This page tells you what you need to know about your free checked in bag allowance. It includes information on children’s baggage allowance, musical instruments, and your allowance if you’re flying with one of our partners.
To find out what you can take with you into the cabin, have a look at our Hand baggage allowance page. If you have questions about anything else, you'll find everything you need to know about flying with baggage here.
All our tickets come with a free hand baggage allowance, and most include a free checked in bag allowance too. The exception is Economy Light, which doesn't include a checked bag.
We made some updates to our baggage policy on the 9th of December to make it more standardised across our network, so please check this info carefully to make sure you're up to date.
Things to keep in mind:
Economy Classic and Delight tickets include one checked in bag*. This 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.
Economy light tickets don't come with a free checked in bag, but you can buy additional baggage when you check in if you need it.
The allowance is different when flying to or from Delhi, Mumbai, Lagos and Johannesburg. See below for further details.
Our checked in bag allowance for Upper Class changed from 9th December 2019. If you booked before the 9th December, you can take up to three pieces of baggage, each weighing up to 32kg (70lb) and with dimensions of up to 90 x 75 x 43cm (35.5 x 29.5 x 16ins). After that date, it's two bags (the weight and size stays the same).
For children and seated infants, the baggage allowances above will apply. For lap infants (this is what we call children that don't need their own seat), the baggage allowance is 1 x 23kg (50lb) bag in any cabin apart from Economy Light, where there is no baggage included.
When travelling with infants or children you can also bring a fully collapsible pushchair (which we can take from you at the gate and pop in the hold) and car seat, in addition to the free check in allowance.
Your ticket might include more than the standard baggage allowance. How much depends on whether you booked before or after the 9th of December 2019, when we made some updates to our baggage policy.
It's important to note that Economy Light Tickets do not include a checked bag, regardless of when you booked.
Musical instruments
Some instruments might be small enough to fit into your hand baggage. To find out the sizes of bags you can take into the cabin, take a look at our Hand baggage allowance page.
If it's too big to take as hand baggage, you’ll can take it as part of your checked bag allowance, or a pay an additional baggage fee. More on taking musical instruments
Taking sports equipment
If you have a piece of sports equipment that you'd like to take, such as skis, you'll be able to take it in place of one of your included bags as long as it weighs 23kg (50lb) or less. Take a look at our Sports equipment page for more information on the dimensions allowed for each sports item.
Taking extra bags
You can check in extra baggage beyond the limits outlined here, but you’ll need to arrange this before you fly and pay an extra baggage fee. You’ll find all the details on our Additional baggage page.
Taking oversized bags
If your bags are bigger than the standard 90 x 75 x 43cm (35.5 x 29.5 x 16ins), find out more on our Oversized baggage page.
If your booking involves travelling in different cabins, you can take the checked in baggage allowance applicable to that cabin. For example, if you are travelling in Economy Classic for your outbound you get one checked in bag, and if you are travelling in Premium for your return you get two checked in bags.
If you've reached the heady heights of our Flying Club Gold tier, you can check in an extra piece of baggage on all Virgin Atlantic operated flights for no extra charge (weighing up to 23kg). It doesn’t matter which cabin you’re flying in. Find out more about Flying Club Gold benefits.
If your flight is to or from the USA and operated by one of our codeshare partner airlines (like Delta) and the ticketed flight number starts with “VS”, then the Virgin Atlantic baggage allowance will apply. If your ticketed flight number is not “VS” then our partner airlines' baggage allowance may apply.
If your flight is not to or from the USA and you are travelling with one of our codeshare partner airlines, their baggage allowance may apply. Please take a moment to check their baggage allowances:
