Well I finally caved and gave Flonza a go. I needed a last minute ticket to the Gold Coast, and the $49 tickets were too good to pass up. Luckily, everything went as planned this time.
AVV-OOL was very empty with around 30 passengers. The inbound didn't look much better, I counted around 40 passengers get off. Boarding was quick and the door was closed 30 minutes before the scheduled departure time, making for a nice and early arrival on the Gold Coast.
The return OOL-MEL departed around 20 minutes late but landed on time, and I was moved to the exit row for free at check in. Not the busiest flight either with around 90 passengers. The inbound flight from Cairns had about 70. Comparatively, the VA and JQ flights to Melbourne around the same time were all full.
Managed to fly on both C-FLKC and C-FLHI. They each have different seats. FLKC has black leather seats with green trim, which had a bit more padding and slightly better legroom at the standard seats.
The Canadian crew were fantastic, and the service felt more polished than on the actual Bonza flights I've taken. Interesting to see they were wearing the Flair uniform with Bonza branded accessories.
For $49 I can't complain. The flights were on time, I had a row to myself on both flights, and the Flair crew were great. I'd still be hesitant booking Bonza too far in advance, but I'd consider them for last minute trips if the flights are cheap and I couldn't justify the alternatives. And if anything, I enjoyed the novelty of flying on a Canadian aircraft domestically.