Liroquai
Intern
- Joined
- May 17, 2011
- Posts
- 65
I'm in the middle of a mini-tour that entails day trips to each city over a couple of weeks. Needless to say I wasn't particularly looking forward to PER. A 3AM wake up call on Monday and arriving back in SYD at 6AM Tuesday would mean I'd be up for 27 hours. Fun!
I purchased flexi fares as the cost difference between saver & flexi was minimal ($20 for the outbound ($379 vs $399) and $104 for the return ($199 vs $303)), plus the extra SC's will help me hit Silver earlier than anticipated. I decided to try my luck with the half price points upgrade offer for the return leg and was successful - my first flight in J for all of 4950 points!
So I was up at 3AM to quickly pack and shower. Smooth run in to the airport beating the dreaded M5 traffic and arrived at around 5AM. Check in and security were very quick, grabbed a latte and made my way to the gate. Boarding was called around 5:40 and we pushed back just after 6. There were a few spare seats throughout and thankfully one of them was next to me - I've been very lucky with this lately. I've only very recently became a proper "frequent flyer", but of the 4 or 5 flights I've had over the past year, I've always been seated next to a spare seat. Strange considering I've yet to achieve any sort of status with VA. We'll see if my luck continues.
Short taxi and we were soon up in the air. The 6AM service is operated by a 737-800, so no IFE. Thankfully I'd purchased a flexi which included a personal player - I can't stand long-ish flights without some sort of entertainment, particularly when the majority of the games on my iPhone require internet!
Almost instantly after the double ding my flexi breakfast arrived; apple strudel with Goulburn Valley guava fruit cup and muesli bar. Definitely wasn't a fan of the strudel, gave up after a couple of bites. I'd much prefer a simple cereal and juice.
My half eaten meal was quickly cleared and I assumed that my personal player would soon be arriving. But I waited. And waited. After an hour or so, and seeing the crew were in the back galley chatting, I called a FA and enquired... the response: "Oh I'll see if they're onboard". A few minutes passed and he came back with the ancient looking thing. Very few choices, around 6 or so movies and 10 TV shows, none of which I was really interested in. They did seem fairly recent though so kudos to VA for keeping them updated.
Ended up being a very smooth flight. Landed at 7:50AM so 10 minutes early. I have to say though the crew were pretty disappointing on this flight. The FA's weren't very smiley or approachable like every other VA FA. One of them seemed to be sick so that probably attributed to it, but the fact that I had to ask for the player wasn't cool. Understandable if it were a short flight to BNE or MEL but when the flight time is nearing 5 hours you'd think they'd take the initiative and offer them to those that paid for it.
12 hours worth of meetings and a presentation and it was soon time for my return flight to SYD. Checked in at the priority counter and was directed to the lounge. I'm also a lounge virgin (don't judge, I'm 21) so the novelty was well and truly fresh. It's nice and tidy with a few comfortable chairs and lounges. A really poor and short sleep the night before, plus the long day had me in a fatigued haze, so it was really nice to relax in a proper quiet area.
Made my way up to the gate a little earlier so I could take advantage of the priority boarding and get settled into my seat. 10:30 rolled around and a large crowd gathered around the gate. The waiting continued until we were asked to "line up" in the lanes. Priority pax in the priority lane and back rows of economy in the regular lane. We stood here for another 10 minutes until the doors were finally opened and boarding commenced. It was a real mess with a lot of confusion as the the lady had chose not to use the microphone and instead shout. Being as tired as I was I would've much preferred to sit than be asked to line up. So strange.
Everything changed once I was onboard. I was welcomed and directed to my seat by a FA, all of which in the J cabin were incredibly friendly and genuinely nice. The seat absolutely exceeded my expectations... I really underestimated the amount of space and legroom.
I was handed an amenity kit which included a branded VA pen, earplugs, eyemask, socks, lip balm, hand cream and tissues. Soon after my order for supper was taken (see menu below) and was offered a glass of water, juice or champagne.
After a short delay we pushed back at 11:15 and were in the air following a very short taxi. Hot towels were handed out and I was offered another drink. I was really tempted to do the J thing and grab a glass of the Lanson, but considering how tired I was I figured I'd need a bit of caffeine to get me through the meal service, I opted for a Pepsi instead.
The IFE was switched on after the double ding, decent amount of channels but they really need an on demand IFE.
Soon enough my Greek salad was ready and the brilliant FA laid out my table. I really wish I grabbed her name as she was truly fantastic and deserves every bit of recognition. The salad was very tasty and proved to be a perfect snack before sleeping.
After my table was cleared I put the seat into recline mode - very generous recline and was really comfortable for a short nap. If it were a few inches longer I'd have been able to fully stretch out. I put the pillow on the footrest to prop up my feet. Proved to be a very wise decision
Small criticism however - I kept hitting the IFE remote with my hip which would then turn on the screen. Pretty annoying when I'd just be dozing off only to woken up again by the screen.
What seemed like 10 minutes later (actually 2 and a bit hours), the captain informed that we were beginning our descent into SYD. Smooth landing and arrived at the gate in no time.
Overall it was such a fantastic experience and I really have no idea how I'll be slumming it in Y over the next couple of weeks. I guess the saying is true - once you go J you never go back.
I purchased flexi fares as the cost difference between saver & flexi was minimal ($20 for the outbound ($379 vs $399) and $104 for the return ($199 vs $303)), plus the extra SC's will help me hit Silver earlier than anticipated. I decided to try my luck with the half price points upgrade offer for the return leg and was successful - my first flight in J for all of 4950 points!
So I was up at 3AM to quickly pack and shower. Smooth run in to the airport beating the dreaded M5 traffic and arrived at around 5AM. Check in and security were very quick, grabbed a latte and made my way to the gate. Boarding was called around 5:40 and we pushed back just after 6. There were a few spare seats throughout and thankfully one of them was next to me - I've been very lucky with this lately. I've only very recently became a proper "frequent flyer", but of the 4 or 5 flights I've had over the past year, I've always been seated next to a spare seat. Strange considering I've yet to achieve any sort of status with VA. We'll see if my luck continues.
Short taxi and we were soon up in the air. The 6AM service is operated by a 737-800, so no IFE. Thankfully I'd purchased a flexi which included a personal player - I can't stand long-ish flights without some sort of entertainment, particularly when the majority of the games on my iPhone require internet!
Almost instantly after the double ding my flexi breakfast arrived; apple strudel with Goulburn Valley guava fruit cup and muesli bar. Definitely wasn't a fan of the strudel, gave up after a couple of bites. I'd much prefer a simple cereal and juice.
My half eaten meal was quickly cleared and I assumed that my personal player would soon be arriving. But I waited. And waited. After an hour or so, and seeing the crew were in the back galley chatting, I called a FA and enquired... the response: "Oh I'll see if they're onboard". A few minutes passed and he came back with the ancient looking thing. Very few choices, around 6 or so movies and 10 TV shows, none of which I was really interested in. They did seem fairly recent though so kudos to VA for keeping them updated.
Ended up being a very smooth flight. Landed at 7:50AM so 10 minutes early. I have to say though the crew were pretty disappointing on this flight. The FA's weren't very smiley or approachable like every other VA FA. One of them seemed to be sick so that probably attributed to it, but the fact that I had to ask for the player wasn't cool. Understandable if it were a short flight to BNE or MEL but when the flight time is nearing 5 hours you'd think they'd take the initiative and offer them to those that paid for it.
12 hours worth of meetings and a presentation and it was soon time for my return flight to SYD. Checked in at the priority counter and was directed to the lounge. I'm also a lounge virgin (don't judge, I'm 21) so the novelty was well and truly fresh. It's nice and tidy with a few comfortable chairs and lounges. A really poor and short sleep the night before, plus the long day had me in a fatigued haze, so it was really nice to relax in a proper quiet area.
Made my way up to the gate a little earlier so I could take advantage of the priority boarding and get settled into my seat. 10:30 rolled around and a large crowd gathered around the gate. The waiting continued until we were asked to "line up" in the lanes. Priority pax in the priority lane and back rows of economy in the regular lane. We stood here for another 10 minutes until the doors were finally opened and boarding commenced. It was a real mess with a lot of confusion as the the lady had chose not to use the microphone and instead shout. Being as tired as I was I would've much preferred to sit than be asked to line up. So strange.
Everything changed once I was onboard. I was welcomed and directed to my seat by a FA, all of which in the J cabin were incredibly friendly and genuinely nice. The seat absolutely exceeded my expectations... I really underestimated the amount of space and legroom.
I was handed an amenity kit which included a branded VA pen, earplugs, eyemask, socks, lip balm, hand cream and tissues. Soon after my order for supper was taken (see menu below) and was offered a glass of water, juice or champagne.
After a short delay we pushed back at 11:15 and were in the air following a very short taxi. Hot towels were handed out and I was offered another drink. I was really tempted to do the J thing and grab a glass of the Lanson, but considering how tired I was I figured I'd need a bit of caffeine to get me through the meal service, I opted for a Pepsi instead.
The IFE was switched on after the double ding, decent amount of channels but they really need an on demand IFE.
Soon enough my Greek salad was ready and the brilliant FA laid out my table. I really wish I grabbed her name as she was truly fantastic and deserves every bit of recognition. The salad was very tasty and proved to be a perfect snack before sleeping.
After my table was cleared I put the seat into recline mode - very generous recline and was really comfortable for a short nap. If it were a few inches longer I'd have been able to fully stretch out. I put the pillow on the footrest to prop up my feet. Proved to be a very wise decision
Small criticism however - I kept hitting the IFE remote with my hip which would then turn on the screen. Pretty annoying when I'd just be dozing off only to woken up again by the screen.What seemed like 10 minutes later (actually 2 and a bit hours), the captain informed that we were beginning our descent into SYD. Smooth landing and arrived at the gate in no time.
Overall it was such a fantastic experience and I really have no idea how I'll be slumming it in Y over the next couple of weeks. I guess the saying is true - once you go J you never go back.
