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Can I pre-allocate my seat?

How do I select my own seats from a seat map?

Why is the seat map button not appearing?

Can I choose seats which are not together?

Can I leave an empty seat between passengers in my group?

Can I select an exit row seat?

Can I request an extra legroom seat?

Can I take my laptop and use it on board the plane?

Can you select your seats?

What is considered a family?



Q Can I pre-allocate my seat?

A Seating is a service we offer free of charge. Seats can be pre-allocated after you have booked your flight, by logging into 'My Booking' online, or via your travel agent. We offer this service up to 24 hours before your flight departs. Please use our 'Online Check In' facility, within 24 hours before your flight departs, to reserve your chosen seat. 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.

Whilst we will always try our best to meet your requirements please note that seat numbers are never guaranteed and are subject to operational changes.

Please note: The Contact Centre no longer pre-assigns seats for passengers.

Reservations Department numbers:
UK: 0844 209 7777
Australia (Sydney): 02 9244 2747
Australia (Melbourne): 03 9920 3887
Australia (Brisbane): 07 3407 7188
Australia (Perth): 08 9229 9212
Australia (Adelaide): 08 8306 8411
Caribbean: 1 800 744 7477 or Barbados 1 246 228 4886
China: +86 21 53 534600
Hong Kong: 852 2532 6060
India: +91 11 51501300/05
Japan: 03 3499 8811
Nigeria (Lagos): +234 (0) 1 3202747
Nigeria (Port Harcourt): +234 084-467000-6
South Africa: 011 340 3400
USA: 1 800 862 8621

Q How do I select my own seats from a seat map?

A If a seat map button is displayed on the booking confirmation page or within the Manage Your Flights section. Clicking this button will launch the seat map for that flight in a popup window. Your current seat assignment (if applicable) is displayed in the 'Seat' column next to each passenger name, and shown as a purple seat on the seat map itself. You can change your seat by clicking on one of the available seats (red) shown on the map and clicking 'submit', or by typing an available seat number into the 'Seat' column next to the passenger name and clicking 'submit'. If you choose to type an available seat number into the 'Seat' column, clicking the 'Update map' link will update the seating map with your new seat selection - however you still must click 'submit' to confirm your new seat selection.

Q Why can't I see the seat map button?

A Seat maps are only available to customers who have purchased their tickets directly from Virgin Atlantic Airways or Virgin Holidays.

Approximately 60 per cent of seats are available for advance assignment, the remainder being held for check in. If the 60 per cent of assignable seats are taken, the seat map button will not be displayed.

We can only allow advance seat assignments for flights operated by Virgin Atlantic Airways. If you are travelling on a flight operated by one of our codeshare partners, the seat map button will not be displayed.

CAA regulations mandate that carriers make every effort possible to seat families together. If you are travelling with a child, and there are not enough available seats that are grouped together, the seat map button will not be displayed.

In all of these instances, your seats will be assigned when you check in for your flight.

Q Can I choose seats which are not together?

A CAA regulations mandate that carriers make every effort possible to seat families together. If you are travelling with a child, we can only allow you to choose seats which are grouped together.

Q Can I leave an empty seat between passengers in my group?

A We make every effort possible to honour your advance seat assignment. When single seats are left between passengers in the same group, it becomes difficult to fill that seat at check in, often resulting in the entire group having to be re-seated. To minimise any delays to departure that re-seating may cause, and to allow those passengers that wish to sit together to do so, we have to insist that the entire group be seated together.

Q Can I select an exit row seat?

A Exit row seats are held for assignment at airport check in only, as passengers wishing to sit in these seats must be physically capable of carrying out the associated responsibilities. We must be able to see a passenger’s physical condition before assigning them an exit row seat. On most routes, these seats can be purchased for a fee on arrival at the airport.

Q Can I request an extra legroom seat?

A These seats are not pre-assignable prior to the date of departure. Priority is given to those passengers travelling with infants under 12 months or for those with special needs.

Q Can I take my laptop and use it on board the plane?

A Laptop power is provided in all Upper Class cabins. However, if you are flying Premium Economy, then laptop power is currently only available on flights departing from London Heathrow. Unfortunately, laptop power is not available in Economy cabins.

Q Can you select your seats?

A In most cases, passengers checking in online will be given the option to view and amend their seats on a seat map from the check in confirmation page. If you have pre-assigned seats, we will make every effort to check you into those seats. If you do not have pre-assigned seats, we will try to ensure your group is checked into seats next to each other where possible.

If there are not enough available seats for you to switch, or if Virgin Atlantic staff have seated you in a special area to accommodate any special service requests, you will not have the option to view the seat map.

Q What is considered a family?

A CAA regulations mandate that carriers make every effort possible to seat families together. As in most instances we will not know whether or not you are checking a family in together, we treat any check in group as a family in trying to seat you together.

In the cases of children and or infants travelling, if we are unable to seat at least one adult member of the check in group with the child or infant, we will not be able to check you in online and instead you will be directed to check in at the airport as usual.

To ensure we comply with this CAA regulation, and for other operational reasons, we occasionally have to change your assigned seats at the airport. For this reason, seat numbers can never be guaranteed although we make every effort to honour your request.

Q Will there be any changes to the seat assignment process?

We are making some improvements to our seat assignment process. In order to minimise the impact of these changes on our passengers, we need to restrict the number of seats allocated within the system, throughout the period of development. From 9th January 2012 we will only be able to offer advanced seat selection for flights departing before 01 November 2012. This policy applies in every cabin. We will add any updates on progress to our website and when the system changes have been completed, we will once again open up seat assignment to 336 days before each flight.

Please don't forget that all seats, on every flight will be available to select when check-in opens (this is at 24 hours for mobile and on-line check in). In exceptional circumstances some seat allocations may be moved due to operational requirements.

To find out more on how this might affect you, read these associated FAQs