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Our Virgin Atlantic Flight Experience With A Toddler

Over Easter I took a trip to Nigeria with my family. It was the third trip I've had with my baby girl who is actually no longer a baby! At 21 months I think we've enjoyed our free travel with her for the last time.

I highly recommend travelling as much with your baby before they are two. Tickets for under twos are free (there's normally a minimal tax charge) as long as you're happy for them not to have a seat. Even when they don't have a seat most airlines will provide cots that can be set up depending on your baby's size. You are given loads of extra luggage allowance. Normally a min 10kg suitcase and 2 extra peices like a car seat, portable cot or stroller.

So far we've flown EasyJet, Singapore Airlines and our most recent trip to Nigeria was Virgin Atlantic. I must say, our best in flight experience by far was with Virgin Atlantic so I today I'm sharing more details about our trip.



The luggage allowance with Virgin Atlantic is the most generous we have come across. We were allowed one bag to check in for the infant ticket weighing up to 23kg as well as additional allowance for both a car seat and push chair. Not having to stress about weight restrictions whilst packing for the trip makes for a much calmer start to the holiday and this holiday was the first one as a family that I haven't had to worry about the sheer amounts of additional extras you need when you travel with children.

When you take a pushchair it's able to be taken right up to the aircraft check in and picked up as you disembark the aircraft. This is quite frankly, a lifesaver. We always seem to carry so many bits and pieces on to the plane so not having to carry a toddler too as you are rushing for your flight is fab.

A flight experience always starts with check in for me. We experienced great service on both legs of our journey. The desk staff were really clear on how to hand in our push chair and what we needed to do with our car seat that was classified as excess baggage.

The airline allocated us seats in the kiddie section both of our flights which meant that we had the first row of seats straight after premium economy. These are the seats with the extra leg room so we had lots of space. Virgin Atlantic do provide cots that they can assemble for your baby to sleep in but As it's maximum weight allowance was 9kg Baby Girl was too big for it so she just slept on us which was fine.


The one drawback with the aircrafts we travelled in were the seats were certainly not the comfiest chairs we've had, they were quite stiff and I found it hard to fully relax in. They weren't so bad during our day time flight but were really hard to sleep in during our overnight flight. I'm normally someone who has no problems sleeping on a plane.

The infant inflight meal was the best we've come across. We actually had jars of baby jar purée to compare too. Not great as a baby led weaner! It's certainly not gourmet and is still airline food but there was enough for Baby Girl to pick at and keep her tummy full. It included chicken, tomato stew, broccoli, potato wedges, salad, bread and a tub of watermelon.


We weren't given any kiddy activities which would have been a treat for Baby Girl and perhaps keep her occupied for 5 minutes but we had brought our own distractions for her that we were able to use to keep her entertained. She's a real people watcher so that was what occupied the majority of the time. All of the chairs were decked out in a great entertainment system and screen which included children games, movies and TV shows.

The bathroom was so roomy. I wish I was able to take a photo to do it justice. Apologies about my poor attempt! From my previous experiences the changing table folds out over the toilet itself but on Virgin Atlantic the bathrooms were so roomy that the change room fully opened up next to the toilet and there was still plenty of room to move around. I didn't dread nappy changes during the flight. Tick!

Bathroom selfie, it doesn't do the bathroom space justice but you may notice how much space I have to the left of me?

The airline staff were brilliant with Baby Girl. They were all very good with kids. Feeling like you have a hostess that is genuinely interested in your child makes all the difference in feeling comfortable during our flight.

Baby Girl travelled really well. I think she's at the point where she's both used to and enjoys flying now so I'm happy to say at no point during our flights with Virgin Atlantic was I desperately trying to calm my toddler down to appease my fellow travellers. She was the perfect little angel.

So my verdict? I would highly recommend travelling Virgin Atlantic with your toddler. I would think twice if it was a long haul flight purely because of the seat comfiness factor and would consider trying another airline if the price was right but in this case, for a 6 hour flight I would fly with them again without question.

I'm sorry I wasn't able to take better photos. I'm really mindful of peoples privacy when I take photos which is hard to maintain during a busy flight so I've just included a couple of quick iPhone snaps to give you a little peek into our flight.

I would love to hear about your experiences flying with your little ones and who your favourite airline has been?

Kat x

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8 comments

  1. I have to say I never flew with my kids until they were six, sounds like you have managed it well. #TwinklyTuesday  

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    1. I'm so addicted to travelling I couldn't wait until she was grown up so I figured we would start her early and get her used to it. We did have some nightmare flights in the past but she seems to have got so much better x

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  2. We regularly fly to Scotland to see my wife's family and have to say EasyJet has upped it's game massively over recent years. Other than that, we've not flown much with the kids. That said, I am writing this from a hotel room in Australia. Flew out here the other day on my own and back to the UK tomorrow! It was a great flight out here on Qantas. #twinklytuesday

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    1. We flew EasyJet to Greece last year and I thought they were pretty good too. I see them as worlds apart from another cheapie like Ryanair. Ahhhh you're in my country. The flight is a bit of a killer but if you get good flight times and stopovers it makes all the difference. I do love Qantas!

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  3. We've never done a long haul flight but I would really like to travel with Virgin Atlantic when we decide to go over to Disney World. So it's great to know they're pretty good with kids! #twinklytuesday

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    1. I think they would be a great choice to get the family over to Disney World with. How exciting! I can't wait to plan a family trip like that x

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  4. There is simply nothing worse than changing a nappy in an airplane toilet! Glad to hear this was a good size room! #twinklytuesday

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    1. Amen sister! There is no changing scenario that I have faced that's been as awkward as in a tiny airplane toilet. Even the car backseat is better! Thank goodness Virgin Atlantic were fantastic in that department! x

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