Virgin asking me to pay for seat for my infant

[kamil]

My flight to HK is cancelled over christmas. My infant will turn 2 when they fly again, the lady over the phone says I will have to pay for a seat. They are refusing to reroute me on another airline. What is my course of action?

[ChrisC]

Children aged over 2 require their own seat.

[Lady London]

Surely though Virgin should provide the child seat for free? It’s not the passenger’s fault the infant is now older – unless it was the passenger that chose a very much later date than Virgin could offer a reroute? in which case I’d still expect a serious contribution from Virgin

[kamil]

Thanks. That is my point. If Virgin point blank refuses to fly my 2 year old without me forking out another £700+ (for tax + extra virgin points), what is my next course of action?

[JDB]

kamil wrote:

Thanks. That is my point. If Virgin point blank refuses to fly my 2 year old without me forking out another £700+ (for tax + extra virgin points), what is my next course of action?

Unfortunately, I don’t think you have any statutory rights in respect of having to pay for a child seat once Virgin start flying again which is their position. However, you are entitled to request a rerouting on another carrier around the time of your existing flights while your child is still an infant, so you need to decide whether to press them for this or if your position is actually that you would prefer to defer the trip, the child seat will be at your additional expense. Many have reported that Virgin has been quite good about this but mainly on US routes where they have more partner arrangements.