Over the past few years as a parent, I’ve flown with a variety of airlines, including TUI, Ryanair, easyJet, and British Airways. Recently, for the first time, I had the chance to fly with Virgin Atlantic, and I wanted to share my experience with you.
We had just returned from Jamaica, where we had booked a package holiday with TUI. However, I decided to extend our stay, which meant that we had to book our return flight separately with Virgin Atlantic.
The return flight cost us over £500 per person, which included one checked bag and one cabin bag each. If you know me, you know I’m not keen on spending so much on flights and then paying even more for seat selection. So, I waited until 24 hours before the flight to check in and get our seats for free. Fortunately, we ended up seated together, as always. While I understand this approach isn’t for everyone, I’m willing to take the risk to avoid additional fees.
Virgin Atlantic’s child seat policy is as follows: “We’ll always seat children within arm’s reach of an accompanying adult, whether that’s next to, across the aisle, in front, or behind them. Each adult can accompany a maximum of two infants.” I’ve also written a blog post that goes into detail about different airlines’ child seat policies, which you can check out here.
Checking in our luggage at Montego Bay Airport was a breeze, and getting through security was fairly quick as well. Just a heads up—everyone had to take off their shoes, so it’s a good idea to bring some socks. No one wants to walk barefoot on a dirty floor. After security, there were a couple of dining options, like Wendy’s, but not much else. As usual, the airport prices for water and drinks were steep. We arrived at the airport a little over three hours before our flight, which gave us plenty of time to get everything sorted.
When you check your ticket, you’ll see which boarding group you’re in. We flew economy and were in group 5. Once our group was called, we boarded the plane without any issues.
Finding our seats was easy, and each one had a pillow, blanket, and headphones waiting for us. Of course, there was also a screen at each seat where you could watch movies, TV shows, listen to music, or track the flight from Montego Bay to Heathrow. They even had a dedicated kids’ section, which was a nice touch.
Shortly after taking off, we were served dinner—chicken and rice, along with a piece of bread, some cheese, and crackers. We were also offered drinks. After dinner, we went to sleep and ended up sleeping much longer than expected. When we woke up, there were only two hours left of the nine-hour flight. Breakfast was served next, which included fruit, a blueberry muffin, and a yogurt pot. It wasn’t really my kind of breakfast, so we didn’t eat much of it.
Overall, it was a comfortable flight with no delays, and the cleanliness of the plane stood out to me. I enjoyed flying with Virgin Atlantic for the first time. Hopefully, in the future, we can consider spending a bit more for added comfort. I hope you find this review helpful!
