Virgin Australia engages Deloitte to manage ticket refund program for 61,000 customers
Virgin Australia has engaged one of the nation’s biggest accountancy firms to manage a ticket refund program for 61,000 travellers after they found a system error dating back over five years.
The airline has admitted to the monumental glitch that overcharged customers wishing to make changes to their itinerary for a period extending over five years.
“We recently found that in some instances from 21 April 2020 to 31 March 2025, some bookings were repriced in a way that does not align with our policy and, we are refunding all impacted guests for that amount,” the airline said.
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By continuing you agree to our Terms and Privacy Policy.“This involves 61,000 guests and approximately 0.1 percent of all bookings made during this period, with an average refund per guest of $55 (including GST).
“We sincerely apologise to those affected guests and have launched an Itinerary Change Claim Program under which all eligible guests are being proactively contacted to process their refunds.
Virgin said they encourage their customers to make claims as soon as possible as the period for reimbursement eligibility will not last forever.
“We have appointed specialists in this area, Deloitte Australia, to accelerate the claims process for our guests, who will be able to make a claim for up to 12 months,” the Virgin Australia statement said.
“And, any amounts that guests elect not to claim will be donated to charity.
“A dedicated Virgin Australia team has also been working to fix the issue and we have undertaken a range of actions to prevent this from reoccurring in the future, so our guests can be confident when making changes to their bookings.”
The Australian Consumer and Competition Commission has been contacted about the error and will be monitoring the situation to ensure all consumers are afforded the opportunity to collect their refunds according to the airline.
.”We have 100 percent of impacted guests’ contact details and all eligible guests will receive communications from Virgin Australia and Deloitte outlining what they need to do to claim their refund”.
