Question about Special Assistance and seating

i like a lot of people HATE FLYING...but im disabled i've had a stroke. so i cant walk far
so here goes....
im looking to book for Vegas in October, but im stuck as to whether i go PE or ECON,...
i am going to do twilight checkin... i have phoned the special assistance team.they said they will put a request in. will i be able to get a bulkhead seat in econ..or will they all be gone by the time i get there 3pm...
i would hate to pay for an econ seat then get to the airport to be told im stuck in the middle of a row..like i was last year..
(but then i didn't know about twilight checkin)
i think what im asking is
if special assistance puts on my booking that i have requested a bulkhead seat will i get it..or is it first come first served ??
also will they honour this on the way home too..
PLEASE HELP !!!!!!
hope it's not too long winded
deb xxxxx

[Neil]

I guess the only people who will give you an accurate answer are the special assistance team who will be able to go through all your details and explain everything fully to you.

I would suggest you call them as the only answers people can give on here will be presumptions or personal experiences which won't neccessarily be accurate to you and your circumstances.

Neil

Thanks for that..
I know they will put a request in for me..
BUT what im asking is.. has anyone done this and been succesfull..
or
has anyone asked for a bulkhead seat and not got it at checkin..
sorry to be a pain
deb xxx

[honey lamb]

Most reports about Special Assistance have been positive. It does no harm, having called them about your needs, to call them again to confirm that all is in order

all they have said to me is
we have put a request in it is not up to us if you get the seat or not..it is down to the airport staff..
that doesn't fill me with any confidence...
deb xxxx

I've had experience of this with my late father and more recently in February of this year with my mother.

When my father was alive he had Parkinson's disease and he flew many times with VS, we always rang special assistance and not once did they let us down. I must also say that they never did guarantee a bulkhead but I don't believe they can.

When I booked my mother earlier this year, I had the same experience although this was in PE and we requested a seat at the bulkhead downstairs on the 747. The request was honoured in both directions and we only checked in around 3 hours before.

I also arranged wheelchair assistance both ways which you may or may not need to do.

Not sure whether you intend to book via VS or VH, if we booked with VH we still rang special assistance ourselves and did not rely on VH to do it for us.

Jilly

I have had much the same experience as Jilly when dealing with special assistance, its always been very positive. I have flown many times to MCO & had special assistance for my father. Although they couldnt definately say that he would have a bulkhead seat they did make a note of it & when we got to twilight check in they were aware and made sure we got the seats requested. They were also marvellous with wheelchair assistance which my Dad needed. We didnt check his chair in at twilight, we kept hold of it & checked it at bag drop the next morning it took all of 5mins. We were also allowed to board first with the UC pax to get him settled in.

This year its me that needs the special assistance & Virgin so far have been excellent y) I will let you know my experiences when I get back

Special assistance will put a note in your booking for the aiport teams.. when the airport edit the flight 24 hours before they will try and allocate you a seat at a bulkhead as per Special Assitance Instructions.

If you fly Economy from LGW then you have a good chance of getting a Bulkhead as seat as you will find 10 seats at row 21, 4 at row 31, 4 at row 40 and 4 at row 52.

If you travel in PE and cant climb the stairs swiftly and unaided then there are also 8 bulkhead seats at row 81 downstairs.

DOnt worry, you will get looked after, Special Assistance team is great!

THANK'S for the reply's
it is nice to know that some of you got the help you requested......
i have made my booking..and they have asigned me seat 60k for the outbound and inbound..i phoned SPECIAL ASSISTANCE and they have made a note on my booking requesting a bulkhead seat so(HOPEFULLY)i will get one when i do twilight checkin.
So fingers crossed i dont stay at the back of the plane...
Deb xxxx

PTARMIGAN....
have you been yet..if so what was your experience with special ass
thanks
debbie xxxxx

If it adds to the conversation, I have had firsthand experience of VS special assistance 12 times over the last 2/3 years - and they are very good indeed.

When it was outsourced to the airport, I had the miss-fortune of experiencing LGW "specail assistance" which was the lowpoint of all experiences.

Over the last 18 months/2 years, things have improved out of recognition - suspect but don't know, that VS now do their own asistance?

I'm sure they'll offer a bulkhead seat where possible, but probably not an emergency exit row - as the folks in that row must all be fully able to operate the emergency exits.

So, special assistance is one thing and they're great.

Seat allocation is down to the airport staff and flight crew (where they have issues), so all they can really do is make the request on your behalf.

Hope this helps give you more confidence...

Al