Virgin Atlantic is set to follow in the footsteps of rival British Airways by charging economy passengers a £25 fee to reserve a seat in advance.
Although the airline has yet to announce the news officially, details of the new scheme, which is effective from tomorrow (December 18), have just been published on its website.
The fee is £25 per seat per flight, and is set to be introduced on all of Virgin Atlantic's long-haul routes with the exception of Tokyo. Domestic flights with Little Red will be exempt from the charge.
But rather than introduce the fees across the board, Virgin Atlantic is introducing them in stages. Fees on some routes start immediately while others will start in the coming months.The full scheme, allowing seat reservations for up to one year ahead, will not come into force until June 1 of next year.
A Virgin spokesman said: "Advance seat allocation is free of charge if you are a Virgin Atlantic Flying Club Gold member, for passengers travelling in Upper Class, premium economy and for economy passengers on fully flexible tickets.
"Other passengers travelling in the economy cabin need to pay to select seats if they want to choose them in advance of the 24-hour online check-in window."
Here are the full details:
From December 18-January 30, passengers will only be able to assign seats for flights departing on or before March 1. For most flights departing from February 1-May 31 passengers will be able to select seats 30 days before their flight.
From 1 April, passengers will be able to pay to choose their seat up to 336 days before departure, starting with Gatwick-Las Vegas route.
The cost to assign a seat will be from £25 per person per flight (£50 per round trip) on Virgin Atlantic long-haul flights, except for Tokyo route which will remain free of charge.
Although the airline has yet to announce the news officially, details of the new scheme, which is effective from tomorrow (December 18), have just been published on its website.
The fee is £25 per seat per flight, and is set to be introduced on all of Virgin Atlantic's long-haul routes with the exception of Tokyo. Domestic flights with Little Red will be exempt from the charge.
But rather than introduce the fees across the board, Virgin Atlantic is introducing them in stages. Fees on some routes start immediately while others will start in the coming months.The full scheme, allowing seat reservations for up to one year ahead, will not come into force until June 1 of next year.
A Virgin spokesman said: "Advance seat allocation is free of charge if you are a Virgin Atlantic Flying Club Gold member, for passengers travelling in Upper Class, premium economy and for economy passengers on fully flexible tickets.
"Other passengers travelling in the economy cabin need to pay to select seats if they want to choose them in advance of the 24-hour online check-in window."
Here are the full details:
From December 18-January 30, passengers will only be able to assign seats for flights departing on or before March 1. For most flights departing from February 1-May 31 passengers will be able to select seats 30 days before their flight.
From 1 April, passengers will be able to pay to choose their seat up to 336 days before departure, starting with Gatwick-Las Vegas route.
The cost to assign a seat will be from £25 per person per flight (£50 per round trip) on Virgin Atlantic long-haul flights, except for Tokyo route which will remain free of charge.