Virgin Atlantic to charge £25 for a seat request from April

[gavvy]

Hi

Its on v-flyer and pprune that Virgin will start to charge £25 for a seat request for all new bookings from April.

BA have charged for a while and considering Virgins losses last year seems almost a given this was going to happen.

 

[Minniesgal]

Hi Its on v-flyer and pprune that Virgin will start to charge £25 for a seat request for all new bookings from April. BA have charged for a while and considering Virgins losses last year seems almost a given this was going to happen.

I would happily pay this if they will allow people to book seats at the time of booking instead of having to wait until 90 days which I think is most unfair on people who pay for their flights 11 months out.

 

[Samaya]

If it's still a seat request and not a seat reservation then it's not like they're adding an extra service, just charging for what was always built into the price, wonder what's next, food and drink.

And £25 seems over the top especially for families who should be seated together, flying Virgin is getting so expensive and that could add an extra £200 on a round trip for a family of four.

I wonder how many families would take a chance and wait until 24-hours before and hope to get all seats together or even wait to check in as there's a regulation that every effort should be made to place families together, so could that mean moving those who've paid for seat request/reservations?

 

[LeaversOnTour]

We have flown with Virgin about a dozen times, We never check in ahead of time, and never reserve seats.

We have ALWAYS been sat together.

They will never purposely seat parties apart, esp those with kids. We cant prebook as we have a skycot booked and they have to allocate these at the airport as they are bulk head seats.

 

[Minniesgal]

We have flown with Virgin about a dozen times, We never check in ahead of time, and never reserve seats. We have ALWAYS been sat together. They will never purposely seat parties apart, esp those with kids. We cant prebook as we have a skycot booked and they have to allocate these at the airport as they are bulk head seats.

I know a family of 6 who were forced to upgrade to premium economy as when they went to check in they were split all over the plane and virgin refused to fix it. They have three children under 10.

 

[Laurafoster]

We have flown with Virgin about a dozen times, We never check in ahead of time, and never reserve seats. We have ALWAYS been sat together. They will never purposely seat parties apart, esp those with kids. We cant prebook as we have a skycot booked and they have to allocate these at the airport as they are bulk head seats.

This was us until our last trip. On our flight home in October they had opted to give us a skycot despite us specifically saying we didn't want one. We were given 2 of the bulkhead seats next to the skycot (we were in PE so there are only 2 seats next to it anyway) and our 3year old was given a seat on her own 2 rows back. My parents were on the same booking as us were given 2 seats over the other side of the plane.

The rest of PE was already allocated but luckily a Virgin supervisor was able to ask some passengers to swap seats to allow us to be sat close together.

I guess Virgins seating system was always going to be brought inline with everyone else's eventually.

 

[luckylass]

I know a family of 6 who were forced to upgrade to premium economy as when they went to check in they were split all over the plane and virgin refused to fix it. They have three children under 10.

I know someone who had this happen and just let the kids make a right rumpus,shouting up the plane , soon sorted.lol

 

[sandshal]

This was us until our last trip. On our flight home in October they had opted to give us a skycot despite us specifically saying we didn't want one. We were given 2 of the bulkhead seats next to the skycot (we were in PE so there are only 2 seats next to it anyway) and our 3year old was given a seat on her own 2 rows back. My parents were on the same booking as us were given 2 seats over the other side of the plane.

The rest of PE was already allocated but luckily a Virgin supervisor was able to ask some passengers to swap seats to allow us to be sat close together.

I guess Virgins seating system was always going to be brought inline with everyone else's eventually.

So definitely not worth paying extra for ...... Virgin, if you're stripping back privileges, strip back the price too!

 

[Trevski220]

Hi Its on v-flyer and pprune that Virgin will start to charge £25 for a seat request for all new bookings from April. BA have charged for a while and considering Virgins losses last year seems almost a given this was going to happen.

Worth noting that it is on Vflyer as a Rumour not a statement of fact which is how it is written on here, Virgin haven't confirmed this will happen (though it does seem very likely, and won't come as a surprise)

 

[Kath2003]

I guess Virgins seating system was always going to be brought inline with everyone else's eventually.

It's a UK carrier thing. AA, Delta, Air Canada etc let you choose your seats for free at the time of booking.

 

[gavvy]

It is a rumour- should have made that clear, however V-flyer have lots of people "in the know" so it does seem likely to happen.

Assuming its £25 per sector that,s an extra £200 per holiday for a family of 4. Or almost the cost of a Disney Park hopper! Virgin's chief exc was banging on about APD last week and how expensive it is, seem's its ok to charge for silly things if it goes into their pocket but not if it goes to the government!

Maybe they should change their "Flying in the face of ordinary" tag line, seems they are doing everything they can to be like the rest these days!

 

[flortlebap]

VA already charge completely over inflated prices - adding an additional £25 to request a seat is disgusting, IMO.

You expect it from a budget airline - not from VA.

I sincerely hope this rumour isn't realised as I would be one very unhappy camper - to pay £150 EACH WAY for our family still to risk not being seated together?! No thanks...

 

[penlanspice]

I suppose it's only a matter of time before they do this either way, same as when they changed the luggage allowance, BA did it and VA followed.

 

[gavvy]

If I fly Virgin, I always book exit row seats, if I can book these online then this may actually work to my advantage, the problem is as exit rows seats are now not much less than a standard seat its probably likely that these and the extra leg room row seats will rise in price.

Apparently Virgin are confirming on Facebook that there will be an update to their seating policy on Monday- so all but confirmed now.

 

[wilma-bride]

I would never pay to prebook (reserve) seats, even if those seats were guaranteed. Certainly not that hefty amount anyway.

 

[tinkerpea]

I would be highly upset to pay that and then be moved anyways, I would only pay it to get the seats in the bubble! Or to make sure we get window seats for my son with AS.

I'm thinking though that as much as we love virgin and flying into Orlando international instead of Sanford, its pricing us out! And we will go back to Thomson with the dream liner..

 

[flortlebap]

So the rumour is true - logged in this morning.

The one saving grace is that there's no charge for PE/UC passengers!

If your flight is after March, you now have to book 30 days in advance rather than the 90 previously allowed, though. Let the scrapping for the better seats begin...

 

[Laurafoster]

So the rumour is true - logged in this morning. The one saving grace is that there's no charge for PE/UC passengers! If your flight is after March, you now have to book 30 days in advance rather than the 90 previously allowed, though. Let the scrapping for the better seats begin...

Only up until the 1st June though, then seats will be available to be booked 336 days out.

http://virginatlantic.custhelp.com/app/answers/detail/a_id/86

So pretty much back to what it used to be but with an extra £50pp charge for a return flight.

 

[flortlebap]

Only up until the 1st June though, then seats will be available to be booked 336 days out.

http://virginatlantic.custhelp.com/app/answers/detail/a_id/86

So pretty much back to what it used to be but with an extra £50pp charge for a return flight.

Unfortunately our September flights fall within the 30 day window - gutted!

 

[ChipnDaleRule]

If we pay to select seats and we don't get those seats, will we get a refund?