Virgin Economy X seats at 30% off: Are they worth the money?
Should you leg it to the front, or save your cash?
This week, Virgin is offering 30% off booking its extra leg room option, Economy X, on selected flights.
Typically, an Economy X seat costs somewhere between $40 and $100 (it varies by both route and time of day). For that, you're promised these benefits:
- Extra leg room (Virgin claims "up to 40% extra")
- Typically seated in rows 3-6 of the plane
- Priority boarding
- Priority check-in if you're flying internationally
The discount is available for flights booked by 23 October 2023, for travel in selected periods in 2024. The dates vary depending on the route, but if the discount is in place you'll see stars on the Economy X seats when you pick them:
When I tested out Economy X on multiple flights back in 2020, I concluded that while it was comfy, it wasn't really worth the expenditure unless
- there was a significant discount, or
- you were a lot bigger than me (and I'm a not-shabby 6 feet tall)
Ultimately, the only element of the service you can guarantee is the extra leg room. The dedicated overhead lockers can still fill up if your fellow Economy X passengers are greedy.
Priority boarding can also be a bit random (though that's less of a problem now Virgin doesn't fly much outside of capital cities).
Back in 2020, Virgin also promised to try and keep the middle seat free on Economy X rows. That promise has quietly been dropped, it seems.
All things considered, I'm not sure 30% off really cuts it, so I'll probably save my money to spend elsewhere, unless I was looking at a longer flight such as Sydney-Perth.
And when I choose to spend my points, I'll check how much my Velocity Points are really worth first.
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