Hey all,
Here is my first trip report from a weekend away in Adelaide. Please be nice
The Lounge – SYD T2
When I initially chose to fly DJ, I considered buying a single access pass to The Lounge in order to see what it was like, particularly in comparison to a QP. I approached the friendly agent, who printed me a receipt boarding pass and granted access. The food offering was nice; however, nothing to write home about. This was at about 7.30am on a Saturday morning, so I knew the lounge wouldn’t be overly crowded. Breakfast consisted of a few cereals, toast, yogurt, fruit and also cold ham. There would have been 30-40 people in the lounge at a maximum, as well as members of the Sydney Kings? NBL team. Will certainly be interesting to see it full of AFL players!!
Pros – check in at the lounge eased access through security, tables were cleared very quickly, friendly and attentive staff, and barista was a nice touch. Also, I thought the blue mood lighting gave the lounge a pretty new age, funky feel which I liked.
Cons - whilst I’m not generally a fan of a heavy, fried hot breakfast, surely something else other than cereal/yogurt is needed (pancakes??). Also, printed receipts should not constitute a BP for an airline trying to rival QF. I’m boarding a plane, not grocery shopping. Also, yearly subscriptions seem to be pretty hefty in cost compared to QF when access is only granted to 6 lounges, compared to ~130 odd on QF.
If I was at a DJ terminal with a lounge and I had a good 2 hours to kill, I would consider heading back
Flight SYD-ADL
DJ408 – Sat 29th Jan 2011
VH-VBB – Barossa Babe
Upon checking in at The Lounge I was slightly surprised to be placed 6C, which was much closer to the ‘pointy end’ than I expected. I decided to pay for the Live2Air, knowing that 3 hours of The Simpsons were on, so there would be definitely something to fall back on if needed. Cabin crew were very professional and performed very well.
Cabin supervisor was Garry, who was very bubbly and did a fantastic job. The passenger next to me was actually a DJ flight attendant, and towards the end of the flight, he approached her, saying she looked familiar, so I was privy to overhearing a few interesting aspects of DJ operations. Y+ was full, apparently of interlining pax, which seems to be a good sign for DJ and their partner airlines. Overall, a very positive flight which was well staffed and a thumbs up to the crew for a very professional job. Turns out the crew started at 5am at OOL, before heading OOL-SYD, SYD-ADL and ADL-MEL
Flight ADL-SYD
DJ423 – Sun 30th Jan 2011
VH-VOT – Butterfly Blue
Thought I’d give kiosk check in a try at ADL, however, the only seat to choose was 22E, so I thought I’d just line up. Sure enough, to my surprise I was called over the Priority check in counter, where I was offered exit row (14D) seating for no extra cost (Score!!!). Flight departed on time, however, IFE was playing up, so complimentary access to all pax, meaning I could watch the A-League match, which allowed time to pass relatively quickly.
There was one negative of this flight though – of the 4 crew, 3 had their turn on the microphone. I’m sure the lady who lead the safety demo was the Cabin Supervisor, however another lady did make a few announcements, and a male did the ‘we’re about the land’ spiel. IMO, I wasn’t too sure who was ‘in charge’ which is more of a professional image issue than anything else.
Summary
Overall, I thought DJ did a fantastic job and look forward to flying them again soon, particularly out of NTL, and where QF outprice themselves out my market. I’m looking forward to seeing JB’s changes throughout this year and hopefully seeing them give QF a good run for their money
Here is my first trip report from a weekend away in Adelaide. Please be nice
The Lounge – SYD T2
When I initially chose to fly DJ, I considered buying a single access pass to The Lounge in order to see what it was like, particularly in comparison to a QP. I approached the friendly agent, who printed me a receipt boarding pass and granted access. The food offering was nice; however, nothing to write home about. This was at about 7.30am on a Saturday morning, so I knew the lounge wouldn’t be overly crowded. Breakfast consisted of a few cereals, toast, yogurt, fruit and also cold ham. There would have been 30-40 people in the lounge at a maximum, as well as members of the Sydney Kings? NBL team. Will certainly be interesting to see it full of AFL players!!
Pros – check in at the lounge eased access through security, tables were cleared very quickly, friendly and attentive staff, and barista was a nice touch. Also, I thought the blue mood lighting gave the lounge a pretty new age, funky feel which I liked.
Cons - whilst I’m not generally a fan of a heavy, fried hot breakfast, surely something else other than cereal/yogurt is needed (pancakes??). Also, printed receipts should not constitute a BP for an airline trying to rival QF. I’m boarding a plane, not grocery shopping. Also, yearly subscriptions seem to be pretty hefty in cost compared to QF when access is only granted to 6 lounges, compared to ~130 odd on QF.
If I was at a DJ terminal with a lounge and I had a good 2 hours to kill, I would consider heading back
Flight SYD-ADL
DJ408 – Sat 29th Jan 2011
VH-VBB – Barossa Babe
Upon checking in at The Lounge I was slightly surprised to be placed 6C, which was much closer to the ‘pointy end’ than I expected. I decided to pay for the Live2Air, knowing that 3 hours of The Simpsons were on, so there would be definitely something to fall back on if needed. Cabin crew were very professional and performed very well.
Cabin supervisor was Garry, who was very bubbly and did a fantastic job. The passenger next to me was actually a DJ flight attendant, and towards the end of the flight, he approached her, saying she looked familiar, so I was privy to overhearing a few interesting aspects of DJ operations. Y+ was full, apparently of interlining pax, which seems to be a good sign for DJ and their partner airlines. Overall, a very positive flight which was well staffed and a thumbs up to the crew for a very professional job. Turns out the crew started at 5am at OOL, before heading OOL-SYD, SYD-ADL and ADL-MEL
Flight ADL-SYD
DJ423 – Sun 30th Jan 2011
VH-VOT – Butterfly Blue
Thought I’d give kiosk check in a try at ADL, however, the only seat to choose was 22E, so I thought I’d just line up. Sure enough, to my surprise I was called over the Priority check in counter, where I was offered exit row (14D) seating for no extra cost (Score!!!). Flight departed on time, however, IFE was playing up, so complimentary access to all pax, meaning I could watch the A-League match, which allowed time to pass relatively quickly.
There was one negative of this flight though – of the 4 crew, 3 had their turn on the microphone. I’m sure the lady who lead the safety demo was the Cabin Supervisor, however another lady did make a few announcements, and a male did the ‘we’re about the land’ spiel. IMO, I wasn’t too sure who was ‘in charge’ which is more of a professional image issue than anything else.
Summary
Overall, I thought DJ did a fantastic job and look forward to flying them again soon, particularly out of NTL, and where QF outprice themselves out my market. I’m looking forward to seeing JB’s changes throughout this year and hopefully seeing them give QF a good run for their money
