Skycots with Virgin Atlantic
 

Hey! I was hoping someone might be able to help me. I am travelling home in July with my 6 month old daughter and we (hopefully) have requested a skycot, does anyone know if this defaults us to bulkhead seats or do we have to request that as well?

Also i've noticed that we can order a Baby meal, does anyone have any idea what this is?

Thanks so much for your help!
Sam x

Re: Skycots with Virgin Atlantic
 

We recently flew with BA and got the cot/crib...you can only use these if you are in the bulk head row (a table comes down) so therefore you are automatically put in those seats. When I booked i was allocated a bulk head seat immediately so I was guaranteed a cot....I would ring and ask them. As we flew at night the baby meal wasn't needed, plus our boy was only 4 months so food, at that time, was provided by mother nature.

Re: Skycots with Virgin Atlantic
 

Your sky cot for Virgin will have to go by a bulk head, please note that you are going to have to request these seats and may not necessarily get them. Also note that skycots should not be put on the floor in front of you due to this being a hazard should an emergency happen.

Another thing to remember when you have your little one in a skycot, when turbulence hits you will be required to take your child out of the cot as the cot really doesn't offer any protection and trust me it gets annoying if the crew have to keep coming and asking you to disturb the baby.

I have to ask you is it really worth the hassle of putting the baby in and out of the cot every 15-20 minutes?

I am speaking as an ex Virgin Hostie and trying to be as honest as possible with you, I know the girls in economy will try their best to accommodate you, unfortunately though there are only so many sky cots on board, if my memory serves me correct there are 6 and there are only certain places a sky cot can be secured.

I hope this helps a little, enjoy your flight, I am sure the crew will help you as much as possible, but please don't get mad if you are not given a seat where a cot can be used, or if there are not enough cots on board.

Re: Skycots with Virgin Atlantic
 

Hi Dudette, thank you so much for the reply. I realise that the skycot will be a pain during turbulance and i've flown so many times from NV to the UK that i know we hit it quite regularly!

If i don't get a skycot would i have to sit with my daughter on my lap or would they sneak me a spare seat?

To be honest i never get mad at the crew as i know they have to put up with a load of crap, i always feel terrible disturbing them for water during the flight! All i know is i would not do that job, well i would but i'd only last for a day before i put some drunk in a head lock and told the complaining passenger to grow a pair and shut the hell up! :rolleyes:

Re: Skycots with Virgin Atlantic
 

Lol trust me, ve have vays of making you pay ;)

Because your little one is only 6 months old I doubt you will be allowed to put them in a spare seat, to be honest when I flew with my son when he was young I was paranoid and kept him on my knee, even with all my years of flying I still preferred to keep him close.

As for water I have heard they no longer put the same amount of bottled water on the flights nor milk, so best thing to do is once through security get your own and take it on board. I know the crew will help you out as much as possible. Something to bare in mind crew are not allowed to actually touch you unless you are being unruly, should you need a hand though they will gladly take the baby while you get yourself situated.

I won't go into detail but once on a flight we had rather a famous person onboard, despite crew telling them that they could not put the child on the floor to sleep, they still did and when turbulence hit they still refused to lift the child. Needless to say I had a word with the Captain who then woke all the passengers with an announcement that all children must be buckled in to their seats for the rest of duration of the flight, lets just say because of that one celeb the rest of the passengers were made to suffer and they weren't too happy about it. Anyways that another story lol.

When is your flight? I could see if I could find out who was on it and see if they could help you in some way, just an idea:)

Re: Skycots with Virgin Atlantic
 

Cots can be a pain, especially if they have to be moved so the window seat passenger can get out (Singapore A380 - not the best design! Excellent service though). But they can also be a godsend so you can put the little one down to eat or just to rest. Having a child on your lap for hours on end is not fun. Ask for one and then you have it but can still ask for it to be put away if you decide during the flight not to. If you don't ask for one then you won't get that option!

And check the seats, especially if travelling with a partner or family. Only one adult seems to be guaranteed a bulkhead seat, much to my alarm when initially issued boarding passes. Got it changed no problem at the gate but surprised it happened at all (this was not on Virgin, though).

Re: Skycots with Virgin Atlantic
 

Hi,
We've always been given a skycot no problem (by the bulkhead yes) on Virgin when our first child was little. I think they have the new design skycot on most Virgin flights now, it's not as comfy looking as the old one (a box) but the baby can stay in it even when turbulence. It looks like a reclined seat with a harness. And we've always had extra seats available when our child was too big for a skycot (but still under 2), except once... I was travelling alone with a heavy toddler when 5 months pregnant and I had to have her on my lap all night as the plane was jam packed! Worst flight of my life. Anyway, don't worry, I'm sure you'll be just fine. Oh, the babymeal is just a jar of babyfood... don't bother. Good luck.

Re: Skycots with Virgin Atlantic
 

Thanks everyone for your advice!

Slummymummy...just a quickie if i don't get the baby meal what can i take through security for the flight?

Re: Skycots with Virgin Atlantic
 

My son cannot have any dairy products, so what I did was explain this to the security people and they let me bring soya products for him, they tested it first to make sure it was safe.

You can bring food stuff's except liquids which you can buy once past security. You will be told however that all fruit and so agricultural products need to be consumed on the plane or thrown away prior to disembarking.

This is what I was told when travelling back to the UK in the last year, I hope this helps.

Re: Skycots with Virgin Atlantic
 

My advice. Assume nothing.
When we went last Xmas from SFO to LHR on BA. I did the booking via the real person helpdesk and discussed seating with them on the call.
So don't be afraid to pick up the phone and talk to a rep about what might happen and what you want to happen.
We also reserved the middle and window seats so that the 3rd person would not have to go around us to get out etc. (They go bumped up a class as it happened lucky them!)

Re: Skycots with Virgin Atlantic
 

I want to start by saying I am not slamming anyone... each to their own.

We first flew with my oldest daughter when she was just under 3 month old we asked for a sky cot, I assumed it had some kind of harness device, I was ignorant and it did not. If you hit turbulance you have to hold your baby without any restraint (belly belts are not allowed on US flights). To my mind an extremely poor standard of safety.

After that we have always bought seats for our kids even though they could travel for free. We have taken their car seats to use in the plane.

Bottom line if I could not afford the cost of the seats for my girls I would not travel their lifes are worth a whole lot more than the cost of a plane ticket.

Re: Skycots with Virgin Atlantic
 

Umm, sorry but what are you on about?

I asked how Skycots worked, i didn't say anything about ticket prices.

Re: Skycots with Virgin Atlantic
 

My not being cheap at saving a few dollars over my childrens safety ;)

Re: Skycots with Virgin Atlantic
 

Who said anything about saving a few dollars? You can not book a seat for a infant on the Virgin website.

Re: Skycots with Virgin Atlantic
 

Buy a childs seat, take along her car seat and buckle her with a 5 point harness it is a lot safer than the cots or her being on your lap!