Virgin Australia introduces neighbour-free seating bids

Virgin Australia Economy travellers can now enjoy a little extra breathing room, with the airline today launching Neighbour-Free Seating across select routes.

Virgin Australia Executive Libby Minogue said the new option was developed directly from customer feedback.

“Neighbour-Free Seating is a clever add-on for Economy travellers who want the certainty of extra space without the price tag,” she said.

Facilitated by PlusGrade, the same system that also processes Business Class bids, eligible guests on Virgin-operated domestic and short-haul international flights can bid to keep the seat beside them empty for more comfort and privacy.

How Virgin’s Neighbour-Free Seating works

After booking, eligible Economy passengers will receive an invitation via the Virgin Australia app to submit a bid for Neighbour-Free Seating. Bids start at $30 and are confirmed up to two hours before departure. You can also manually check your eligibility by entering your details on this page.

If successful, the seat next to the traveller will be blocked, creating extra space to stretch out. Virgin emphasises that this is an add-on comfort product – it doesn’t include additional baggage allowance. You also can’t stash a musical instrument or extra cabin baggage on the seat, either.

The feature is available only for single-passenger or two-passenger bookings. Guests already seated in Economy X and Business Class are not eligible.

Virgin has confirmed that Velocity Gold, Platinum, Platinum Plus and Forever Gold members who pre-select their seats will not be displaced by Neighbour-Free Seating bids. Reading between the lines, it may mean Velocity Silver, Red, and non-members could be shuffled around to accommodate Neighbour-Free Seating bids when needed.

Initial rollout routes

Neighbour-Free Seating launches today on a selection of high-traffic and longer routes, with a wider rollout to follow. Eligible flights include (in either direction):

• Melbourne ↔ Adelaide
• Melbourne ↔ Sydney
• Brisbane ↔ Sydney
• Brisbane ↔ Cairns
• Melbourne ↔ Perth
• Sydney ↔ Perth
• Brisbane ↔ Samoa
• Melbourne ↔ Bali

A Velocity Frequent Flyer survey in 2023 suggested moderate demand for such a product, with 42% of respondents saying they would pay to keep the middle seat free on long international flights and 35% saying the same for domestic journeys over three hours. Qantas added neighbour-free seat bids in 2023.