The relaunch of the Virgin Atlantic website in late 2016 did not go smoothly. Most of the teething problems were eventually ironed out.
There was one very serious issue which did not get fixed. Because of limitations in the new booking software, redemption tickets for infants were no longer charged at a nominal mileage cost plus taxes and charges.
They were now being charged at 10% of the lowest cash fare, plus taxes and charges. This could be very high indeed. The new policy was identical to the Delta policy, Virgin’s 49% shareholder, and it was a version of Delta’s booking software that Virgin introduced.
This change had the potential to be very bad indeed. If you were flying in Upper Class, 10% of the cheapest Upper Class return cash ticket for your day of travel would usually be £200 – £300.
It went crazy on a one way flight. As Virgin Atlantic only sells fully flexible one way tickets, you were looking at around £5,000 if you paid cash for an adult. This meant that the infant redemption ticket was £500 plus taxes and charges!
Virgin Atlantic has finally fixed the problem
You can now book lap infants (children aged under 2) at standard fixed prices through the Virgin Customer Service Centre. This is what it costs:
Economy – 1,000 miles per sector
Premium – 2,000 miles per sector
Upper – 5,000 miles per sector
At some point in the next few weeks, infant bookings at these prices will also be available online.
What will not be possible online is booking a seat using Flying Club miles for a child under two. This will still need to be done, at standard Flying Club child (not infant) pricing, via telephone.
This is great news for any Virgin flyer with young children although it has taken far too long to be fixed.
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About Head for Points
Very welcome news. First VS UC flight booked!
A couple of (potentially silly) questions:
1. Are there taxes/charges on top of those miles?
2. Are you able to book adult tickets for cash and then an infant redemption (or similar mix)?
3. Is the pricing for children 2-12 the same number of miles as an adult but slightly less in tax/charges?
No idea, you need to ring! I asked Virgin for a statement on what is happening and what I wrote above is basically it. I have no more info.
Ok great, thanks!
Still not fixed for Iberia thanks to their crap it systems.
Bit harsh blaming that one on Virgin. Pretty sure there’s zero chance of Iberia having a partnership with Iberia.
Oh I wonder what happens if you have an existing booking, would be good if they could reprice it for our lap infant
Might be cheaper to cancel and rebook if they won’t allow you to amend
Excellent timing. Baby W now 4 weeks old and looking forward to booking his first holiday ????
I’ve paid roughly £250 for an infant seat in Virgin upper for September.
I very much doubt they’ll be willing to refund. The ticket was non cancelable (unlike reward seats which are fully flex) in hindsight I should have just booked the lap seat last minute as availability would never have been an issue.
I just wish you could search and book tickets online for adults travelling with children under 16. As things stand you need to call Flying Club.
Sorry should have stated this is reward bookings not cash sales
Yep it’s a joke they’ve not fixed this.
Is anyone familiar with how the new 3 Economy classes match up with fare codes?
I’m trying to search Economy Delight availability through ITA Matrix but can’t find any documentation on how/if the classes listed at http://v-flyer.com/toolbox_fare_codes.php actually map to the 3 new Economy offerings
Jack – From looking at the LGW-BGI route in November, the cheapest economy light tickets are booking into straight into T (“other”), economy classic line up exactly with N (“2nd lowest economy class”) and the Economy delight aren’t lining into to a class that’s listed on the V flyer site – they cost about halfway between an M and an E fare
Just a quick heads up related to Virgin money international transfers. I did my first transfer earlier this week and used the code VMRED25 for £25 off which improved the GBP/EUR exchange rate to better than spot. Surprisingly I also received the 3000 miles for first transfer despite t&c saying money off coupon cannot be used with any other offer. Just ensure amount transferred after the £25 discount is more than £1000
Hi Rob, I asked Virgin and they say infants pay 10% of mileage in the adult redemption chart, rather than the sector rate you describe. Has this policy been updated?
That article came directly from Virgin Atlantic and is the new policy. The call centre staff should have been fully trained in it by now. Shortly online infant booking will also be possible.