First Trip...!

Hello all,

I'm flying LGW-LAS next month. It'll be my first trip with VS and also the first flight my 3 year old will ever have made.

We're going to be crammed to the rafters with excess baggage as we're moving abroad with work for a few years, and I thought I'd ask here if anyone had any advice for making the flight as relatively pain-free as possible; especially with a youngster?

I'm a bit worried reading reports across the internet of thin seats with poor seat pitch, although I presume if we manage to get seated together we'll be able to pop armrests up to make ourselves a bit more comfortable.

So does anyone have any tips? Is an upgrade to PE for a family of 3 affordable, or are you ever likely to luck into a free one? How about securing decent seats; are extra legroom ones available for pre-booking, or only on arrival? When should I try to check in? Will we be guaranteed seating together bearing in mind we're with a 3 year old? Is there a lounge at Gatwick either for free or that we can pay to use? As we tend to only fly around the UK on locos, is the flight likely to be full to bursting?

Sorry for the list of questions but I'm keen to try and make it a pleasant experience. Any advice would be welcome!

[honey lamb]

Hi and welcome to V-Flyer. We'll try to answer all your questions as we all have difference experiences to share.

With regard to seating I presume you are flying economy? You can select your seats by using your PNR, the 6 digit alpha-numeric code on your e-ticket. Just go on to the Manage my Booking page on the Virgin Atlantic website and enter in the details and your flight will come up. Click on the link for seats and you will get a seat map from which you can select your seats but please bear in mind that they are requests and though generally speaking are honoured unless there is an aircraft change.

If you have booked your flight directly through Virgin Atlantic you can buy the extra leg-room seats by calling them direct. See here. If you have used a travel agent you can only book them at the airport if they are still available.

On-line check-in opens 24 hours before your flight and it is advised to use it as soon as possible after that to be sure of your seats. If however you do get separated then the cabin crew will do their best to seat you together especially with such a young child.

Others will be along with recommendations about travelling with a small child but many have found it useful to have little toys and treats to keep him/her amused throughout the flight.

It is unlikely that three of you will get a free upgrade to PE but if you check into the Manage my Booking page as advised about they may well be offering upgrades and the price will be displayed there.

Finally someone will come along with details of lounges in Gatwick but the No. 1 lounge gets good reviews

one thing to bear in mind is if you pay for an upgrade your bag allowance increases so you can offset that. if you wait until the airport its pot luck, upgrades can cost from as little as £150 to infinity. never done the LAS route but it seems to be usually very full.dont bank on a free upgrade. at 30 quid each the ELR seats have to be worth it.sadly at 3 you cannot put a kid in the exit rows which are better.

the No 1 lounge is definitely good value, you can drink and eat and junior can watch the planes.

one final point on the bags and bringing the kithcen sink, we also moved to the US permanently last year and were merciless on what we brought/chucked. it can be cheaper buying new here than bringing bag loads of stuff

Thanks for the advice. We're alright for baggage as work will give me an advance to cover the costs of excess baggage, but I think being sensible upgrading will be out of our reach. We'll certainly put an early bid in for ELR seats, what stage can we do that?

The No 1 Lounge, do you need to pre-book that?

[honey lamb]

We'll certainly put an early bid in for ELR seats, what stage can we do that?

Sorry! I didn't preview my post and so didn't realise the link didn't work. It's fixed now so the information is there.

The No 1 Lounge, do you need to pre-book that?

It is advisable that you do plus there is a discount for advance bookings

Use their website. Make sure you book the right one though!

hello & welcome

good luck to you & do let us know how you get on. We'll be waitng for your TR

TTFN R-P

3 yr old = electronic media, either laptop/tablet or portable DVD player will be worth its weight in Gold.. load with either favourite movies/ Cbeebies etc. DONT rely on the IFE , although if on a more modern member of the fleet there are kids options available they are fairly limited for little ones.
The obvious colouring in stuff, mind occupying games- puzzles etc.

Take a light change of emergency clothes for little one, and yourself and variety of healthy snacks- eg raisins etc (last thing you need is them bouncing around on E numbers and sugar highs.), Calpol sachets in hand luggage, and even if out of nappies I would suggest they wear one.
The kids meals are grim :$ , but out of choice order one, as the bits around the hot stodge in the middle are useful.
biggest issue to everyone else will be seat kicking, general running around and not being entertained...If gets cranky- a few walks to rear of plane and general change of scene.. failing that sedatives ! ):
Don't worry about it, 3 isn't young on the scale of things, it will boil down to attention... (don't let them sleep on trip to airport and walk them a lot once at the airport)

NH