V-Flyer

Hi, myself and my future wife are flying to Dubai in premium economy for our honeymoon on June 22nd, we are also taking our 18month old little boy. At the time of booking with our travel agent we asked about children having their own seats and were told he would sit on one of our knees. However I was having a look on the net the other night about children flying with Virgin and found they offer Infant seats. So my partner contacted the travel agent and they have now said because our little boy is on one of our tickets, one of us will have to cancel our ticket with no refund and buy a new ticket for one of us plus a child ticket for little boy. we have no problem paying for a seat for our child as we just want a relaxed flight. Travel agents have also said that if we buy a child ticket with his own seat we are not guaranteed an Infant seat

Does anyone know where we stand? All we want to do is buy a seat on the plane for our son and it seems so hard to do so.

Thanks, Olly

ISTBC but I think your Travel Agent is having a laugh or at least trying to get more commission.

I'd contact VS directly and see what they can do / offer you and the future mrs olly

Sounds like BS to me.

Call Virgin directly. If they confirm that this is the case, sorry, that sucks. However, if they correct this info with a better alternative it MIGHT be worth pointing out (in a friendly way of course !) the travel agent in question so VS can maybe contact them for 'training'....

As far as I know ALL infants have to be on a parents lap with a seatbelt extention. If you do want a seat for your infant your agent is right in saying that you need to pay for a child seat to guarantee the seat.

VS should be able to take your infant off the adult and add him as a child, I don't think you need to canx. Speak to VS to double check.

Dominic

I think your travel agent may well be confusing the availability of infant seats with skycots as there is very limited availability of the latter. According to the VS website you have to contact VS to book an infant seat so I would suggest, as the others did, that you contact VS direct about booking an infant seat before going back to your travel agent

http://www.virgin-atlantic.com/en/gb/passengerinformation/travellingwithafamily/travellingwithchildren/index.jsp

quote:Infant/Child Seat - for newborns up to maxium weight of 44lbs (20kg), or maximum height of 40in (100cm)

NEW INFANT/CHILD SEAT

Our new Infant/Child Seat is available on all Virgin Atlantic aircraft and is suitable for newborn babies, infants and children up to a maximum weight of 44lbs (20kg) or a maximum height of 40in (100cm). The Infant/Child Seat is available for use in all cabins.

An infant/child occupying an Infant/Child Seat, must be accompanied by a guardian of at least 16 years. The minimum age that someone can sit beside an infant, who is using an Infant/Child seat, is 14 years and over. However, there must be a third passenger travelling with the party who is aged 16 and over. Also one adult cannot travel with 2 children occupying 2 Infant/Child seats - In this case, another accompanying adult (14 plus) would need to also travel.

In the Economy and Premium Economy cabins, the guardian must be seated next to the infant/child. If travelling in Upper Class, the guardian must be seated immediately behind the infant/child.

Please note, passengers who require use of an Infant/Child Seat will have to purchase a seat at the applicable child fare.

Please call our Contact Centre for availability and booking.

There are two Infant Child Seats loaded for use on each Airbus flight.

When we booked with VH we did not book a seat for my 18mnth old girl. We then reconsidered and bought a seat (and booked the child seat to be strapped into it) and it was no problem at all. Mind you I guess that you are getting quite close to the date now, but as others have said VS can say if there are Childcare seats available.

A couple of things to be aware of though...

The childcare seats are not allowed at the bulkhead positions, so you lose the 'perk' of high likelyhood of bulkhead seats.

If your 18mnth old is like mine was she will rather jump on your nuts all flight than sit down in the nice expensive seat provided [B)]

Have a great Wedding day and honeymoon

Given the age, diggeryd's comments ring true with us, with them 9 out 10 times wanting to cuddle sleep on lap, which seems to continue 3+ !. however the ability utilise a third seat has its obvious advantages but .
also bear in mind, 3 seats will mean a split in seating as PE in blocks of 2 (window) or 4 (middle), so may end up with 2 + 1 or 3 in the middle...

Eitherway, After initial settling in/ angry patch, they should sleep - remember to pack 1 new toy/ activity per hr & emergency clothes change for each of YOU, just to be on safe side!!!

NH

quote:Originally posted by diggeryd
If your 18mnth old is like mine was she will rather jump on your nuts all flight than sit down in the nice expensive seat provided [B)]


Who needs to waste money on new toys when daddy can provide all the entertainment...?

quote:Originally posted by diggeryd

The childcare seats are not allowed at the bulkhead positions, so you lose the 'perk' of high likelyhood of bulkhead seats.



Just to correct you but the new child seats can be used on bulkhead rows - you might be confusing the new seats with the old seats which if the bulkhead row was fitted with an airbag seatbelt, couldn't be used. One of the only places where child seats cannot be fitted is exit rows. They fit into Economy, PE and UC seats.

As you are travelling in PE on an Airbus, the child seat has to be fitted to either a window seat (A, K) or the middle (F) seat.

quote:Originally posted by northernhenry

also bear in mind, 3 seats will mean a split in seating as PE in blocks of 2 (window) or 4 (middle), so may end up with 2 + 1 or 3 in the middle...



The seating in PE on the Airbus which operates the DXB route is 2-3-2 [:X]

thanks for your replies, I spoke to Virgin this morning and they say there shouldn't be any problem, all we need to do is purchase a seat at child rate from travel agent and they cross refer the ticket to us so it doesn't look like he is travelling alone, so my partner phones the travel agent to tell them this and they still say Virgin are the ones putting their foot down and making it difficult. We booked through First Choice who use Hayes and Jarvis.