Virgin Australia Airlines
Reviews and Complaints

Friday 9th September 2022 @ approximately 5pm. I booked, on-line, a return flight from Brisbane to Hamilton Island, departure 27th December 2022, return 3 January 2022. The cost was $1014.00 and $9.53 booking fee paid for by credit card. On submitting payment for flights, I was informed not to leave the page until confirmation was finalised. After 10 minutes or so of waiting, the page became blank with only the Virgin Australia logo visible and "Log In". After many unsuccessful attempts to retrieve this page. I went on-line to check my bank account and the money had already been withdrawn by Virgin Australia VA.

Merchant - [protected]. Receipt - 580450. Auth - 200521. Acquired - 490946.

Total payment of $1023.53.

Needless to say, I am still awaiting confirmation of booking?

Can someone please advise me of what I can do to make this right.

Many thanks.

Jeddah Taorei

I have just been on the phone to 7 of your customer services representative's trying to get my money back for flights I booked two years ago for April 2020. I had originally booked the flights after a long time saving for them (we are a one income family of 6.) We were to be scattering my mother in laws ashes, with my family and in laws and my children were to meet their Aunty and cousins and also attending my Grandfathers 90th Birthday Celebration. All which have been and gone and my daughter has still not met her family. My Grandfather is now 92 and in poor health, which is why I require to fly to Australia ASAP. You have no flights available until November according to the customer service team and by that time it could be well too late for my Grandfather to meet his great grandchild before he dies. Your company has over $3000 of my family's hard earned money in which I would never be able to save for again in time to see my Grandfather. These flights were also booked to time in with my sons birthday which he is still disappointed about. I need to be refunded the money to be able to fly with a different airline to book flights as soon as possible. You need to transfer the money out of the travel bank and back into my account.

On the 22/10/2019 I made a booking , through AGODA, for a holiday to Vanuatu flying with Virgin Airlines. The departure dates for this trip was 04/05/2020 flight 309 ex Mel and flight 59 ex BNE with return being 11/05/2020 ex VLI flight 58 and ex BNE flight 352 11/05/2020. Subsequently, due to the ban on overseas flights due to COVID, this holiday and flights had to be cancelled. As such , I was, after many emails back and forward (some 30 -40), I was given a credit for future travel which I believe expires shortly. I paid AUD $1373.00 for these tickets and have no guarantee of ever being able to fly to my desired destination of Vanuatu , as Virgin are not flying to this destination. As I am approaching 70 years of age , with some minor health issues beginning to come to the fore, I would like Virgin to actually refund the amount as I am not sure if my health will allow me to travel, especially given that you no longer fly to the destination of my choice. Virgin have had the use of my money for over 2 years and I feel that it is incumbent on your Company to agree to REFUND the fares.

I book a virgin Australia flight through mytrip on 14th Feb, as attached file, with maximum 6 hours stop change.16th of Feb 2022, they changed the flight schedule and I needed to spend one night, the stop change time increased to 20 hours and 55 minutes. This trip was for my medical assessment.

I requested to cancel it but they didn't agree. If I wanted to pay extra $170, I could get better deal from Qantas.

Regards,

Nadia

Evening, I have been a member with Virgin Australia for around 20years and I’m currently Platinum. I flew in from Mackay to Brisbane and went to the lounge and was refused entry as the lady at the front desk stated to me it was a departure lounge only . I replied I have been a gold member for over 10 years and I fly weekly to and from Mackay for work . And my lift was not arriving until another 1 and a half hours so I was going to complete some work in the lounge. She stated I should never be allowed in unless I’m departing on a flight . This has left a sour taste in my mouth as I have been a loyal virgin member for many years . I look forward to your reply

Regards Chad Drew

I have just had two domestic flights to Adelaide from melbourne, and whilst all aspects of the flight were great, the Covid safety monitoring was less than satisfactory

Firstly I stupidly thought that we would need vaccination proof. My mistake but really...? How can an airline claim passenger safety is their first priority when they allow non-vaccinated people on their planes?

Then at the Melbourne terminal quite a few of the ground staff had masks which did not cover their noses. (March 5th at 8:10)

Then on our flight home (March 7th at 3:45) our seats were surrounded by people who had masks under their noses, or no masks at all. Very stressful. When I complained to the flight attendants they said they could not enforce it. However on the safety announcements as we left Adelaide they told us that masks were mandatory and that they must be worn over noses. The announcement said that staff would be reminding passengers of this requirement during the flight - they did not. So is the announcement untrue, or are the staff too pathetic and weak to ask passengers to wear their masks correctly in the interests of other passengers?

We're flying to Sydney in a few weeks and we're booking Qantas.

Good afternoon,
I am following the conversation exchanged between my aunt Ida Piovesan and one of your supervisor Helen (461436) to ask please:
1- extend my travel credit until the 31/10/2022;

2- to cancel the flight of my aunt Ida Piovesan and her partner Chris Adams, booking HGWYHR, as the WA border are not open;

3- to rebook the flight for my aunt Ida Piovesan and Chris Adams for the 21/10/2022 - Perth - Sydney.

All the above as consequence of the disruption of the trip organised by my aunt to Western Australia, for the third time, as the train Indian Pacific did not run because of the border closure.
I hope you really help me to reach the outcome and finally my aunt can go to Western Australia next year.

Thank you very much.

Luca Piovesan [protected]@lucapiovesan.it +[protected]

Ida Piovesan [protected]@hotmail.com [protected]

I received a text at 11:38 a.m. that VA 1421 2:40p.m. to Cairns was cancelled. This didnt give me sufficent time to make any alternative arrangements as my taxi was almost at the airport. The reason given was staff shortage. I would like to understand what this means. I approached the Virgin Lounge to see if I could wait there as the next flight was not until after 5:00p.m. which was to Brisbane but despite their understanding/empathy for my situation they had could not allow me to enter. (I was previously a silver velocity member - now basic due to COVID). I had to wait around for over 5 hours in Sydney only to then fly to Brisbane where I had to wait another 3 hours during which time several flights departed for Cairns. It would have be ideal to have been on the one taking off not long after I landed. I got home close to mid-night and missed out on a planned family get together and am very tired for work today.
Fellow passengers also complained of the short notice.
I would have stayed on in Sydney which was an option had I had longer notice of the situation. Joanna

I'm taking VA252 flight from Canberra to Melbourne, and two staffs from virgin was very rude and arrogant to me. One named Mayuka, who even refused to touch my passport, and was clearly not trained well to handle my case as she went out several times asking her supervisors and asked me to wait all the time even I clearly stated my simple case (I booked a flight with an extra luggage, but that flight was cancelled and the extra luggage didn't come with the new flight). I have two checkin luggages of 23kg, and one luggage exceeded 1kg while the other was just 11kg. Mayuka rudely refused to allow checkin even I explained my situation.
I then asked her to ask the supervisor. Her supervisor, Adelaide, was even more rude as she straight came and recite the luggage policy without even say hello.

We are very upset with Virgin. I wanted to Fly Jetstar, but my partner insisted we fly Virgin. We have now had our flights changed twice, and the second change means we are forced to stay in Sydney overnight! I rang Virgin and asked that a note be put on our flights that we get the first opportunity to get to Ballina/Bryon in one day. However it does appear that we have to keep checking flights and then ring Virgin (and wait an hour on hold) to get the flight changed. My partner will no longer be booking with Virgin in future flights. My sister was also a Virgin fan, and she was shocked when I told her our issue. I understand these are difficult times. But we booked ahead, over a month in advance. I know it is Easter, but we are not travelling for a holiday, but, rather personal and family issues. Alternative flights were suggested but at 6.30 am from Launceston, and we are over an hour from there, and both over 65. Another alternative meant we had to get from the Gold Coast to Byron, at extra expense of a bus, and there are no buses at the time anyway. WE'd have to wait another four hours in the airport for one. I am hoping Virgin will have flight openings to get us from Launceston to Ballina in one day on March 31 2021.

Hi and to whom it may concern

I would like to complain about my experience with my Check in on Hamilton island at the check in
With Alina flight VA-1282 09.01.21

Alina at check in when weighing our bags
Explain that each bag can't exceed 23kg and we had 4 bags
One bag was over 23kg and I asked if we could combine the bags which her response was no we couldn't we had a Conversation over and back about this which I was disputing this which I asks for the manager because this is not on my ticket and couldn't find it in the website and she told me it was on my ticket which it wasn't

And my understanding was that she wanted to charge me for the 5kg but two of my check in bags were 10kg under
This frustrated me so I told her I wanted to paid the extra money and put my bags on the conveyor with a little frustrating at the time as I thought this was unfair

At this point Alina started screaming at me telling me she is not dealing with me anymore and Procedures pushing my luggage off the Conveyor and the luggage hitting my leg

This is a matter I will be looking for legal advice
And the camera footage of this crime of assault which Alina hitting me with my luggage when pushing and screaming at me

This is not acceptable a customer shouldn't be treated in this way and not acceptable
I want to take this further and want to know how Alina will be dealt with and emailed the discipline action virgin airline is going to take
I will be getting legal advice on this matter
I've file a complaint with the Hamilton island police

Lucy ended up checking us in and was very professional and checked us in and we paid the money for our extra luggage kg and we did have a Conversation about what happened I asked lucy where can I find this policy which I can't combine luggage and she responded it on your tickets and I showed my tickets to her which she couldn't find and told me it's on the website which I still can't find

Please advise me on what is going to be done
People that work for virgin shouldn't conduct themselves in this way

I will be waiting for a response

Kind regards

I booked and paid for return flights to the US for 6 people several months ago departing the 2nd Sept, however, with the current world health problem It was obvious this trip was either not going to happen or there would be so many restrictions on our holiday it would not be viable, all in all a lot of uncertainty. The booking number was UCKGOB. I have contacted Virgin on [protected] several times over the last week to see about cancelling the trip, I was given different information on each call IE: I couldn't change the flights unless i paid an extra $200 Per person I couldn't cancel the flights unless i paid a fee of $400 Per person which then changed to I could put the flights into credit as long as I rebooked within 12 months. After the new measures that were introduced by the Govt last night IE: Borders closing - restrictions on venues sighted to last around 6Mths I rang Virgin again this morning to see about cancelling the flights and after some haggling and discussion i was told it would cost me $200 per person to cancel which I ended up doing. In the current situation I find this to be totally a rort! Virgin have not provided me with any service to the value of $1200 which this has cost me, and it took the person on the phone less than mins to arrange the cancellation and refund of the balance of what I had already paid so there is minimal labor cost there. I have been a Virgin traveler for many years domestically for work and recreation I have also chosen Virgin as my preferred airline for overseas / business class trips, I will be thinking carefully who I use in the future.

Regards
Barry McCarthy email barry.[protected]@bigpond.com

My friend and her children booked a flight to see me just prior to the corona virus outbreak.
I am currently under treatment for issues with my immune system

Now the virus is reported to be bad in sydney and doctors are telling us to not travel by plane or be around airports at this time my friend wanted to change her flights to open for the year and wait until we got the all clear as she is not willing to risk her two young ones or me with the virus at the moment.

Flight centre said she couldnt do it they said it would cost her 400 to change the booking, she is a single mum as I am and does not have this money.

I am going to take this to the ombudsman if we do not get something done as she cannot come to my house now and has no where else to go and limited funds.

I feel strongly that with the current situation with the corona virus that your airline would be obliged to change this rather than put us in danger. That would make one huge law suit if we were to contract it after expressing our concerns.

For the record, my brother caught a flight from sydney to darwin and is now in quarantine as someone on the flight tested positive, so it is in the airport and on the planes.

I would appreciate your attention asap as we will take this further.

Regards
Deb Norman

I would like to advise of my disappointment to the help.
There was one passenger seated in 1D when I boarded and she had a beverage.
I sat down and watched the remaining 6 business class passengers receive assistance with their baggage and they were all immediately offered a beverage.
I was seated in 1F on a flight from Melbourne to Sydney.
I was not offered anything to drink and had to ask if I could please have a sparkling water, to which I was rudely told no, not until the passenger beside me had boarded. This brought me to tears and I went to the bathroom as I was quite upset.
The passenger to my left boarded just before takeoff and she was offered a beverage immediately.
I left my seat to attend the bathroom again as soon as the seatbelt light was off, and was not asked what I would like to eat.
A little while later I was given a meal which I didn't eat, as it was pastry. I noticed the people across the aisle had a meal different to what I had been given, so there was an obvious choice, which I had not been offered.
Due to being told "no" earlier to my asking for a water, I was left feeling vulnerable, therefore did nothing to complain. I am not someone who likes to fuss.
I have since spoken about the experience to family and was advised to make a complaint.
I'm very upset and disappointed at the service and treatment I was given aboard this flight and would appreciate someone contacting me to follow this up please.

I wish to lodge a complaint re change of flights from Darwin Australia to Melbourne Australia.. we fly to Darwin regularly as we have children and grandchildren. Living in Darwin.. Virgin Australia now are only offering flights back to Melbourne at most ridiculous times at am times mom- Friday arriving in Melbourne at 5.30 am.. what happened to the 6.30 pm flight from Darwin.. I do hope this is not a perm change.. as I said we are regular flyers to Darwin and find this very early am flight very distressing. Regards Suzanne cox

Saturday afternoon (18th Jan.) at just after half past one, we (my wheelchair bound wife, my daughter and myself) checked in at T3, with the help of a male Virgin staff member.
We were purposefully early ( for flight VA 0853, due to leave for Sydney at 3pm).
When we arrived, the staff member offered to help print and tag the bags and the wheelchair.
Nobody had previously informed me that the wheelchair was going into the baggage hold, and it only got worse from there.
(*Please note, I booked our tickets through Flight Centre, Maroubra (Sydney).
Neither the staff member from Flight Centre, or the staff on the other end of the phone from Virgin, said anything about my wife's wheelchair being tagged.
The only thing the Virgin staff member asked over the phone to the Flight Centre staff member, who relayed the question to me, whilst she was in the middle of booking our holiday itinerary, was;
"Is the wheelchair manual, or electric?"
To which I replied,
"Electric."

That was it. That was back in November, when, with the help of the Flight Centre staff member, I booked the holiday.
This is a crucial part of the story, to which I'll elude later.*)

After the Virgin staff member checked us in, we slowly made our way through to Gate 8 as requested. We were the first customers there.
Another Virgin staff member, sitting in front of the computer, taking people's boarding passes, looked concerned.
She spoke with another staff member.
Both women seemed concerned.
The first woman approached us and said that the wrong tag had been put on.
She told us that they needed the weight of the wheelchair and the battery type. The details of the battery.
As previously mentioned, nobody had asked us of this before, but I could say that the wheelchair weighs 130 kg's. It's on the manufacturer's website.

Well, we were allowed to board the 3pm flight with everyone else.
We were somewhere in the middle, row 11 from memory.
This might seem trivial, except that at about 3.10, and roughly ten minutes after that, we were approached by the first, and then the second women staff members we'd met at Gate 8, expressing their concern, that the ground crew staff couldn't find the information they needed on the wheelchair's battery, and were uncomfortable about letting the plane go.
Both times, and I don't exaggerate, the women staff members were upset that we did not supply the necessary information regarding the wheelchair prior to boarding the plane.
On both occasions, I pointed out that we'd booked through a travel agency (in conjunction with your airline) and that we didn't know that we had to offer this information.
Please keep in mind that we were in a public place, when these conversations were taking place, regardless of the details.
It was terribly uncomfortable.

The captain relayed a couple of messages to the entire occupants of the plane, nearly forty five minutes passed, and the initial staff member from Gate 8 returned to tell us that we were being removed from the flight.
It was both humiliating, and saddening as the husband of a profoundly disabled woman, to have to be removed from the plane, as if we'd caused some sort of trouble.
Why did they put us on the plane at all..
Why were we allowed to check in at T3..
Why didn't the Virgin staff member run through these details with the Flight Centre staff member back in November..

Anyway,
I was sitting next to my wife, who was in tears, back at Gate 8.
The only message, from the only staff member-the initial woman behind the computer at Gate 8-to talk with us, was that she had Googled the wheelchair battery's details herself, and that my wife's battery could have been one of four. They needed to know the one she had in her wheelchair.

To be specific, this woman jockeyed between being annoyed, and apologising for the inconvenience.

But nothing was being done. We could have sat there for hours. Honestly.
I made a couple of calls, as did the ground crew staff themselves, to wheelchair providers, but it was Saturday afternoon (after 4pm by this time) and nobody was answering.
So I asked the woman where our bags and wheelchair were, and she directed me to Excess Baggage.
So, with the borrowed Virgin wheelchair, we went down a floor to Excess Baggage.

At Excess Baggage, we met another staff member in some type of supervisory role, who also explained about the difficulty of putting the wheelchair on board, if they didn't know the details of the battery.
(*For the record, we had no problem with this issue with the battery being checked. If only we'd known about this detail several months ago, I would have happily brought the required paperwork. I would have brought more than the required paperwork, to make everyone happy.*)

Now, at this stage, the (third lady) supervisor told us that they were considering giving us a refund of the purchase of our tickets, if the matter of the battery couldn't be resolved.
We were already distressed and exhausted, and now we had the added issue to consider, that Virgin may wash their hands of us.
I'm in a strange place, with my wheelchair bound wife, and my 21 year old daughter, and I'm given the warning that Virgin was considering dumping us..I'm not over dramatising this. I was exhausted, and now confused, and considering my next move.

Thankfully, around this time, a ground crew staff (-if I wasn't in a state of exhaustion and confusion, I would have taken down names-) member appeared, and after a brief discussion, he and my daughter worked out, through the aid of a Youtube video, how to dismantle my wife's wheelchair, to get to the battery pack.
If not for the kindness of this man, who did manage to find the battery pack, and relay the details to the other staff, my family and I would have been back at the taxi stand (-would we have been? I don't know. I only know what the supervisor told me, of being let go with our money back.)

In the end, we were put on the next flight, the 6pm flight, back to Sydney.
At about 7.30pm, we arrived, and I was presented with my wife's disassembled wheelchair.
Tired and disappointed, but at least back in Sydney, my daughter and I proceeded to reassemble the wheelchair.

There are a number of issues that I've tried to raise here, that I believe need to be addressed. I hope you can understand how distressing this was.

It's been over a decade since I first read of the (para olympian) Kurt Fearnley incident, and I would have hoped that the airline staff were better prepared by 2020.

For the record, I have since been told by someone who works for a disabled advocacy agency, that all modern electric wheelchair batteries are safe for travel on aeroplanes.
If it helps, I'm happy to give you their number.

On top of the rest of this story, I wondered why there is no website or phone number within, or outside, the airline that the staff could have referred to..
They can't all be wheelchair experts.

The Flight Centre staff recommended Virgin, as it apparently has a good reputation for flying with wheelchair bound customers.

I don't want to appear intimidating, but Virgin was lucky this time, that this incident did not happen to anyone of notoriety, like Kurt Fearnley, who draws public attention. This is a bad look for Virgin.

In conclusion, what's happened has happened, it's now over, but watching my wife go through this traumatic situation was greatly disturbing, and I would not wish it on anyone.
Virgin, your staff should have a reference manual, or a staff member to call on in such situations..Someone who takes charge of the situation.

In the end, it was the generous spirit of a ground crew member, that got us back to Sydney on Saturday night, and you...and he...and us, the paying customers, should not have to be reliant on him to get us on a plane with a wheelchair, from Point A to Point B.

Sincerely;
Jason Ayres
(Booking number BGBBDD)

reservation number GBCLKL - Velocity Number [protected]
paid $ 429.99 on 21.08.19 return trip melbbourne rockhampton - rockhampton melbouirne
paid $101.01 on 11.12.19 to change flight
paid $753.99 on 20.12.19 to change flight - this SHOULD HAVE BEEN $90.00

I also changed a flight with reservation number MQTAQH for the same day for which I was not charged $753.99

Please bear in mind that I am 74 years old and on a pension.

Whilst speaking to JR in customer service I realised that your website does not give sufficient information. I clicked on a ticket priced at $235 and then from this I am debited $753.99, there is a huge disparity of information to reality in this situation, it can be seen as a fraud or bait and switch, I only ever wanted or could afford to pay $235.

I have used your airline exclusively for some years and never envisaged a problem like this.

Please check on the progress of reservation No: MQTAQH. This was also booked and changed by me and, there are no discrepancies.

Regards
Theonie Virginia Rodie
61 [protected]

I

I boarded flight VA 1184 from Port Macquarie to Sydney on 29/12/19. When I got to my hotel room in Sydney I noticed that the base of my bag near the castor wheel was extremely damaged. The bag is no longer waterproof or structurally sound.
Can someone please call me to discuss this issue today on [removed] as I am boarding a cruise ship at 1600hrs and will be unavailable via phone until 08/01/20. Alternatively I can be contacted via email at [protected]@me.com

While searching for a website to book a flight from Melbourne to Sydney on Virgin Australia, I found a 1-800 number and called it. Much to my surprise, later, I found I was booked on Jetstar. So, this travel agency pretended to be Virgin, overcharged me for my flights, and now there is no response when calling their number. I conclude they have packed up and ran off, ending their scam.
The number was 1-800-725-6450. I did receive booking confirmation but felt I was overcharged for flights, seats, and baggage charges. Their operating name was FlightBizz.com. Also the billing was done through Worldfares LLC. I don't want to cancel my itinerary because I may never recover my funds if I do so.
But, I just want you to know that someone was misrepresenting themselves as Virgin Australia.

My wife and I purchased tickets to Australia for our 25th wedding anniversary. We departed on 15 November 2019 without any problems. Our return flight was delayed more than 5 hours leaving Melbourne on 26 November 2019. Upon our late arrival in Los Angeles, we were rebooked on a different Delta flight 1901. Our seats were changed from 16K and 16F to 38D and 38E. This was a very disappointing way to end our special occasion since we paid for premium seats and received coach. As a retired, disabled, military Veteran, I expected more from such a reputable company. My travel agent filed a complaint on our behalf a week ago upon our return and we have not heard from Virgin Australia yet. I respectfully request a refund for the difference between what we paid for and what we actually received. I truly hope that my concerns can be resolved satisfactorily and expeditiously! Thank you.

V/r

Michael A. Broderick