V-Flyer

Just booked two upper class flights for Cancun next March and found out you can't select your seat until 90 days before the flight. Is this new policy as the refit won effect the seat plans for UC. If it is new policy it's hardly rewarding people who book early and want to ensure they get their preferred seat. I can't understand why unless its a technical problem why on earth VS could see this a progress. I have been able to select our seats on our connecting Monarch flights and would have liked to have been able to do likewise on what is a vastly more expensive product.

It is a temporary restriction whilst the seat selection system is being upgraded. It is unconnected with the LGW refits.

I'd forgotten about this when booking a flight for next April. The agent I was speaking to was a bit apologetic and tried to justify it as somehow fairer - not sure about that However, everyone's in the same boat and we just need to remember to set the alarm clocks for T-90....

Do Monach charge for seat resavations?

No because we are gold but yes if your not but hey it's not over two grand a ticket

PaulS wrote:No because we are gold but yes if your not but hey it's not over two grand a ticket

Do BA charge,Monach gold?

Had I known of this limitation with Virgin prior to purchasing I would have booked with BA.

Rather shabby system.

Regards

Maybe VA will start charging like other Airlines then that will stop all the arguments

Vegnomeat wrote:Had I known of this limitation with Virgin prior to purchasing I would have booked with BA.

Rather shabby system.

Regards

But even BA has restrictionson who can pre select a seat and when you can do it.

Unless you are silver, gold or buying a fully flexible ticket you have to wait for various cut off points and anyone buying a cheap ticket basically has to wait until OLCI - at least with VS it is (currently 90 days) for everyone.

BA choose your seat

That was my point there seems to be a lot of Virgin bashing at the moment and at least they don't charge (yet?)

Point about BA isn't universally true - I can select (as a lowly blue - for now) seats on the LHR to BHD route at time of booking - including exit seats. Possibly a hangover from the BMI takeover that won't last.

But yes, agree that perhaps the OPs comments are a bit harsh. Although I've just had a really enjoyable flight, so I'm in a good mood.

Even without any status, you can get a seat allocated - for payment- at any point in the process on BA. A domestic seat will cost you £8.00 (that is what MMB is showing for my flight on Thursday) and Long haul flights were upwards of £40 (if I recall correctly) last year, dependent on class.

If you are travelling with a child under the age of 12 you will have your seats allocated for free 72 hours out. If one of your party is disabled you can get seats allocated for free at any point (have done so for my boys on four recent flights with BA).

I'm just going to have to be there at T-24 to see if I can get a goodish seat... We've managed to land row 3 before now at T-72 when the first 5 rows are released.

But yes the free seat reservations that VS offer are one of the plus points of the airline for me...

tontybear wrote:
But even BA has restrictionson who can pre select a seat and when you can do it.

Unless you are silver, gold or buying a fully flexible ticket you have to wait for various cut off points and anyone buying a cheap ticket basically has to wait until OLCI - at least with VS it is (currently 90 days) for everyone.

Do not agree. Whenever I have travelled with BA I have per-booked seats and I personally feel it is well worth the extra cash to ensure I get to sit with my travel partner in a seat of my choice.

Status and fare class has absolutely nothing to do with the pre-paid seat booking system when paying.

I have never encountered any restrictions with BA, in fact I've already paid for selected seats on my BA flight next year and I have no status to get hung up about and I'm travelling on a cheap ticket

Hev60 wrote:Do not agree. Whenever I have travelled with BA I have per-booked seats and I personally feel it is well worth the extra cash

I think if we inserted the words "without a fee" into Tonty's statement you would agree that BA places restrictions on seat requests until OLCI ... yes you can pay to request a seat on BA at any time as a non-elite. However you a) do not need to pay and b) in normal circumstances can request a seat at anytime for any flyer on VS. It's obviously something V-Flyers value and VS should be cautious about changing it.

jodash wrote:That was my point there seems to be a lot of Virgin bashing at the moment and at least they don't charge (yet?)

I was not bashing Virgin, just merely reflecting on how disappointed I was with the new system and enquiring whether this was a change of policy as for the last ten years I have always been able to allocate my seats. The Monarch gold had nothing to with BA or VS but should VS start charging that would not bother me either. Like most people I suspect that being able to select the seats of choice is quite important and that is why I booked early. When making a booking it is usually the total end price including all options such as seat reservations and luggage where charged and flight times that influence the carrier for the journey.

The inability to choose seats will therefore make me look at other arrives whilst this restriction is in place

Finally like the vast majority of posters on this forum I have always been an loyal VS flyer, but I do believe that doesn't stop people from criticizing them when they truly believe the product s falling belw the standards set by the brand (UC amenity kits etc). You cannot defend poor service or decision making blindly as sometimes happens on this forum.

I would rather pay and select a seat than get involved in a scrum for seats. Isn't it a limitation of the Virgin system at the present rather than Virgin policy that we can't select a seat now ?

Don't get me wrong, I like Virgin and have previously travelled many thousands of miles on their Aircraft.

Regards

Yes, it is a limitation at the moment while they are upgrading their systems. Who knows what the future holds with regards to changes or new policies they might bring in, the current 90 day system really isn't a hardship.

If reading v-flyer teaches you anything, it is that people are very anxious about seating -- in fact, possibly more anxious about it than anything else. The current "upgrade" is getting ridiculous -- an upgrade that has lasted months and months and months, with no end seemingly in sight, with no hint of why it is necessary or what it will bring, and the only immediate consequence being to take away lots of people's ability to request a seat free or charge at the time of booking. Which happens to be one of the very few material differences between VS and its principal competitor.

If this is an upgrade, then I dread to think what a downgrade would look like. ii)

at240 wrote:The current "upgrade" is getting ridiculous -- an upgrade that has lasted months and months and months, with no end seemingly in sight, with no hint of why it is necessary or what it will bring, and the only immediate consequence being to take away lots of people's ability to request a seat free or charge at the time of booking. Which happens to be one of the very few material differences between VS and its principal competitor.

Ditto the web site ... I mean really.

I have a booking at present which is UC out and PE return (Miami).

However, my booking won't let me upgrade online to UC on the return journey. I am pretty sure that on previous bookings I have been able to upgrade online for both journeys.

Regards

When you say. Won't let you is your MMB showing a option to upgrade

Vegnomeat wrote:I have a booking at present which is UC out and PE return (Miami).

However, my booking won't let me upgrade online to UC on the return journey. I am pretty sure that on previous bookings I have been able to upgrade online for both journeys.

Assuming you mean the option to upgrade using cash on the Manage My Booking page, most likely explanation is that all the UC seats available for upgrade have gone.

Keep checking though, as seats can become available at any time, or as a last resort there may be availability at the airport on the day.

It doesn't show options to upgrade in the MMB. I guess UC return must be full, although online it still shows UC for sale ?

Regards