Online check-in opens 24 hours before the flight is scheduled to depart and closes two hours before take-off. Kiosk Check-in is available at Heathrow, Gatwick and Manchester airports for most flights. Passengers should arrive at the airport 90 minutes before departure time.

At airports, check-in desks open about four hours before take-off and close an hour before. Virgin recommends that passengers check-in three hours before departure.

A Twilight check-in service is available at Gatwick Airport. It is open at Zone A, South Terminal, until 9pm the evening before the flight is to depart.

Baggage allowances vary by class of travel. 

Hand luggage: Economy and Premium Economy passengers are allowed to take one piece of hand baggage (up to 6kg, measuring 23 x 36 x 56cm) on board flights plus a personal item such as a purse or a camera. Upper Class travellers may take two bags, weighing up to 16kg in total, plus a small, personal item. However, neither bag should weigh more than 12kg. Infants are also given a cabin-baggage allowance of up to 6kg in addition to free carriage of a buggy or cat seat.

Checked luggage: Virgin Atlantic operates a "piece system". Economy Class travellers may bring one bag, weighing up to 23kg. This applies to all routes except Kenya/Nigeria/Ghana flights, where two bags may be carried. 

Premium Economy flyers are allowed to bring two bags on all Virgin Atlantic routes with the exception of Ghana and Jamaica where the allowance is three bags. The weight per bag is up to 23kg each. Upper-Class passengers may bring three bags weighing up to 32kg each. An infant flyer is also granted a baggage allowance of one bag, up to 23kg, in addition to their buggy or car seat.

Excess: Oversized bags - 90 x 75 x 43cm to 190 x 75 x 65cm - carry a fee of £40 ($60). Overweight bags - weighing between 23 and 32kg - incur a charge of £30.

Seat pitch in Economy Class is up to 81cm (32 inches), Premium Economy offers seats with up to 96cm (38 inches). The Upper Class Suite is the longest fully flat bed in Business Class.

Seat selection via the Manage My Booking section of the Virgin website.

Bookings can be amended via the Manage Your Booking part of the website.

Children are charged about 75 per cent of the adult fare while the infant fare is 10 per cent of the adult fare.

None.

Pets can travel to and from Chicago and Cape Town (seasonal services), Barbados, Boston, Dubai, Hong Kong, Johannesburg, New York-JFK and Newark, London, Los Angeles, Miami, Orlando, San Francisco, Sydney and Washington. All pets travel in the hold. To book pet travel call 0844 873 8000.

Carriage of musical instruments should be cleared with the airline in advance. It counts towards the cabin-baggage allowance, but if it exceeds that (more than 6kg for Economy flyers, for example), it must be checked in.

The in-flight service in Economy Class is pretty good. Meals are complimentary and there's a free bar service. Each seat has its own seat-back TV and there are video-games consoles with up to 35 games on many flights. Premium Economy class is a wraparound service. There's a dedicated check-in, priority boarding and disembarkment, pre-flight drink and priority baggage reclaim. There's more space, more staff and superior menus that include fresh fruit and liqueurs. In Upper Class, one of the stellar features is the flat bed, one of the longest fully flat beds in Business Class. There's dedicated check-in and a meal service that is on-demand, more like a restaurant than an airline.

The frequent-flyer program is called Flying Club. Virgin Atlantic has several partners such as bmi, Continental Airlines, SAS, Virgin America, V Australia and Virgin Blue.

See photographs of Virgin Atlantic in-flight meals taken by fellow flyers and read reviews at AirlineMeals.net.

The in-flight magazine is called SEATBACK, published three times per year.

Virgin Atlantic is not a member of a specific airline alliance, but has partnerships with many carriers, including Air New Zealand, Singapore Airlines, bmi, Continental Airlines and Malaysia Airlines.

Virgin Atlantic Airways Limited is part of Sir Richard Branson's Virgin Group. Branson holds 51 per cent of the airline, the remaining 49 per cent is owned by Singapore Airlines.

Virgin Atlantic was founded in 1984 - its Flying Lady livery inspired by the WW2-era Varga Girls - and flies from the UK to North America, the Caribbean, Africa and the Middle East, Asia and Australia.

Other airlines in the Virgin stable include Virgin Blue, Virgin America and Virgin Nigeria.