Children Under 2 - Seating Query

[Lisa1976]

Friends of ours may be coming with us in December and bringing their young daugther with them. When we travel she will be about 3 weeks shy of 2 years old so can still get her on as an infant, the only thing I was concerned about was seating as im sure they wouldn't want her on their laps constantly. Now I phoned Virgin who told me they have their own seat and a infant seat is supplied.

I just wanted to check with you guys with children what your experiences have been.

Lisa

 

[mushumadness]

we are taking a 23 month old in september, we have paid for her a seat as tcd didnt supply one for the under twos, she would have been on our laps.

I would double check

 

[Claire L]

From the VA website -

We're happy to have infants fly with us and can provide:


Skycots for babies aged up to 12 months.
Infant Care Chair for infants aged between 6 and 36 months.
Please call our Contact Centre for availability and booking

Please note:


Passengers who require use of an Infant Care Chair will have to purchase a seat at the applicable child fare
Some of our toilets are fitted with changing facilities, and although we do carry limited spare baby items such as bottles, we would advise you to bring your own.
Babies are not allowed to travel on the upper deck unless by prior arrangement.
There are no skycot positions in the Upper Class cabin on 747-400 aircraft operating to/from Gatwick or Manchester, and in the Premium Economy cabin on 747-400 aircraft operating to/from Heathrow.



So if they want the infant care chair they will have to pay for the seat at a childs price, otherwise its a case of having the infant on a lap.

Claire

 

[SimonY]

We took our 22 month old on Virgin and to save money he didn't have his own seat.

On the way out all was fine as he was awake most of the time and watched the films/drew and so on and took turns on different laps. Meal time was a bit of a pain, but the kids' meals were served early so it did work out.

On the way back it was a bit more difficult. He was given a 'sky cot' to sleep in which, if he curled up into a ball, he just fitted into. This worked for a couple of hours but he got uncomfortable - as I would have done in the same position. He then fell fast asleep on DW lap so she didn't get any sleep at all.

In hindsight I wished we'd bought him his own seat. If you can afford it then go for the separate seat.

 

[angel659]

Hi

We travelled with Virgin in October and took our 6yr old girl and 23 month old twin boys. They said on the phone they would supply us with an infant seat, but we never got an infant seat. The only time the boys were on our lap was for take off, landing any turbulence. Paying for the seats was the best thing we did. We would not of wanted our boys on our laps for 9 hrs. Its a pity we didnt get the infant seats, but it didnt cause us that many problems.

 

[Lisa1976]

Thanks for your replies, will pass this on.

 

[wils]

We asked for the childcare seat at booking and check-in and still had to ask as we boarded. It only took them a couple of minutes to install. DD loved it on the day flight out but couldn't settle in on overnight on the way back (actually she couldn't settle full stop even after we removed the seat!)

 

[Halo]

It depends who your friends are flying with. If you can book a basinette (travel cot) they could get away without an extra seat. If they cannot book a basinette they should book an extra seat - however if they are cost conscious and the flight is not likely to be full they might get an extra seat without paying for it if they are lucky.

BA offer basinette's up to age 2. Virgin Skycots are only for up to age 1.

The last time we went to Florida we flew on Continental tickets from LGW to Miami (which was Virgin flights operated on a code share). At check-in I requested our pre-booked basinette seats. There was some humming and hawing as our seats had been released to others, so the check-in guy said that we would have to be upgraded to PE instead (quelle disastrophe ) but then he noticed we were flying on Continental tickets rather than Virgin tickets. He told us that unfortunately Continental did not offer PE ...... so he upgraded us to business UC instead

Sadly coming back we were confined to economy but the trip out was great

The Moral is that sometimes its beneficial to book a basinette rather than a seat!

 

[LauraAnn630]

A long story short...

Our very well behaved one year old DS changed into a different child on the plane!! He screamed, kicked, cried and threw anything that was offered to him. Like his bottle, candy...ect...we were trying to get him to swallow to pop his ears. He was out of control!

Soooo glad we paid for a seat and brought the car seat!!! Especially during take off and landing.

 

[Obi Wan Kenobi]

We did have a bassinette when ours was 3 months old, not very useful as every time the seat belt warning came on, you had to remove him from this and strap him in to your seat belt.

Our experiances when he was two are not really relavent as at that time, Virgin had the old Upper Class seats, the large armchair versions. He was happy sitting between the two seats and only needed to be strapped in on T/o and landing to his mum.
As with every flight we have taken from the uSA, he generally falls asleep almost as soon as we have boarded, so he just slept in our arms all the way home.

Since he was two, he has had his own seat/bed and just sleeps in the bed all the way home. He was the first child to use the specially designed seat belt extension in teh new UCS, which works great.

 

[angel659]

Hi

We travelled with Virgin in October and took our 6yr old girl and 23 month old twin boys. They said on the phone they would supply us with an infant seat, but we never got an infant seat. The only time the boys were on our lap was for take off, landing any turbulence. Paying for the seats was the best thing we did. We would not of wanted our boys on our laps for 9 hrs. Its a pity we didnt get the infant seats, but it didnt cause us that many problems.

Hi, this is Michelle's husband Bruce.

Whilst my lovely wife says not having infant seats didnt cause us many problems, I for one would definately say they wouldve been a big help if we had them.

I had to deal with ( despite several offers from my wife to take over ) 2 wriggling toddlers for most of the flight and securing them in regular seats was difficult.

Definately get their own seats as the space is very usefull, but make sure that you get the toddler seats. If anything, just as a backup if things get a bit crazy.