Very confused

[shellbell]

Our trips getting very close now so i am trying to get the last few things sorted I have been on the phone to Virgin about my DD luggage allowance, We are taking a light weight stroller and we were going to take a car seat. Virgin have now informed me that Lucy is entitled to 2 x 32 kg pieces. They said that her pram would account for one piece and her cars seat would be counted as her second So she where are all her clothes going

I have been led to believe in the past by Virgin that her pram went on free and not part of any baggage allowance I emailed them about the car seat and this is the reply:
Dear Michelle,
Thank you for your email, sorry for the delayed response.

The checked baggage allowance for each passenger travelling in Economy and Premium Economy is as follows:

A maximum of 2 pieces of baggage at 32kgs each piece.
The total dimensions of each piece (height x width x depth) must not exceed 62 inches.

Children are entitled to the same baggage allowance as adults. This means that the car seat and buggy would be classed as your daughters two pieces of baggage allowance to be checked in.

Has anyone travelled with Virgin recently with young children?

I am going to tka e her pram and her case and have to buy a seat out there and leave it ther at the end of the trip


Sorry for going on But it a bit confusing being told two diffent things from the same company.

Michelle

 

[gilld]

Shellbell,

Since you all have the 2 pieces of baggage can't DD clothing fit in your luggage, 64 kgs each is a HUGE amount. Then you can take both buggy/pram and car seat. We've never actually gone above one piece at 32kgs. I'm sure it will be enough for you.

Gill

 

[UKDEB]

Yes, I agree with Gill. We used to use the large hard cases and, although we invariably had 'heavy' stickers put on them, I think the heaviest we ever managed was 27kg.

When we went in July there were 5 of us, all adults (me, dh, our two teenage dds and elder dd's boyfriend) and we only had 4 small-medium sized cases between us. Between the 3 of you, you can take 6 items of checked luggage. Even including the car seat and stroller that is plenty, isn't it?

 

[DisneyBB]

We take the large tote bags with wheels. These wiegh about 5kg each and we take 3 of them. Since there is 4 of us, then we are entitled to 8 pieces of luggage. So the car seat, pram and bags add up to 5. I always pack everyones clothes mixed up because if one bag goes missing everyone has something to wear. You should be fine and remember you use far less clothes than you think and if you run out then it is cheap to buy more

 

[feistyblue]

I think confusion has arisen within the Virgin company itself due to a change in rules. According to the Virgin Frequent Flyer club site, no baggage handler/member of staff at Heathrow can pick up a piece of luggage weighing more than 32kg. But that is Heathrow only!

The facts are that buggys/prams and car seats are all carried free of charge and not included in baggage allowance:

Here are the rules taken from Virgin Atlantics website stating that:

<<"Premium Economy & Economy

Wheelchairs, crutches, baby buggies and items necessary for baby care during the flight will be carried free over and above the baggage allowance. Baby buggies, carrying baskets and wheelchairs will normally be carried in the hold.>>"

Car seats count as items necessary and are included in this section:

<<"This is over and above the buggy or bassinet or car seat, which are carried free of charge">>

I took a 3 wheeler last December on Virgin with no problems.

It is actually an IATA regulation that ALL airlines must carry buggys/prams/car seats free of charge.

Hope that clarifies the situation for you

Claire

 

[Shropshire Saint]

Thanks feistyblue. We go in 5 weeks with my dd's X2 aged 2 & 3 & will be taking both 2 small pushchairs & car seats. I have printed off your post & will be ready to quote it if Virgin give us any grief at check-in.
Thanks again

 

[feistyblue]

You're welcome.

Here is the link to the relevant page on Virgin Atlantic's website - you may be better off printing this off than my post.

http://www.virgin-atlantic.com/en/gb/passengerinformation/baggage/allowances.jsp



Hope that helps anyone who needs confirmation of the info re car seats/prams/buggies.

Claire

 

[angel659]

Hi


Thats strange.

Admittedly we have never used Virgin, but other tour companies do not class the pram as a piece of luggage. This doesnt effect any of the weight issues.

If you can try speaking to them again and say what you have been told and get them to check it with a manager.

Sometimes people can be wrong, then again I have never flown with Virgin.

If you have booked it with a Travel Agents get them to sort it out.

Sorry but I have forgotten why you are taking a car seat. Is it for the plance? or car or both? When you hire cars you get a car seat for a rental price and sometimes you can get in an all inc package.

Hope this helps

Regards
Michelle

 

[disneyholic family]

i agree with everyone else Michelle....why can't her clothes go into your suitcase?
how long are you going for?
we went to the states for 6 weeks two years ago and still only needed two large suitcases for the 4 of us....of course, i took a bunch of empty duffels all stuffed inside each other so that we could shop till we dropped (and we did....and we left the states with 8 fully loaded suitcases....)

this summer, we went only for 18 days, so we took much less....
DH and I used only a medium size suitcase between us....as did DD and DS.....the only reason we had a third suitcase was to carry the presents we were taking with us to america and the empty duffels just in case we bought anything in WDW (right...just in case...hah...)..

you really don't need to bring that much....you can wash things when you're there....we were in WDW for one week, then went on a cruise....the first thing i did on the ship was 3 loads of laundry....and i met about 10 really nice people doing the same thing (actually, most of them were ironing....including about 5 men....boy was i impressed!!!)

 

[Mpet]

Hi

Don't know about the pram/car seat - it's been many years since I've been there and done that!

With regard to luggage, we only take 2 large suitcases - for 4 of us 2 adults and 2 teens. I always mix the clothes up just in case a case goes missing so we've all got something to wear. Even with 2 cases, I usually find I take far more than I need as I always do laundry - even when were in a hotel. It's also a lot easier to manage 2 cases (carrying etc).

Another problem with a lot of cases is you need to make sure you have a car big enough to fit them in. It's OK if you have a people carrier or similar, but even with the generous boot space in US cars, it can still be a squeeze.

Maxine

 

[Miffy2003]

Originally posted by angel659
Admittedly we have never used Virgin, but other tour companies do not class the pram as a piece of luggage. This doesnt effect any of the weight issues.

My guess would be that it could be the sheer difference in weight allowance between Virgin and other airlines. For Virgin, the allowance is 2 x 32kg = 64kg per person, but a lot of airlines allow 20-25kg per person (unless you pay a supplement). I guess they would argue that 64kg should be plenty even with the carseat etc.

Just FYI Michelle, I promise you will never in a month of Sundays need more weight allowance than Virgin give you, even if you have to put DD's clothes in with your allowance. Last time we went we could hardly carry the cases they were so heavy yet we had used well under half the allowance!

 

[lucy_love_]

hi

i have been practice packing (sad i know). i have two dd's and they have one case between them. it weighed (on our home scales so not hugely accurate but round about) 10kg with nearly all their stuff in it. im taking loads for them. eg. outfit for everyday plus spares plus towels plus accessories.

hope this helps.

does anyone know what BA's baggage limit is as we are flying to gatwick from newcastle with them before taking up our VA flight. it did say on the tickets one bag per person but i doubt we will have 4 bags even though there are 4 of us. im also taking an empty barrel bag for gifts.

love

lucy

 

[feistyblue]

Hi Lucy

I found this on BA's web site:


UK Domestic
"Adults and children aged 2 and over One piece with total dimensions of 158cm (62ins) (length+height+width) and a maximum weight of 32kg (70lbs) "

The link for the page giving the information is

http://www.britishairways.com/travel/bagchk/public/en_gb

You can also take car seats and strollers on BA UK Domestic flights for free as well. I've done this between Heathrow and Glasgow and Heathrow and Manchester and Bristol to Newcastle several times myself.

Hope that helps

Claire

 

[lucy_love_]

thanks claire

thats great.

just one more q. how does the car seat have to be packaged on a BA flight?

love

lucy

 

[feistyblue]

To be honest I've never packaged the car seats in all the 7 years I've been using them for ds! When he was in a harness seat, the check in peeps just attached the baggage label around one of the harness straps, and since he has been in his high backe booster (Britax Super Cruise) they stick it through a loop it has by the head rest. No airline has ever asked me to package it up.

Security take special note of car seats as its "easy" for dubious types to hide stuff in them. Because of this, the first time I flew with a car seat when ds was 4 months, I phoned and asked BA what to with it and they said they prefer it un-packaged for security reasons. I've never bothered checking since!

As you take the car seats round to over sized baggage they aren't lumped in with the other bags either, so are treated carefully.

I've never had a car seat damaged either.

If you want to package it in some way I'm sure that won't be a problem though. You can buy clear rubble sacks from various places - one of those might be a good idea if you feel you want to package it.

Claire

 

[slinky101]

hi there, some info on cases but not specific to any particular airline!! on trip from bristol to tunisia may 04 there were notices saying it's a union/airlines agreement that one baggage handler should lift NO MORE than 25kg and two men jointly should not exceed 32 kg. this is why any case over 25kg is marked heavy so two men handle it, not 1 on his own! i'm not small and do heavy lifting all day as a job and we packed for 4 -2 dd's aged 6 & 8- in two cases weighing 27 and 29 kg and i struggled with them. i think you'll need to be paul daniels to get 32 kilos in a normal case----- on car seats---we took only the booster part and decided to leave it there as hire costs were approx $7 a day. so if you're taking something easy to replace, leaving it is a good option. alternatively Wal-Mart do everything cheaper than the UK price so if you check them out you may be able to buy the same as u use here when u get there. Just a few ideas, hope it's of some use.

 

[shellbell]

Of course her clothes could fit into our cases but the thing i am trying to find out and understand is why i have been told by several people at Virgin that her pram goes on free and then get an email saying that all her baggage allowance will be taken up by necessary items when i have already been told that they wouldn't I just wandered if anyone had flown with them recently with young children. If they had did they pram go on free I think i will give them another ring and find out

We have also got her very own case and if she couldn't take it (too pull along) she would be heart broken DH has said that we will get a car seat out there now to save any hassle.

Thanks for all your comments and help

Michelle

 

[MizzPrincezz]

Shellbell

I have been on the phone to the two airlines I am using for my trip BA & Thomas Cook they BOTH said that they do NOT include car seat or buggies/prams towards a luggage allowance they are necessary essential items for your child they will not include them in your daughters or your baggage allowance. I have flown with Virgin before with a pram and theys definitely didn't include it in my allowance.

Sometimes the customer service just isnt up to standards these days giving inaccurate information to their customers.
almost like the left hand doesn't know what the right hand is doing???

Just give them another call and ask to speak to soneone in authority or at least someone who knows the facts.

Karon

 

[feistyblue]

I would save your phone bill to be honest and just turn up at the airport with the buggy. I took a large 3 wheeler on Virgin in December with no problems and DS's god parents have been flying Virgin to Florida for the last 14 years, 11 of those with children and they have always taken car seats and prams etc with them with no problems.

If you are still worried print out the information from Virgin's website (I posted the link) and if anyone says anything you can show it to them. The thing is, the legal people and the MD will have checked all the website info before it went live - it is actually a new website for Virgin - only went live the other day, so you can be guaranteed that it is accurate.

As Karon said, its essential equipment and ALL airlines are required to carry it for free. I'm taking a car seat with me on an easyJet flight to Belfast in 3 weeks and I'm not even thinking twice about it.

Also, a few years ago, airlines were letting people take car seats onto planes for use in the seats there. I know they've stopped it now but that was due to too many people not reading the regulations with regard to the size and width of the car seats, so it became a safety concern.

 

[shellbell]

I have now phone Virgin atlnatic again... and have spoken to a supervisor who has said that as the pram and car seat are both classed as necessary items we could if we wanted to take both of them and her 2 x pieces of luggage. The girl i first spoke to said different so i pointed out what it said in the info on the sight Feistyblue posted about, this is when she spoke to the supervisor who then told me the above

So i have got it all sorted now

Thanks for all your help