Our award-winning service matched to your special needs
Virgin Holidays has been voted the best tour operator for disabled holidaymakers
on consecutive occasions. We have a dedicated team of staff to help our disabled
customers with all lines of enquiry.
You can contact the Customer Care Department on 0844 557 3998
(Monday to Friday between 9.00am and 5.30pm) or you can email special.assistance@virginholidays.com
Finding a hotel that's accessible to you
We've already done the groundwork and found the hotels which are best suited
for holidaymakers with less mobility.
We offer excellent wheelchair accessible rooms and facilities for disabled
guests. Information on these rooms can be found on individual hotel pages or
alternatively you can use our feature
search to find hotels that are wheelchair accessible. Rooms are limited,
so please request at time of booking. Please note that room occupancy may differ
from that of a standard room.
We also offer rooms for those with limited mobility offering good general access
for guests able to walk short distances and manage a maximum of 6 steps. Look
our for the mobility information on individual hotel pages or use our feature
search to find hotels with mobility facilities.
If there are hotels you like the look of, but which do not feature information
on accessibility, please contact the Customer Care Department who will check
their suitability.
Your Virgin Atlantic inflight support
For those passengers flying with Virgin Atlantic Airways, the following services
can be arranged through the Virgin Holidays Customer Care Department:
- Special Meals for medical reasons only
- Seating Requests - Please note that international regulations do not allow
us to allocate exit seats unless passengers are 100% fit and "bulkhead" seats
are normally reserved for families with infants.
- Oxygen for children and adults (at no extra charge)*
- Priority check-in and pre-boarding for Autistic children and their families
- A choice of Special Body Supports for Severely Disabled children*
- Tactile Safety Demonstrations for visualy impaired Passengers
- Hearing Impaired Loops for the Hard of Hearing*
- DVDs with subtitled films and proficient signers can be requested for hearing
impaired passengers
*Subject to Availability
For those passengers who have food allergies or have religious beliefs, special
meals can be arranged. Virgin Atlantic flights are supplied with oxygen which
can be provided free of charge, please request at time of booking. For autistic
children and their families, we arrange priority check-in at UK airports and
pre-boarding. Severely disabled children may require the use of a special body
support supplied through Virgin Atlantic, which can also be requested through
the Customer Care Department.
Please note that at some Caribbean airports there are no ambulifts and those
passengers who are unable to manage aircraft steps will be carried on and off
the plane by ground staff.
General Information
Carriage of medication
There is no additional charge for the carriage of essential medical equipment,
provided we have been made aware of this at least seven days prior to departure.
Any equipment operated by electricity, battery or oxygen may not be suitable
to use in the aircraft cabin, therefore, please check with our Customer Care
Department with regards to this.
If you are carrying medication on the aircraft that needs cool storage, please
note that Virgin Atlantic and BMI are not able to accept medication for carriage
in their onboard cool boxes. This is due to the possibility of accidental damage.
Instead, it has been suggested that you make use of a small cool bag and carry
the drugs in your hand luggage.
Please be aware that if carrying needles with medication in your hand luggage,
it is now a requirement to carry a doctor's letter confirming the nature of
your medical condition and details on the medication being carried.
Expectant mothers
Please check that your travel insurance will cover your pregnancy. Virgin Atlantic
will permit pregnant women to travel up to and including the 34th week of pregnancy
but a fitness-to-fly letter from your doctor will be required.
Carriage of wheelchairs
If wheelchair assistance is required firstly please ensure you contact the
Customer Care Department to make the necessary arrangements. On arrival at the
check in desk, always remind the staff of your requirements who will check that
the appropriate assistance has been arranged for you and your party. Assistance
will automatically be arranged for your arrival overseas and for your return
to the UK. Ground staff at the departure gate will call for passengers requiring
special assistance to pre board the aircraft.
The size of wheelchair wheels can differ from those in the U.K and for those
passengers whose wheelchair has an inner tube, punctures are difficult to repair.
We would recommend you take a spare tube in case. Also, for passengers who are
taking an electric wheelchair or other electrical medical equipment, a suitable
battery charger may be required due to the change of electricity voltage in
some countries. It is advised that you either speak to the manufacturer of the
goods or call the Customer Care Department for more information.
Wheelchairs can either be handed in at the check-in desk or taken to the aircraft
door where it will then be loaded into the aircraft hold by a member of ground
staff. If assistance is required to your aircraft seat an onboard wheelchair
or transfer chair will be provided at the aircraft door.
If you are taking wheelchairs, scooters or disabled buggies, please make sure
they are labelled correctly with a 'Wheelchair Luggage Tag' at check in. This
will ensure that these items will be off loaded straight away.
Manual and dry cell (gel) battery operated wheelchairs will be carried free
of charge. Wet cell, spillable battery operated wheelchairs can not be accepted
unless prior authorisation by Virgin Atlantic or BMI has been given and certain
terms and conditions are met.
Please note: Cabin crew are there to assist passengers as much as possible,
however, due to safety reasons they are unable to lift or carry disabled passengers.
All Virgin Atlantic and bmi Flights have an onboard wheelchair to assist passengers
to their seats and to the toilets. International Regulations do not allow us
to allocate exit seats unless passengers are 100% fit and bulkhead seats are
normally reserved for families with infants.
Hearing impaired passengers
Our hearing impaired customers can contact us direct on our MINICOM SYSTEM,
Tel: 0844 573 4213 Mon-Fri 8am-10pm/Sat 8.30am-7pm/Sun 9am-6pm.
Visually impaired passengers
We can arrange pre-boarding and tactile safety demonstrations. On all Virgin
Atlantic aircraft the Safety Demonstration Cards and Duty Free Magazines are
in Braille.
Thrombosis
Next time you head off on that long-haul flight, make sure that you are armed
with the facts about thrombosis. Deep vein thrombosis is usually caused by the
combination of a condition or illness that increases the natural tendency of
the blood to clot (predisposing factors for thrombosis include age, obesity,
pregnancy and taking the contraceptive pill) and a sedentary situation where
the blood flow becomes sluggish. When two factors work together, blood clots
(thrombi) form in the veins. Sometimes deep vein thrombosis isn't serious, only
causing pain and sensitivity in the legs. But these clots can break free and
move up to the heart, causing heart failure. Thrombosis is more likely to strike
if you are immobile for long period of time (post-operative patients are vulnerable),
so long-haul flyers should take the following precautions: talk to your GP about
concerns prior to flying, keep your circulation going during the flight by wiggling
you toes and ankles and walking up and down the aisle, if possible, try taking
extract of ginger, or applying horse chestnut cream to improve circulation.
It's recommended that passengers drink plenty of fluids but avoid excess alcohol
and compression stockings are also useful to wear in the prevention of DVT.
Air Jamaica
Flights to Jamaica are operated by Air Jamaica, who do not carry onboard wheelchairs
on any of their aircraft. They do not provide onboard nebulisers and oxygen
is subject to availability and a charge of approximately $50.00 each flight
sector. The Customer Care Department will arrange airport assistance for Air
Jamaica flights on your behalf.