MEL-SYD-OOL-MEL Virgin Australia Business Class

[Justinf]

My main aim for this trip was to grab the 120 SCs I needed to requalify for Gold status. So a J trip from MEL-OOL would provide me with this.
I don't fly J often. In fact I have seen my beloved Richmond play in more finals games in the past 10 years than I have flown J.
So with this in mind, I decided to travel via SYD and gain an extra J flight experience for the same cost.
I had two main criteria in mind. The first was to time my flights as much as possible around scheduled meal services. If I am paying out of my own pocket, then I figured I may as well get the most out of it. The second was to spend as less time at OOL as possible, considering there is no Lounge access.
Be warned friends. I take LOTS of photos.

MEL-SYD
21 April, 2012
Scheduled departure time: 7am
Ammended departure time after delay: 7.15am
Aircraft: brand new 738 in new livery
Seat: 2D
Load: I was the only pax in J (Y seemed about 90% full)
Flight time as announced by captain: 1 hour and 6 minutes

I arrived at the Lounge at 6am, an hour before departure. All three BPs printed out by Lounge dude. Even though I knew I was getting breakfast on the flight to SYD, I couldn't wait that long. I was up at 4am and by now I was Starvin Marvin. So I pumped a few bad boy pancakes out of the machine and grabbed a strong flat white from the barista.



Priority boarding worked a treat. Straight through and scanned straight away. Stepped on board and immediately impressed.
Was greeted by name as you would expect and settled into my seat. Continued to be called by my name throughout the flight.
Found the seat to be quite hard. Uncomfortable actually. Seat width is impressive, though. Legroom a standard 38" and at 184cm tall, I love being able to stretch my legs out.









Service commenced with a pre-flight glass of water or OJ. I chose the water. Was offered a choice of the Herald Sun or the Australian to read. I chose the Herald Sun to catch up on the latest footy news even though I can't stand the publication.
Soon we were pushing back at exactly 7.15am to the south with a right turn and on to Sydney town. Offered a Dig-e player once the seat belt sign went off. I accepted, but only to see what offerings it had. Seems pointless offering movies on a one-hour flight. You would only get halfway through before having to stop and hand it back. The other disappointing thing about the Dig-e player is that there are no half-hour shows to watch. Banged Up Abroad, Glee etc are an hour. (at least least I think Glee is an hour. Not sure.) Would it be more worthwhile having 30-minute shows? The music offering was poor, too. I shut it down and left it on the seat next to me.


I can't quite recall the exact names of both offerings for breakfast, but one was a pastry and the other was a potato rosti.
By now I was starving and really looking forward to a hot brekky. I was asked by the lovely Bridget what I would like to drink. Coffee please. Bridget asked me how I like my coffee. Strong, with one sugar please. Nice touch. I chose the rosti.
The meal was very nice.

More to follow

 

[Justinf]

The tray was delivered with a nice rosti, a totally coughic spinach and mushroom side (which I would have been happy just eating a double serve of that without the rosti), two warm croissants with marg and jam and a lovely fresh fruit salad (containing strawberry, pineapple, rockmelon and grape) and coffee.



It was delicious and filling. Exactly what I expect a business class meal to be.
After eating that, plus the two pancakes in the Lounge, I was pretty full. So I stretched out and relaxed for the final 30 minutes of the flight.




After breakfast I was asked if I would like anything else. I asked for a tomato juice and nursed that while watching the clouds go by. I can't be certain, but I think the juice was mixed with some pepper or at least something spicey. I just wanted plain tomato juice, but this drink was very nice and the little 'kick' it had (whether it came pre-packaged or mixed at the galley) made it quite enjoyable.


During the flight, a youngish woman removed the cord separating Y from J and proceeded to walk to the front restroom. She was quickly turned back. I saw this as an honest mistake on the passenger's behalf. She seemed completely shocked and embarrassed that she had done the wrong thing. But full credit to the FA for turning her back. Consistency is the key. I wouldn't have minded in the slightest had she been allowed to take a wazz in the front toilet, but if you let one in, you have to let everyone in.
During our descent I overheard Bridget, the FA, and her colleague discussing their Supercoach teams! What! Beautiful, professional young women who also love footy? Please! This is too good to be true. The three of us spent the rest of the descent discussing AFL and both young women possesed a wonderful knowledge of the game (for Collingwood and Carlton supporters anyway).
We approached from the west over ANZ Stadium and then landed from the north.
One flight down and so far so good. In fact I was on a high. Terrific stuff.

More to come.

 

[Justinf]

With the time now at 8.40am and a scheduled 10.10am departure from SYD to OOL, I was looking forward to cruising the net on my iPad at the Lounge in Syd. Just as I was about to order a barista coffee, I had a call on my mobile. It was a Sydney number so I decided to take it (which is strange as I don't normally answer calls on my mobile if I don't know who it is from). I cannot remember her name, but it was a DJ rep at gate 37 informing me that my flight had been cancelled. Odd. When I checked in at the Lounge, the angel did not swipe my card and although she asked me if I needed a BP, I said no because I already had one. Don't the angels swipe your card anyway just to make sure about things like this?
The rep at gate 37 said she was busy transferring me to a flight from SYD to OOL at around 12.20pm. I can't remember exactly the time, but this would mean I would miss my 1.45pm flight back home to MEL. I was also aware that this flight was on a 737-700 and I would not get business class. Idid my research beforehand.
I went to the Lounge desk while talking to - let's call her rep 37. It was a bit of a to and fro between rep 37 who I was talking to on my mobile and the Lounge dude who was trying to reorganise my flight to OOL. In the end I had to give my mobile phone to the Lounge guy - Cheyne - who had to talk to rep 37 to sort things out - on MY mobile! haha.
By now I was worried that I would be stuck on a rogue aircraft. Because of the delays in SYD this morning due to fog, the 7.45am was running very late. The Lounge guy (Cheyne) said he could get me on the delayed 7.45am flight. It was now 9am.
This would work well as I would be able to make my direct OOL-MEL flight home. He assured me this aircraft had full J class cabin and I was allocated seat 2A. Departure time was 9.20am so I went straight to the gate.
The gate area was mayhem. Eventually boarding was called at 9.40am and priority boarding was a shambles. The check in agent was scanning one priority pax and then one 'normal' pax. Then one priority and then one 'normal'.
Eventually I boarded and to my horror it was a 738 but one that had the old PE seats and no J cabin. The FA must have seen the look on my face. I sat down and she came over and asked me about it. She was most apologetic. I told her it wasn't her fault but asked if I would get some sort of compensation. She vowed to follow it up.
Faced with the prospect of an hour flight in PE, I accepted the situation.
I must point out, that I don't blame the Lounge attendant (Cheyne). It has been pointed out to me in another thread that the Lounge angels (and dudes) don't have access to the actual seat maps and what aircraft are operating. Cheyne actually acted in a professional manner and got me on the flight which enabled me to get to OOL at the time I needed to get my return flight back to MEL. It required some doing and he did well. It just wasn't meant to be I guess.


Ironically, we pushed back at 10.10am. The exact same time I was due to leave anyway.
We took off to the south and did a series of left hand turns and made out way to the Gold Coast.
No proper meal service on this flight. I chose the New Yorker sandwich, banana bread and a Pepsi from the menu. I wans't really hungry to be honest, but some sense of entitlement made me choose more than what I needed. Was it gluttony or sour grapes? Yes. And not a good thing either. I should have just ordered the Pepsi (which I really craved, despite not being a soft-drink drinker) and perhaps a wrap. Actually, something sweet would have been nice, but there was nothing really to pick from. The DJ Y menu is very ordinary these days in my opinion.



As I said in my opening post, I am mostly a Y passenger. The New Yorker has been most disappointing of late and this was no exception. Too much bread, not enough slaw and not enough pickles. Crusts way too big. I ate half and gave up. The banana bread was soggy and I ate half before giving up. The Pepsi was Pepsi. Admittedly I wasn't very hungry after the pancakes and the J brekky.
Rest of the flight was spent watching kids running up and down the aisle. Great entertainment. Not! This flight had Live to Air, but I didn't bother. I was still a bit bummed about mising out on my J experience, plus at that time of morning there's stuff all to watch on Foxtel anyway. There might have been some live MLB on, but the Red Sox are sucking big time this year.
Upon disembarking the FA said that someone from DJ would be contacting me to speak to me about the aircraft change. She said I would be receiving a partial refund. I hope so. She apologised once again. I reminded her it was not her fault. She said, and I quote, 'No, there are no excuses. It's cough.' Good for her! I like honesty. And I appreciated the reminders that I had not been forgotten.
I stepped down onto the steps and into the warm south-east Queensland air and onto the tarmac. There's something about Queensland that I like. Something about it that means 'fun' and 'relaxation'.

Flight details
DJ509
Flight time as announced by captain: one hour exactly
Aircraft: 738, no J cabin, PE seating.
Seat no: 2A

 

[Justinf]

OOL-MEL
Flight no: DJ738
Aircraft type: 738
Flight time as announced by captain: two hours (ended up being 1 hour 45 minutes)
Seat: 2A

So what does one do for two two hours at the zoo that is OOL?
Browse the shops for 20 minutes. People watch. Head outside and breathe in the warm Queensland air.
Check.
I had planned to sit in the beer garden of the Rainbow Bay Ale House, but in the end, I just wanted to go back into the terminal where it was cooler. Go figure! Not that it was hot outside. It was a pleasant 26 degrees, ironically the same as it was in Melbourne.
Bearing in mind I had to drive when getting to MEL and that drinking alcohol was exactly what I wanted to do, but exactly what I shouldn't do, I went to the Blackstone Bar inside the terminal anyway. At least OOL has free wi-fi so I pulled up a stool, ordered a beer and pulled out the iPad. One or two beers to pass the time was OK.


I ordered a schooner of Coopers Green and settled in to answer some emails and take a look at how my Supercoach side performed from the night before. Geez, it was not looking good!
By now it was 1pm and with a 1.45pm departure I was just hoping to get a J class cabin on this, the 3rd and final leg of my very first SC run.
Of course there had to be a delay though. 45 minutes. A new departure time of 2.30pm. No massive damage done.
Time for another beer and because the Coopers Pale keg had run dry, I opted for a VB (which goes against all my beliefs) and did some more net surfing.
Before long it was time to go to gate 4.
OOL is a zoo. It's a packed hellhole. I hate it. Always have. It's chaos. The sooner the Lounge is built, the better although I do wonder how businesses such as the Blackstone will deal with it when status members divert their business to the Lounge?
It soon became apparent that the flight was chockers. Other flights had been cancelled and it was obvious there would not be a spare seat in the aircraft. I was resigned to the fact that J would be full with op ups. Hey, good luck to them! I probably would have been one of them in normal circumstances.
Boarding commenced late at 2.30pm. There were two elderly peple who needed to be lifted onto the aircraft which slowed things down a bit. But I do love seeing older people travel. I love seeing people just getting out there and having a go. Priority boarding was Ok. I made my way to the tarmac and up the stairs. What would greet me when I arrived on board????????
To my relief there was a J cabin. I was actually assigned 2C. An aisle seat which I prefer. I asked the CSM whether there was anyone next to me. He checked the manifest and said there wasn't. So I asked if it was Ok if I moved to 2A. No problem. Sure enough there was someone next to me and my instincts were correct. There wasn't a spare seat anywhere. The gentleman next to me was happy to sit wherever. He took 2C and I stayed in 2A, but by now the two beers I had needed to go somewhere and I knew I was going to have to ask him to let me past once we hit cruising altitude.
Was offered a mocktail before take off. Have heard a lot about these. I really like it. Although I would call it a fruit punch more than a mocktail.
Finally we pushed back and took off to the south at 3pm.
With a full J cabin, mostly op-ups (in fact I think they were all op-ups) I realised that the same outstanding level of service I enjoyed on my MEL-SYD run that morning would not be replicated. All good. I was lucky with that one.


More to come.

 

[Justinf]

The CSM, a lovely gentleman, came though and took our orders once the seatbelt signs went off.
The choice for lunch was a tofu salad or a shepherds pie. I chose the pie. I was impressed that a vegetarian option was there but I would rather mow my lawn with a pair of tweezers than eat a tofu salad (and I'm not even a big meat eater!).
With the original departure time of 1.45pm being changed to 2.30pm, I was worried we would not be served lunch, but a snack service instead. I need not have worried.
With the food order, I also requested a Cascade Premium beer.
Eventually I was served my drink and meal (together) 45 minutes after take off. I am not up with the protocol on what goes on for J lunch services, but I would have thought a drink service should have been taken and delivered within 20 minutes of take off. Sitting for 45 minutes with nothing, was in my opinion, not acceptable. Especially considering the Y pax were eating their purchased food well before we in J were served.
Eventually my meal and drink arrived.


The shepherds pie was ordinary. Quite bland in taste and rough in texture. It was edible. But then, I would eat road kill that had been laying there for three days on the side of the bitumen - raw.
The roll was your stock standard bread roll provided with extra virgin olive oil and a dukkah mix to dip. The dessert of a chocolate tart was actually quite outstanding. I am not a sweet tooth, but this stuff was yummo.
After the meal service, everyone was asked if they would like access to a dig-e player.
This was a farce. With a flight time of two hours, it's a perfect time to be able to watch a full-length movie and actually watch it to the end providing the systems are handed out after the seat-belt signs have gone off. Offering these more than hour into a two-hour flight was simply pathetic. Not one person took up the offer. I wonder why? The thing that annoyed me, was that Live to Air was available to the Y cabin for the entire flight for free. So Y got to watch cable TV and J got to watch...the pretty clouds. There were no TV screens in J. What's worse is that Y got to watch the AFL game live on Live to Air. J cabin got zip until the dig-e players made their meek, unwanted appearance.
The CSM who was nice and friendly, seemed unorganised and out of his depth. Fortunately the gentleman sitting next to me proved to be excellent company and we spent the remainder of the flight chatting.
I was asked for a top up of my Cascade Premium and then asked for one more drink service before landing. I opted for a cab sav, that was quite nice. Having already had two beers at the bar in OOL and one beer on the flight, I knew I was running the gauntlet by finishing the cab sav. I had to drive after my flight, so I had half the glass and returned the rest.
We landed into MEL from the north and shaved 15 minutes off the scheduled flying time.
I disembarked and walked to my car which was parked close to the entrace at the long-term car park and that ended my Gold requalification status run.

 

[Justinf]

So how was my first ever status run?
The first flight was one of the best I have ever taken. Being the only J pax helped and having two footy-loving FAs to pass the time with helped. I was also really impressed with the hot breakfast. I do realise that havig the entire J cabin to myself made a huge impact to my enjoyment. Quite frankly, it was freaking brilliant!
The 2nd flight was a disaster as far as getting what I paid for goes. But I also acknowledge that fog is nobody's fault and cancellations and delays are a fact of life when it comes to air travel. I do hope somebody from VA contacts me and I would definitely accept some compensation for having no J class on the SYD-OOL run. I am led to believe that I am entitled to a partial refund, but we will see what happens.
The 3rd flight was stock standard. A full cabin meant things were hurried, but they didn't need to be. Delivering dig-e players one hour and 10 mins into a 2-hour flight is either just lazy or unorganised. I think it was the latter. Also being left for 45 minutes with no drink offerings was unacceptable.
So in the three flights I had, I rated it as one outstanding (MEL-SYD), one slightly below average (OOL-MEL) and one disaster (SYD-OOL), but really the SYD-OOL flight can't be judged as a J flight and the cabin crew were great.
At the end of the day fellow frequent flyers, I am writing this at home. Safe and sound and delivered in one piece. And really, there's plenty to be thankful for in that.
Hope I haven't bored you too much with my rather in depth report.
I do like to write.

 

[Moopere]

Really good TR. Thanks a lot for sharing. Lots of photos and lots of commentary - really excellent.

Be nice if you could come back to this once VA delivers compensation for the swapped flight. Given the non trivial J pricing being asked, I'd be expecting some pretty heavy compensation along with original routing SC credits for that flight as well (ie; get you J credit but a heavy heavy discount for no J service).

 

[maninblack]

The CSM who was nice and friendly, seemed unorganised and out of his depth.

This is an important point and consistent with many of my experiences in J on VA as is the majority of your trip report.

 

[BVT]

Thanks for the TR - excellent. Love the photos - not too many at all!

I fly OOL/MEL/OOL usually twice a month, at a minimum. Your observations are spot on. Even as the sole occupant of the J cabin - as is often the case - the service does seem slow. I have many times had to ask for a digi player late in the flight, as it was not offered before. The service has always been friendly if a little haphazard and too slow for my liking.

Recalling my days as an event manager, give the punters a drink and that will keep them happy for quite a while, while you get everything else sorted.

The other thing I find strange about VA in J, is that once you get your meal or snack etc the cabin crew seem to disappear! This happens far too often to be a coincidence.

 

[juliusg]

Agreed, flew back from Melb on the 6pm dinner flight 2 weeks back and (1) drink arrived with meal which took 30 mins, then (2) kaa-zam - dissaperro crew behind curtain. I managed to snag a 2nd drink but - can do better, VA.

Also the Shepp Pie - had that one too many times, too salty I think.

 

[lovestotravel]

Great trip report, I would have joined you on another MEL-OOL-MEL run and via SYD just adds more value for $$ for the trip!

I think you have summed up all my experiences on Virgin so far but I haven't received a non J aircraft yet, although would be nice to get one and receive a credit and still earn the SC's

I do find interesting that you didn't receive a drink service OR Dig-e-Player until well into the flight, that is not acceptable. On the busier J flights I notice the CSM usually gets another F/A to assist with drinks and handing out Dig-e-Player which speeds things up greatly

On 2 of the flights the Dig-e-Players were already sitting in the seat pockets when boarding!

Drinks should be served as soon possible after 8000 feet when the first chime occurs for the F/A's to start service! I know this is not SQ J by any means, but I love on SQ they take your drink order just after boarding, for prompt delivery shortly after take-off

 

[dk4]

I do find interesting that you didn't receive a drink service ...until well into the flight, that is not acceptable.
Drinks should be served as soon possible after 8000 feet when the first chime occurs for the F/A's to start service!

On shorter flights I have not experienced a separate drinks run before the meal, rather the in-flight drink and meal service are combined.

 

[eastwest101]

Excellent TR, I agree with Moopere that it would be good to hear what compensation was offered for the PE subs for J class.

 

[Justinf]

OK, so I flew last Saturday and it is now Friday lunchtime, so I decided to ring them myself and see what I could do.
Very helpful person on the other end of the phone. So I paid $509 for the J flight MEL-SYD-OOL.
Was offered a $330 credit on future bookings. I enquired as to whether I could get this amount as a refund onto my credit card rather than a credit towards a future booking. I asked about this because I had heard on this forum that is what usually happens. No harm in trying.
The young woman then went back to her supervisor to see if this was possible, but was obviously told a firm 'no' so I had little choice then to accept I guess. She did her best.
So while I am reasonably happy with a $330 compensation, which meant I paid $179 for a J flight MEL-SYD and PE SYD-OOL, I would have much preferred the balance be paid directly to my credit card.
What do others think? Am I being too greedy or too lenient?
Not sure how to feel to be honest. $330 credit will at least get me and my young daughter to SYD to visit family sometime during the year as long as I book on a saver fare.
It's better than a kick up the backside.

 

[lovestotravel]

It's better than nothing, BUT it ensure that you have to fly VA again....

 

[Moopere]

What do others think? Am I being too greedy or too lenient?
Not sure how to feel to be honest. $330 credit will at least get me and my young daughter to SYD to visit family sometime during the year as long as I book on a saver fare.
It's better than a kick up the backside.

Well, you are the paying customer and you paid for something you didn't get ... thats a contract breach. If you felt strongly about the situation then you could press VA for a refund I think. If they point blank refuse then a credit card charge-back would probably succeed as they did not provide goods/services per contract of sale. If successful, and you probably would be so long as you had at least a modest amount of backup demonstrable evidence, you'd get a _full_ refund back in your CC account.

You could then enter negotiations with VA over what you both feel is a reasonable compromise payment for the services that you _did_ receive and make a new payment to them with relation to that. It goes without saying that you would not entertain any CC processing fees for such a payment.

This process would likely take at least 60 days - and this assumes that VA don't answer the show cause demand from your CC provider. If they do show cause it could take longer ... though I feel you'd ultimately be successful.

Its unlikely in my view that a large business like VA will pursue the matter with any vigour at all - instead, given that in all fairness you _are_ deserving of a refund rather than a credit shell they will let the matter slip through to the keeper and if you then make a good faith payment to them for say $179 with documentation provided to VA for why you are making the payment then life will continue for both of you as normal.

The thing to remember here is that a contract of sale has gone south, VA admit this and have made you an offer. You are under no obligation whatsoever to accept their first offer. You are fully entitled to make a counter offer, which in this case sounds like it would be a cash refund of part of the original payment. If they accept then all is well (must be done formally though, not via random CSR on the phone). If they don't accept then you are entitled to rescind payment and go into negotiations with them over what is fair and reasonable.

 

[lovestotravel]

Exactly right, if you have the time and patience you would get a full refund!

It's a matter of weighing that up vs the offer already made

 

[Carfield]

Thanks for the insightful trip report! I am glad to find out that Virgin Australia has not installed LIVE TV in the J cabin on its narrowbody fleet. It is sort of disappointing as I like LIVE TV and Virgin Australia should have thought of it when installing the new business class seats on the 737s. The service seems to suffer if it is a full flight, which is interesting.

Carfield

 

[MarkD]

Personally, I would be happy. You got the j status credits, which was the whole purpose of the flights anyway, and got a good amount towards a trip later. My feelings would be different if it was a special event ie; honeymoon or divorce depending on what means the most


Excuse the typos, this was sent from my iPhone using Fat fingers

 

[Justinf]

Thanks for the info Moopere. Very insightful.
I tend to agree with MarkD on this though. For me, the outcome is satisfactory. I travel using my own $ so a credit is as good as a refund anyway given that I like to go away for weekends often. I will use the credit and given that the flight was a SC run so I could retain Gold, then it's obvious my choice of carrier is VA so I was planning on flying them anyway.
As I said $179 for a J flight MEL-SYD (and a bloody good one at that) and a PE flight SYD-OOL is still cheap and I got 80 SCs (20 more than I was supposed to) anyway due to a slip up by VA. Considering I got J for half the trip, then a $330 credit for a $509 outlay, is reasonable.
Now just have to work out how to use it. Hmmmmm...Melbourne Storm are playing the Warriors again in early June. A trip to AKL might be in order. Or Richmond playing in PER in August. The possibilities are endless.