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Virgin Traveller: Has it been closed?

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MKB

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I have tried several routes and dates for which Advance tickets are available, but I can find none offering Virgin Traveller tickets?

Has the scheme been closed down without notice or is something else afoot?

The new franchisee said they would be continuing the scheme, but, in any case, they don't take over until Sunday. All very strange.
 
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Steddenm

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Virgin Traveller is currently in hiatus with Virgin and Avanti will be restarting the scheme upon handover "at a later date" according to the internal blurb. Best thing would be to ask @virgintrains on Twitter.
 

All Line Rover

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...The new franchisee said they would be continuing the scheme...

Did they? Where?

An email sent by Virgin today said:

"...we’re sorry to say that Traveller will close on 7 December 2019...

Existing free weekend bookings for travel after 7 December 2019 will still be honoured so please keep hold of your Traveller membership card and keep it with you when you travel."​

But it is no longer possible to make new bookings beyond 7 Dec.
 

MKB

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Did they? Where?

https://www.westcoastpartnership.co.uk/contactus.html says:

Q. Will you continue with the Virgin Traveller scheme?

A. The Traveller scheme will continue, and we will be writing to the scheme’s members soon with more details.

The Traveller website at https://www.virgintrains.co.uk/experience/rewards/traveller is still telling people how to join!

Relevant terms and conditions of the scheme say:

3.Virgin Trains reserves the right at any time in its absolute discretion to refuse or revoke Membership of Traveller, provided where, in the case of revocation, it shall use its reasonable endeavours to give the Member of Traveller up to 14 days notice.

4.Virgin Trains reserves the right to terminate Traveller at any time and for any reason. In this event, it shall use its reasonable endeavours to give each member of Traveller at least 60 days notice.

8.Traveller, and its benefits and qualification requirements, may be amended at any time to comply with applicable laws or regulations and/or for any other reason upon Virgin Trains. In this event, it shall use it's reasonable endeavours to give each member of Traveller at least 60 days notice. Virgin Trains will not be liable for any loss or damage resulting there from. A Member of Traveller will be deemed to have accepted such change or variation if, after receiving written notice thereof, he/she keeps or uses his/her Membership Card. Notwithstanding this, Members of Traveller shall have the right to withdraw from Traveller within 14 days of receiving written notice of any proposed changes if they are not happy with any of the proposed changes.

17.Ongoing and Additional Benefits
Virgin Trains reserves the right to add additional benefits to Traveller, subject to their own Terms and Conditions when appropriate, those terms and conditions being obtained from its website. Virgin Trains also reserves the right to withdraw a benefit when necessary and will attempt to offer an alternative benefit of equal or lesser value whenever possible, however it is under no obligation to do so. Notwithstanding this, Virgin Trains shall at all times use its reasonable endeavours to notify Members of Traveller in writing of any alterations and Members of Traveller shall have the right to withdraw from Traveller within 14 days of receiving written notice of any proposed changes if they are not happy with any of the proposed changes.

23.Failure or delay by Virgin Trains in enforcing or partially enforcing any provision of these Terms & Conditions will not be construed as a waiver of any of its rights under these Terms & Conditions.

25.These Terms & Conditions will be binding upon and endure for the benefit of the successors in title of the parties.

Unless Virgin received written confirmation from the new franchisee that they were persisting with the benefits, Virgin have not used reasonable endeavours to give members the required notice.

The email received at 14:27 today from Traveller says:

All your Traveller benefits can still be used until midnight on 7 December 2019.

That's not true, as the benefit of booking free tickets for travel after tomorrow has been removed without notice. Their Twitter team are under the impression I should still be able to book.

It didn't seem unreasonable to me, given that no closure notice had been given, to expect to have been able to book tickets last night before the end of the franchise. They were taking bookings last week right up to the end of the booking window.
 

All Line Rover

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The Virgin Trains trainline-powered booking engine is now down, for both regular bookings and Traveller bookings. Not great for those passengers who need to cancel or amend existing bookings!

However, Avanti is indeed continuing with Traveller:

https://www.avantiwestcoast.co.uk/offers/rewards/traveller-members-club

"We'll be continuing the programme as Avanti Traveller. So keep an eye on your in-box. We'll be emailing you to invite you to register for Avanti Traveller and then we can pop your new membership pack in the post to you.

If you already have a Traveller journey booked, you can travel as normal. We'll be honouring all Virgin Trains Traveller bookings."​

So, +1 for Avanti so far. Nectar and the Family Ticket offer also remain. Perhaps not surprising when Virgin's management team remain?

Avanti's booking engine is trainline-powered, although the facility for booking Traveller tickets online doesn't appear to be ready yet.
 
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MKB

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Really odd behaviour from Virgin, closing the programme without giving the notice period required by its own t&c's, only for Avanti to re-instigate it 48 hours later. This, even though condition 25, that I quoted above, already allowed for the programme to be transferred to a title successor.

Another data point: I am in the Euston lounge now and, in the absence of instructions to the contrary, Traveller benefits are being honoured. Staff, on board and in the lounge, being very nice, as is normal. No-one slipped up and said "Virgin" by mistake.
 

_toommm_

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Just seen this exchange on the Twittersphere:

Avanti West Coast:
Don’t worry. Any ticket you booked with @VirginTrains for upcoming journeys is still valid with us, subject to the terms and conditions you purchased it under. https://t.co/d0kT2SyQ3t

Twitterer:
What about Traveller cards? Will they remain valid?

Avanti West Coast:
Yes, the scheme is continuing as Avanti Traveller. All existing members will be contacted by email to be asked their consent to remain part of the scheme and to re-register to receive their new membership packs. ^CC

Screenshot_20191208-184719_Twitter.jpg
 
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