Seat configurations in Business Class - help please!

[silverfrog]

We are off to Australia this year, and are trying to book our flights.

Have flown Ba loads before, so know the seat configurations well, but don't know about Virgin, or Qantas. The websites only help so much...

It will be me, dh, and 2 dds flying (and my stepchildren, but they are 19 and 18, so don't need the constant supervision so much!)

The dds are (will be) 5 and 2. The 5 year old is autistic.

The BA style suits us, ie one forward facing and one rear facing in pairs, as that gives good contact between parents and children. Last year when we flew back from the States, we had 3 seats in a row (dd2 only 1 at the time, so no seat of her own), in the centre section (ie one forward facing, 2 rear facign) which gave the dds soemwhere to play on the floor as practically enclosed.

The Virgin cabin does not look as child friendly in this respect - seems that all seats are very much sectioned apart from each other, with not much social contact?

And the Qantas seats are all forward facing, is that right? And seem to be in pairs only.

Hmmm.

Anyone flown recently who can help out?

Thanks

What you want to look at is www.seatguru.com - this gives the full plane configuration of seats and facilities on board each type of aircraft each airline you list uses.

Virgin do not have "business class" as such; their classes for travel are Economy, Premium Economy and Upper class. Upper class have single rows of seats at the side in a herringbone configuration. Virgin Upper class can be noisy at times due to the bar which also takes up quite a lot of room within the cabin.

Thanks, will have a look.

The impression I have of the Virgin cabin is that the seats are designed for maximum privacy. All very well if travelling on your own, but no use if children are involved. The dds will spend most of the time with either dh or me, i suspect, but there are obviously times when they have to be in their own seats. If I cannot see or reach them at these times then Virgin are out.

there is no way dd1 will sit happily if she cannot see me, or hold my hand for eg.

OTOH, the slightly noisier aspect appeals, as then I won't feel so guilty when the dds sing non-stop for 23 hours (it is at least nicely in tune, and they do a good repertoire of show tunes, but still )

Will hunt around that site, and see what I can find out.

Yes, the Virgin seats are designed for privacy, so if you are next to each other you have to peer over the wall! We took our kids to Sydney in Virgin Upper Class about 2 years ago when they were 8months and 27 months, and it was great, though DD did stand up a lot in her seat as she couldn't see us any other way! So sounds like it wouldn't work for you, as you can't for example, hold their hand on take off.