Two Seats Question

Hello,

Long time lurker, first time poster here!

Quick question for the Virgin Brainiacs please ...

Booking flights to Orlando for Christmas and my husband and I are going to be in different countries before we fly. Depending on work schedules, one of us will have our eight year old daughter with us but we wont know which until about a week before Christmas.

My question would be ... if we booked one adult and one child ticket from London to Orlando and one adult and one child ticket from Cape Town to London, would we have to cancel the child ticket if she doesn't fly or can we keep it as a spare seat?

Many thanks for your help.

This could be very expensive as all you would get back from the cancelled flight would be the taxes and airport fees - unless you bought a v expensive fully flex ticket in the first place. - which you would have to do for both options.

As for the 'spare' seat no you won't be able to use it because as as soon as the occupant fails to check- in it becomes available for the check-in staff to allocate it to anyone. You might be lucky that it remains empty but then again you might not!

What about booking the most likely option, and sending her as an unaccompanied minor if needed? I know she's 8 and everything, but it'll save you a ton of money.

Can't think of any other way round it...

Hello again,

Many thank to you both for your help. We will have a rethink and see what the best options are!