Virgin seating

[Wills Mom]

So I finally got our flight confirmation number from my TA. There are 9 adults, 1 child and a lap infant travelling so we will be using 10 seats total. When the TA did the booking she booked myself, DH, DS, my parents and my sister on the same confirmation number and had to book my aunts family separately as we have separate house and cars so wanted to keep it simple. So she only gave me my family's confirmation number which is fine, I don't know if she will give me my aunts details and it took me weeks to get her to surrender OUR number so I doubt she'll give it to me any time soon anyway. So now I'm on the VA website about to request seats and find myself wondering if I should book the seats for my family now and just request my aunts family to be near us when we check in at the airport? And if I do this then where abouts on the plane would be the best place to sit? The bubble has a few remaining seats however with two kids I'd prefer to be downstairs so as not to disturb other travellers (just in case lol) and besides they don't have enough showing as available for even the 5 in my family so showing as available downstairs are rows 28, 31, 33-36 and then 44 all the way back to row 66. Any suggestions guys?

 

[crabbie1]

If it were me I would sit as near to the front as you can. Why dont you ring VA direct give them ur ref number and give the name of the other party they will find the booking. Ask them to link them so you can book all togeather. I did this in 2008 and they were more than helpful.
Have a look at the plan choose all your seats then ring them up. Or ask for as near to the front . I dont know if you mind sitting in a 4 or if you prefer having 2 x3 and a four. I try to avoid the back seat of a block as restricted recline not that I recline as I do consider people with long legs like myself. On the plus side you have noone pushing ur seat forward lol. X

 

[orangetiggs]

As you have an infant on your lap i would call and request a skycot amd you will be on one of the bulkheads, they should also be able to link your nookings so that you will be seated near each other

 

[catherine]

As you have an infant on your lap i would call and request a skycot amd you will be on one of the bulkheads, they should also be able to link your nookings so that you will be seated near each other

I think that the OPs DS is 11 months old, will he not be too big for a skycot?

 

[royal99]

Was going to ask about sky cots what's the deal with them. If we go in November ours will be 14months it says only till 12months is this strictly kept to? Also with weightllimit?

 

[catherine]

Was going to ask about sky cots what's the deal with them. If we go in November ours will be 14months it says only till 12months is this strictly kept to? Also with weightllimit?

From Virgin's website

Dimensions of baby cots:
Premium Economy and Economy classes on the A340-300 and B747-400 aircraft:
Maximum weight of baby: 9kg (19.8lb)
Maximum height of baby: 740mm (29)
Dimensions: 35cm wide x 21cm deep x 74cm long (13.8 wide x 8.3 deep x 29 long)
Premium Economy and Economy classes on the A340-600 and A330 aircraft:
Maximum weight of baby: 11kg (24.25lb)
Maximum height of baby: 760mm (30)
Dimensions 28.6cm wide x 72.7cm long (11.25 wide x 28.6 long)
Upper Class on the A340-300, A340-600, A330 and B747-400 aircraft:
Maximum weight of baby: 11kg (24.25lb)
Maximum height of baby: 750mm (29.5)
Bassinet Dimensions: 35cm wide x 24cm deep x 76cm long (13.8 wide x 9.4 deep x 29.9 long)

I guess it depends on how big a baby is as to whether they can go in a skycot or not.

 

[orangetiggs]

I had my twins in sky cots at 23 months!

 

[Wills Mom]

From Virgin's website

Dimensions of baby cots:
Premium Economy and Economy classes on the A340-300 and B747-400 aircraft:
Maximum weight of baby: 9kg (19.8lb)
Maximum height of baby: 740mm (29)
Dimensions: 35cm wide x 21cm deep x 74cm long (13.8 wide x 8.3 deep x 29 long)
Premium Economy and Economy classes on the A340-600 and A330 aircraft:
Maximum weight of baby: 11kg (24.25lb)
Maximum height of baby: 760mm (30)
Dimensions 28.6cm wide x 72.7cm long (11.25 wide x 28.6 long)
Upper Class on the A340-300, A340-600, A330 and B747-400 aircraft:
Maximum weight of baby: 11kg (24.25lb)
Maximum height of baby: 750mm (29.5)
Bassinet Dimensions: 35cm wide x 24cm deep x 76cm long (13.8 wide x 9.4 deep x 29.9 long)

I guess it depends on how big a baby is as to whether they can go in a skycot or not.

DS will be 14 months travelling and already he's 24lbs and 31 inches tall so doubtful he'll be allowed in the skycot! I guess I can always ask!

We took the plunge and booked seats for our 5. Booked 59 ABC and 60AB. At the back of the middle of the lower level if you get what I mean. DH chose them but I can always change. What do you guys think?

 

[Elise79]

DS will be 14 months travelling and already he's 24lbs and 31 inches tall so doubtful he'll be allowed in the skycot! I guess I can always ask!

We took the plunge and booked seats for our 5. Booked 59 ABC and 60AB. At the back of the middle of the lower level if you get what I mean. DH chose them but I can always change. What do you guys think?

Personally, I would move further forward as you will quicker off the plane and have less of a wait in immigration as you will have no stroller until after you clear immigration.

At his weight they won't let him have a sky cot as the table they sit on folds out. DD was almost too tall at 9 months for it as they are really quite small.

 

[Laurafoster]

Personally, I would move further forward as you will quicker off the plane and have less of a wait in immigration as you will have no stroller until after you clear immigration.

At his weight they won't let him have a sky cot as the table they sit on folds out. DD was almost too tall at 9 months for it as they are really quite small.

I agree. We went with DD at 5 months and although she was "small enough" for it, they were still quite cramped and there was no way she would have been able to fit much past 7months. She didn't like it anyway and preferred to nap on our laps.

You definitely want to be as close to the front as loss. We arrived at MCO in May last year to find a 2hr queue at immigration. This was a nightmare as we had a tired DD who wanted cuddles from mummy as she didn't have her stroller. I was 18wks pregnant with DS at the time.

 

[Wills Mom]

Oh goodness thanks for the tips girls!! Whatever would I do without you! I'll have another look tomorrow when I'm on the PC and see if I can find better seats further up the plane. I'm just worried about disrupting people around me hence why we went so far back on the seating chart!
About the stroller, if you gate check then when do you get it back?

 

[crabbie1]

Dont worry about upsetting others!! U hv as much right as any other passenger to sit where you want to whether your kids are good or scream the plane down. I agree though try and move up a bit . Ur buggy will come off the plane with ur luggage if I remember right(a good 7 years since I had one)

 

[Elise79]

You will get the buggys back when you collect your luggage they are usually off to one side near the baggage handlers at MCO.

At Gatwick they come out on the oversize baggage belt.

 

[Wills Mom]

Thanks for the help . I changed the seats to rows 28, 29, 30 & 31. Hopefully they'll be decent enough

 

[Stitch's Greatest Fa]

Whether he is too big for a skycot or not, if noone else on board has a skycot, we found they would automatically give us the bulkhead seats up to the age of two years, even if another family without an infant had not reserved them. A family behind us (2 adults, 2 teens) was quite annoyed as they had had their seats changed by virgin,we were in "their" seats, however they were fine when they realised the reason was because we had a lap child. So a warning to anyone without lap kids booking the bulkhead seats - you may be moved by Virgin if there are families with lap children on the plane.

 

[ScotsMinnie]

Must admit we found the seat reservation system with virgin very frustrating. We reserved seats as soon as it opened up and booked a sensible formation iykwim, not leaving odd seats etc. When we got there we had been moved to the back on the plane in a different formation. We were told it was to accommodate other parties who were being split up. Now I can understand people needing to sit together but it is horrible for those who get their done early. Where you sit on the plane does matter to some people especially with children on a long flight. We have not yet been on a virgin flight and got the seats we requested so what's the point in allowing people to prebook? Why not just allocate everyone the day before when the passenger details are known?

 

[crabbie1]

Sorry you have experienced this. We have been moved once and I nearly died when they told me as it was in a 4 but we had two in each row!!!!! Luckily it was from the back right to the front two rows behind PE as my mom had a wheel chair.I agree that if you reserve early and they move what is the point but they do say they have the right to move people due to customer requirements disabilities and plane change. I booked ours for out trip in 7 weeks at 90 days 3 at the back on the airbus and 3 upstairs cmg back on the jumbo BUT I await with baited breath lol.

 

[sammie1884]

I have to say I am really confused about the skycot thing. DD will be 22months when we go in November. When we booked with Virgin they asked if we would need a sky cot, I said yes not really knowing too much about them. Then a a couple of weeks ago we got a message on the home phone to say they were just letting us know that our skycot had been booked for our flight. So does this mean we will deffo have bulkhead seats? Have they already allocated us seats? There will be 5 of us in seats and we will all want to be seated together (as in 2 rows one behind the other)