Virgin Baggage Allowance re Wedding Dresses

[Guest]

Hi all!

I thought I would post the email response I have had from Virgin regarding taking a wedding dress and other wedding "stuff" like suits and bridesmaid dresses on the plane. I hope it helps other brides to be who are travelling with Virgin!

"Dear Laura

Thank you for your email.

Congratulations on your forthcoming wedding. It's a pleasure to know you're travelling with us on such a special occasion.

In answer to your question regarding transportation of your wedding gown, this is the procedure that's advised.

Where possible, place the garment/s into a plastic bag before packing. This will help to prevent wet damage to the wedding attire, in the unlikely event that the baggage bin is unloaded whilst it's raining.

If you choose a suit carrier this must be waterproof to avoid damage. Your garments should then be packed into a separate suitcase and marked 'FRAGILE Wedding Garments'. It can then be placed safely into the hold. Alternatively, your garments can be taken into the cabin as long as they're packed into your hand luggage and fit into the specified weight and dimension requirements.

Unfortunately, wedding garments can no longer be hung in the cabin as the CAA (Civil Aviation Authority) states that this would impede an emergency evacuation. The carriage of wedding dresses/suits will be included into passengers free baggage allowance. If your wedding dress exceeds your hand baggage allowance, you'll be required to carry it within your hold baggage. If you exceed the hold baggage allowance, excess baggage rules will apply. A list of excess rates can be found on our website:

virgin-atlantic/en/gb/pas...gage/extra.jsp

Unfortunately, it isn't possible to purchase a second piece of hand baggage. The safety and welfare of our crew and passengers onboard is Virgin Atlantic's top priority. The hand baggage allowances are based on what Virgin Atlantic deem to be safe dimensions/weight to fit into the overhead lockers.

You can carry a hand bag as a personal item, in addition to your hand baggage allowance. There are no specific restriction on size and weight of hand bag, however, it must be appropriate to normal travelling dress and must not be used as a container for the transportation of articles which could otherwise be regarded as baggage.

I hope I have been able to answer your queries. Should you have any further queries please feel free to contact us.

We look forward to welcoming you onboard.

Kind Regards

Ashvini Gaikwad
Contact Centre Customer Service Team"

I think airlines should give more baggage allowance to brides to be, particularly hand luggage. UC passangers get 2 items of hand luggage so surely it wouldn't be too much to ask for the occasional couple travelling to get married to get 2 items.

Laura x

[Guest]

Hi Laura

Thanks for this info, we're getting married through Virgin and have been wondering about this!

Also, congrats on the weight loss, what you've achieved is fantastic. I'm hoping to drop 42lbs by December and i'm down 8lbs already. Keep going!

Sarah

[paulap]

I was going to put mine in the hold but have decided to buy a small hard case and take it on as hand luggage.

[NatsyNoo]

I don't want to let mine out of my sight...Kim has pointed me towards this website:

emptybox/products_travel.asp

I am getting one of these...this with my handbag will be my hand luggage
Matt will take a bigger bag with normal flight stuffs!

[Guest]

cgi.ebay/ws/eBayISAPI.d...=STRK:MEWAX:IT

Here is an alternative to the empty box company and a bit cheaper too, just in case anyone is looking.

I am taking mine on in one of these, I am assured it wil fit.

[NatsyNoo]

Originally Posted by Shrek&Donkey

cgi... /ws/eBayISAPI.dll?...=STRK:MEWAX:IT

Here is an alternative to the empty box company and a bit cheaper too, just in case anyone is looking.

I am taking mine on in one of these, I am assured it wil fit.

See more...

Links aren't working any more - can you post the store name as I am interested in this!

[Guest]

Originally Posted by MrsToots

Hi Laura

Thanks for this info, we're getting married through Virgin and have been wondering about this!

Also, congrats on the weight loss, what you've achieved is fantastic. I'm hoping to drop 42lbs by December and i'm down 8lbs already. Keep going!

Sarah

See more...

Thanks Sarah! I think I've dropped another 5lb this week (official weigh in on Tues) so nearly halfway there! Woohoo! Well done on your weight loss. It's hard but it's so worth it!

Originally Posted by paulap

I was going to put mine in the hold but have decided to buy a small hard case and take it on as hand luggage.

See more...

I looked into buying a small hard case but a lot of them weigh between 2.5 and 3.5 kg, which pretty much halves your weight allowance for hand luggage (6kg). The empty boxes designed for wedding dresses are usually less then 1kg so mean you can have a heavier dress and / or put veil, tiara, shoes, etc in.

Originally Posted by Shrek&Donkey

cgi... /ws/eBayISAPI.dll?...=STRK:MEWAX:IT

Here is an alternative to the empty box company and a bit cheaper too, just in case anyone is looking.

I am taking mine on in one of these, I am assured it wil fit.

See more...

I too would be interested in the box on ebay. Can you tell us the seller's name?

Laura x

[BevS97]

thefavourstore item number 200299988049

[Guest]

Originally Posted by BevS97

thefavourstore item number 200299988049

See more...

Thanks! Will check it out

[Guest]

That's the one Bev, thanks for posting! Def cheaper than the other link posted. I cannot get over the cost that the wedding shop want for these storage boxes!