Virgins On Line Check In Advantage?

[angel659]

Hiya

We are into single week digits now I am so excited 9 weeks and 6 days yipee!


This is the first time we have flown with Virgin and we read that we can check in on line. We have never used this service and I must admit a little worried. Is there any advantage into using this. If everyone uses this system surely the queues will be longer in the online service. Also we booked via Thomas Cook would we still be able to check in on line considering we didnt book it directly. Sorry but I have never used this service and would love to hear of people who have.

Thanks

 

[wildwood]

I was wondering if online check in was any good i always worry that the info is not sent i think we our on the same flight ( 18th oct 12.30) i cant wait till i can pack our case

 

[raksha2]

We fly out on the 19th October -

our first trip with virgin, and first stay on property

we are doing the twilight check in the evening before......

Not sure if I can cope though, it's not easy getting everyone to the airport the night before we fly, but it means we don't need to be at the airport until an hour before our flight. Plus I normally stay up to the early hours re-packing my bags.
What am I going to do now, i won't sleep!


Have fun, safe trip all

Toni

 

[tyke]

We used online check-in on our last trip - it was a breeze - checked-in the day before our flight - turned up at the airport the next day - walked straight up to the DIY check-in bag drop desk - dropped off our bags - received our boarding cards and then onto passport control - over and done with in less than 5 minutes - beats waiting in line for standard check-in anyday !

Check out the DIY Check-in FAQ for more info.

tyke

 

[squitty]

Also we booked via Thomas Cook would we still be able to check in on line considering we didnt book it directly.

We've booked through a TA and asked Virgin the other day if this would affect us being able to checkin online, the person said that it wouldn't, we should still be able use the facility.

HTH's

 

[angel659]

I was wondering if online check in was any good i always worry that the info is not sent i think we our on the same flight ( 18th oct 12.30) i cant wait till i can pack our case

Hiya

Yeah we are on the same flight. It shows how small the world really is. I noticed your staying at All Star in October, which one? We are staying at All Star Movies.

I cant wait not long now.

 

[angel659]

We used online check-in on our last trip - it was a breeze - checked-in the day before our flight - turned up at the airport the next day - walked straight up to the DIY check-in bag drop desk - dropped off our bags - received our boarding cards and then onto passport control - over and done with in less than 5 minutes - beats waiting in line for standard check-in anyday !

Check out the DIY Check-in FAQ for more info.

tyke

Sounds great. I was just worried that is wouldnt go through properly and I would cause more hassle than good. I think we are definately going to use the downtown check in, with a family of 5 this is a must for us. I am just pleased Virgin can offer this facility.

 

[Rascal1003]

I personally love the DIY Check-In.
I have travelled with Virgin to Vegas and New York already this year and am flying to Orlando in a month and will/have used DIY every time. I also flew to Vancouver with BA and they have a similar system. BA will not permit online check-in until 12 hours before the flight, Virgin start 24 hours before the departure.
One of the biggest positives is the ability to select your seat on a seat map of the aircraft, which can be done a long time in advance.
I also feel that this is a good way to avoid the dreaded "double booking" of seats that is a known practice of airline operators.

If you have a Virgin Holidays or Atlantic reference, you can log in on the VA homepage and go to Manage Your Flights. You can change your meal requirements, pick your window seats etc from here.

To check in online, you just need the passport details for each member of the party that will be travelling on that booking.
Once you have checked in, you can go to the Fast Baggage Drop-Off desk at the airport, which allows you to simply show your passport, drop your baggage and receive your boarding pass. So far, I have not had to queue longer than about 10 minutes for this service, rather than the 30+ minutes on the ordinary check-in desks.

Basically, I highly recommend the service as it can save a massive amount of time and even bailed us out when we got held up on the motorway, as you only need to be there an hour before instead of the 2 or 3 hours on the normal check in.

 

[lorbs]

We have booked through Mercury direct and have been told by Virgin that our reference number will not allow us to access the DIY check in.

 

[wildwood]

we are also staying at Asm and it cant come quick enough because i am a pre school teacher i am on hoilday till the 9th september and the time is going very slowly i wish i was at work ( that sounds really bad i know ) even my ds has asked to go back to school so his hoilday will come quicker

 

[rosiejo]

We have booked through Mercury direct and have been told by Virgin that our reference number will not allow us to access the DIY check in.

We booked with Virgin Holidays and the reference number they gave us didn't work on the website so I rang Virgin and they said the flight reference number is different. It's odd that you don't have a flight reference if you're flying with Virgin even though you havne't booked through them.

you should still be able to use twilight though - we flew with Virgin last trip but the holiday was through SunWorld (or something) and we managed to twilight still

 

[Rascal1003]

I use my Virgin Holidays reference without any problems, and this is the 4th holiday we have booked with them. Make sure that you put all the info in correctly, including the suffix of the ref number (eg /S05 or /W04).

If you still have no luck, Virgin will be able to give you the flight booking reference over the phone. But you are right, flight and holiday references are completely different. Not sure why, but would have a guess at some kind of conformity on VA's part, as BA use a similar format.

 

[gilld]

The Virgin Holidays ref should be ok, I've always used them, but you can use the airline locator number which VH will give you on request.

 

[alanjones]

As above, we've used our Virgin Holiday reference number (e.g. 12345/S05) to login in to the Virgin Atlantic website to pre-book seat etc. and have never had any problems. It won't work straight after you've made your booking with VH, as it takes about 24 hours for your details to get on to the VA system, but after that you should have no problems.

 

[gbrchill]

It won't work straight after you've made your booking with VH, as it takes about 24 hours for your details to get on to the VA system, but after that you should have no problems.

When we booked our October holiday (POFQ) in January with a local TA
I came straight home and banged the VH reference number into the
virgin airlines website and made the seat allocation and also booked DS
a kids meal. The TA was a little bit surprised when they went to do it
that it had all been done already.

Chris.

 

[Scottish-Helen]

We have booked through Mercury direct and have been told by Virgin that our reference number will not allow us to access the DIY check in.

ALL bookings made using Virgin flights will have a Virgin locator which will enable you to use the DIY check in. This however is not usually the same as the holiday booking reference used by the tour operator/travel agent.

You will be able to get Virgin to look up your Virgin locator by giving them your surname, flight number and date of travel. Sometimes if this is way ahead they cannot access it in which case your travel agent will be able to get it from the tour operator.