Family Seating- Free or not?

So, I am a new VA flyer and am confused about their family seating policy. When I read it online, it appears that you can call in advance and get seat assignments for free when traveling with minors. Is this true? I called and they told me I would have to pay or the computer would assign me at the 24 hours mark. I am confused....

Also, second question....I booked on Delta Award points....has anyone had success upgrading to Premium Economy for a fee in advance of travel? How?

[Neil]

Hi,
You can't select in advance for free just because you are a family. Virgin will, because you are travelling with young children I imagine, do their best to ensure you are sat together, or at worst ensure no child is sat on their own. If you are a Flying Club member, then you can select your seats for free at 72 hours before your flight.

I'm not that familiar with the Delta reward scheme, but imagine it is similar to Virgin's and if so, then you can't upgrade with cash for a fare you have bought using points. You would be able to use more points, but there will need to be availability to do so.

Neil

The policy is here: http://www.virgin-atlantic.com/gb/en/travel-information/customer-service/latest-news/seat-assignment.html

Seating families
We’ll try and seat families with children under 12 years old together, free of charge, when check in opens before departure. We’ll assign seats on a first come first served basis.
If we can't seat all your family together, we'll make sure each child, under 12 years old is seated with an adult from your group.

However if you want to make sure all your family are sitting together in your preferred choice of seats, you can use the seat selection process above when you book, or anytime up to 336 days before your flight.

As Neil says, you will be assigned seats together from whatever selection of seats remain empty when OLCI opens (24h before the flight).

If you want particular seats (eg to avoid the middle section) or to guarantee you are all together as 1 group you still need to pay. It's possible for your group to be split up (eg Mum + 1 child in one area of the plane and Dad + other child elsewhere) if you wait for the free assignment. The only guarantee offered is that no under 12 will be sat without an adult in the group next to them.