A day on XFExcellent

[Flywithd]

Date: 5th June 2013

Route: MEL - PER - MEL
Flight Number: VA 677 / 684
Airline: Virgin Australia
Aircraft Type: Airbus 330
Aircraft Rego: XFE



Travel Class: Y/J
Seat: 10C/ 3A

Overall Rating: 5 Star


My day started out with me snoozing too long over the allocated time of 15 minutes meaning I was up at 5:30AM instead of 5:15AM with a boarding time of 6:30AM on my boarding pass, a double check of my man bag to ensure I had my essentials and then it was in the car and off to the freeway to the short term car park by 5:54AM. By the time i reached the lounge it was 6:03AM and I decided to ask if an upgrade was available (I was booked on a saver), unfortunately my fare wasn't alowed to be upgraded and I was fine with that. I had already checked in via passbook so I asked for the angel to reprint a carded BP and she did it with a smile. She asked if I had ever been to gate 12 and I informed her I haven't set foot down that side of the terminal, with a cheeky smile she directed me to turn right once outside the lounge doors and continue to walk down until screening.

I fumbled around the lounge and got a coffee and saw that it was nearly boarding time, so at 6:23AM I started my stroll down to gate 12, luckily for me there wasn't much of a line for security screening and i went through screening in less than 10 seconds. I found gate 12 to my left and saw that boarding had already commenced, I waltzed down the PB line but dues to early boarding there were hardly any lines in the general lane or PB lane. While walking down the aerobridge I was quite neutral to see which bird would be operating the coast to coast flight.

Welcome on board Mr Le..... (by this stage I'm already relieved that it was not A/B as I can see the charming new J cabin to the left, but a quick quiz to see if the crew know their work space ) as I interrupt the generic welcome back with "What registration is this aircraft, is it C, D, E, F, G???" The look of confusion shows on all 4 of the FA's faces and they unleash nervous smiles as they look at each other and try to find out the registration. Theres a couple of pax behind waiting to board and the CSM acknowledges the pax and resumes looking and searching for the registration on their roster.

Mr Le, we are on XFE! Unfortunately I was directed right while my head went left, I was awestruck...... my VA330 virginity was finally broken, in seat 10C.

Legroom was adequate for someone who's 180cm tall. I was wishing for a shadow for 10A... but that shadow was from someone else.

10A... what can I say, I try my best not to judge, but I am only human. I like the unconstructed agreement over the arm rest between us, I'll have the inner half while the outter half is yours, your probably reading this right now, as I noticed your eyes like to wander around especially the countless times my eyes have met your eyes on my iPad. If your not going to turn off your iPad and iPhone then have the balls.. like a man and sit there and watch one and a half men without holding the iPad Smart Cover halfway over the screen and then proceed to cover the screen up when a FA walks past, I also noticed your multiple shoe stains on the bulkhead. If I was your mother, my hand and your face would have a serious discussion as to who would be cleaning up those stains.


XFE (Manly Beach) was introduced into the VA fleet on June 30th, 2012 and respectively is now 11 months old, the bulkhead screen in front of me seems to be out of order in such a short period of time, I must say, the mighty roar of her Rolls Royce Trent 772B-60 engines on take off and descent sounded amazing, somewhat sexy to the ears.

 

[Flywithd]

After we were in the sky and the crew were preparing for catering I remembered RED! I totally forgot about VOD until I saw the controller to my right and it bought back fond memories of the 777. Contents on RED are adequate, with a offering of 55 movies, 8 tv channels with 18 tv series, 15 music videos a variety of music, radio channels and 25 arcade games, seat to seat chatting as well as books/reading material and inflight shopping which were disabled. The content seemed to be from May as I couldnt find any new movie offerings as described in the Virgin Australia magazine.

The 2 offerings for breakfast this morning was a choice between Scrambled eggs with sausage and hash brown or strawberry crepes, Im sure the majority of the pax on board went for the first selection. The meal portion was adequate with the fruit salad and banana and pecan muffin on the side. A couple of minutes after the crew came around with the beverage cart, A juice and water it was for me. The meal tray that Virgin Australia use seems okay for serivce as I saw they could be stacked in 2 coming out from the trolley.

After meal trays were cleared, My eyes and brains were telling me that I should sleep, but my body and sense of curiosity kicked in and it was time for a walk to the back of the plane.

I didn't feel like I was onboard a Virgin Australia aircraft as I'm use to travelling on the 737 and I must say the A330 is in a league of it's own. Throughout the flight i manipulated my mind into thinking that I was off to a nice international destination in Asia as I was still adapting to Virgin Australia's twin asile aircraft. Coming back to reality, I snapped back into reality as captain Glenn announced that he will start descent into Perth, (one can only dream, but I do hope the dream becomes reality as I would like to see Virgin Australia expand their fleet of twin asile aircrafts and take the world by storm.....one country at a time).

We had a bump as we landed in Perth and the trip to the west in Y was over. Disembarkation was from gate 26 and I navigated my way around the new terminal and tried to find the lounge, I eventually gave up and asked a GA where the lounge was, she directed me downstairs and told me to use the elevator reserved for Virgin Australia lounge and airline assisted passengers, seemed legit and I was downstairs and found the lounge in no time. I asked the angels to print me another boarding pass and they asked if I've ever been in the lounge at Perth, with a cheeky grin and red eyes I informed them this was my first time. One of the angels gave me a small tour and showed me where I could find food, drinks and seats to relax. With only 1 hour between touchdown and boarding I saw it was time to find my way back up to gate 26.

Boarding had already commenced when I arrived at gate 26 and I was delighted to see it was XFE making the trip back east. New crew and new direction on board, this time to the left. Welcome back and thanks for flying with us Mr Le, seat 3A to your left. Before I could sit down, Erica emerged from the front gallery and promptly welcomed me back, introduced herself and asked if I would like a glass of champagne followed by a hello from Shelley who was holding a tray of hot handtowels, I told myself today would be a no alcohol day and declined her offer.

Erica seemed to be let down by my answer and reconfirmed if I was sure with my decision. Her lovely down to earth personality and smile convinced me I had to drink it combined with the sunshine outside, pink mood lighting and glass of glistening champagne bubbling away on the tray I knew I had to say yes.... she was thilled with my answer and was super excited that I accepted her offer, at the time she also handed me the food and drink menu, I had a glance and knew what my choices were from the previous reccomendation's and comments from other flyers.

After making myself at home it was time for pushback and take off for home, at cruising altitude the curtains were drawn and Erica came back asking for drink orders, I decided to go for a Bailey's and accompanied that was a ramekin of warm nuts. There were 5 of us in the J cabin so serivce and timings for the FA's were fast and efficient. I settled back into my seat and had a browse through RED, it was the same thing as in Y but only on a bigger screen. Erica emerged once again from behind the curtains via the middle splits, I imagined it was the scene from Termniator 2 where T1000 morphs out of walls and started to chuckle catching the attention of Erica, who was armed with amenity kits and distributed them accordingly to sex in the cabin. My brain side tracked once again thought I was off to Asia or some destination outside of Australia, I told Erica about it and she agreed and wished that the 330's were deployed on other routes rather than Perth.

 

[Flywithd]

Amenity kit and glass of Lanson in hand, Erica proceeded service onto lunch, She happily asked if I was ready to order or would like a couple of minutes to look through the menu again, I told Erica i was ready and promptly ordered the:

Prawn and corn salas and chipotle dressing salad for Entree

Lamb shank and polenta for Main



I was full, sleepy and spoilt like a child, Erica suggested a tea or coffee to accompany the cheese later but I declined, and would ask for one later throughout the flight. I was full past the point of food coma kicking in! I decided to go for a walk and check out the J toilets, I went into the forward gallery to find the girls having a quick bite to eat, they asked if I needed anything and I just smiled and told them to relax and enjoy their food, Erica said I was welcome to use the forward or the toilets to the back of the J cabin. I decided to keep the front toilets clean and fresh and didn't want the girls to over work themselves so I went down to the toilets at the back, Toilets were spacious and the Grown products are in use as the lounge. I decided to walk too the back of the bus and stretch. I got some smiles from other DYKWIA in rows 10 & 11 and smiled back.

The sink is automatic!

 

[Flywithd]

As I returned to the J cabin I bumped into a male FA who was heading back into Y, a quick apology and giggle from the both of us and I was back in J, at this point Shelley could see that I was exploring the middle seats and told me sit and play with the seats. I laid back and made sure I tried out every position that the chair could manage to handle. As I was in flat bed mode I saw the male FA (Rob) who collided with me 10 minutes ago approach my seat in 3A and look for me, I sat up and met him at my seat, he had a females amenity kit as a gesture of good will and apologised once again! I questioned why he decided to gift a female's amenity kit and he responed cheekily with that I could have the best of both world's and proceeded to ask me if I was enjoying the service, I told him it was by far the best VA J product and service I've recieved and thanked him for his generosity.

Quick stroll to the back

22D legroom

Erica and Shelley emerge with the dessert and chesse trolley and It was like heaven to my eyes.

White chocolate cheesecake and vanilla poached berries for dessert.

Erica came back 10 mintutes later and cleared away the empty dessert plate, and offered another one..... I told her I couldn't and would be more than happy if she had one for me in the gallery. Shelley came out of the gallery armed with a cheese platter and a look of determination on her face, how could I possibly say no?

Heidi Gruyere
Tarago River Triple Creme Brie
King Island Lighthouse Blue

Stong headwinds meant that we were on approach into Tullamarine 40 mintures ahead of schedule... it was something I didn't want to hear as I was enjoying the J cabin and service way too much, Erica did a final drink order and I thanked her and Shelley for their service and care through out the flight. We touched down at MEL and taxied into gate 6 (please correct me if I'm wrong) Shelley positioned herslef and blocked off the Y cabin so J pax could disembark, I thanked her once again and as I left XFExcellent, Erica handed me my coat in the VA garment bag, a nice little souvenir for the past day of travelling and wished me a nice day and thanked me a final time for choosing to fly with Virgin Australia.


This trip has really indented itself into my system and I'll always have a soft spot for VA in my heart and I really don't know how I can face the J cabin in the 737 for future travel, I do hope one day we will see the 330's on different routes as VA slowly expand, the occasional MEL-SYD-ADL run on these birds would be fantastic too.

What would be great is if VA got an additional 4 330's and solely assign A/B for the coughet and Bali trips.

I must say, It's like XFE and me have our little thing, saw her fly overhead while driving this morning!

 

[Must...Fly!]

Very nice report. They certainly are a lovely aircraft and very different from XFAwesome (or not so awesome) and XFBroken.

The one thing that does irk me though is that the MA15+ movies are not provided on Coast to Coast IFE (but are on the 777). This annoys me!

 

[serfty]

Very nice report. They are a nice aircraft and very different from Qantas.

To be honest I am just as happy the ex EK pair - the seats I find more comfortable (and I don't knock my head on those danged protrusions near the headrests).

One thing that does irk me though is that the NC headphones they supply don't have any noise suppression with the new seats (the power though the socket seems disconnected).

 

[jazza1971]

Great trip report, thanks for sharing!

 

[Flywithd]

Thanks guys, yes the new 330's are in a leauge of their own! I've never been on A/B and will see what my luck is next week! I'll double check on the NC headphones too!

 

[robd]

Entertaining and informative; an enjoyable read. Thanks for sharing.

 

[Melburnian1]

A great read. VA is way ahead of QF on MEL and SYD - PER routes, but a couple of VA's A330s are older and lack at seat entertainment. I have had a new and an older one on my return trip earlier in 2013.

Sometimes a photo does not show everyone who is seated, but neither plane looks to be particularly well patronised. What was the load factor in J and Y on each leg?

Was this trip to build up SC?

Don't you mean that you were 40 minutes ahead of schedule descending into MEL due to strong tailwinds pushing the plane along, not 'headwinds' (or am I missing something?)

 

[mannej]

A great read. VA is way ahead of QF on MEL and SYD - PER routes, but a couple of VA's A330s are older and lack at seat entertainment. I have had a new and an older one on my return trip earlier in 2013.

The older 330's do have at seat entertainment. It's not AVOD, but it's looped based.

A lot of comparison between the 330's is done in the J cabin, which there is no argument regarding VA having the better product.

However, there doesn't seem to be much difference in Y, hence I don't believe you can say VA are streets ahead in both classes.

 

[Flywithd]

A great read. VA is way ahead of QF on MEL and SYD - PER routes, but a couple of VA's A330s are older and lack at seat entertainment. I have had a new and an older one on my return trip earlier in 2013.

Sometimes a photo does not show everyone who is seated, but neither plane looks to be particularly well patronised. What was the load factor in J and Y on each leg?

Was this trip to build up SC?

Don't you mean that you were 40 minutes ahead of schedule descending into MEL due to strong tailwinds pushing the plane along, not 'headwinds' (or am I missing something?)

There were 5 of us in J and Y seemed to be 80% full, especially towards the back of the plane. Yes this trip was to earn SC as well as to experience the 330. Thanks for the correction, yes we were 40 minutes ahead of schedule due to sting tailwinds! I keep getting tail and headwind mixed up!

 

[drewbles]

Alas, the lamb shanks are now history. The prawns are still there, but no longer with the green mango and corn.

For anyone flying PER-MEL in J on the 330, be sure to try the duck and mushroom ragu. It's lovely.

Oh, and the apple and blueberry crumble is absolutely divine!

 

[Flywithd]

Alas, the lamb shanks are now history. The prawns are still there, but no longer with the green mango and corn.

For anyone flying PER-MEL in J on the 330, be sure to try the duck and mushroom ragu. It's lovely.

Oh, and the apple and blueberry crumble is absolutely divine!

Thanks for the recommendation good sir, Ill take note and will try it out next week !!

 

[drewbles]

Thanks for the recommendation good sir, Ill take note and will try it out next week !!

If you're on an AM flight west bound, the omelette was pretty ordinary. I had good reviews from my seatmate on the Ricotta and Banana pancakes

 

[Flywithd]

If you're on an AM flight west bound, the omelette was pretty ordinary. I had good reviews from my seatmate on the Ricotta and Banana pancakes

9am westbound so looks like ill have to go with the Ricotta and Banana pancakes then! Hmmm I could get use to the 330 service with all my upcoming trips.

 

[drewbles]

9am westbound so looks like ill have to go with the Ricotta and Banana pancakes then! Hmmm I could get use to the 330 service with all my upcoming trips.

Yes but at the current price of J, it's just not going to happen

 

[Flywithd]

2 more trips over the next 2 months to savor and enjoy the 330

 

[a330j]

Thanks for the trip report. Will be trying J out in Sept for the first time on the return leg Mel to Per. Looking forward to it.

 

[FrankC]

Apologies if this has been asked before, is the amenity kit the same ones they hand out for long haul J?