docjames
Senior Member
- Joined
- Jul 10, 2007
- Posts
- 9,404
- Qantas
- Platinum
Sadly, I cant keep up with the standard set by many of the TR writers here, but thought i'd share some of my thoughts about our day trip to Sydney yesterday (Fri 30/9). First time I've flown DJ and i'll say at the start overall I was highly impressed.
Firstly, I took the status match with Virgin knowing I had some travel later in the year already booked (one work BFOD policy, one personal booking that QF were just gouging on price) so that got us lounge access.
Mrsdoc had a last minute work trip, and I tagged along to look after minidoc whilst she was at her meeting. Long story. But it was booked at the last minute (less than a week in advance), and we couldnt justify ~ $250pp each way premium on Qantas. And ended up full flex on DJ (vs Flexi-saver on QF).
Checkin was smooth, and we were able to keep the stroller with us and gate check it in both BNE and SYD. All very smooth.
BNE lounge was good - ISTR there was an issue with the sealing of the floor - it still looks messy and needs re-doing - it really detracts from the look of the lounge. Food - nice cold selection, but the "hot" selection was not replenished for about 45 mins - and appeared just as we were leaving to board. Barista coffee is a winner and just kills the QF coffee. Wasnt too busy either which makes a change from the Qantas zoo.
Flight was late by about ~20mins (not a big deal) departing and about the same arriving in SYD. The noticable thing on the flight was how happy all the staff (in fact, all the DJ staff we saw all day seemed happy) - a glaring contrast to most interactions with QF staff. The FAs couldnt do enough to help us with minidoc. We were fortunate to be in row 3 (old fitout) but it was a 100% full flight so no empty seat. Didnt matter. In flight "breakfast" as part of full flex was very good and certainly more than adequate (even if i hadnt had the crumpets and toast in The Lounge). And we got live free to air comped due to late aircraft (both flights), but very few seemed to be watching it, and the number of commercials is insane! The flight map gets shown for about 2 seconds then another 30 secs of adverts! And it's not very comprehensive - merely speed (kph) and altitude (in metres too when feet would be better given the usual flight levels in feet) or better yet, cycling between the measurements like QF. Perhaps they could have the maps and the date cycling through screens, with scroll adds at the bottom rather than breaking through constantly.
Luggage arrived fairly prompty (stroller that was gate checked only) but we'd been told it would be on the caruosel when in fact it came out with oversize baggage. No biggie. In one piece and arived at all was important!
Day in Sydney in the middle here.
Train back out to SYD ~ 1745 for the 8pm. No seats left on the 7pm left even though were would have been early enough to change and had fully flex fares. Checkin attendant was awesome - reminded us of the lounge kerbside entry as the inside security lines were hopelessly long so we headed back outside and straight into the lounge no hassles! Lounge in SYD is well broken up into areas - a shame the elevated bit by the window is not about 5m higher as you'd have an awesome view of the apron/main runway. Wine selection - whilst plentiful, mrsdoc tried a few and didnt get more than half a mouthful of any of them and declared them "terrible" so she ended up having a cider instead. Which she enjoyed! I have to agree - the wines (whites at least - I tasted all the rejects
) arent great. I do recall that they intend to vary them quite a bit so maybe move that rotation forward DJ reps! Also, no hot food other than soup seems a major miss, I was most disappointed. Similarly, there were some awesome little choclate cakes that made an appearance at ~ 8pm (some 90 mins after we entered the lounge) - no idea why it took so long to replenish them. Same issue as the pancakes in the J lounge in the morning?
We wanted to change minidoc into his sleep wear - except the only change table is in one of the shower cubicles - and of course which of the three was in use followed by then being cleaned before we could use it? Not really DJ's fault but perhaps they should use that one last? Or have it as a seperate room (usually as part of the disbabled toilet in most places) - although that could easily happen anywhere.
Next issue - flight still not boarding at 740pm - turns out connecting crew (First Officer I believe) was late inbound, so despite the a/c sitting there, boarding was pushed back to 810pm for 830 departure, which was fine - once we'd all boarded by ~825pm, it was just the FO that hadnt. We were finally pushed back and watching the safety demo at 855pm. Not great and a major nuisance with minidoc. Flexi-meal was a bit crummy - cheese and biscuits, some nuts. Not really substantial enough for an evening flight. Offered an alcoholic drink but would have preferred a soft drink. They need to fix this - should be choice of one drink from the menu. Similarly, choice of one item from menu would be better for evening flights or a more substantial "meal".
Baggage (stroller) came quickly out via oversized again. Long walk to the BNE long term carpark.
So my summary list:
Great: Staff attitude and service / assistance, especially in-flight. Lounges (BNE and SYD) very comfortable and not overcrowded. Able to gate check stroller without any hassles at all.
Not so great: 2/2 flights delayed (one by ~ 1hr) and perhaps reflects Virgin's known issue with OTP (per the published stats). But given the issues this week with QF strike, customs strike and weather in MEL and SYD, I wont judge too harshly. It's not like i've never been delayed on QF....
Nit-picking: No hot food in the lounge in the evening in SYD, rate of refresh of the food doesnt seem great either. The incessant ads on the LTA is really irritating.
So all in all, DJ made a pretty good effort to convince me to switch entirely from the flying kangaroo. There's still a few things that need fine tuning, but every business needs fine tuning constantly. I'm now looking forward even more to my upcoming trips on DJ - if they go as well as this (minus the delays) then certainly I'll have a very hard decision on my hands as currently I probably travel enough to be Gold with one carrier, silver with another, but probably not enough to be gold with both.
Sorry no pics - too busy juggling minidoc.
Am happy to take questions / comments.
Firstly, I took the status match with Virgin knowing I had some travel later in the year already booked (one work BFOD policy, one personal booking that QF were just gouging on price) so that got us lounge access.
Mrsdoc had a last minute work trip, and I tagged along to look after minidoc whilst she was at her meeting. Long story. But it was booked at the last minute (less than a week in advance), and we couldnt justify ~ $250pp each way premium on Qantas. And ended up full flex on DJ (vs Flexi-saver on QF).
Checkin was smooth, and we were able to keep the stroller with us and gate check it in both BNE and SYD. All very smooth.
BNE lounge was good - ISTR there was an issue with the sealing of the floor - it still looks messy and needs re-doing - it really detracts from the look of the lounge. Food - nice cold selection, but the "hot" selection was not replenished for about 45 mins - and appeared just as we were leaving to board. Barista coffee is a winner and just kills the QF coffee. Wasnt too busy either which makes a change from the Qantas zoo.
Flight was late by about ~20mins (not a big deal) departing and about the same arriving in SYD. The noticable thing on the flight was how happy all the staff (in fact, all the DJ staff we saw all day seemed happy) - a glaring contrast to most interactions with QF staff. The FAs couldnt do enough to help us with minidoc. We were fortunate to be in row 3 (old fitout) but it was a 100% full flight so no empty seat. Didnt matter. In flight "breakfast" as part of full flex was very good and certainly more than adequate (even if i hadnt had the crumpets and toast in The Lounge). And we got live free to air comped due to late aircraft (both flights), but very few seemed to be watching it, and the number of commercials is insane! The flight map gets shown for about 2 seconds then another 30 secs of adverts! And it's not very comprehensive - merely speed (kph) and altitude (in metres too when feet would be better given the usual flight levels in feet) or better yet, cycling between the measurements like QF. Perhaps they could have the maps and the date cycling through screens, with scroll adds at the bottom rather than breaking through constantly.
Luggage arrived fairly prompty (stroller that was gate checked only) but we'd been told it would be on the caruosel when in fact it came out with oversize baggage. No biggie. In one piece and arived at all was important!
Day in Sydney in the middle here.
Train back out to SYD ~ 1745 for the 8pm. No seats left on the 7pm left even though were would have been early enough to change and had fully flex fares. Checkin attendant was awesome - reminded us of the lounge kerbside entry as the inside security lines were hopelessly long so we headed back outside and straight into the lounge no hassles! Lounge in SYD is well broken up into areas - a shame the elevated bit by the window is not about 5m higher as you'd have an awesome view of the apron/main runway. Wine selection - whilst plentiful, mrsdoc tried a few and didnt get more than half a mouthful of any of them and declared them "terrible" so she ended up having a cider instead. Which she enjoyed! I have to agree - the wines (whites at least - I tasted all the rejects
) arent great. I do recall that they intend to vary them quite a bit so maybe move that rotation forward DJ reps! Also, no hot food other than soup seems a major miss, I was most disappointed. Similarly, there were some awesome little choclate cakes that made an appearance at ~ 8pm (some 90 mins after we entered the lounge) - no idea why it took so long to replenish them. Same issue as the pancakes in the J lounge in the morning?We wanted to change minidoc into his sleep wear - except the only change table is in one of the shower cubicles - and of course which of the three was in use followed by then being cleaned before we could use it? Not really DJ's fault but perhaps they should use that one last? Or have it as a seperate room (usually as part of the disbabled toilet in most places) - although that could easily happen anywhere.
Next issue - flight still not boarding at 740pm - turns out connecting crew (First Officer I believe) was late inbound, so despite the a/c sitting there, boarding was pushed back to 810pm for 830 departure, which was fine - once we'd all boarded by ~825pm, it was just the FO that hadnt. We were finally pushed back and watching the safety demo at 855pm. Not great and a major nuisance with minidoc. Flexi-meal was a bit crummy - cheese and biscuits, some nuts. Not really substantial enough for an evening flight. Offered an alcoholic drink but would have preferred a soft drink. They need to fix this - should be choice of one drink from the menu. Similarly, choice of one item from menu would be better for evening flights or a more substantial "meal".
Baggage (stroller) came quickly out via oversized again. Long walk to the BNE long term carpark.
So my summary list:
Great: Staff attitude and service / assistance, especially in-flight. Lounges (BNE and SYD) very comfortable and not overcrowded. Able to gate check stroller without any hassles at all.
Not so great: 2/2 flights delayed (one by ~ 1hr) and perhaps reflects Virgin's known issue with OTP (per the published stats). But given the issues this week with QF strike, customs strike and weather in MEL and SYD, I wont judge too harshly. It's not like i've never been delayed on QF....
Nit-picking: No hot food in the lounge in the evening in SYD, rate of refresh of the food doesnt seem great either. The incessant ads on the LTA is really irritating.
So all in all, DJ made a pretty good effort to convince me to switch entirely from the flying kangaroo. There's still a few things that need fine tuning, but every business needs fine tuning constantly. I'm now looking forward even more to my upcoming trips on DJ - if they go as well as this (minus the delays) then certainly I'll have a very hard decision on my hands as currently I probably travel enough to be Gold with one carrier, silver with another, but probably not enough to be gold with both.
Sorry no pics - too busy juggling minidoc.
Am happy to take questions / comments.
