Virgin to charge for Seat Selection - WP/SG Exempt

[Bagpuss]

Well if you read through the ‘Virgin up for sale thread’ there’s some interesting commentary and analysis that points to Virgin needing to get their books in order and optimise their P&L so the probably care less about being a LCC-hybrid whatever they are - and just need to back some more $ urgently so Bain can offload them!

It will be very interesting to see if the other ancillary revenue suggestions they were testing alongside this one come into the daylight, like paying for PB.

I think you'll find that there's a cabin refresh costing $110 million and removing a row of economy x.

I would suggest any revenue raised is to offset that investment / lost income prior to the usual IPO commentary.

It all says "seating" to me ....

 

[HS-TQE]

I think you'll find that there's a cabin refresh costing $110 million and removing a row of economy x.

I would suggest any revenue raised is to offset that investment / lost income prior to the usual IPO commentary.

It all says "seating" to me ....

Bain's known major CapEx project for VA 2.0 (the cabin refit on their whole Boeing 737 fleet to the 'Spirit Airlines-like' LCC heavy layout with the thin Economy seats with USB power and the 'Big Front Seat' domestic J recliner (with Power and USB) I'd assume would be included in their (largely undisclosed to the public) financials

 

[Bagpuss]

No the flight I got the free economy X was hardly full based on the seat map.

At checkin but normally at the gate economy x can be allocated for free. They need someone to open the exit doors in case of an emergency, so if the seats are unsold, they cant force someone to pay for them to legally comply.

 

[Bagpuss]

Bain's known major CapEx project for VA 2.0 (the cabin refit on their whole Boeing 737 fleet to the 'Spirit Airlines-like' LCC heavy layout with the thin Economy seats with USB power and the 'Big Front Seat' domestic J recliner (with Power and USB) I'd assume would be included in their (largely undisclosed to the public) financials

For ATO reporting in Australia, this is done by the company itself. So this is done by Virgin Australia.

 

[scottsworld]

flying IN to BNE, I always choose the rear cabin seats. You can get out the back door of the plane, FAST! Sadly, MEL & SYD seem very hit & [often] miss with opening the rear door to exit.

 

[henrus]

flying IN to BNE, I always choose the rear cabin seats. You can get out the back door of the plane, FAST!

This works well except for the small 5% of the time when it’s raining (less over the last 12 months).

Syd and Mel are really gate dependant whereas I think only 1 maybe two bne gates aren’t compatible with stairs to terminal paths?

Some insider or travel road warrior will correct me

 

[Steven of Mysore]

The day has come. Further adds to the confusion around what this airline actually is and stands for.

Rows 6-9 $14 (LH Dom $17) ($22 SHI)
Rows 10-12 $9 (LH Dom $12) ($17 SHI)
Rear- Free (woohoo!)
Tokyo $25/$20

Gold/Plat apparently free. If someone can dummy test and let us know, I let my Gold lapse.

I (Gold) made several purchases in the last three days and no charges for 7a on any of them.

 

[Harrison_133]

Syd and Mel are really gate dependant whereas I think only 1 maybe two bne gates aren’t compatible with stairs to terminal paths?

Front only gates:
SYD - 42/43/44/45
BNE - 40A/44A/44B/45
MEL - 12

In my experience, front only disembarkation is very common when the aircraft is terminating for the night.

 

[AIRwin]

I noticed from the seat map of an all Economy class B737-700 that seats 1A, 1D, 2C and 2D don't seem to be aligned?

 

[Harrison_133]

I noticed from the seat map of an all Economy class B737-700 that seats 1A, 1D, 2C and 2D don't seem to be aligned?

Was on one of the 700s yesterday. They are aligned. Just a quirk of the app.

 

[kerfuffle]

I noticed from the seat map of an all Economy class B737-700 that seats 1A, 1D, 2C and 2D don't seem to be aligned?
View attachment 349723

My BNE-SYD flight for March 2024 had 3C misaligned because it indicated that seat was already taken

 

[ben95]

I think the rollout is either buggy or still ongoing.

On the website the front rows are correctly marked as pink and lets you choose them for an extera charge but on the mobile app they were just all greayed out. However surprisingly, I was able to select a 6A seat last week for free despite only being silver. Previously anything before row 10 just been completely blocked for silver so I thought they were being extra nice to silver members but looks like it was just a buggy system.

 

[mannej]

First VA flight last weekend post pandemic, only Red status. Checked in online and picked 8D for no cost. All of the economy x seats had a charge attached. Arrived at the airport to find that I had been moved to 14C, so I guess the ~$70 charge for these seats on the PER runs may be a bit hit or miss at the moment.

 

[marks]

As a WP, it has been a great benefit to choose the Econ-X seats for free.
Would I be right in saying, WP flying on a lite fare, I would get Econ-X seats AND one free check-in bag? The two main items that were removed from lite fares. Obviously lower SCs too.

Thanks.

 

[Harrison_133]

Would I be right in saying, WP flying on a lite fare, I would get Econ-X seats AND one free check-in bag?

You only get Economy X for free on a Lite fare. Carry on baggage only, no checked baggage.

 

[Zanzaid]

I think the rollout is either buggy or still ongoing.

On the website the front rows are correctly marked as pink and lets you choose them for an extera charge but on the mobile app they were just all greayed out. However surprisingly, I was able to select a 6A seat last week for free despite only being silver. Previously anything before row 10 just been completely blocked for silver so I thought they were being extra nice to silver members but looks like it was just a buggy system.

Also appears to be buggy if you're a silver who chose a preferred seat for free and try to move to another seat. It tells you to call the call centre to change it. Curious to see what it's like when i check in online tomorrow and if it will let me move around then.

 

[Saab34]

Also appears to be buggy if you're a silver who chose a preferred seat for free and try to move to another seat. It tells you to call the call centre to change it. Curious to see what it's like when i check in online tomorrow and if it will let me move around then.

I am a silver and it let me select any seat from Row 3 down last week, definitely a bug, needless to say I took advantage of that lol

 

[Zanzaid]

I am a silver and it let me select any seat from Row 3 down last week, definitely a bug, needless to say I took advantage of that lol

Oh Row 3 also? I've been doing Row 6, even as of last week too.

 

[Bagpuss]

Also appears to be buggy if you're a silver who chose a preferred seat for free and try to move to another seat. It tells you to call the call centre to change it. Curious to see what it's like when i check in online tomorrow and if it will let me move around then.

If you're doing that through the website, try through the mobile app and it normally works.

That's been a strange quirk for a long time.

 

[Zanzaid]

If you're doing that through the website, try through the mobile app and it normally works.

That's been a strange quirk for a long time.

Yeah the app gives an error too, though doesn't specify what to do, just couldn't do it error.