J TO Bali on Virgin is Below Jet* standard.

[drivatruk]

Just flew to Bali from Melbourne last Friday. DJ4153. Effie the flight purser was awesome at serving the J cabin but thats the only good thing about it.

Seat have no foot rests. Never had that in J before.

Seat recline is very limited.

Samsung tablets are ok but the head phones let it down. Gave up trying to watch the movie as i couldn't hear due to poor quality.

I prefer Jet* due to larger aircraft, foot rests, increased seat recline and better headphones that i can actually hear the audio with when watching the movie.

Food was comparable.

Lounges were comparable too.

Was hoping that Virgin would be an alternative to the QANTAS monopoly but IMHO its not a patch on it or even Jetstar.

 

[haydensydney]

I agree - I've done that god awful overnight flight from DPS-SYD. Hideous.

Thank god it was lightly loaded and I could escape the confines of the J cabin and find myself a row of Y seats to sleep in. Wouldn't rush back thats for sure (will probably try Garuda if I ever want to go back to Bali)

 

[fjc]

A few months ago, my sister and her husband also flew Virgin MEL-Bali in Y. She said "never again" (and she does a lot of flying). Can't remember the exact comments, so won't repeat them.

 

[Moopere]

I've not done the trip yet but am interested in your comment because I'm planning something in bali for first qtr next year. Sounds like the standard domestic 738 experience from your description. Its pretty ordinary, particularly on flights that are more than a couple of hours long.

You'll probably be amused to know I've just booked a return from HKT-PER in one of these DJ 738's ... thats going to be 6.5 hours of sliding forwards off the overstuffed J seat because of no footrest haha. That should keep me occupied for a few hours.

 

[Moopere]

(will probably try Garuda if I ever want to go back to Bali)

Yep, I'm seriously considering going down this path. Never thought I'd say that a few years ago. Lets see.

[Edit: Actually, nope, looks like GA do the route on a 738 as well]

 

[N860CR]

I've recently flown SYD-CGK-PVG-CGK-SYD on the "New Garuda" in J on the A330's. It was excellent. Wines a bit average... but great food, great service and a nice flat bed. Worlds ahead of the Qantas A330 offering.

 

[lovestotravel]

The Virgin 737's are not designed for anything more than about 3 hours, let alone 6 hours!

At the same time Bali, is mostly a cheap leisure route so not much point putting a higher end premium product there!

 

[k3nnis]

Are DJ's 738's doable for a 3 hour flight? i.e. SYD-ZQN vv? in Y of course

 

[Jousams]

I don't understand why VA doesn't replace the 2 daily 738 BNE-DPS with an a330. It's not like frequency would be that important...

Not sure about the SYD & MEL schedules though. But totally agree, not worth the J price tag




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[lovestotravel]

Are DJ's 738's doable for a 3 hour flight? i.e. SYD-ZQN vv? in Y of course

As long as your expectation is for no seat-back TV's and Economy then yes sure!

The main issue, for drivatruk would be paying a business class/premium fare and not getting value for money!

 

[lovestotravel]

I don't understand why VA doesn't replace the 2 daily 738 BNE-DPS with an a330. It's not like frequency would be that important...

Depending on the loads this could make sense

 

[haydensydney]

You know what - I could tolerate 6 hours in J on the 738 if it was a daytime flight. But an overnighter? No way. My family left at the same time from DPS-BNE in Y and they said it was a packed flight and it was terrible. So all in all, maybe avoid VA on the long legs.

I've done ZQN-SYD in Y before and it wasn't half bad. Review is here:

Flight Test: DJ89 Queenstown to Sydney in Economy | flymefunky.com

 

[Jousams]

You know what - I could tolerate 6 hours in J on the 738 if it was a daytime flight. But an overnighter? No way. My family left at the same time from DPS-BNE in Y and they said it was a packed flight and it was terrible. So all in all, maybe avoid VA on the long legs.

I've done ZQN-SYD in Y before and it wasn't half bad. Review is here:

Flight Test: DJ89 Queenstown to Sydney in Economy | flymefunky.com

We are all to conditioned to good hard products .
I remember when I was about 12 I did SYD-LAX on UA Y. Worst experience of my life.
The VA J seats would have been heaven to me then.


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[Moopere]

Are DJ's 738's doable for a 3 hour flight? i.e. SYD-ZQN vv? in Y of course

I've done the PER-MEL and PER-SYD route numerous times in J on the 738, before the transcons got overtaken by the A330's. The hard product has definite and easy to spot limitations, but honestly, its pretty cheap and far better than Y. A lot of the issue with really long flights in a 738 imho is the small size of the aircraft and the noise. I find these birds to be really noisy ... perhaps its just me?

Of course now we're all being spoiled on the coast to coast routes by DJ with the 330's which just go further to outline the deficiencies of the 738 on the same run.

About 3.5 hours PER-DPS, I think I'll survive. Not so sure about 6.5 from HKT and I definitely see the validity of a whinge by poor east coasters doing a MEL/BNE/SYD-DPS run in the 738, yipes, thats got to be nearly 8 hours in the air.

 

[ashleyn]

This is a really interesting thread. I have flown Garuda, Air Asia, Jetstar amongst others (was scheduled to fly DJ until they stuffed up my booking) but now exclusively choose QF. Sure they have their shortcomings but compared to the opposition (in Oz and Asia) at least, they are miles ahead IMHO.

 

[k3nnis]

Can we pay for onboard IFE on DJ Y? i.e. the samsung tablets?

You know what - I could tolerate 6 hours in J on the 738 if it was a daytime flight. But an overnighter? No way. My family left at the same time from DPS-BNE in Y and they said it was a packed flight and it was terrible. So all in all, maybe avoid VA on the long legs.

I've done ZQN-SYD in Y before and it wasn't half bad. Review is here:

Flight Test: DJ89 Queenstown to Sydney in Economy | flymefunky.com

 

[Mal Ware]

Must be pretty bad to be worse than Jestars J.

Could you hosties speak English?

 

[drivatruk]

Yep, I'm seriously considering going down this path. Never thought I'd say that a few years ago. Lets see.

[Edit: Actually, nope, looks like GA do the route on a 738 as well]

Garuda's 738 has leg support and in seat entertainment. miles ahead of dj and even qantas. check out their website.

 

[drivatruk]

some english

they did smokers would be persecuted instead of prosecuted on my last Jetstar flight.

,

Must be pretty bad to be worse than Jestars J.

Could you hosties speak English?

 

[drivatruk]

Can we pay for onboard IFE on DJ Y? i.e. the samsung tablets?

Only get one if you take your own headphones. The quality of they one they supply is so bad you cant hear the audio to the film you are watching.