As a long time elite QFF member, I never thought I would fly Virgin. I have no shortage of QF miles and have been P1 for some time now.
However, Virgin recently did a deal with my work to offer frequent flyers gold virgin status. Sure, it's not a complete status match, which would have made more sense, but it was better than nothing in terms of points earn. That, combined with the recent AMEX credit card deal I signed up for which gave me 100,000 velocity points, made me at least consider virgin (as I now have plenty of miles to tfr over to SQ).
I wouldn't bother switching for any east coast flights, but I frequently fly from the east coast to Perth (all in J), so thought it would be a good chance to try out the Virgin business suite, particularly given the very average QF trans-continental hard product (noting that since QF put some upgraded A330s on the same route, I have flown it 7 times and never had the new QF business pod).
Upshot of my experience:
Hard product - outstanding for a domestic flight. Herringbone style works well
Lounge/check-in - reasonable, but not nearly as nice/convenient as the QF J lounge
In flight food - possibly better than QF, but serves are a lot smaller
In flight service - good, but no better than QF (in fact, QF is probably slightly better in J and seems to manage a much better pax:staff ratio, at least during service times).
If Virgin did a true status match, I might consider using them more, but otherwise would only be likely to use them for transcontinental and only when I had re-qualified my QF status each year.
However, once I re-qualify WP (maybe not even bother with P1 going fwd), would definitely consider Virgin J for Perth legs, although would not use them for other travel unless true status match/benefits.
I think QF will really see some revenue leakage east/west unless they do something about the hard product (and quickly), as I am a perfect example of someone who would never have otherwise given any of my substantial travel revenue to Virgin.
cheers
However, Virgin recently did a deal with my work to offer frequent flyers gold virgin status. Sure, it's not a complete status match, which would have made more sense, but it was better than nothing in terms of points earn. That, combined with the recent AMEX credit card deal I signed up for which gave me 100,000 velocity points, made me at least consider virgin (as I now have plenty of miles to tfr over to SQ).
I wouldn't bother switching for any east coast flights, but I frequently fly from the east coast to Perth (all in J), so thought it would be a good chance to try out the Virgin business suite, particularly given the very average QF trans-continental hard product (noting that since QF put some upgraded A330s on the same route, I have flown it 7 times and never had the new QF business pod).
Upshot of my experience:
Hard product - outstanding for a domestic flight. Herringbone style works well
Lounge/check-in - reasonable, but not nearly as nice/convenient as the QF J lounge
In flight food - possibly better than QF, but serves are a lot smaller
In flight service - good, but no better than QF (in fact, QF is probably slightly better in J and seems to manage a much better pax:staff ratio, at least during service times).
If Virgin did a true status match, I might consider using them more, but otherwise would only be likely to use them for transcontinental and only when I had re-qualified my QF status each year.
However, once I re-qualify WP (maybe not even bother with P1 going fwd), would definitely consider Virgin J for Perth legs, although would not use them for other travel unless true status match/benefits.
I think QF will really see some revenue leakage east/west unless they do something about the hard product (and quickly), as I am a perfect example of someone who would never have otherwise given any of my substantial travel revenue to Virgin.
cheers