LGW-MCO - advice please!

Hi all,

I am new here,and everyone seems really helpful so I would like some help!I am traveling this Friday from LGW-MCO.

A few questions.

Out of interest, why do virgin run 3 flight to MCO from LGW on a Friday - the flight seems pretty empty. we are on the VS0049 which only operates every Friday.

Flying club would not allow me to pre-book seats as I am travelling with an infant, although I don't want the bulk head seats as my daughter is a large one-year old. Would you recommend holding out of a possible spare seat at check-in or is it worth upgrading to PE?

How much can I expect the upgrade to cost at the airport, I cant do it before as i booked my flights with my miles and don't have enough left.

Thanks in advance for your advice, i'm quite a nervous flyer,so i like to know as much about the flight in advance, and travelling with my baby is making me even worse!

Cheers.

[buns]

Hi Maybags and welcome to V-Flyer

Out of intrest, why do virgin run 3 flight to MCO from LGW on a Friday - the flight seems pretty empty. we are on the VS0049 which only operates every Friday.

The MCO Route is one of the most popular as travelling to see the Theme Parks never seems to diminish Whilst you flight may be empty, it is more than likely that the return will be pretty full with plenty of families returning after the Easter Break :w

Would you reccommend holding out of a possible spare seat at check-in or is it worth upgrading to PE?

Provided the flight is not consolidated (I know this contradicts what I have said above!) then you may be better off saving your money and taking a row (or two ): ) in Economy

buns

[Neil]

A welcome to V-Flyer from me also.

Regarding upgrading to PE, firstly the price for on the day upgrades is usually about £199 per person.

The only thing I would say is that as you are flying with an infant, you will end up in the small downstairs PE cabin, which really doesn't get that great reviews, so you might end up regretting it.

I agree with buns, your flight could well be fairly empty and is probably only running because of the demand for the return (we once were one of only 60 pax on a jumbo out of MAN to MCO, but the return was full) so there should be a good chance to spread out around the cabin after take off.

Enjoy your flight and try not to worry to much, things tend to work out better than expected, and at worst it is only 8 hours or so out of a long holiday.

Neil

[Pete]

How much can I expect the upgrade to cost at the airport, I cant do it before as i booked my flights with my miles and dont have enough left.

As Neil said, if they're doing 'flat fee' upgrade offers, then you should be able to do this at the airport (although I understand the price is now £219 rather than £119). If they're not doing the upgrade offers, then since you booked with miles, you won't be able to pay to upgrade, only use more miles, as the ticket type you have (see the T Fare Code) is heavily restricted.

neil is spot on IF the only upgrade is the downstairs PE cabin then dont do it. i would suggest OLCI and see if you can reserves seats with a gap between them.

when you get to MCO a couple of tips. after you have cleared immi and customs you will be asked to recheck your bags so they arrive in the main terminal, if you havent got that many and can manage avoid the porters and head up the escalator to the sky train. the re-arrival of bags takes ages. if you are renting a car most are off airport so head immediatley for the pick up which is on the first level EXCEPT its the ground floor. in the US they dont use the word ground its first and can cause confusion.

If you check the MCO flights recent activity you will spot there have been a LOT of occasions recently when only one flight takes place. I think this is due to loading. I haven't checked over easter as I guess this would have been busier but just before they were definitely only running 1 flight each way - That also means that your pre-assigned seats are out of the window!

So I guess you are not in any hardship by not being able to book yourself seats. My brother, his wife and new baby had the same issues. They were fine with the bulk heads assigned although the baby spent most of the flight on their laps or on the floor in front of the seats. Remember you have to strap the baby in for take off/landing and turbulence - Not sure if you can do this on your lap if your child is large enough.

Are you a member of the Flying Club? What level are you? I have found that the higher you are, and combined with the amount you paid for your seat, will dictate your chances of being bumped (on that route anyway).

Good luck - let us know how it goes.

Paul

Hi Everyone and thanks for your replies!

I guess its just going to be luck of the draw at LGW then, as i was'nt aware that If we wanted to upgrade to PE, we would'nt get seats in "the bubble" so I really dont see the point of doing it. I just hope we get helpful check-in staff that may give us an extra seat, as that is really what we need (my baby is 22lbs and I really dont know how we are going to cope for 10 hours with her on my lap!)

The fare for a child seat costs more than our total cost that we paid, so I wont be pre-booking it!
BYW I am a red flying club member, our miles have paid for the flights.

Ive been looking on seatcounter.com and the flight seems pretty empty so hopefully we will have lots of room, although our flight back on the 2nd May looks jam-packed!

Wish me luck and any more tips are greatfully received!! y)

[honey lamb]

I've just checked for you on Expert Flyer and the flight is wide open in both Economy and PE so you should be fine. However for May 2nd only VS28 is operating. As you rightly say it is jam-packed with the only availability in the premium cabins being J1 and W2, S2, K2. In other words, only one seat available for sale in UC and only 2 available for sale in PE

Just wanted to add that I have paid for Upgrade to PE both ways on MCO.

In my experience I have ended up in the bubble. I have been told (unofficially) that the 2 rows of PE downstairs are the preferred seats to put thoses bumped form Econ into.

You can pre-assign both the upper and lower decks, but only about half the seats are available for this. So, my advice would be chat to the res staff at the airport (don't go check in, go to the ticket desk first, as if you upgrade you have to pay at the ticket desk anyway).

Have to say, on the downside, and only in my experience, that when you use miles to pay for your seat you end up at the bottom of the list for upgrades. I don't hold any magic insite into upgrades and it is a black art that is well protected, however I can talk about my own experiences travelling this route.

Paul

Thanks so much for that info honeylamb, I hope we may be lucky enough to get a row to ourselves on the way out, and im praying my little one sleeps on the whole flight back!

I think im going to go for economy on the flight, espically as it seems pretty empty, although I flew LGW-ANU in PE in the bubble last year and it was the first time I actually enjoyed a flight without being terrified!!

Do you happen to know what my chances are of getting a bulk head seat on the way back is, is it based on a first come basis? I know that the request for bulkheads have been made for us but im not sure how the seats are allocated at MCO, as i am used to doing my check-in at downtown disney.

Another quick question, can I do OLCI and get bulk heads, or does that have to be done at LGW?

Thanks again!!

[honey lamb]

I honestly can't answer your question about bulkheads when flying back from MCO as I have never requested them nor have I used the Down Town check-in there. Others will be in a better position to answer that.

To answer your other question you normally have to be at the airport to get bulkheads but there is nothing stopping you from doing OLCI and the requesting them at LGW. I don't know if it has been rectified but the other day the seat maps in My Booking were showing the bulkheads in all their glory to be allocated. It might be worth having a look but if it is greyed out, don't worry. It may only have been UC that was showing or VS might have decided not to honour these requests because they should not have shown up

are you close enough to LGW to do twilight check in ? if you can get there smack on mid day you will get a choice of seats. it sounds like you should be ok going out if the flight is that empty. do OLCi and reserve seats with a gap in between, i would think your chances would increase evn more if you book centre aisle rather than window and further to the back of the plane