Virgin atlantic seats??

[Scarlett175]

have rang Virgin twice now- am going to SF in December with DH and DD, 8 months by then, and whilst they have prebooked 1 bulkhead seat with a skycot for me and DD, they will not/can not prebook DH next to us??

apparently this can only be done on check in, depending on how many other people need bulkhead seats which is really making me anxious about the flight....

anyone else had experience of this??

yes. pretty standard. At the end of the day your DH could be taking the seat that another mum and baby need.

Think of it another way - how would you feel if a family of 4 took up the entire bulkhead with only one skycot being used/needed?

yeah this happened to us. dh ended up about 12 rows away on a flight to sa
it was fine

We flew VA last Sunday and had pre-booked bulkhead and were told quite early on we had been allocated one with myself, DH, DD (4) and DS (infant). Also travelling with DC1 and 2 (teenagers) and didn't expect them to be in bulkhead row but were told they would be a 'few row's behind which we were fine with for the very reason that tefal says. A bit suprised on check in to find that the 'few' rows was in fact 39 rows behind us! No problems with DS and I together though although I know some airlines (BA being one) that will only allocate one adult per infant in bulkhead but they will usually try to change it once you check in. We've quite often had myself and DC4 in bulkhead row with DH and DD being a row behind but have had it changed on check in if all bassinets not in use. Occasionally DD (4) is also in bulkhead with DH behind. I do wish they would sometimes put DH with DC3 and 4 in the bulkhead and me 39 rows away

Just make sure you arrive to check in as soon as it opens if you aren't checking in online

thanks for replies, yes I guess it does make sense, just surprised me! and to be honest DH is brilliant at getting DD to sleep so we may have to rotate I think...

When I called the flight was pretty full with only 2 skycots reserved so it may not even be an issue...

x

We encountered a similar situation with south african, but I was advised to arrive for the opening of check in as once the seats have been allocated at check in they can not be taken away.

Have you thought of using the twilight check in and staying overnight ? You would then be there the earliest to be alloctaed as good a seat as is possible for those not already allocated bulk head ones.

Plus its a really easy way to do it

This is from VA website:-
"Where you have pre-assigned a seat online, check in needs to be completed no later than 2 hours before departure time to enable us to honour this request. The exception are flights out of London Heathrow, when check in must be completed 13 hours prior to departure to retain pre-assigned seats".

IIRC Scarlett your SF flight departs from Heathrow. I am uncertain as to whether Virgin at Heathrow operate twilight check in facilities (they do so at Gatwick but that is a separate operation). You would need to check with VA.

I would use online check in and get to the airport around 3 hours prior to departure.