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Aussie Trip Part 2: A Rant on Virgin Australia
Virgin Australia – Why so different between April and September?
Disclaimer – it is more like a complaint then a full trip report filled with many photos. I was so tired by this point, and taking pictures were not a priority anymore. There were plenty of photos of Virgin America’s new 737 business and economy products out there.
As some of you might recall, I wrote an excellent review of Virgin Australia’s premium transcontinental business class flights on its A330s in April. I flew a roundtrip between Sydney and Perth, so I could try out the critically acclaimed service, or at least somehow forced Qantas to step up its effort in making its Coast-to-Coast flights all A330s featuring international seats and style catering. When I flew in April, the Virgin Australia’s bean counters decided to cut a few things and made the international style amenity kit available only in late night flights that operate after 7 or 8pm – basically the last flight from MEL to PER, and the redeye flights from PER to BNE/SYD/MEL. So I was determined to fly a redeye on this A330 coast-to-coast flight, and otherwise, I would not torture myself with this HKG-SIN-PER-CNS flight. I used my Virgin America points again and the redeye flights were generally fairly opened in availability and when I booked in mid-July, I noticed that the BNE redeye flight has already changed to 737, which features a regional business class seat with 40 inches of legroom. I have a choice between Sydney or Melbourne, and fundamentally I decided on Sydney, which was the major city and using that logic, I think if this is a downgrade to 737, it would affect Melbourne, rather than Sydney, and how wrong were I! About a week before departure, I checked on the seat map and tried to see if there was anyone sitting next to me. I like to check periodically, and am pretty shocked to find a downgrade of my redeye SYD flight to 737, and MEL flight remained an A330. It was nearly impossible to change the flights this late, as MEL to CNS flights were already all full. I immediately went on twitter and the Virgin Australia team came back with the bad news. When I asked about how service was affected, the VA twitter team reassured me that the catering would remain the same, but international style amenity kit would not be available. There were only eight business class seats on the 737s and there should be plenty of spaces for eight international amenity kits that you were going to pass out in the beginning of the flight. Fundamentally, the price and points required on these flights do not go down because of the downgrade, and despite the smaller galley in the 737s, there should be little effects. The seats are already a bumper but of course Virgin Australia takes the term “downgrade” to another level.
September 19, 2014
VA 572 PER-SYD Lv2355 Arr0615+1 Boeing 737-800 Winglet “Sandy Bay”
Check-in was efficient, despite that the agent was not particularly bright. My request for interlining bags on two different VA tickets was not honored, which I sort of expected. I just tried my luck. I did not think the agent made an effort but given how she barely managed to check me in on the simple Perth to Sydney flight, I did not expect miracles to happen. The Virgin Australia Lounge at Perth was quite busy with three redeye flights, but I found a table to check emails and had a light meal of ham and cheese sandwich and some really nice Tom Yum Prawn soup.
Gate 17
Boarding began at 11:31pm and it was evidenced that why SYD had a downgrade, as the load was not particularly high in both cabins. I was not sure if many passengers changed their flights after the down gauge, especially in business class. There were only two passengers when I checked at Singapore earlier in the day, but in the end, there were a total of six passengers and only the two guys in row 2 got an empty seat next to them.
A few shot of the J seat – well they were at least better than most US domestic 737 seats, especially compared to Alaska and Delta. The legroom was okay in the bulkhead row. There was power outlet at each seat. However when I flew Qantas’ 737 a few days later, Qantas definitely won big on the narrowbody business class seat war with more comfortable seat and better legroom and recline.
At each seat, a Samsung table with headphones was already placed in each seat, along with a thin flimsy blanket. There were no pillows and noise-canceling headsets.
There was no pre-takeoff beverage service being offered. Two F/As just stood at the entrance welcoming passengers. I thought at least one of them could do a quick juice or water round. On the premium A330 flight, orange juice or champagne was offered. Thankfully the light load allowed a speedy boarding, and door was closed at 11:48pm. We took off from R/W21 at 11:58pm for our four hours flight to Sydney. I was able to trace our flight over the Map function over the wifi streaming service. We first climbed to 37,000 feet before entering the Great Australian Bight, and then eventually climbed up to 39,000feet. Due to some light chops, we descended back to 37,000feet a bit before climbing back to 39,000feet, just as we passed Cape Camot/Port Lincoln. Then we passed the Gulf of St. Vincent, the city of Adelaide, and Ouyen, before descending to 38,000feet.
Entertainment – Samsung Tablets in business with headsets
I really like Virgin Australia’s streaming service, as I am able to login using my own iPhone or using the tablet provided. The selection of television programs and movies is above average, but Qantas “Q” has more programs though. I like the map function and the ability to track the plane. I kept it on throughout the flight. That was perhaps the best aspect of the flight.
After takeoff, cabin manager immediately took our beverage and meal order. While there was no menu, he showed us the choices of the entrées on the company provided iPads. It was a choice of Sweet Corn Soup or a warmed chicken and watercress sandwich, which was my choice. The meal came with a rosemary roll and a black cherry chocolate brownie. There was no hot towel service prior to meal service, and there was no linen to cover the table or the tray. The sandwich was actually quite nice but not sure whey they needed to serve another bread roll. The brownie was delicious, and they were from Simmone Longue Bakery’s comfort food series.
Meal pictures:
The meal service was completed at 12:30am and the work for the F/As apparently stopped too. There was no offering of bottled waters or frequent cabin checks. I actually had to use my call button to get a bottle of water.
My attempt to take a picture of Adelaide in the middle of the night!
Virgin Australia – Why so different between April and September?
Disclaimer – it is more like a complaint then a full trip report filled with many photos. I was so tired by this point, and taking pictures were not a priority anymore. There were plenty of photos of Virgin America’s new 737 business and economy products out there.
As some of you might recall, I wrote an excellent review of Virgin Australia’s premium transcontinental business class flights on its A330s in April. I flew a roundtrip between Sydney and Perth, so I could try out the critically acclaimed service, or at least somehow forced Qantas to step up its effort in making its Coast-to-Coast flights all A330s featuring international seats and style catering. When I flew in April, the Virgin Australia’s bean counters decided to cut a few things and made the international style amenity kit available only in late night flights that operate after 7 or 8pm – basically the last flight from MEL to PER, and the redeye flights from PER to BNE/SYD/MEL. So I was determined to fly a redeye on this A330 coast-to-coast flight, and otherwise, I would not torture myself with this HKG-SIN-PER-CNS flight. I used my Virgin America points again and the redeye flights were generally fairly opened in availability and when I booked in mid-July, I noticed that the BNE redeye flight has already changed to 737, which features a regional business class seat with 40 inches of legroom. I have a choice between Sydney or Melbourne, and fundamentally I decided on Sydney, which was the major city and using that logic, I think if this is a downgrade to 737, it would affect Melbourne, rather than Sydney, and how wrong were I! About a week before departure, I checked on the seat map and tried to see if there was anyone sitting next to me. I like to check periodically, and am pretty shocked to find a downgrade of my redeye SYD flight to 737, and MEL flight remained an A330. It was nearly impossible to change the flights this late, as MEL to CNS flights were already all full. I immediately went on twitter and the Virgin Australia team came back with the bad news. When I asked about how service was affected, the VA twitter team reassured me that the catering would remain the same, but international style amenity kit would not be available. There were only eight business class seats on the 737s and there should be plenty of spaces for eight international amenity kits that you were going to pass out in the beginning of the flight. Fundamentally, the price and points required on these flights do not go down because of the downgrade, and despite the smaller galley in the 737s, there should be little effects. The seats are already a bumper but of course Virgin Australia takes the term “downgrade” to another level.
September 19, 2014
VA 572 PER-SYD Lv2355 Arr0615+1 Boeing 737-800 Winglet “Sandy Bay”
Check-in was efficient, despite that the agent was not particularly bright. My request for interlining bags on two different VA tickets was not honored, which I sort of expected. I just tried my luck. I did not think the agent made an effort but given how she barely managed to check me in on the simple Perth to Sydney flight, I did not expect miracles to happen. The Virgin Australia Lounge at Perth was quite busy with three redeye flights, but I found a table to check emails and had a light meal of ham and cheese sandwich and some really nice Tom Yum Prawn soup.
Gate 17
Boarding began at 11:31pm and it was evidenced that why SYD had a downgrade, as the load was not particularly high in both cabins. I was not sure if many passengers changed their flights after the down gauge, especially in business class. There were only two passengers when I checked at Singapore earlier in the day, but in the end, there were a total of six passengers and only the two guys in row 2 got an empty seat next to them.
A few shot of the J seat – well they were at least better than most US domestic 737 seats, especially compared to Alaska and Delta. The legroom was okay in the bulkhead row. There was power outlet at each seat. However when I flew Qantas’ 737 a few days later, Qantas definitely won big on the narrowbody business class seat war with more comfortable seat and better legroom and recline.
At each seat, a Samsung table with headphones was already placed in each seat, along with a thin flimsy blanket. There were no pillows and noise-canceling headsets.
There was no pre-takeoff beverage service being offered. Two F/As just stood at the entrance welcoming passengers. I thought at least one of them could do a quick juice or water round. On the premium A330 flight, orange juice or champagne was offered. Thankfully the light load allowed a speedy boarding, and door was closed at 11:48pm. We took off from R/W21 at 11:58pm for our four hours flight to Sydney. I was able to trace our flight over the Map function over the wifi streaming service. We first climbed to 37,000 feet before entering the Great Australian Bight, and then eventually climbed up to 39,000feet. Due to some light chops, we descended back to 37,000feet a bit before climbing back to 39,000feet, just as we passed Cape Camot/Port Lincoln. Then we passed the Gulf of St. Vincent, the city of Adelaide, and Ouyen, before descending to 38,000feet.
Entertainment – Samsung Tablets in business with headsets
I really like Virgin Australia’s streaming service, as I am able to login using my own iPhone or using the tablet provided. The selection of television programs and movies is above average, but Qantas “Q” has more programs though. I like the map function and the ability to track the plane. I kept it on throughout the flight. That was perhaps the best aspect of the flight.
After takeoff, cabin manager immediately took our beverage and meal order. While there was no menu, he showed us the choices of the entrées on the company provided iPads. It was a choice of Sweet Corn Soup or a warmed chicken and watercress sandwich, which was my choice. The meal came with a rosemary roll and a black cherry chocolate brownie. There was no hot towel service prior to meal service, and there was no linen to cover the table or the tray. The sandwich was actually quite nice but not sure whey they needed to serve another bread roll. The brownie was delicious, and they were from Simmone Longue Bakery’s comfort food series.
Meal pictures:
The meal service was completed at 12:30am and the work for the F/As apparently stopped too. There was no offering of bottled waters or frequent cabin checks. I actually had to use my call button to get a bottle of water.
My attempt to take a picture of Adelaide in the middle of the night!
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