Changes to Virgin Atlantic seat reservation system.

Korkyb

My 18 year old daughter & her friend have flights booked to Sydney via LA with Virgin at the end of this year.

They are students on a limited budget so every penny counts.

At the time of booking they knew that they would be reserving seats 3 days prior to flying along with all other passengers who didn't pay the extra to reserve seats in advance & accepted that there was a risk of not getting seats together but this could be reduced by getting in quick as soon as the 72 hour window opened.

2 weeks after they made their booking Virgin changed their system and all passengers who booked after 17th March can now book seats immediately. This advantage is not being backdated to those with existing reservations.

This means that there will be an higher chance of them not being able to get seats together on a very, (very) long flight as everyone booking from 17th will have booked seats well in advance.

I know that they can pay extra to reserve but as there are multiple flights involved this would have a big impact on the money they are saving for the trip.

I know that the terms and conditions they booked under have not changed but it seems as if Virgin have moved the goalposts (if not the contract) after they booked.

It feels to me that they are being disadvantaged by the change and that they are not in the same position as when they agreed to the T&C's.

Am I right to feel a bit aggrieved (on their behalf) or am I just a grumpy old git?

Browntoa

I've never been bothered about being sat on my own , even on long haul.

You are going to spend all day with them at the destination

photome

You are a bit of a grumpy old git.

Virgin have done similar in the past as have other airlines there always has to be a cut off when systems are changed.

It!!!8217;s only £30 to reserve a seat and if they had waited and booked now they would still have to pay the £30 all be it , it would have been included in the cost of the ticket ( the middle one of the new 3 economy tickets).

They could have now bought the cheapest ticket but wouldnt get a seat choice and wouldn!!!8217;t get 23kg allowance

not sure you have a complaint as many people pay the £30 anyway so there would possibly have not been any/ many seats to pick from


Ps I thought it was 24 hours before that free seats were available not 72

Korkyb

Browntoa wrote: »

I've never been bothered about being sat on my own , even on long haul.

You are going to spend all day with them at the destination

To be honest I'm with you on that! I've been on some journeys where I would have paid extra to be seated away from screaming/moaning kids..... & wifie :-)

But then I'm not 18 & making my 1st big trip on what is generally the longest journey you can make (unless circumnavigating the globe).

Korkyb

photome wrote: »

You are a bit of a grumpy old git.

Virgin have done similar in the past as have other airlines there always has to be a cut off when systems are changed.

It’s only £30 to reserve a seat and if they had waited and booked now they would still have to pay the £30 all be it , it would have been included in the cost of the ticket ( the middle one of the new 3 economy tickets).

They could have now bought the cheapest ticket but wouldnt get a seat choice and wouldn’t get 23kg allowance

not sure you have a complaint as many people pay the £30 anyway so there would possibly have not been any/ many seats to pick from

As there are 4 flights involved (changing at LAX) I imagine they would have to find another £120 each.

I wonder what proportion of people on each flight actually do stump up to book seats in advance??

photome

Korkyb wrote: »

As there are 4 flights involved (changing at LAX) I imagine they would have to find another £120 each.

I wonder what proportion of people on each flight actually do stump up to book seats in advance??

I don’t know how many pay to book in advance but I have recently flown with VA , I did pay ( because we wanted to sit upstairs on a 747 and wanted 2 seats on their own in any back)

When I checked in dead on the second that check in opened ( 24 hours in advance) I checked to see what seats were available to change to and there were no pairs of seats available.

Of course if you are right and it’s 72 hours then that may be different

EssexExile

You could pay for your daughter & friend to reserve seats now. That's Christmas presents sorted.

bagand96

Who is the LAX-SYD flight operated by? I'm guessing Virgin Australia or Delta?

I don't know how Virgin operate things to be fair, but it might be worth looking on the booking and seeing what happens when you try and book a seat on the partner flights - you may get a pleasant surprise. I've got bookings later this year to the US with KLM - although one leg is operated by Delta. KLM charge for seat reservations, but I was able to select seats on the Delta flight for free - it redirected me to the Delta site.

Like I said - it might not be the same with Virgin but might be worth a try.

domhunt72

Actually, no I don't think you are being a grumpy git.

I've also been affected by the change too. And, whilst I understand the need to energise the economy market in light of other lower cost entrants, I've been moved into a class whereby anyone else can book their seats as of now. The policy back from Virgin has been, "the cost of assigning seats is included in the fare people are paying today". However, checking today (and on two other previous occasions, the base price I paid is £3.52 cheaper than booking today. However I'm expected to pay £120 to be able to choose 2 seats together (there and back) whilst someone booking the same flight today can do that for free. It's not a fair policy change in the slightest.

I appreciate that T's and C's will have all covered this but when a company talks of policy - they've lost the grip on a customer. It!!!8217;s a shame as Virgin always wanted to put the customer first - this change shows scant regard for that.

And I want to sit with my husband because the flight is as much part of the holiday as the destination itself - however I'm not going to pay an extra £120 to do something someone can do today for basically the same price I paid.

The line back is !!!8220;they want to make this fair to everyone!!!8221; which is a good sentiment !!!8211; however they have now created 4 tiers in economy !!!8211; low, 2 x classic (those who booked before the 17 and will have to pay to assign seats and those who booked after and can do it for free) and those who want extra legroom. How splitting out the middle tier into those that !!!8220;have!!!8221; and those that !!!8220;have not!!!8221; isn!!!8217;t very fair to me.

It!!!8217;s all very disappointing and after this flight and the one the year after which was booked by someone else, I don't think I!!!8217;ll fly them again - feel very let down and disappointed that they believe this is an acceptable policy shift !!!8211; and trust me I!!!8217;ve complained right to the top. I'm sure they won't be bothered by not flying with them again but it!!!8217;ll make me feel happier

Johntrain

Booked flights to Indianapolis in November last year on line with virgin, four flights involved, three operated by delta seats booked no extra charge, one flight with virgin Atlantic required to pay £30 per seat, three of us travelling, spoken to virgins agent, they will not wave the fees, told to choose when checking in on line fourty eight before return flight, if you are a club member you can do this seventy two hours before, in light of the recent changes we feel this is unfair, we just like to be organised with seats, delta can do this but virgin will not budge, penalised in this respect for booking early. I appreciate this cost may have been added when we booked, if so it should have applied to all four flights surely ?