wedding dress transport help please

a friend of mine is traveling to MCO from LGW she is getting married while there
she would like to take her wedding dress in the cabin with her but has read somewhere that it is not allowed as she is in economy

can anyone please suggest a way she could do this


thanks

steve

ps

as i am also getting married while we are in florida
my wife to be would also like to carry here dress in a suit carrier with us in UC i am assumming this is allowed
can someone confirm if i am right please

From http://www.virgin-atlantic.com/en/gb/faq/baggageandcargo.jsp

Q How should I take a wedding dress on my flight?
A If possible your garments should be packed into a seperate suitcase and marked 'Fragile Wedding Garments'. This will be placed in the hold in the aircraft. Alternatively, your garments can be taken into the cabin as long as they are packed into your hand luggage and fit into the specified weight and dimension requirements. We are unable to hang wedding garments in the Economy and Preium Economy cabins due to the CAA regulations

and basically the same information, with a little bit more detail, from Virgin Holidays:

Q. Weddings - How do we transport our wedding attire?
A. Whatever will worn on the big day, it should be carried as part of the hold baggage allowance. Please check baggage allowance if travelling with an airline other than Virgin Atlantic. For Virgin Atlantic travel we highly recommend, that any garments are packed in a separate hard suitcase, which will be placed in the hold. We would suggest placing layers of white non-acidic tissue paper between the folds of each article of clothing to help prevent creasing. The check-in staff will be happy to label the case as fragile to ensure safe carriage from the UK to the onward destination. Virgin Atlantic are precluded from hanging garments in the cabin as the CAA state that this would impede an emergency exit

Congratulations on the forthcoming nuptuals!

Edited to take out all the information that I somehow managed to paste in without meaning to!

thanks helen

it is as she thought but after hearing terrible stories , and watching the t v prog where southwest dropped a wedding dress and then promptly ran over it with a baggage truck leaving tyre tracks on it
she is not too keen on it going into the hold and it is rather large so will not fit in the allowed carry on

any one else wit hany way round it please ?

i assume that the wording in helens reply
>we are unable to hand garments in econ and premium econ
means that we are ok in UC

steve

I have seen many a passenger carry there wedding dress on board the flight and the crew will be happy to stow it for you in a wardrobe.

The other option is you ask the check in agent to let you take it to the gate with you and if the crew say no it cannot come onbaor then they will check in it at the gate and go straight in the hold!!


The other thing is ask if you can speak to the FSM on board and let them decide if it can go onboard.

REMEMBER the check in staff behind the desks wear the VS uniform but work for Groundstar, you will see this from there name badge!!!

'Normal' VS staff are normally walking around the check in Q, look out for them and speak to them or just go to the ticket desk and spk to VS agent there!!

Steve
My daughter brought her wedding dress back from LA in April. She did get a negative response from FC when she asked if it could be hung in the UC cloakroom. However, following good advice from this forum, she spoke to the manager at check in. She rode economy and the dress UC! They even gave her an exit row seat.

However, if you are flying UC I would not expect any problems.
cheers
GO

thanks GO
i expect we will be ok but it is my friend who is traveling at the back who is really worried

steve

Hi everyone,
I'm Steve's friend, with the problem wedding dress. Thanks for all the advice. In the Virgin wedding paperwork, it says VA allow a box for dress they give the size, if I can possibly squeeze it into the box do you think I'll have a problem with it?
If I'd known about UC I would have booked that! i'm afaraid I'll get to check in with a suit carrier and they still will make me check it in!

welcome to the V forums Bec

sure you will find everyone here friendly and helpfull

hope someone can help with this one

steve

HELLO HELLO,

You should not have any problems regarding class of travel just speak to the Virgin Groundstaff at LGW (make sure there not groundstar who wear VS uniform but Groundstar uniform).

FYI on LHR 747-400 on UCS aircraft there is actually a new wedding dress wardrobe by the R1 door so that the dress can be hung full length!!!!

You will have no problem at LGW they see them all the time especially to BGI, ANU, UVF