When traveling with Virgin Atlantic, the baggage allowance varies depending on the cabin. No matter the cabin you are going with, there is a maximum size for the bag. Virgin Atlantic has a strict luggage allowance for check-in and hand luggage.
This article will tell you all you need to know about how much (in weight and size) baggage you can carry, the free hand baggage allowance, which includes free checked-in bag allowances, and all the items you can and can’t take on board. You will have to pay for additional baggage if you exceed your standard allowance, and I will provide the price per additional bag in this article.
We will discuss Virgin Atlantic’s policies for checked-in, hand baggage, and all precautions you should note as customers before boarding the flight.
Virgin Atlantic Cabin Baggage Policy
All the tickets contain one carry-on baggage, and some cabins may allow you to take more than one bag. The maximum bag size is 23 × 36 × 56cm (9 × 14 × 22 inches). Except for passengers who have a medical condition that makes them require special assistance, every passenger is required to be able to place their hand baggage in the overhead bins unaided. Patients with a medical condition must report this at the point of medical clearance. The passengers are allowed only one piece of hand baggage subject to weight and size restrictions.
Economy and Premium
For passengers traveling economic class with Virgin Atlantic, they are allowed to carry on board one hand luggage that does not weigh above 10 kg and has 9 x 14 x 22 inches as its dimensions.
Passengers traveling economy classic/delight on Virgin Atlantic can check in one luggage, which should not weigh more than 23 kg. Meanwhile, passengers traveling economy light are not allowed to check in any luggage. If they must, a fee of $60 is paid for each bag. If you are traveling premium economy on Virgin Atlantic, you can check in two bags whose weight does not exceed 23 kg each.
Upper Class
Each Upper-Class passenger can take up to two pieces of hand baggage weighing up to 12kg (26lb) for one bag or up to 16kg (35lb) combined weight. In essence, you could take a 12kg bag and another little bag of 4kg.
Children’s Hand Baggage
Babies and toddlers aged less than 24 months are entitled to one bag weighing up to 6kg (or 13lb).
For children aged 2+ years, the same amount of hand baggage as an adult in the cabin allowances is allowed.
When traveling with infants or children, you can bring a fully collapsible pushchair (which will be taken from you at the gate and popped in the hold) and a car seat.
GB Pocket, Britax Holiday, SIlver CrossJet, and BabyZen YoYo are the buggies permitted in the cabin with you as your hand baggage.
Virgin Atlantic Checked Baggage Policy
Apart from the Economy Light, which doesn’t include a checked bag, Virgin Atlantic also provides a free checked-in baggage allowance for all its tickets.
Virgin Atlantic provides some conditions and limitations for the baggage you can check-in for free. The travel class and fare determine the number of bags you can check for free.
Bags that weigh more than 30kg (70lbs) will not be accepted as checked baggage. The upper limit for an oversized item is 75 × 29.5 × 25.5 inches. If it is bigger, you won’t be able to check it as baggage.
Economy Baggage Allowance
Economy Classic and Delight tickets allow for one checked-in bag. This can be up to 90 x 75 x 43cm (35.5 x 29.5 x 16inches) in size and up to 23kg (50lbs) in weight.
For an Economy light ticket, you can buy additional baggage when you check in if required, as it does not contain free checked-in baggage.
This allowance differs when flying to or from Delhi, Islamabad, Johannesburg, Lagos, Lahore, and Mumbai. In Economy, the allowance is two bags on flights to and from these places.
Premium Baggage Allowance
If you book in a premium cabin, you can take up to two pieces of baggage. Each of your bags can be up to 90 x 75 x 43cm (35.5 x 29.5 x 16ins) in size and up to 23kg (50lb) in weight.
Upper-Class Baggage Allowance
The checked-in bag allowance for Upper Class is two bags, each weighing up to 32kg (70lb) and with dimensions of up to 90 x 75 x 43cm (35.5 x 29.5 x 16ins).
Children’s Baggage Allowance
The same baggage allowances above apply to children and seated infants. For lap infants (children that don’t need their seats), the baggage allowance is 1 x 23kg (50lb) bag in any cabin apart from Economy Light, where no baggage is included.
Musical Instruments, Sports Equipment, and Extra or Oversized Bags
You may decide to take your musical instrument, sports instruments, or extra or oversized bag along on your flight. You can put it in the hand baggage if it is small enough. If too big for the hand baggage, you can use the checked-in baggage or pay for additional baggage. For extra or oversized baggage, you will need to pay additional baggage and oversized baggage fees.
Additional Baggage Fees
During online check-in, you can pay online for up to 7 extra bags per passenger. However, from the 8th to the 10th extra bag, you’ll need to pay fees at the airport.
| 1st additional bag | 2nd additional bag | 3rd additional bag | |
| Economy light | $60 | $100 | $200 |
| Economy Classic/Delight | Included | $100 | $200 |
| Premium | Included | Included | $200 |
| Upper class | Included | Included | $200 |
| Overweight fees | $100 |
| Oversized fees | $100 |
Additional Items You Can Bring Onboard
Apart from the allowances above, other items that you could take along are:
- Your handbag, small backpack/rucksack, pocketbook or purse, as you would typically use it (in other words, not just being used to contain items that would otherwise be regarded as baggage)
- Your overcoat or wrap
- Your umbrella or walking stick without pointed ends
- A small camera or pair of binoculars
- Few books you could read for the flight
- Infant’s feed during the flight
- A small number of duty-free goods
- Headphones (standard 3.5mm jack).
- Laptops
- Cigarettes and lighters: cigarettes can be taken along, but you can’t smoke them
- Mobility aids and wheelchairs.
Prohibited Items
Items you are not allowed to take along include:
- Smart bags (unless you can remove the batteries)
- Torch-style cigarette lighters
- Non-safety matches
- Toy or replica guns (plastic or metal)
- Catapults
- Sharp items – such as household cutlery, knives (of any length), razor blades, or darts
- Hypodermic syringes – only for patients with a medical condition that requires injection on the flight.
- Scissors (allowed scissors are those with blunt/round-ended blades, metal or plastic, less than 6cm in length, or scissors with metal blades and pointed tips under 3cms).
Conclusion
Review your ticket before checking in for your Virgin Atlantic flight. Check your bags at least 2 hours before you take off. Also, note if your location has a different baggage allowance. Ensure you are within your allowance so you won’t have to pay excess baggage fees. If you have to, all passengers are allowed to purchase additional baggage allowance.
In this article, I have explained check-in and hand baggage luggage allowances and how you can purchase additional baggage allowances that you may require.
Make sure that you do not take prohibited items along with you. Note that baggage cannot be combined. Remember that Virgin Atlantic’s economy check-in bag weight is 23kg (50lbs), less than the upper class’s 32kg (70lbs). for all travel classes, the maximum dimensions for each bag are 90 x 75 x 43 cm (35.5 x 29.5 x 16 in).
