I am so over Virgin Airlines.

[SimonF]

I thought they sometimes overbook?!?

 

[medhead]

I thought they sometimes overbook?!?

Australia, domestic - highly unlikely.

Tell me the flight details and I'll do a fare availability search.

 

[JohnK]

I don't care what people say but it is never nice to lose your preferred pre-allocated seat but unfortunately there are some people out there who think they are entitled and wouldn't hesitate to disrupt someone else's plan for their own selfish preferences.

And it should be possible to see what has happened to your seat allocation from the available history.

 

[SimonF]

Probably got moved due to weight balance.

 

[AdMEL]

Similar thing has also happened to me - flexi MEL-PER upgraded to business with points, selected 1A (just to see what it was like) and when checking in at the airport ended up with row 3 middle (I prefer window). When I asked what happened to 1A, I was told that because I upgraded using points, my seat was given to a paying passenger. Not sure if that was correct, but the lesson I learnt was to check-in online if I wanted my seat allocation to stick (hadn't checked in online because I didn't there was any reason to, given seat was allocated). As it turned out, it was one of the then brand new A330's, with good service, so no big deal.

 

[OzEire]

I had an "I'm over VA" recently. As some of you know I fly several times a week, always at short notice, always flexi. I'm WP on both VA and QF but on this occasion I *chose* to give my custom to VA for a 1.5 hr flight. In the cruise I was handed the underwhelming Flexi 'snack' of cheese and crackers, which would go nicely with a glass of red (even if its cheap plonk in a small plastic bottle) but the FA tells me "$4 please". After replying "never mind" about the wine I thought that VA could have offered that wine complementary to a WP - they knew because they had just handed over the Flexi snack. I don't always take the snack even on the east coast flights where everyone gets one, and I rarely take an alcoholic drink when it is free, but this one time - in the afternoon with cheese and crackers I just wanted one.

I thought some more and decided that I would push the next $10,000 of my travel spend to QF just to spite the lack of VA loyalty to me, so I will pay it back in kind. Sure hope they get a good return from that $4 bottle when they sell it. See you all in the J lounge.

 

[Sojourner]

I had this moment flying MEL-PER on the weekend while flying in Y with VA. My issue is actually a SAFETY issue. I was watching a movie on my laptop with earphones in, when I suddenly felt the plane descend steeply very quickly I realised were were about to land. I had to very very quickly rush to rip my earphones off, fold my laptop up, and put away the tray table. I obviously had no time to get up to stow my laptop away so I just held it tightly in my lap. I asked the guy next to me if he had noticed the FA's coming down the idle to give the customary reminder to everyone to put their tray tables up and laptops away and he said he hadn't seen them do that either.

Glad it wasn't a rough landing that was going to send my laptop flying into my own or some one elses face.

This just topped off what was generally very poor onboard service.

 

[mel-world]

Hey; some of you need to put a smile of your face and get on with life. There are more important things to worry about!

We all know that flying domestic is much like taking an (expensive) bus and whatever way you look at it, the service levels in Australia are still much better than the US or intra-Europe domestic of even the 'full service' airlines - let alone the LCCs.

In a bus, you cannot reserve a seat or have someone come by to remind you that your stop is coming up. Enjoy the benefits you have and move on.

Mind you, reading threads like this does give me a laugh.

 

[medhead]

I had an "I'm over VA" recently. As some of you know I fly several times a week, always at short notice, always flexi. I'm WP on both VA and QF but on this occasion I *chose* to give my custom to VA for a 1.5 hr flight. In the cruise I was handed the underwhelming Flexi 'snack' of cheese and crackers, which would go nicely with a glass of red (even if its cheap plonk in a small plastic bottle) but the FA tells me "$4 please". After replying "never mind" about the wine I thought that VA could have offered that wine complementary to a WP - they knew because they had just handed over the Flexi snack. I don't always take the snack even on the east coast flights where everyone gets one, and I rarely take an alcoholic drink when it is free, but this one time - in the afternoon with cheese and crackers I just wanted one.

I thought some more and decided that I would push the next $10,000 of my travel spend to QF just to spite the lack of VA loyalty to me, so I will pay it back in kind. Sure hope they get a good return from that $4 bottle when they sell it. See you all in the J lounge.

I doubt the crew bother to check who has status on the flight. They know flexi meals. But I doubt they bother checking status, just my observation any way.

I had this moment flying MEL-PER on the weekend while flying in Y with VA. My issue is actually a SAFETY issue. I was watching a movie on my laptop with earphones in, when I suddenly felt the plane descend steeply very quickly I realised were were about to land. I had to very very quickly rush to rip my earphones off, fold my laptop up, and put away the tray table. I obviously had no time to get up to stow my laptop away so I just held it tightly in my lap. I asked the guy next to me if he had noticed the FA's coming down the idle to give the customary reminder to everyone to put their tray tables up and laptops away and he said he hadn't seen them do that either.

Glad it wasn't a rough landing that was going to send my laptop flying into my own or some one elses face.

This just topped off what was generally very poor onboard service.

Usually there is a long time between start of descent and the seat belt sign going on. In fact they don't usually "prepare the cabin for landing" until some time after the descent has started. If the seat belt sign was off you could've just got up and sorted it out.

 

[Sojourner]

Usually there is a long time between start of descent and the seat belt sign going on. In fact they don't usually "prepare the cabin for landing" until some time after the descent has started. If the seat belt sign was off you could've just got up and sorted it out.

The seat belt sign was NOT off, so I could not have gotten up to sort it out.

I had less than one minute to rush to fold my laptop and tray table away before it hit the tarmac. It would not have been possible for me to get up, climb over the passenger sitting in the aisle row and stow my laptop overhead without putting myself at risk of actually being NOT in my seat when the plane landed.

I can't remember ever not having a flight attendant not doing the customary walk down the aisle to get passengers to put aside all laptops, close tray tables, put seats upright. This was a first. DIY safety for passengers.

*edit - I also do not recall hearing the announcement to put away tray tables and laptops either - I will give them the benefit of the doubt that I just didn't hear it over the PA, but I am 100% sure they did not do the walk through to check for tray tables, seat reclines and laptops before landing.

 

[Pushka]

I think that the personal earphones and watching a movie might mean you just weren't listening to (ie hearing) any announcements. The walk down should have happened - maybe they didnt realise it was a large computer (or maybe it was tablet size?) now that the restrictions on those have been lifted. I've certainly seen tables down and seats reclined during landing. Not good but it happens.

 

[Sojourner]

I think that the personal earphones and watching a movie might mean you just weren't listening to (ie hearing) any announcements. The walk down should have happened - maybe they didnt realise it was a large computer (or maybe it was tablet size?) now that the restrictions on those have been lifted. I've certainly seen tables down and seats reclined during landing. Not good but it happens.

I was streaming through the IFE wifi system. When there is an announcement this will stop playing with the message an announcement is being made. As I said, I dont recall this happening but gave them the benefit of the doubt on this. I am 100 per cent sure they did not do the walkthrough though. My laptop is a huge 15 inch macbook pro sittting on a tray table. Cannot be mistaken for a little ipad. I think the walkthrough is important for those hard of hearing and with language barriers.

 

[medhead]

Personally I notice when the aircraft first starts to descend. When you said you noticed the aircraft start to descend that is the time period that matches my experience. Must have been a good movie if you didn't notice the nose turn down.

I find the announcements are pretty hit and miss at interrupting the IFE.

 

[Pushka]

I was streaming through the IFE wifi system. When there is an announcement this will stop playing with the message an announcement is being made. As I said, I dont recall this happening but gave them the benefit of the doubt on this. I am 100 per cent sure they did not do the walkthrough though. My laptop is a huge 15 inch macbook pro sittting on a tray table. Cannot be mistaken for a little ipad. I think the walkthrough is important for those hard of hearing and with language barriers.

Oh, ok. It sounded like you were watching a movie from your PC in which case no interruptions.

 

[OzEire]

I doubt the crew bother to check who has status on the flight. They know flexi meals. But I doubt they bother checking status, just my observation any way.

My understanding is that the Flexi pax are identified from the manifest (long scroll of printer paper) so I assume it has all the usual pax details.

 

[Justchecking]

The seat belt sign was NOT off, so I could not have gotten up to sort it out.

I had less than one minute to rush to fold my laptop and tray table away before it hit the tarmac. It would not have been possible for me to get up, climb over the passenger sitting in the aisle row and stow my laptop overhead without putting myself at risk of actually being NOT in my seat when the plane landed.

I can't remember ever not having a flight attendant not doing the customary walk down the aisle to get passengers to put aside all laptops, close tray tables, put seats upright. This was a first. DIY safety for passengers.

*edit - I also do not recall hearing the announcement to put away tray tables and laptops either - I will give them the benefit of the doubt that I just didn't hear it over the PA, but I am 100% sure they did not do the walk through to check for tray tables, seat reclines and laptops before landing.

If this wasn't done then you should take it up with the company as soon as possible. What your story really highlights is the dangers of people being plugged into their own devices with noise cancelling headsets. You had no awareness of what's going on in the cabin because you had to ask the guy next to you about it. If you were that immersed it's entirely possible a flight attendant did come past and ask you to pack it away but you missed it.

But as I said, if you are sure this is what happened then the best place to relay that information is the company. I'm certain they would be most interested in investigating this.

 

[medhead]

My understanding is that the Flexi pax are identified from the manifest (long scroll of printer paper) so I assume it has all the usual pax details.

Yes, the information is probably on the manifest. But I doubt they actually look at the status level, making it useless. As I wrote there is no indication they look at status level, in my experience. Only that they look for who has a flexi meal.

 

[jaspon]

sounds like you were getting a discount, as wine is $8.
Not aware of VA ever offering plats/golds any free drinks due to status.
These days for free booze,its only on the happy hr, for all guests, mon-fri, 5-7pm, and coast to coast services.

 

[Moopere]

I thought some more and decided that I would push the next $10,000 of my travel spend to QF just to spite the lack of VA loyalty to me, so I will pay it back in kind. Sure hope they get a good return from that $4 bottle when they sell it. See you all in the J lounge.

I understand the train of thought and have done similar myself over time - but honestly, I'm more likely to engage the company these days as I realise that the 'spite' effect of me moving my spend elsewhere won't even be noticed by the intended recipient of my wrath The problem here seems to me to be not a service failure but the perception of stingy benefits for status holders - hard to disagree.

 

[dajop]

Just wondered do QF WPs get free wine on QF services outside the routes/times on those routes where it is published as free , or do they have to pay too?