VA - Business Product

[Deleted member 29185]

Have now completed a MEL-PER-MEL on the new A332s.

Now this business product could be classed as being well worth it. Head and shoulders above the 738 business experience and the crew were attentive and professional which made for very comfortable flying. I can't whinge about anything. Well done VA.

 

[serfty]

Have now completed a MEL-PER-MEL on the new A332s.

Now this business product could be classed as being well worth it. Head and shoulders above the 738 business experience and the crew were attentive and professional which made for very comfortable flying. I can't whinge about anything. Well done VA.

Good to find the service is holding up from it's implementation 18 or so months ago:

http://www.australianfrequentflyer..../business-class-coast-coast-bigger-35264.html

http://www.australianfrequentflyer....os/virgin-australia-dj-coast-coast-44929.html

 

[Deleted member 29185]

Good to find the service is holding up from it's implementation 18 or so months ago:

Agreed.

Just as a data point.....

OOL-MEL 737-800 - 8/8.
MEL-PER A332 - 20/24 (approx)
PER-MEL A332 - 8/24
MEL-OOL - 7/8

Just on that sample, business seems to be holding up (perhaps buoyed by the rewards SC promo).

 

[Fruitcake]

A few more from the weekend just gone...

SYD-CNS E90 3/6
CNS-BNE 73H 7/8
BNE-SYD E90 6/6

FA on the SYD-CNS leg was frighteningly efficient. She took meal and drink orders whilst we were at the gate. Then the first we saw of her after takeoff was when she emerged from the galley with a fully prepared meal tray - less than two minutes after the seatbelt sign was switched off! (Obviously enough, she had been released from her seat a few minutes earlier by the first 'double ding' after takeoff). The meal was eaten and cleared with 40 minutes of departure - perfect, in my view.

 

[RooFlyer]

A few more from the weekend just gone...

SYD-CNS E90 3/6
CNS-BNE 73H 7/8
BNE-SYD E90 6/6

FA on the SYD-CNS leg was frighteningly efficient. She took meal and drink orders whilst we were at the gate. Then the first we saw of her after takeoff was when she emerged from the galley with a fully prepared meal tray - less than two minutes after the seatbelt sign was switched off! (Obviously enough, she had been released from her seat a few minutes earlier by the first 'double ding' after takeoff). The meal was eaten and cleared with 40 minutes of departure - perfect, in my view.

Lunch or dinner? No teensy-weensy whinge about no pre [meal] drink?

 

[day-heg]

And from earlier this week...
MEL-DRW (redeye) 6/8
DRW-SYD (afternoon) 3/8

Service on the first was good, second was excellent, where Dee was the CS.

 

[Fruitcake]

Lunch or dinner? No teensy-weensy whinge about no pre [meal] drink?

It was a dinner service. The drink order was delivered alongside the meal (although I was still offered wine with the meal). Arguably, therefore, it wasn't a pre-dinner drink, but no complaints from me.

Last time I flew this route dinner took 45+ minutes to appear (albeit following a standalone drinks service) but given that I had a movie I wanted to get through, I much preferred the faster service.

 

[maninblack]

Agree about this - not a fan of the seemingly new procedure where they keep the curtain pulled at the front at all times and only pop out to deliver meals and drinks.

This is not new. Virgin have been doing this ever since they introduced J. Originally I think it was so that you couldn't see them consulting the service manual as they fumbled around in the galley and I think it just stuck.

 

[lovestotravel]

This is not new. Virgin have been doing this ever since they introduced J. Originally I think it was so that you couldn't see them consulting the service manual as they fumbled around in the galley and I think it just stuck.

I laughed, because it's (was) true

 

[Flywithd]

Just got off a ADL - HBA flight, Kate the CSM was efficient, handed out the tabs, offered newspapers and was more than happy to be there. Got a choice of a ham and cheese croissant or caramelised onion tart. 6/8 in the cabin. The curtains were open the entire flight!

 

[muppet]

This is not new. Virgin have been doing this ever since they introduced J. Originally I think it was so that you couldn't see them consulting the service manual as they fumbled around in the galley and I think it just stuck.

they certainly do a lot of "pi$$-farting" around with the trolley. particularly on CBR-SYD/MEL. Maybe i don't notice on longer routes, but getting served on decent starts to iritate me. I always go row 1 to ensure decent amount of consumption time.

 

[RichardKopf]

I fly VA J dom, with my wife, on points. I was status matched to plat, last year. Since they now offer status credits on redemptions, and family status pooling, it's very easy to reach plat status. This has tempted us to fly only VA domestically - a 100% turnaround from when on QF had J in Australia.

Although the service is variable, and I have experienced all the issues others have mentioned, I have also enjoyed great service - maybe better than on the competition. Only used the tablet on a flight to Cairns. Movie was good...sound, terrible. I'll stick with my iPad in future.

The meals are very variable, but the FAs are usually OK if you order off the paid menu. With the valet drop to security-lounge option in Sydney, and priority boarding, I'm a very happy VA J flyer. The only thing that really bothers me is the ridiculously tiny toilet at the front.

 

[Deleted member 29185]

The only thing that really bothers me is the ridiculously tiny toilet at the front.

I'm not quite sure if this reply of mine fits in this thread, but on the subject of the lavatories, I find the 73Ws to be a totally inappropriate A/C to fly coast to coast.

As fate has it, I had to fly back to PER on Friday and for every suitable flight, J was full (booking just hours pre-flight saw ridiculous fares which made J look attractive..even to me). I managed to grab an OOL-SYD-PER connection and both sectors were full (the OOL-SYD had 3 spare J, but that wasn't the sector on which I wanted the J) and to make matters worse, the SYD-PER was a 73W. On a chockers flight, 2 zoo lavatories for a 5 hour hop is just not enough. The queue was half way down the aisle for most of the flight and adding the food carts to the mix was almost comical. The skipper turned on the seat belt light after a bit and given there was no turbulence, I'm convinced it was only to allow the food delivery to occur. For J to take one lavatory for 8 pax (as it should be), these A/C need to kept to < 3 hour flights.

(row 3 was the only consolation.)