’t get them, what about paying mostly with UR and a nominal amount with the card itself?
That’s all very nice
However, I had a different experience with Virgin. I had Upper Class tickets on a flight out of Israel going to JFK that was cancelled. After scrambling for days to find an alternative flight I was able to get a route (through two countries) to London. I found a flight from Heathrow to JFK with available Upper class seats – one day before departure. Virgin refused me access to those empty seats because they were not “reward seats” since I used mileage (in addition to over a thousand dollars) to purchase my original seats. All my appeals stressing the war situation, speaking to a number of reps, being refused access to a supervisor, did not help!
I ended spending $11,000 to get first class tickets on Emirates – WHICH WERE THE ONLY SEATS AVAILABLE.
I can’t understate the level of stress they caused by not being helpful in the least when time was of the essence.
So, I’m sorry to say they are too little too late with this offer.
i had premium eco and took the second leg even though it was not the original date of travel from heatrow they let me take a non rewards’ seat even though i booked with points i did have to be on phone with them for over an hour (close to 2 ) and after alot of talk and asking supervisors they where able to help
I think it depends on rep and how you convince them how they messed you up on the first leg
and btw i got them to not charge me heathro fees (double the price of isreal fees ) and instead kept same fees
If I end up cancelling the flight and finding a new way home, will they still reimburse me for these expenses up until I cancel (as they couldn’t get me home)?
Delta took of the BOS and ATL route for the next 12 months? i dont see any date available with that route
Suspended indefinitely.
What about the normal compensation under Israel law for flights now?
Hi Dan. I bought 9 tickets to E’Y for Sukkos using my Sapphire Reserve on Delta for a total of about 17K. They cancelled my original return and then my rebooked flight. I had to pay for extra time in the Hotel, meals, and then 25K to get out of the country via Ethiopian Airlines on a 40hr trip. Chase says Delta “Hijacked” my flights and since they tried to rebook my original flights, they are no longer responsible. What is your best advice to recoup some of the major expenses? Thanks.
I came to Israel on Royal Jordanian Airlines Jfk -Tlv September 26 with return date October 12 ,as the return date keeps on being canceled,To what kind of compensation am I entitled towards the return to my point of departure,
The flight was purchased online through a travel provider , should I contact them or the airline direct ?
This is what I received from Virgin denying my claim.
We
regret to advise
that we have declined your claim on the grounds that the arrival delay was caused by extraordinary circumstances which were beyond the control of Virgin Atlantic and could not have been avoided even if all reasonable measures had been taken.
The
guidelines of what is extraordinary can be found on the CAA website via the below link:
https://www.caa.co.uk/passengers/resolving-travel-problems/delays-and-cancellations/making-a-claim/am-i-entitled-to-compensation/
Send them back the quote from their website?
https://help.virginatlantic.com/gb/en/news/travel-alerts/tel-aviv.html
Their spokesperson also confirmed that to me.
Thanks, will do
Hi,
This is what I received back after sending what had sent me.
Thank you for your email regarding your recent flight with us, I do hope that you are keeping well.
I was sorry to hear that your flight was cancelled and apologise for the inconvenience caused you.
I have reviewed your claim and I can see that a full refund has been requested for the flights, as this was cancelled within 14 days.
With regards to EC compensation, I am sorry but as your flight was caused due to the unrest in Israel, which is outside of the airlines control, we are unable to offer compensation. The safety of our passengers and crew is our top priority and it was simply not safe to carry on with our flights in and out of Israel.
Once again, I am truly sorry for the disappointment my response may cause, but I do hope that this has clarified our position on this matter.
Email me your claim details please, dan at dansdeals.com
Thanks Dan for all your hard work for making this happen for me. I really appreciate it.
Glad it worked out!
Thank
you for your completed EU
Compensation Application Form. We have now reviewed your claim in relation to the following flight:
Booking
Reference
Flight
Number
Scheduled
Date and Time of Departure
Departure
Airport
Arrival
Airport
DG9PAA
VS454
10
October/11October
06:55
Tel
Aviv
London
Heathrow
The
cause of your cancellation was due to ‘extraordinary circumstances’ beyond the control of Virgin Atlantic. With all reasonable steps taken this cancellation could not have been prevented. For these reasons, we regret to
advise
that we have declined your claim.
Send them back the quote from their website?
https://help.virginatlantic.com/gb/en/news/travel-alerts/tel-aviv.html
Their spokesperson also confirmed that to me.
I did
——-
Thank you for getting back in touch, I’m sorry that you feel disappointed with our response.
I’d like to clarify that we do offer compensation for expenses you may have incurred such as accommodation meals and transport. If you should have any of these expenses, please send them through to us and we will happily review your claim.
I do regret that we continue to reject your claim for EC Compensation as the circumstances surrounding the disrupted flights are considered extraordinary as the airline does not have control over the reason for the disruption surrounding our Israel route.
We appreciate you getting back to us and I do hope that we will have the pleasure of seeing you onboard again soon.
Kind regards,
EC Claims
Virgin Atlantic
Email me your claim details and flight record please, dan at dansdeals.com
Just received over $3000 from Virgin for reimbursement after cancelled flights. Thanks Dan, would’ve never known about this without you.
Fantastic!
What do i do if it’s been 3 weeks since filling out their form and I haven’t heard back from them. Hold times are insane and I can’t find any email contact.
Are cancelled flights booked thru Virgin on partner airlines (e.g., ITA) covered by this policy as well?
how come delta wont do the same
My virgin flight was cancelled. I ended up going through two stopovers on a 45 hour trip home. Am I eligible for compensation for meals and hotels in stopover cities? And do I need receipts or would CC statements suffice?
Hi,
Would anyone know or have any experiance with British Airways?