The Business

[Cessna 180]

So having to go from Albany to Mel yesterday I thought I would give Virgin another go across from Perth as Rex interline baggage with them and saves crossing to the other side of the airport.

It is probably over a year since I have done this trip with V.

Being on a flexi I rang the the call centre to enquire about an upgrade. The synopsis of two phone calls was Zero chance as every seat was full".

Anyway, arriving at the lounge thought I may as well ask, one never knows.

Well, this is where the whole Brilliant Experience began. The lounge girl said no worries or words to that effect as there were still a few seats left. The new lounge was nice too.

This was like a completely different airline to the one I see on the OOl to MEL trips I regularly do with V

I would even go as far as to say the service was better than the Qantas one I had in their new business cabin (to Perth) a little while ago.

The entire cabin staff were efficient, polite, friendly and on the ball.

Champagne was even offered prior to lift off at 0945!

After this there was no mucking around, plenty of food and drink offered to everyone throughout the whole flight.

Went for walk around economy and was told they even get a bar service and hot meal.

Anyway, I would just like to give credit to Virgin where it is due as their east coast in flight service is still abysmal in my opinion and I find their cabin attendants to be generally pretty stand offish in my limited experience.

Also the attendants I had, maybe Jordan and Jason?? were really outstanding at what they do.

If only Virgin put a bit of this flair into all their flight instead of just the ones from Perth, they might be onto something

 

[LadyC]

I flew MEL-PER J with VA yesterday and was also very impressed with both the suite and the service. I hope the return flight is just as good.

 

[Rigs]

I recently saw the Perth terminal for the first time. I had never been to the west coast so I booked my return from Singapore through the city with a layover to catch up with friends. Decided to upgrade in the lounge, worth it. The new VA terminal is great, priority boarding actually worked. It was also good to see people my own age in a lounge, almost never see that in CBR or with Qantas.

 

[Mattg]

Totally agree. The Business is a fantastic product, as is their new Perth lounge.

It's just a shame that their Boeing 737/E190 Business class isn't anywhere near as good. Truly chalk and cheese.

It's not just the (vastly superior) hard product on the A330. When I flew the Business we were given proper menus with a choice of meals, long list of wine to choose from, etc.

Over the past few weeks several AFF members have reported that the only "meal" option on their east coast J flight was 2 scones, or a bowl of soup. And I seem to recall that one member wasn't even offered anything - not even a sandwich from Y! It's pathetic in comparison.

 

[Bazzi]

I redeemed points for BNE SYD in J as a treat for my partner's birthday on Friday. We had disembarked from the Queen Victoria in BNE and were advised not to book a flight any less than 5 hours after docking at 8am, so I chose a 1pm flight so we could enjoy lunch en route. We were dropped off at the Premium Entry around 10am and issued with boarding passes but then told that we had to go to the main terminal to check in our bags (what's the point of the Prem Entry then?). The lounge was very good and offered plenty of 'spaces' in which to sit but I do have a problem with parents who let their kids scream and run amok and think it is 'amusing' - it's not! My partner is vegetarian and so I contacted VA prior to request a meal and was told that it wasn't necessary as there was always a vegetarian option.

Once boarded we were offered a pre departure drink - Champagne? No. Wine? No. Soft drink? No. Filtered water was the pre departure drink! Lunch options were a duck curry or a vegetable soup with a 'chorizo' option and wine/water was also offered. No bread roll with either meal - odd for a soup option. Soup is always a tenuous choice for vegetarians as most 'vegetarian' soup is still based on chicken stock (as a former chef I just don't get why today's chefs think that's ok for a vegetarian). No tea or coffee offered as we did have quite a few bumps en route - but quite honestly I don't think the FA would have had time.

Changing our flight to an earlier one once at the airport didn't appear to be an option according to the redemption rules so I didn't ask. In hindsight we would have been better off having lunch before boarding. In fact, I think we would have been better off paying for lunch and flying economy rather than blowing the extra 15k points.

 

[serfty]

Of course, one can always come across disinterested crew who can spoil things or even make a poor offering worse:

Your entire A330 transcon gourmet "The Business" dinner choice tonight is CARROT SOUP

 

[bubblyguy]

Of course, one can always come across disinterested crew who can spoil things or even make a poor offering worse:

Your entire A330 transcon gourmet "The Business" dinner choice tonight is CARROT SOUP

Not sure what happened there but a soup is what is offered for the red eye service which is what that poster was on. On the tray is also a dessert and bakery. There is also a cold continental breakfast available before arrival which is served about an hour before landing (usually Bircher muesli, fresh cut fruit, Greek yoghurt and bakery).

Sounds like the delivery of the offering wasn't great and even the hot snack (veg quiche/pie/toastie) from economy could have also been offered.

In my experience 90% of people just have a beverage and use the suite to get a few hours sleep.

 

[serfty]

...
Sounds like the delivery of the offering wasn't great and even the hot snack (veg quiche/pie/toastie) from economy could have also been offered.....

That is exactly what the problem was - the flight attendant did not even offer the chicken that can come with the soup.

 

[bubblyguy]

That is exactly what the problem was - the flight attendant did not even offer the chicken that can come with the soup.

I hope that official contact is made with VA and the particular FA can receive some feedback on their service delivery.

 

[serfty]

I hope that official contact is made with VA and the particular FA can receive some feedback on their service delivery.

I hope so. Note the lack of a menu being presented. Either they had not been loaded or, the FA could not (or would not) be bothered distributing them.

 

[blackcat20]

QF manage a little better on late night flights; on SYD-MEL we got offered soup or a cheesebox.

 

[bubblyguy]

I hope so. Note the lack of a menu being presented. Either they had not been loaded or, the FA could not (or would not) be bothered distributing them.

I believe there has been a significant shortage of menus with the new season changeover. Still, to say there is just carrot soup when there are all the other items isn't ideal by the FA.

 

[pauly7]

I believe there has been a significant shortage of menus with the new season changeover. Still, to say there is just carrot soup when there are all the other items isn't ideal by the FA.

And whose problem is the 'shortage of menus'? Certainly not the pax...

 

[JohnK]

If only Virgin put a bit of this flair into all their flight instead of just the ones from Perth, they might be onto something

I think they tried that and decided that the PER flights were the only ones worth competing with Qantas.

 

[bubblyguy]

And whose problem is the 'shortage of menus'? Certainly not the pax...

I am pretty sure you know the answer to that.

Thank you for your statement

 

[serfty]

I think they tried that and decided that the PER flights were the only ones worth competin with Qantas.

Qantas know just how to keep their level of service in J a fraction less than VA generally.

Until VA started their Coast to Coast service, Qantas had planned and implemented continuing with 7 across in business on their domestic configured wide-bodies.

 

[JohnK]

Qantas know just how to keep their level of service in J a fraction less than VA generally.

Only for trans continental?

 

[serfty]

Only for trans continental?

Not in my experience ...l

 

[JohnK]

Not in my experience ...l

Well I guess we see things differently....

 

[Deleted member 29185]

Being on a flexi I rang the the call centre to enquire about an upgrade. The synopsis of two phone calls was Zero chance as every seat was full".

Anyway, arriving at the lounge thought I may as well ask, one never knows.

Well, this is where the whole Brilliant Experience began. The lounge girl said no worries or words to that effect as there were still a few seats left.

What you experienced here was the difference between an early upgrade request (where upgrade seats are restricted) and an ODUG (where any seat becomes available). I love it.