Having flown to Orlando with my family of four on Virgin Atlantic on 16 November 2008 with pre-booked seats we did not expect any problems on our return flight to the UK on 4th December 2008. However, at check-in, although we were well within the check-in times, we were told in no uncertain terms there were no seats for us. However, if we wanted to pay for an upgrade they felt they might be able to accommodate us. What a cheek. We had pre-booked seats and had arranged all travel with a travel agent 12 months prior to our travel. Eventually when we refused to pay an upgrade, they managed in a most unpleasant manner to find 2 x 2 seats which were not situated anywhere each other. Not ideal for a family group and not what I had been lead to believe I had paid for.

I e-mailed Virgin when I got home and said I was not happy with their service. They eventually e-mailed me back to say they could not understand how this had happened as there were spare seats on this flight. What a scam. They obviously had some spare seats but were trying to get extra money for the ordinary fare paying passengers.

No wonder Virgin are getting such a bad reputation.