Virgin Atlantic special assistance

[TooHotToTrot]

Hi,

We have someone in our party that has needs and we contacted their special assistance team by email to ask for help going through security.

They responded very quickly and I was quite impressed. They wanted more information ie flight no. etc. I provided that promptly, but not heard anything since. I chased them up and still nothing.

We travel on 2nd July. I just want peace of mind it's sorted so I can get on sorting other parts of our holiday.

First contact was 3 weeks ago.

[dougyjemd]

We contacted special assistance and had no response, so I went into a virgin holiday store who called someone and they took all our party requirements (we have 2 in our group who need assistance) and they advised they would email us within the next few days.
So the email came and it advised they were extremely busy at this time and they were prioritising contacting people dependent on when they fly. So we fly mid August and therefore won't be contacted until nearer the time 😖😖
This is messing with my need to tick all my boxes off, of things I need to organise before the end of July.
Virgin have amend our details within our booking which I checked on the app.
Maybe just have a look at your booking and see if your details have been amended too. I would hasten a guess they will contact you nearer the time too.
Hope this info helps settle your nerves abit 🙂

[TooHotToTrot]

Originally Posted by dougyjemd

We contacted special assistance and had no response, so I went into a virgin holiday store who called someone and they took all our party requirements (we have 2 in our group who need assistance) and they advised they would email us within the next few days.
So the email came and it advised they were extremely busy at this time and they were prioritising contacting people dependent on when they fly. So we fly mid August and therefore won't be contacted until nearer the time 😖😖
This is messing with my need to tick all my boxes off, of things I need to organise before the end of July.
Virgin have amend our details within our booking which I checked on the app.
Maybe just have a look at your booking and see if your details have been amended too. I would hasten a guess they will contact you nearer the time too.
Hope this info helps settle your nerves abit 🙂

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Thank you so much.

I'm the same. There's so much to do and I just want to be able to tick it off.

[Dainty1976]

same here - am used to sorting out the SA at the 6 month mark and its making me really nervous that it isnt sorted yet. we have specific things to ask for to be accommodated on the flight especially and getting worried they won't be available come departure time at this rate.

Given that they messed up on our last flight out, which caused quite a faff at the time, its not helping my concerns over it either.

Hoping there's someone here on The Dibb who has recently been can give assurance on when they were contacted to by VA SA to discuss whats needed in good time. We fly out in August too.

[Jennywren]

Hi,

Please don't worry too much Special Assistance are extremely busy at present. They usually sort everything for me well ahead but this time it was down to the wire.

I e-mailed them with my needs weeks ago. They finally rang me on Thursday last week just a week before I am due to fly, sent me a new form to fill out that I hadn't seen before - wasn't very detailed and unable to explain all my needs on it. So was a bit worried by that. I filled the form in and e-mailed it back straight away.

Then had a phone call yesterday asking me all the same questions that were on the form which they confirmed they had received.

But they confirmed they have dealt with all my requests including the ones in the e-mail, and apologised it was all so close to travel date.

Fingers crossed all goes well on Thursday.

[willow]

Its the first time we have needed SA and online when I log into my flight booking but to heard anything back from them, is there anything else I need to do?
What help do you actually get? The person in out party Visually impaired and has very little peripheral vision so finds a busy airport extremely difficult and stressful.

[dougyjemd]

Originally Posted by Jennywren

Hi,

Please don't worry too much Special Assistance are extremely busy at present. They usually sort everything for me well ahead but this time it was down to the wire.

I e-mailed them with my needs weeks ago. They finally rang me on Thursday last week just a week before I am due to fly, sent me a new form to fill out that I hadn't seen before - wasn't very detailed and unable to explain all my needs on it. So was a bit worried by that. I filled the form in and e-mailed it back straight away.

Then had a phone call yesterday asking me all the same questions that were on the form which they confirmed they had received.

But they confirmed they have dealt with all my requests including the ones in the e-mail, and apologised it was all so close to travel date.

Fingers crossed all goes well on Thursday.

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Thank you for sharing your experience.
Looks like i'm gonna be a bag of nerves right up until i'm sat in my seat. Again like you and many others my needs are unique and we just need that bit of reassurance our requests have been noted and actioned with little to no hiccups.

Hope you had a magical trip

[Jennywren]

Originally Posted by dougyjemd

Thank you for sharing your experience.
Looks like i'm gonna be a bag of nerves right up until i'm sat in my seat. Again like you and many others my needs are unique and we just need that bit of reassurance our requests have been noted and actioned with little to no hiccups.

Hope you had a magical trip

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Thank You - I'm still here at the moment.
I arrived at Manchester Airport the day before my flight in order to get my Covid test done. Went down to Terminal 2 to check out where I would have to go on the day, spoke to the airport Special Assistance Team, who said they were very short staffed and asked if there was any way I could manage to get thru security on my own, and they would help me to board at the gate. I said I would try but they said I would still need to book in with them first before going through. Anyway on the day the airport was heaving and when I booked in they said they would have to take me through security or I would just get stuck. The guy who accompanied me was really helpful. When I boarded they did comment about the extra hand luggage but I explained special assistance asked me to take extra hand luggage rather than extra hold luggage this time. Once on board I found I had most of the front row of premium too myself.

As this is my first solo trip I was quite worried how I would cope but everyone has been so kind and I needn't have worried. I wouldn't hesitate to do the trip again.

[dougyjemd]

Originally Posted by Jennywren

Thank You - I'm still here at the moment.
I arrived at Manchester Airport the day before my flight in order to get my Covid test done. Went down to Terminal 2 to check out where I would have to go on the day, spoke to the airport Special Assistance Team, who said they were very short staffed and asked if there was any way I could manage to get thru security on my own, and they would help me to board at the gate. I said I would try but they said I would still need to book in with them first before going through. Anyway on the day the airport was heaving and when I booked in they said they would have to take me through security or I would just get stuck. The guy who accompanied me was really helpful. When I boarded they did comment about the extra hand luggage but I explained special assistance asked me to take extra hand luggage rather than extra hold luggage this time. Once on board I found I had most of the front row of premium too myself.

As this is my first solo trip I was quite worried how I would cope but everyone has been so kind and I needn't have worried. I wouldn't hesitate to do the trip again.

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Thanks for your update. Really hope your having a magical trip.

So I got an email yesterday asking me to fill in a form with my needs and return asap and that someone would be in touch shortly.

Hope this helps reassure someone

[TooHotToTrot]

Originally Posted by dougyjemd

Thanks for your update. Really hope your having a magical trip.

So I got an email yesterday asking me to fill in a form with my needs and return asap and that someone would be in touch shortly.

Hope this helps reassure someone

See more...

We fly on July 2nd earlier than you and still not heard anything. I did contact them again, through Twitter this time and they said someone would be in touch a few days before we fly. Maybe they're seeing if things calm down a bit.