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Virgin Atlantic Extends Free Date Changes Until April 30, 2023
Virgin Atlantic has introduced unlimited free date and flight changes for new bookings as part of a series of enhancements to give further flexibility to customers and support their future travel plans.
Alongside the improved changes policy, the re-booking horizon has been extended for all customers all the way until April 30, 2023, giving a broader window of time to reschedule plans if needed.
The updated commercial policy enables Virgin Atlantic customers making a new booking for travel up to April 30, 2022, or those with a cancelled flight up until August 31 2021,to make as many free-of-charge changes as necessary to their travel dates, origin or destination all the way until April 30, 2023, as well as one free name change.The changes also apply to customers who already have an open ticket with credit due to flight disruption.
The cost of fare difference for all customers will be completely waived if the new travel date takes place on or before May 31, 2021 – a two-month extension on the previous policy.
Chief Commercial Officer, Virgin Atlantic, Juha Jarvinen, , said, “We understand the difficulties that Covid-19 and ongoing travel restrictions may pose to our customers,so in order to support them we have revised and simplified our policies.By further increasing flexibility, customers making new travel plans will enjoy unlimited opportunities to make free changes, all the way until April 30, 2023, offering greater peace of mind and enabling them to book future travel with confidence.
“We look forward to welcoming our customers back on board and when the time is right, flying them safely to their favourite destinations.”
All Virgin Atlantic customers with a pre-existing booking made up to and including February 5, 2021 also have the flexibility to reschedule their travel for a new travel date up to and including 23 April 2023.
If their re-booked travel is between June 1, 2021 and 31 December 2022, any fare difference will be waived up to the value of £60 for Economy, £120 for Premium and £350 for Upper.
Virgin Holidays
The increased flexibility is also reflected in the policies for Virgin Holidays.All customers with a booked travel date up until April 30, 2022, including those with a digital voucher for a disrupted holiday, can rebook up until 30 April 2023 with unlimited free-of-charge date changes where Virgin Atlantic is the airline, providing at least three weeks’ notice is given prior to travel.
All customers with a cancelled holiday or flight have the right to request a cash refund and self-service this option via the Virgin Holidays and Virgin Atlantic websites.
Virgin Atlantic
- The re-booking horizon was previously December 31, 2022. This has been extended to April 30, 2023.
- Customers entitled to unlimited free date changes and one free name change are:
- Customers with new bookings from February 6, 2021, for travel up to and including April 30, 2022.
- Customers subject to a cancelled flight at any time up until August 31, 2021.
- Customers who booked up to and including 5 February 2021 retain the option to two free date changes and one free name change, where the flight is still scheduled to operate.
- The fare difference waiver previously applied for a new travel date up to and including March 31, 2021. This has been extended up to and including 31 May 2021 for all customers. Fare difference may apply from June 1, 2021 onwards.
- Where a flight is cancelled, customers can request a refund. Any customers who made their booking through a third party or travel agent should contact them directly to discuss their options.
- We continue to review our flight schedules regularly and monitor the COVID-19 situation closely. We will be in touch with any customers affected by a rescheduling or cancellation.
Virgin Holidays
- In line with continuing national lock-down restrictions, Virgin Holidays has reviewed its upcoming holiday schedule and extended cancellations from 14 February 2021 up to and including February 28, 2021.
Customers affected will be contacted in departure date order to confirm their cancellation and the options available to them, including a voucher redeemable up until September 30, 2021 (ATOL-protected until March 31, 2021), which they can use to rebook a holiday, departing any time before 30 April 2023. This can either be to the same destination or we can look at alternatives, as well as different times of the year.
- Virgin Holidays continues to review the upcoming holiday schedule regularly, extending cancellationson a rolling basis, in line with developing national lock down rules.