DJ 737 Business Class

[LiamR]

All Virgin Australia flights from Sydney, Melbourne, and Brisbane to Perth will have business class from 28 September.

 

[777]

All Virgin Australia flights from Sydney, Melbourne, and Brisbane to Perth will have business class from 28 September.

Right. There's goes at least one of my upgrades then. Got a PER trip in Oct/Nov.

However, unless something is going to change fast that means these will also be the flights WITHOUT the IFE. Perhaps something will change sooner rather than later on that front.

On sale now i just noticed.

 

[Virgin Australia]

However, unless something is going to change fast that means these will also be the flights WITHOUT the IFE. Perhaps something will change sooner rather than later on that front.

In Business Class you'll be provided with a Digiplayer XT which will have a selection of six movies, ten TV programs, music podcasts and games.

 

[777]

In Business Class you'll be provided with a Digiplayer XT which will have a selection of six movies, ten TV programs, music podcasts and games.

Hmm. Not impressed for a transcontinental flight - particularly for those up the back.

 

[Noob]

Fingers crossed that the new IFE whatever it may be is not that far away...

 

[MarkD]

Hmmm Up from $825 PE to $1499 J, Thats one expensive Luke Mangan feed. Sadly, I think they have upped the prices far too much, and the benefit of price advantage is gone. Will be interesting to see the loadings, also on the subject of loadings, anyone know what percentage of Pax who fly into PER are through pax, ie: continuing on to remote mining communities/sites, or other regional ports? I would think that would be substantial, and a market to which Virgin wont be able to touch.
Bold move with their share price in the coughper.

Very Jetstar Business rather than competitive to Qantas. I guess JB didn't say which Qantas they wanted to compete with did he, so they take a bit of both, the Qantas price, and the Jetstar facility..
The thing I do see that Virgin do have going for them, is the enthusiasm of their staff, I hope that is enough.

 

[777]

Hmmm Up from $825 PE to $1499 J, Thats one expensive Luke Mangan feed. Sadly, I think they have upped the prices far too much, and the benefit of price advantage is gone. Will be interesting to see the loadings, also on the subject of loadings, anyone know what percentage of Pax who fly into PER are through pax, ie: continuing on to remote mining communities/sites, or other regional ports? I would think that would be substantial, and a market to which Virgin wont be able to touch.
Bold move with their share price in the coughper.

I assume that's not the price that the corporate contracts that they are trying to lure pay though. We may see a price war on J further down the track but having said that -- they may be very content to try and keep the price at a premium and fill the cabin with FF's on points/ comp pass/ op-up upgrades -- which wouldn't necessarily be a bad thing from my point of view.

I still think they need to sort out the IFE situation. If they aren't going to go with a seat back option they need in seat power for the transcons - extremely disapointed that there's no sign on that if they are going with wifi/ handheld based IFE. Digi players are kinda cough and very inconsistent. They are nominally included in a flexi fare but out of about 8-10 flexi flights i have only been offered one once. They will need to fix that now that LTA is going from most/all transcon flights.

On the upside of the OTT J pricing - my 4 plat upgrade vouchers are worth about $4,000 now. They were worth about half that yesterday.

 

[777]

Sort of related: it may actually pay virgin to keep the price high at least for now.

1. Some people will pay it - massively increasing their yield.
2. Corporate clients will get a discount that looks even bigger over the "retail" rate if the retail rate looks higher. Makes it look a much better deal.
3. It makes the value of the Plat upgrades higher and may (indirectly) lead to more sales of upgradeable flexi fares on those routes.
4. They actually have effectively put a lot of "free" upgrades out there with the status matches. If every plat gets 4 free upgrades and there are, say, 10,000 out there through Status matching and VA's own program then that's 40,000 (or $32m worth at the made up figure of $800 per seat) that they need to process through the upgrade system over the next 12 months.

After 12 months you may see the dynamics start to change but they could do a pretty good job of filling the cabin over the next little while on plat upgrades alone.

 

[jaspon]

I still think they need to sort out the IFE situation. If they aren't going to go with a seat back option they need in seat power for the transcons - extremely disapointed that there's no sign on that if they are going with wifi/ handheld based IFE. Digi players are kinda cough and very inconsistent. They are nominally included in a flexi fare but out of about 8-10 flexi flights i have only been offered one once.

Digiplayers on virgin domestic flights have never been included for FLEXI FARE guests. They only receive complimenatry live 2 air if fitted.

 

[777]

Digiplayers on virgin domestic flights have never been included for FLEXI FARE guests. They only receive complimenatry live 2 air if fitted.

I think that's ambiguous. It says the fare includes free "In Flight Entertainment" where available. If there are digi players on the flight it should theoretically include them shouldn't it? It doesn't exclude them anywhere as far as i can see and i have been offered one (once) before.

It seems pretty clear that they are included as part of a flexi fare on Tasman routes. Why would the rule be any different on a domenstic flight where digi players are the available IFE?

Actually, if they are planing on not making them available as part of a flexi on Transcon routes that would be ridiculous.

 

[jaspon]

I think that's ambiguous. It says the fare includes free "In Flight Entertainment" where available. If there are digi players on the flight it should theoretically include them shouldn't it? It doesn't exclude them anywhere as far as i can see and i have been offered one (once) before.

It seems pretty clear that they are included as part of a flexi fare on Tasman routes. Why would the rule be any different on a domenstic flight where digi players are the available IFE?

Actually, if they are planing on not making them available as part of a flexi on Transcon routes that would be ridiculous.

The "In Flight Entertainment" only refers to the foxtel live 2 air component if fitted ( not the pay per view movies)

There are only ever 8 x digiplayers loaded on rouge non live 2 air a/c and these are for PE guests only.

I would say if a digiplayer was offered, it was as a courtesy, perhaps because of your status,

 

[777]

The "In Flight Entertainment" only refers to the foxtel live 2 air component if fitted ( not the pay per view movies)

There are only ever 8 x digiplayers loaded on rouge non live 2 air a/c and these are for PE guests only.

I would say if a digiplayer was offered, it was as a courtesy, perhaps because of your status,

Well, whether it was a courtesy or not, not offering any IFE to people who booked a fare that specifically advertised that it included IFE on a transcon flight (or any other flight over 2 hours) is very poor form. If Virgin are removing IFE from all their longest domestic routes while selling fares that advertise it as included that would be a very good way to lose business.

 

[Jack Melon]

There wont be live2air at all because they will be using YFC,YFE,YFF,YVA,VIA and BZG. BSI's have not IFE, BZG was dilivered with no IFE. So all will be those coughpy digiplayers. On the A330'S SYD-PER-SYD on the slected routes you get the 10 year old system. Really need to get a move on and announce it.

(YIB shortly)

Also from articles recently virgin are still in production of different IFE solutions, it is still in the works.

Jack

 

[777]

So all will be those coughpy digiplayers.

If you're in business apparently. If you're not you won't even get that.

 

[drewbles]

With the advent of Android/iOS devices, especially the Tablets/iPad market, is it just me or am I being unreasonable in thinking that IFE for anything intra/interstate is really becoming a moot point?

Personally, whilst the IFE on QF's A380 is truly excellent, I find no need for using the IFE on board most airlines. I prefer to use my own headsets (and yes, I know you can get adaptors and indeed to have several), with better quality audio (I have good headphones and my digital encoding's audio quality is vastly superior to that of the on-board ones) and my own choice (can catch up on what I have not seen rather than being forced to watch re-runs of Two and a half men/Top Gear/Mythbusters/Mr Bean).

You can't please all the people all of the time, and even when they have a system on the A330's (yes, it's old) people are still whinging that it's "not good enough"

Changing things on this scale takes time people. We can all agree that DJ are doing good things for us, and it's only going to get better, so sit back with a cup of tea, or have a bex and a good lie down. It'll all happen in due course. Good things come to those who wait, apparently

 

[777]

With the advent of Android/iOS devices, especially the Tablets/iPad market, is it just me or am I being unreasonable in thinking that IFE for anything intra/interstate is really becoming a moot point?

Perhaps, although in seat power is pretty crucial when you start to get to 4+ hour flights. Many laptop batteries will struggle with that + 1 hour or so in the terminal.

You can't please all the people all of the time, and even when they have a system on the A330's (yes, it's old) people are still whinging that it's "not good enough"

Looks like Virgin's Transcon A330's are getting Red according to this: Virgin Australia confirms inflight entertainment upgrade - Flights | hotels | frequent flyer | business class - Australian Business Traveller

Changing things on this scale takes time people. We can all agree that DJ are doing good things for us, and it's only going to get better, so sit back with a cup of tea, or have a bex and a good lie down. It'll all happen in due course. Good things come to those who wait, apparently

It does but.. Virgin are actively creating a new special sub fleet for transcon flights with no IFE. They are withdrawing planes from those routes that have seat back IFE entertainment installed (it was on my last flight and i used it going to Perth and back!) and replacing them with ones that will have no IFE entertainment at all in the economy cabin - no map, no movie on a drop down TV or an ageing projector, no audio (at least last time i looked this may have changed)... no nothing.

Obviously they are chasing the high yield passengers up the front - hence the decision to put business class onto these routes first HOWEVER in order to do so they have had to remove the IFE for the other 170 odd people up the back. No news yet as to whether flexi passengers will get digi players however if they don't i don't think they can expect people buying full fare economy tickets that are advertised as having entertainment included to be happy about it. You may not care on SYD MEL but a lot more people will care a lot more on BNE-PER if there's nothing to do.

 

[markis10]

A few more details including food:

BUSINESS CLASS ON EVERY DEPARTURE
EAST COAST TO PERTH
Date: 7 September 2011
Virgin Australia has today commenced sales of its full Business Class product on Boeing 737 aircraft between the east
coast cities of Sydney, Melbourne and Brisbane to Perth for travel from 28 September 2011. The commencement of these Boeing 737 services complements our Airbus A330 services, also offering Business Class between Sydney and Perth. The airline’s Business Class cabin provides Guests with a new level of style and service for domestic business travel in Australia at a competitive price.

Our Business Class fares are now on sale commencing from $1299.00, representing great value for money on every coast to coast departure. These fares include priority check-in and boarding and complimentary entry to the lounge. Our Business Class cabin with the new Boeing Sky Interior sets Virgin Australia apart for in cabin style and comfort with luxurious leather seating with 38-inch seat pitch and gourmet Luke Mangan designed meals.

As an introductory offer for eligible Business Class guests, we will provide complimentary limousine** transfers to and
from the airport in Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane and Perth.


FREQUENCY
Sydney to Perth
68 return services each week
Melbourne to Perth
56 return services each week
Brisbane to Perth
34 return services each week

FEATURES OF THE 737 BUSINESS CLASS CABIN INCLUDE:
· Eight Business Class seats with generous recline in a separate premium cabin in a Two - Two configuration
· Luxury leather seats with 38 inch seat pitch
· Custom-made hard divider separating Business Class and Economy Class
· 168 next generation Economy seats designed to provide enhanced ‘living space’
· Priority check – in and boarding
· On selected aircraft, new Boeing Sky Interior, designed to provide guests with a feeling of increased spaciousness
· Contemporary interior design
· Newspapers are available until noon daily
· Comfort kit including blanket, pillow, dental kit, eye mask, ear plugs and socks
· Coat Check service
· Dedicated bathroom
· Dedicated cabin crew member
· Complimentary access to the lounge



INFLIGHT ENTERTAINMENT
Business Class Guests will be provided with a Digiplayer XT which includes a selection of:
· Six movies – including new releases
· 10 television programs
· Generous selection of music podcasts
· Games
FOOD & BEVERAGE
Guests will receive a gourmet dining experience, designed by Luke Mangan, including:
· Boarding drink – including Luke Mangan’s Australian Mocktail
· Hearty breakfasts
· Pre-landing morning tea service on breakfast flights including gourmet Byron Bay cookies
· Pre-meal bar service on lunch and dinner flights including nuts
· Three course lunches and dinners designed for trans-continental sectors
· Two service supper and continental breakfasts on back of clock flights
· Selection of two main meals on all flights, including options suitable for vegetarians and gluten free dietary
needs
· Fresh food, sourced locally garnished on board by crew
· Premium Australian wines including Adelaide Hills Chardonnay, Eden Valley, Pinto Gris and Frankland River
Cabernet Merlot
· Premium Australian Beers including Crown Lager and Fat Yak
· Spirit selection, including Vodka, Rum, Scotch, Baileys, Gin and Bourbon

 

[LiamR]

I take it that is the media release markis10?

Dedicated bathroom

They are going to have to install some sort of barrier. The current purple plastic devider dosen't stop the Y pax at the moment!

 

[drewbles]

I take it that is the media release markis10?



They are going to have to install some sort of barrier. The current purple plastic devider dosen't stop the Y pax at the moment!

I'm sure everyone will be given a key to the VA J washroom, only available to those seated in J

 

[LiamR]

I'm sure everyone will be given a key to the VA J washroom, only available to those seated in J

As long as I can swipe my Platinum card to unlock, I don't have a problem with that!