Meals on morning flight with Virgin Atlantic

mrweetabix

Thanks for the tips on airport parking everyone.

Now, we are travelling with our little one and so we won't to try and plan the flight - ie meals and sleeps etc.

Has anybody flown with Virgin to the Caribbean on a morning flight?

We take off at 08:55 and it takes about 10 hours.

Does anybody know what meals Virgin will feed us? Also, do we get free drinks?

Any tips and advice is most welcome and thankyou!

samuela66

mrweetabix wrote: »

Thanks for the tips on airport parking everyone.

Now, we are travelling with our little one and so we won't to try and plan the flight - ie meals and sleeps etc.

Has anybody flown with Virgin to the Caribbean on a morning flight?

We take off at 08:55 and it takes about 10 hours.

Does anybody know what meals Virgin will feed us? Also, do we get free drinks?

Any tips and advice is most welcome and thankyou!

You should get 2 meals, but maybe just a sandwich for the last one, and yes your drinks are free with Virgin, but they do tend to run out (well they have on every flight I have been on) and NO I didnt drink them

ha ha:rotfl:

freeballoon

I'll make an assumption you're flying Economy (like most of us). Given that the Caribbean is a couple of hours further away from Orlando, our experience might help.

We (mum and dad) have flown from Manchester to Orlando with our daughter five times over the period from November 2008 (when she was six months old) through to November 2010 (two and a half years old).

Our daughter has been seated four different ways (I mention this because it might have a bearing on whether your child receives a meal):

1. as an infant ("under two") on our lap,
2. as an infant ("under two") in her own seat with a Virgin child-seat (need to telephone this booking, not available online),
3. as a child in her own seat with a Virgin child-seat (this is great but suitable up to about 24lbs),
4. as a child in her own seat.

Our experience has surprised us. In all but the last trip our child was served nothing to eat. Travelling as an infant, regardless of paying for a seat, no meal was loaded onboard for her (apparently an oversight, but it happened on all our flights except one). Only when she became two years old AND choosing a special meal of "child meal" in the online booking (just leaving it blank meant she went unfed) did she receive a meal. For eight out of ten flights we donated whatever we could from our adult meals. (Yes, I've followed this up with Cust Svcs).

Our outbound morning flight leaves around 1030: drinks and nibbles are served nearly immediately, followed by another drink, then lunch, then later about six hours into the flight, a choc ice sometimes so cold they're brittle! Returning from Orlando at 1830 there's no evening meal, just drinks and nibbles, and what used to be a nearly inedible bagel has been replaced by an English muffin for breakfast.

Here are our tips:

• Travel expecting to receive no meals for your infant.
• Pack finger food that don't contravene the liquids policies, and add to it airside if necessary. Grapes, raisins, biscuits, cheese suited us.
• If your infant is bottle feeding, cabin staff will undoubtedly be delighted to warm bottles in hot water (no microwaving), recommend you ask in good time, because they're often busy.
• One of your party should pre-order a special dietary meal, e.g. Vegan/vegetarian etc because these are distributed immediately before the masses receive their meals. This means that one of you can get through the early meal, leaving one to help the youngster eat.

Other resources to help (as a new user I can't post URLs/links):

• v-flyer.com forum (users here have far more experience than me)
• search the internet for "virgin atlantic children"

KarenG

freeballoon wrote:

Returning from Orlando at 1830 there's no evening meal, just drinks and nibbles, and what used to be a nearly inedible bagel has been replaced by an English muffin for breakfast.

Really?!!

We've done this route many times (MCO-LGW rather than MAN but I would have thought the same principle applied). We've always, always, been served a "dinner/tea" of a hot variety, relatively early into the flight - and pretty comparable to what they serve on the outbound flight for lunch.

Agree the breakfast now is truly vile

Westin

Karen G is right. There is always a dinner service ex MCO followed by a light breakfast before landing.

Caribbean flights follow the same meal service timetable. Ex UK to the Caribbean you will be served lunch and a snack before landing. On the return dinner and light (but hot) breakfast before landing.

I'm not aware any airline provides a meal for an infant (under two) as they don't pay for a seat. Once two and paying for a child, they would receive a meal.

bungle4by4

if you get the chance, and have the cash, upgrade to premium economy, its much much nicer in there. they sometimes offer any available seats for sale.

mrweetabix

Thanks for all the tips guys. We have flown Virgin twice before but it was a couple of years back.

Our little one will be 21 months and she has her own seat (with length of journey and all). Will she still not get a meal?

I was hoping we would get a light snack when we got on board, a main meal and then a light snack before we get off!

Better get planning a picnic! What are the restrictions like for taking food through now - or is it only liquids?

Thanks again you have all been very helpful.

Thea

Hi there, someone from my family flies to JA every year.

You get alcohol after you set off (yes u will prob be offered this before your offered a hot drink).

You then get a dinner. Then a couple of hours before landing, a sandwich and a icecream snack.

Drinks are available thrroughout the flight free and usually there will be some alcoholics taking full advantage of this free service, so get in there quick

Hope that helps.

mrweetabix

I think on our documentation we have to sign into our Virgin booking and order our daughters meal. Did you have to do this? Concerned now she won't have food!

Spursman180

mrweetabix wrote: »

I think on our documentation we have to sign into our Virgin booking and order our daughters meal. Did you have to do this? Concerned now she won't have food!

Check out https://www.seatguru.com it will tell you all you will need to know about the plane, route, menu and service in the class you've booked.

freeballoon

KarenG wrote: »

Really?!!
We've always, always, been served a "dinner/tea" of a hot variety, relatively early into the flight - and pretty comparable to what they serve on the outbound flight for lunch.

Westin wrote: »

Karen G is right. There is always a dinner service ex MCO followed by a light breakfast before landing.

Thanks for the correction KarenG and Westin (and also my travelling partner). I'm reminded of the US-sourced produce in the dinner - as KarenG mentions, the meal is comparable to outbound lunch.

Mrweetabix, take a look at "Taking liquids in your hand baggage" at direct.gov.uk/en/TravelAndTransport/Publictransport/AirtravelintheUK/DG_078179 to determine which foods you can take through security screening. There's plenty of food available to purchase airside to take onboard.