Virgin to charge £25 seat selection fee for Economy

Economy only.

No charge for upper or premium

[Neil]

Economy only.

No charge for upper or premium

That is what I have seen also.

[mitchja]

More details now on the VS website here

If you're flying Upper Class or Premium Economy, have a fully flexible Economy ticket, or if you're a Flying Club Gold member, you can choose your seat free of charge any time from making your booking.

Economy only.

No charge for upper or premium

Ahhh good stuff! Hopefully we will get the 336 day window too.

I'm a bit confuzzled actually... will I now have to wait until 1st April to select seats on my 9th May (UC) flight...

[Neil]

So it's not for new bookings from these dates, just flights from these dates.

So - while they roll this out, will UC, PE & AU pax still be able to choose seats at T-90?

Or will it be T-30 in line with Y pax?

I fear the latter ...

Why can't people with a miles ticket select a seat?!

We have an upcoming booking in September, one person a G fare and the other a Z. Looks like we'll end up sitting an opposite ends of the cabin because of this!

Very conufsing for my 28th March and 12th April flights now!

Don't understand when I can book seats!

Why can't people with a miles ticket select a seat?!

We have an upcoming booking in September, one person a G fare and the other a Z. Looks like we'll end up sitting an opposite ends of the cabin because of this!

You can still select a seat with a reward ticket but you just can't pay for it with miles yet. This has been clarified in response to a question on VS Facebook page

Even put like that it's rather expensive! Whats the per hour cost of a flight to New York or Australia? At the time, Emirates would have done the latter for the same money.

Interestingly, at the time of booking, for my trip to OZ, in Y, starting Thursday, the flights were £900 more expensive on my preferred carrier EK than on VS...hence I am on the VS200. I am EK Gold but there is only so much that lounge access is worth...and it isn't £900...even I cannot drink that much fizz.

Again, at the time of booking, via Last Minute, VS were cheaper than anyone else...I must have got lucky with the fare bucket. Interestingly, via the VS website the seats were £600 more expensive than on the travel agent's site. And they increased to up to over twice what I paid.

And the per hour calculation works out at c£25. y)

PS and on the subject of charging for seat selection, I am in the "dont care where I sit" school...just get me there safe and sound.

Hey

Im really confused and hope someone can help.

I have a flight to Miami on 28th March and Returning on 12th April.

Does the new system mean I cannot select my seats until 30 days prior for both flights?

Or does it mean 30 days prior for the March flight but for the April one ill have to pay?

Also, does the new system mean people who are booking the flight now are getting first dibs on the seats?

Thanks
ZJC

Sadly the rumour is true and is very complicated. This is being phased in on different routes on varying dates and some routes (Tokyo) will not charge for advance assignments. £25pp per long haul sector applies to economy only (for now) with Upper/PE and Gold members getting their advance seat selections gratis. All seating requests must be made online through "Manage Your Flights" or at check in. This will no longer be available through travel agents GDS systems.
As a travel agent based up north my top selling route is MAN/MCO which attracts predominantly families. Free advance seat assignments was, until today, one of the major selling points when offering VS against the many charter airlines. Many families on this route are travelling long haul for the first time and the fear factor of being sat apart on 9 hour flights will force many into parting with, what was, a chunk of their hard earned spending money. A family of 5 will pay an extra £250 for a service that was advertised as free when they booked.
VS has obviously been thinking about this for a while so to introduce it within the 11 month booking window and annoy passengers who have already booked is naughty to say the least.
VS competitors could introduce a new slogan "One reason less to fly VS".

This update was added this morning on the VS website:

Advanced seat assignment
Published 21/11/2013 02.44 PM | Updated 16/12/2013 08.48 AM
Will I need to pay to choose my seats in advance?

• Advance seat allocation is free of charge if you are a Virgin Atlantic Flying Club Gold member, for passengers travelling in Upper Class, Premium Economy and for Economy passengers on fully flexible tickets (these are tickets in fare class Y).

• From 1 April 2014, other passengers travelling in the economy cabin need to pay to select seats if they want to choose them in advance of the 24 hour online check in window.

wow this is all a little confusing.

Im flying UC on the 12th April so I had put in my calendar (T90) that I should be able to book my seats on the 12th Jan

I wonder if this will still apply? It looks like ill need to wait for t30?

is that right?

John

I am in a similar situation as this not sure if I need to work for T30 or if I need to pay since its after April.

Very conufsing!

.Yes that is correct. You will now only be able to book your seat t30 between the 1st of march and 1 June where then you can book your seat immediately for the fee of course..............

That sounds good then!

I was thinking that people could now choose there seats and pay and current bookings had to wait until T30.

It sounds to me then like my March and April bookings I will still have the same chance of getting the seats I want as I would if it was still T90.

Here is the updated info


Between 18 December 2013 and 30 January 2014 you will only be able to assign seats for flights departing on or before 01

March 2014. For most flights between 01 February 2014 until 31 May 2014 seats will be available to select 30 days before departure and from 01 June seats will be available from time of booking. Seats can be assigned through Manage Flights which is available up to 24 hours before departure. To request seats before check in opens, please go to Manage Flights or contact your travel agent.

Thanks David

All the information coming at once was very confusing at the start and I was thinking that my flights would be affected differnetly.

Im a little gutted as I was all ready to get the seated selected next week for the outbound.

I am the same. I am off to vegas at the start of may and to now find that 1. I will have to wait till t 30 to select seats its a bit rubbish and 2. That its now going to cost me an extra 50 on top of my 1,200 i paid for my single seat in p.e is not great.

To say i am unhappy about this is an understatement lol.

So whats so special about Tokyo that seat assignment remains free?

It's also fairly laughable that a £59 return to Scotland = free seat assignment but an £800 return to Vancouver = pay £50 for seat assignment.

[Neil]

I am the same. I am off to vegas at the start of may and to now find that 1. I will have to wait till t 30 to select seats its a bit rubbish and 2. That its now going to cost me an extra 50 on top of my 1,200 i paid for my single seat in p.e is not great.

To say i am unhappy about this is an understatement lol.

You don't have to pay anything. The charge only applies to economy seats, PE and UC seat selection is still free of charge.

Neil

I didn't think we had to pay for seat selection unless our flight was after June?

If you look at this page - https://www.virgin-atlantic.com/gb/en/m ... nment.html - it makes even clear that the "fully flexible" aspect only applies to economy tickets, in that it says:

"If you're flying Upper Class or Premium Economy, have a fully flexible Economy ticket, or if you're a Flying Club Gold member, you can choose your seat free of charge any time from making your booking."

Now I am confused lol. Oh hum. So does the 30 day seat only apply to economy or is it for all seat selection in all cabins lol.