The issue was taken up when Jenny Brown tried to book a flight online and because she didn’t know the name of her son’s carer in at the time of flying, she couldn’t book the flights. Virgin required the names of the people flying for the booking to be made.

The fact is, her family books carers through a nursing agency and they rarely know who the individual carer will be very far in advance as it depends on the carer’s rosters at that time.

As we all know, the closer you book your flight to the time you want to fly, the more expensive it is likely to be so that means Ms Brown was stuck with expensive flights or missed out on seats altogether.

Thankfully, Virgin Australia has now changed its policy and people travelling with a carer can make a reservation over the phone up to 331 days in advance at the internet rate. They then can confirm the name of the carer any time up to 72 hours before the flight.

Great work Ms Brown, the Public Interest Advocacy Group and the Anti-Discrimination Board of NSW! And Virgin Australia for stepping up and changing the policy.