V - Australia - Premium Economy

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ljk23

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I don’t recall seeing a report on here for V- Australia’s Premium Economy service so I thought I’d add my thoughts, the return leg was pretty similar so will just focus on the first flight..

July 2009 – VA1 - LAX to SYD

Arrived at V-Australia’s check in desk a little early and they were still setting up. A line of pax had already formed in the economy checkin area, I just took a seat and waited until they opened the counters.

Once they were open for business I strolled straight into the Y+ check in line and was processed immediately, service was ok nothing too special at this stage. No lounge access for me on this flight, so killed a few hours in the bar. Boarding was called in classes so walking on before the masses was a nice touch. Load looked light at this stage.

First impressions of the 777 - You could tell this was a brand new plane, it was sparkling clean and modern. The pictures on the web just don’t do it justice… it really is a fantastic aircraft. The mood lighting looked great as you walked through as did the southern stars embedded in the ceiling…

Strolled though J class… the seats do a look a little behind the times but the room to move in that cabin is amazing, so spacious! Loved the seats at the bar too!

Walking into Y+ you stroll past the small bar, at this stage it was empty :( … We were greeted by a smiling and friendly FA …took our seats…

WOW… Very impressed with the Y+ product, leg room was ample, width of seat ample, TV screen size was huge… great start…. After a couple of minutes I was offered a pre flight drink (OJ, Champ’s, water) took the champs.. Is it bad that its such a good feeling watching everyone walk past whilst you sip on the bubbly..

Once everyone had boarded, I counted 18pax in the 40 pax Y+ cabin, was quite happy with this… it was going to be a quiet flight. The FA came up and introduced herself personally which was a nice touch, she was fantastic! So friendly and made us feel very welcome.

I started to watch a movie before we had even taken off, I wish more airlines would allow this. The IFE was one of the best I have seen and has a huge selection, screen size was HUGE, quality excellent, touch screen as well – 10/10 there.

Seat – Leather seat was better than i thought, ample legroom, great seat decline and the little lamp attached to the seat is cool, I did notice however after a few hours the bum started to get a little sore as the seat was a little firm. Fixed this with an extra blanket. We had two seats by our self , this was a major factor in deciding to book Y+ as its nice not having anyone next to you on such a long flight. Legroom in row 10 is definitely limited.. stay away..

Food – dinner order was taken personally by the FA and with no trolley in sight it was then delivered with your choice of drink, all served on and in semi real glassware. I have the menu somewhere but all food I had was great. Our plates were also collected as soon as we had finished which was awesome, I hate sitting there with the dirty dishes for 40 minutes.

Bar – Before the dinner service I observed the FA stocking the bar shelves with several spirits and was quite excited, once dinner service had finished I noticed they had all been removed!! What was going on!
Not long after dinner a couple of other pax had moved to the bar area and I could hear them chatting away to one of the FA’s, it was quite loud and keeping me awake.. So what does one do.. I decide to get up and join them … so the deal is…. After some initial booze heads got stuck into the self serve spirits and apparently really abused the privilege (or the right?) to have one too many it seems they have decided to remove all liquor and all drinks must be ordered from the FA…

I wasn’t too impressed with this as it basically turns the Y+ bar straight into the same self serve area as they offer in economy.

However for a good couple of hours we had no problems getting vodkas poured on request… over the next hour we spoke to numerous FA’s as they came past… all more than happy to stop and chat.. one did mention something about oxygen masks but I didn’t take much notice or really hear what they said and we kept drinking for another hour or so ..

It wasn’t until a different FA strolled through, stopped and told us that we were not allowed to congregate in the bar area as no oxygen masks were fitted in the area. She gave us a few minutes to finish our drinks and wanted us too move on.. Fair call and understand the rules.. but no other FA seemed to have a problem with it.. It was late so we agreed and was probably time to head back to our seats to get some sleep anyway. I think the person in row 11 was quite happy about this too!

Slept well, though not being able to move the arm rests was a bit of a bugger but still managed to get 6 to 7 hours… Breakfast was good … had the waffles…. Pretty tasty and portion size was fine, was given a few extra croissants too :p

Oh..we were given an amenity pack, nothing spectacular, eye patch, socks, tooth brush, tooth paste and Listerine mouthwash. I believe they only get the eye patch handed out in economy.

Overall a fantastic flight…. Would recommend these guys to anyone who isn’t fighting the addiction of being a kangaroo status junkie and or may be willing to try something new…

VA have done a really great job and it will be a real pity if they cant make it through the current market battle/conditions. It feels nothing like virgin blue and in my opinion was a much more enjoyable flight that my previous Qantas flights.

All staff I encountered were fantastic and I will likely fly them again and look forward to trying out there other cabins..

If you have any specific questions about the flight just let me know, not a hugely detailed report but it may be of some interest.
 
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I don’t recall seeing a report on here for V- Australia’s Premium Economy service so I thought I’d add my thoughts, the return leg was pretty similar so will just focus on the first flight..

Thanks for the detailed report!! Sounds like a great flight.
 
Slept well, though not being able to move the arm rests was a bit of a bugger but still managed to get 6 to 7 hours… Breakfast was good … had the waffles…. Pretty tasty and portion size was fine, was given a few extra croissants too :p

Thanks for the review ljk23:!: I'm lucky to get 6-7 hours sleep during a normal night so don't complain! :p
 
Great review. Looking forward to my trip in PE in Oct. Interested to know why you couldn't access the lounge. Thought this was part of the PE deal??? Correct me if I'm wrong...
 
Awesome review can't wait for my flight in November.
Is row 11 the bulkhead row??

Interested to know why you couldn't access the lounge. Thought this was part of the PE deal??? Correct me if I'm wrong...
according to the V Australia website unless your traveling in Business or a Velocity Gold member you don't have access
 
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Great review. Looking forward to my trip in PE in Oct. Interested to know why you couldn't access the lounge. Thought this was part of the PE deal??? Correct me if I'm wrong...

Domestic yes, international no (at least, that's how I read it)
 
yes row 10 is bulkhead.. stay clear.. 11 was great..

No lounge access for PE, though you can access" the lounge" if you fly virgin on your domestic flights.

Also, when coming back into Australia.. keep an eye out for the express custom/immigration passes around the bar area.. i managed to pick up a couple and saved me alot of time... though i dont think they were meant to be left there for PE pax.. ;)
 
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I was also impressed with the VAust PE. The level of services was great, and the touch screen IFE was a treat to use, esp with the noise cancelling head phones.

On the way back I was able to sleep a good 8 hrs after selecting a bunch of classical & jazz CDs on the IFE. The 1st time i've done a nigth flight where i wasn't a zombie on getting home.

Such a shame the PE to coughet is not as competitively priced as the LA route. Am still to work out why airlines charge double for a PE seat compared to Y :confused:
 
I'll second all the comments made about VA Y+, I flew them back from LA earlier in the week and loved it, great service, great product, honestly couldnt fault it.

The seats were great and I also got 6-7 hours where I normally struggle to get that even in J, and the IFE was the best i've come across, although could use a couple more new releases, but the music system with playlist is fantastic.

I would definately fly them again and have no issued flying their Y+ even though i'm used to J.

My only negative comment would be about T3 at LAX, checkin area is fantastic, but the gate area which is shared with Virgin America has a bit of a LCC feel about it, but thats really my only negative, everything else about it is positive.

Def. no lounge access for Y+, only Gold and J, but not really a big issue in my mind.

TG
 
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I use my MacBook Air on flights and haven't flown VA Before (traveling in Feb 10). What type of power adaptor do i need, or can i just plug my power straight in??
 
I use my MacBook Air on flights and haven't flown VA Before (traveling in Feb 10). What type of power adaptor do i need, or can i just plug my power straight in??
I just tried to find the information myself, and their website didn't seem to provide a clear answer. Considering its a new product, I'd suspect it would be a standard international plug with no need for an airline adaptor.

If no-one here has the answer, give the airline a quick buzz and post back with the answer.
 
V Australia > In Seat Power
What type of power?

The power is 110V AC 60 cycles (Hz) which is USA power, NOT 220V AC 50 cycles (Hz) which is Australian power. The maximum power draw is 150 watts and the system will automatically check to make sure there is not too much power draw.
Please check your device will accept 110volts before plugging in!
What type of plug is accepted?

The outlet unit will accept almost all plug types, including US two or three-pin, Australian and New Zealand two or three-pin, European and UK three-pin.

Where can I plug in my device?

  • Business Class - This is located between your seats below the audio jack and USB port
  • Premium Economy Class – It’s below your seat
  • Economy Class - The crew can assist you with charging your devices
 
MartinAm loving your blog, can't believe how many flights you've done - dedication!We are doing our 1st international flight next May, hoping to go premium economy on a direct flight ex Sydney to LAX on VAustralia also.Congrats with ur flights and blog
 
yes row 10 is bulkhead.. stay clear.. 11 was great..

We have similar flights (MEL <==> LAX in PE) coming up later this year and I had chosen row 10 each way on the basis they were bulk head seats with no seat in front to recline back into us :)

I don't understand the comment about the lack of legroom in row10 - surely this is more than offset by the lack of the seat in front of you, hence no one being able to recline into 'your' space?

Am I missing something?

Cheers
 
Nice TR, thanks for posting. I think they may have wanted you away from the bar as the US have rules in people congregating in galleys, toilets etc on flights going to the US. I thought this was only on flights to the US and not from. If it was due to lacking O2 masks what's the point of the bar at all? Anyway nice review. Cheers.
 
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