P/E OR U/ C with children?

Hi All,

I am new to this forum so please bear with me.

My fiancee,2 children (2 months & 3 year old) have booked our wedding in St Lucia and due to fly LGW - UVF on 25th Nov 05.

As a treat(you dont get married that often!!) i was thinking of upgrading our economy seats to Premium Economy or Upper.

I am just concerned that because i have children with me(who are well behaved) that i might get stigmatised.

I am wondering if anyone has flown with children or if any cabin crew can give an insight to the best suited class to travel.

I just thoguht it would be a nice surprise to turn up at airport and i tell my fiancee i have paid for an upgrade as we normally fly prem economy on long haul trips when it is the two of us only.

Hope someone can assist.

We have had a topic like this previously but essentially this is my advice as a regular UC traveller with no children.

PE - You will not have any problems with other passengers here.

UC - If you pay for it, use it. You have said your children are well behaved and whilst you may get some looks when you enter the cabin (although less on the St Lucia route as this is more a family route anyway) these will soon disappear when they realise your kids are no hassle. The only time I think you may get a slight problem would be on one of the business routes such as NYC. But again, if you pay for it (or upgrade with miles) then use it.

Paul

I am in agreement with Paul, if you want to travel UCS especially on 'family holiday' route then nothing should stop you. You've paid for it! Even more so if as you say you children are well behaved then go for it. We will be taking our grandchildren when we go in a couple of years.

[mitchja]

Hello motherger and welcome to V-Flyer

There is absolutley no problem taking chlidren into the UC cabin especially on Caribbean or Florida flights.

Regards

motherger, we have almost always been met with kindness when travelling UC with our children. Occasionally people have looked in horror as we have boarded and one chap did actually asked to be moved! However as soon as people realise that your children are well behaved and more importantly that the parents are making sure that they are well behaved they are fine. We have also always found the cabin staff to be excellent with the children.

If you do travel UC you will need to be careful about your seat choice. Obviously your 3 year old will have his/her own seat and you will want to be close to him/her. The flat beds will be great for you though because if you need to there will be room to lie flat and cuddle them to sleep:)

Hi Motherger,
Welcome to V-flyer and best wishes for your forthcoming wedding.
Just to echo other replies.
You should have no problems in PE or UC. You'll find the crew and most of the other passengers will make you very welcome.

If you can afford it I recommend UC, the suites are great. If the little 'uns get tired then the suite can be made into a bed on both the outward and inbound trips.
In UC you may find that seats 6A,6K,7a and 7k will be the best for you as they are away from the bar and you will not get other pasengers walking past possibly disturbing you when the little 'uns are asleep.

The flight can be long so just remember to take plenty of the kids favourite drinks/food and also take some of thier favourite toys to play with. The other passengers might appreciate it if the toys are of the silent type.

Enjoy your wedding and don't forget to post a TR on your return.
Tim

Hi All & thank you very much for your replies., i was amazed at the helpful responses and you are all so friendly!:)

Can i also ask that if you are travelling in upper you all get access to ClubHouse and that there are no skycots in Upper Class??

I cant afford to do it both ways but can affords to do the upgrade on our outbound journey as various family members travelling back on same flight as us so dont mind travelling all back in economy.

God, i really dont know what to do , Still thinking about it..........

[ChuckC]

Delighted to have you with us, motherger.

If the children at well-behaved that's really all that matters. Boorish adults earn peevish looks far more often than children.

Enjoy your holiday and we look forward to your contributions to VFlyer.

Regards,
Chuck

motherger, anyone regardless of age gets access to the Clubhouse if they are travelling in UC. If you are travelling from LGW I believe that you also can pre-book beauty treatments.

Virgin's website doesn't make the situation very clear about the skycots. It states that there are no skycots available on 747-400s from Gatwick in Upper Class and on 747-400s from Heathrow in Premium Economy. I think it would be worth a call to the Special Assistance team to check it out.

I know it's a difficult decision but it's such a special occasion and it will be much less stressful with the children. It would be a fabulous start to your wedding celebrations so I say go for it if you possibly can!!:D

Let us know what you decide to do. Either way I hope the wedding is really wonderful for you all.

Hi Again!

Sorry to ask another question but what is the configuration in the PE Cabin?

To be honest, i am really frightened to book UC in case my 3 year has a bad moment and my 2 month old starts freaking and pther pax start giving me a hard time. Have spoken to someone at Upper Class at Virgin Atlantic today and she said there are 6 seats left in Upper but they do not supply a skycot in this class of travel.



So looks like PE at an additional price of £800 odd, rather than UC at an additional price of £1600.Again after speaking to VS there are at least 28 seats left but i forgot to ask her what the configuration is.

If there are no skycots available in UC I think you're right to opt for PE. I really wouldn't fancy a baby on my lap for that long even in an UC suite. At least you will save yourself some money.

I think you will be on a LGW 747-400 and the seating configuration is shown here [url][/url]www.v-flyer.com/seats.asp?search=yes&pid=10

Hope this helps

[ChuckC]

Originally posted by motherger
Hi Again!

Sorry to ask another question but what is the configuration in the PE Cabin?

Using our "Features" section one can find the answer to your question: Here is what the PE section looks like on a 747 flying to St. Lucia from Gatwick.

Chuck-

Hi Again,

Thank you for your replies.

I cant book UC anyway as Virgin Holidays have sold all their allocation in this class (i phoned them this monring) so they can only offer P/E and can request a skycot for me in the class.

So off to look at details of travelling in this class so keep fingers crossed i can book this!!!

Good luck -let us know how you get on.

Hey motherger,

We flew to MCO back in April on a LGW config 747 in PE. Our children were 3 months (exactly) and 2yrs 8 months so I can offer a fairly good comparison. We were downstairs - I have detailed in the TR all the skycot positions - I think there were 2 downstairs and 1 upstairs (we have flown up there a couple of years ago when the oldest was a baby of 4 months).

Check out my trip report here.

Personally although it would have been great to be in UCS I actually felt more comfortable in PE. Babies are unpredictable and although ours was impecably behaved it could so easily have been different and it is totally beyond the control of the parents at that age. Our older daughter was great but kids of this age do get bored.

Let me know if I can offer any other help.

Phil (Buffy)

Originally posted by motherger
Hi Again!

Sorry to ask another question but what is the configuration in the PE Cabin?

To be honest, i am really frightened to book UC in case my 3 year has a bad moment and my 2 month old starts freaking and pther pax start giving me a hard time. Have spoken to someone at Upper Class at Virgin Atlantic today and she said there are 6 seats left in Upper but they do not supply a skycot in this class of travel.

We have taken our (now 3 and a half) son on VS flights since he was a few months old.
Whne he was three months old, we had a skycot, but don't forget, every time the seat belt sign comes on, you have to take the baby out of the skycot and hold them on your lap.
At 1 year and two years, we were in PE and UC old stly seats, no seat for him, but they can give him/her a seat and a sort of car seat to sit in. we just shared the task of looking after him. on the way out, he was happy playing with the tv screens (there are some pictures on this site) and on the way back he just slept all the way.
This Jan, when he was almost three we went for the fiorst time in the UCS. they have a special extender to the seat belt for children and he was fine, again sleeping all the way back.

I'd take an UCS over a PE seat with a sky cot any day. It's not just the seat, it's the access to the Clubhouse, getting off first, better food/service.

On a LGW flight there wont be that many business travellers or indeed seats in UC - It's 14 i believe but don't quote me on it i'm strictly and LHR kinda gal.

Hi VS_lOVER

Unfortunately i am now limited to P/E now as booked wedding through VH.

They only get a certain amount of allocation from VA and this is full for o/b flight from LGW - UVF (VS031 25 NOV, as VA give Virgin holidays a set allocation.

tHEY DID SAY, "TRY AT AIRPORT" but by then the money wont be available for me to do this and i wanted to do it beforehand.

Well serves me right for dilly dallying.

Have a magical time and congratulations.