And now for the dramatic conclusion of my Virgin vs. Delta episode and more importantly the travel advice from the lessons I learned.
Virgin unfortunately has no European codeshare partners that go to Athens. I tried to see if I could pull anything off with Singapore Airlines but no such luck. In the end I booked Easyjet and hope that I don’t miss the connection going from Heathrow to Gatwick. Seriously London, why do you have so many airports? I’m hoping Virgin reimburses me for my missed time in Poland and this flight. It remains to be seen if Wizz Air and Aegean will issue a refund based on weather. When I called neither centers had a supervisor on duty so they said nothing could be done.
Delta, Delta, Delta surprised the hell out of me. I explained the situation to them and somehow they agreed to add-on London to Paris and Paris to Athens. Initially they wanted $200 in taxes + 25,000 Skypesos. Instead, the flight that originates in Montana, connects in Minneapolis, goes through Detroit, heads to London, flies through Paris, and terminates in Athens all in business/first will cost the original $5.60.
I commend you Delta for being so accommodating in the wake of this foggy incident.
The lessons I learned are as follows:
- Booking directly with Virgin Atlantic should be avoided unless you are only going to London. In the event of a weather delay there won’t be any alternatives that you can add-on to your miles ticket.
- Delta really could be a great airline if they showed consistency in customer service.
- Booking points tickets results in greater flexibility than paying for the fare. As a result, I would hold off on the add-on tickets (LHR-WAW-ATH) until the very last-minute because plans always change and that’s probably money lost.
- I’m glad I didn’t book the bus from LHR to London’s Luton Airport as now I’m going to Gatwick. Again, as obvious as it sounds, anything that is paid for is always harder to change than when it’s free.
- Airlines do have the power to reconcile tickets. They’ll say no to just about everything but when it comes to weather the conditions of carriage allow for greater flexibility.
