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seat allocation query

PostPosted: 11 Feb 2011, 23:50
by Hev60
Hi again. I am wondering if any of you knowledgeable experts could offer some assistance or reassurance.

My family have booked six seats LGW to Orlando on Friday April 15th. We did this via the flying club & during the booking process said they had 'allocated' six seats in the upstairs Prem Econ section. Our flight back to the uk is from Boston.

When I go into 'manage my booking' the seats in PE are marked out to us but the seat plan looks different to the Boston flight, coz on this one we cannot alter our seats around. On the Orlando VS 27 no other seating shows up and also the seat numbers allocated against our names are not in bold, like the Boston flight seat numbers. The info for the MCO flight says "view the seat map" but with the Boston flight it says "change your seat"???

I've read that Virgin sometimes bring in a LHR 747 plane with a different configuration to the Gatwick style ones, meaning the PE section is downstairs. Has anyone here actually experienced this or is it a rumour. We are/were so looking forward to travelling in the 'bubble'. Virgin Flying Club said they cannot comment on what aircraft is likely to be used.

Re: seat allocation query

PostPosted: 12 Feb 2011, 01:13
by honey lamb
You don't say when your return from Boston is as that would help us answer your query but I can say that if you have been allocated seats in the upper deck on your MCO flight then you will definitely be on a differently configured plane for your flight from Boston. It will either be a LHR configured 747 where the PE section will be downstairs or an A 340-600 or A 340-300.

Why you do not get the Change your Seat message on your MCO flight is because the front half of the upstairs cabin is reserved for Virgin Holiday customers and if not taken are released only just before On-line Check-in opens. There are no such restrictions on the Boston flights which is why you are offered this option. However do be aware that only 60% of seats are available for pre-allocation and once this figure has been reached you cannot use that option until OLCI opens

Your seat selection for MCO is probably OK but remember it is only a request and can be changed if, for example there is an aircraft change. Your best way of guaranteeing your seats is to do OLCI as soon as it opens.

Re: seat allocation query

PostPosted: 12 Feb 2011, 18:15
by Hev60
Thank you HoneyLamb for your reply.

The Virgin Holidays comment makes sense now, thanks for that info. We've been allocated the seats which come out tops on "seat guru" so hoping we get to keep them. Yeah I realise that any seating is only a request and I always do the OLCI.

As for our Boston flights, we only booked economy as I've travelled numerous times in Prem Econ on those Airbus 340-600 and have been stuck in the middle of three - horrid. I'd rather sit in the economy 2 window/aisle seats - which we've managed to 'request' for our home-bound flight.

Thanks again.