VA11 / VA12 - MEL-LAX-MEL J Ret - SS UNDERWHELMING

[Cruiser Elite]

Recently experienced Velocity pts redemption MEL-LAX-MEL on VA - what can I say - SO UNDERWHELMING.

Let me preface this by making a couple of points:
1. I am an loyal VA customer - have been since their inception - and have only been on a QF flt once or twice since VA / DJ born.
2. VA HAVE changed their cancellation policy re redemption bookings. Pre 01/08/2012 any cancellation of award redemptions for long haul international meant forfeiture of pts - now cancelation up to 72hrs pre-departure will cost you $60 or 7,500 Velocity pts - all other pts and fees will be refunded eventually.

 

[Boris spatsky]

Can you elaborate as to why it was so underwhelming?

 

[hummel]

A nice change to see that they've changed their refund policy.

Is this thread for a trip report Cruiser Elite?

 

[Cruiser Elite]

I did the same journey 12 months ago on VA - I wrote a glowing report as the whole experience then was just fabulous - it had such a WOW factor about it - except for the ****ty lounge in LAX and a rather funny 'multi snack meal service' as opposed to 'full service multi course meal service' this year.

I really thought VA had nailed it last year - but this years experience just smacked of amateurism. Most of my yearly flying is like 8 to 10 ret F or J Saver redemptions MEL-PEK / PVG / MNL - am I spoilt by SQs product quality? Maybe / probably - but I have done VA MEL-LAX-MEL twice before - both times considerably better experiences than this years.

MEL-LAX not so bad - boarded only few minutes late - offered Lanson Gold Label immediately seated - only 2 spare seats in whole J cabin - FAs kept pretty busy but service ok.

IFE sadly lacking IMHO - variety of movies on offer quite limited - TV shows I can take or leave - but when your choices of movies are 3 Stooges and Lethal Weapon 4 - just think choices offered a bit narrow. Maybe I do too much flying - maybe I buy too many DVDs in Beijing - still I always seem to be able to watch something on SQ.

The thing that really struck me as unacceptable is NO WINE LIST - you get a meny but NO WINE LIST. Champers certainly my preffered drink - but a good red with beef cheek would have been perfect. Ask FA where is wine list - oh sorry Sir we are rotating wines nowadays so we don't have printed list. Fan-bloddy-tastic - so FA has to try to reel off all the wines on offer time and time again to every pax who might wanna try a wine - then you gotta stop them mid-description and say run that past me again - you guys know how it goes - you get a wine list and you review it and you check the mains and you take time making that meaningful decision. NO WINE LIST VA - GIVE ME A BREAK.

In general MEL-LAX leg was OK - food offered whilst not spectacular was OK - cannot remember each course - but I do remember choosing the beef cheek for main - was good but accompaniments lacking.

It was the LAX-MEL leg that was really disappointing. That Lounge for a start - DISGRACEFUL - yeah I know everybody knows its shortcomings - not matter IMHO keep banging on about it and they WILL be forced to do somewthing. Food on offer almost non-existent - a few chicken / turkey / ham wraps doesn't really contstitute acceptable offerings IMHO. To not have showerrs - UNACCEPTABLE. Then worst of all - worst of all - they send you downstairs to rub shoulders with the commoners to get a drink - DTKWIA? Downstairs to the bar below - yeah yeah some will say no big deal - you still get free drinks - but does just not have the acceptable comfort factor that comfortable lounge chair in a comfortable lounge offers - and all within reach of your carry-on to grab whatever of those small items / tasks we all need to attend to pre-flight - it's just not acceptable in terms of any International carrier who attempts to project themselves as an A grader / top of the line / 5 star International carrier.

So we are called to board - I am in 3D - enter door and FA directs me accross plane to second aisle - seat on right. I stop and look at both FAs in doorway - I point to 3D which is aisle seat in first aisle - is that not 3D - yes sorry Sir my mistake. Park myself in my seat - arrange all the goodies i am gonna need for flight then stick carry-on in overhead bin. Make eye contact with FA looking out of galley and make drinking motion with my hand - 15 minutes later - no drink still.

Get up and walk up to galley - can I get Champagne please - I will bring it to your seat - I am in 3D - yes I know what seat you are in. 10 minutes later - still no drink - get up and walk to galley - can I get Champagne please - yes Sir I will bring to your seat - you are in 3D right? Correct. Go back to seat - 2 mins later am handed Champagne - thank you - taste it - goddam not cold - taste again - goddam not cold - taste again - goddam not cold and really not drinkable at that temp. Push call button - FA trots down - this champagne is not cold - oh so sorry Sir - I will get you another one. 5 mins later - and almost ready to push back - she trots back with another one - taste it - goddam not cold - goddam not cold - getting a bit pissed off by now - we are pushing back - FA saunters past - this Champagne is not cold - sorry Sir it will be colder when we get in air. Fantastic - Pilot comes on PA we will have 30 min taxi - fantastic - oh well better down a couple of warm ones then.

After take off seat belt sign goes off - 30 mins wait - no drink service. FA then wanders down aisle taking drinks and meal orders. This floored me - SQ ALWAYS take after take-off drinks oprders pre-take off - 5 mins after seat belt sign goes out - drink is in your hand - not this mob.

Get up go to galley - I aint waiting - Champagne please - handed one and wander back to seat - you guessed it not cold. Drink it - FA comes along - another Champagne Sir - yes please this time a cold one please - she wanders back a few mins later - you guessed it - not cold. Had enough by now - push button - FA comes down - this Champagne is just NOT COLD - it must be colder - I am sorry Sir we have to park off-bay for a number of hours and we cannot get Champagne colder - not acceptable - I will try to get you a colder one - comes back maybe 1 degree colder but still unacceptable - I gave up after this.

Entree choics was soup or chicken salad - I opted for chicken salad - soup duly arrived and was sent back.Chicken salad for entree was absolutely drowned in about 1cm of oily liquid on bottom of plate - no idea what wines on offer - did I mention there is NO WINE LIST on these flights?

Main course I ordered lamb shank - LAMB SHANK - it really did surprise me to see lamb shank on an in-flight menu but other 3 choices did not excite me. Lamb shank? God we all know that aeroplanes do not afford the greatest amount of room / suitable seating position or the smoothest dining experience to be weilding a knife trying to cut meat from a bone - I still am really surprised lamb shank was offered - like a slip of the knife and a pocket of turbulence at same time could see my lamb shank shooting across cabin to like 3G or K - meal in general very ordinary.

The FA that pointed me to wrong seating position initially came along and apologised for level of service - said it was his first day in this cabin and that he had made mistakes but was trying really hard - how could anybody not cut him some slack after that admission.

Ordered coffee - some offering of wishy-washy liquid was delivered - tasted - and dispatched. Bring me a real coffee please - something like a flat white Sir? Yes that would be good - flat white duly arrived - colder than the Champagne - take it away please.

OK back into the warm Champagne and boring IFE - ever notice how the bar on VA flts full on way to USA but deserted on way home? I had spent 4 days in Las Vegas - need I say more - it was quite a task to force myself to sit at the bar on my lonesome and indulge in some inner depth thoughts whist I prepared for sleep.

Slept like a baby - woke up with like 3.5 hours to go - was hungry so ordered the snack of 'Bratwurst Sausage in Hot Dog Roll' - oh and a Champagne which by this time was cold. FA said we are serving breakfast in 30 mins and snack will take 12mins to prepare so you might be better if you wait for brekky - no I will still have the snack please then I will have brekky and keep this cold Champagne flowing.

Bratworst Sausage arrives - roll is cut clean through and the Sausage is drowned in mustard and tomato relish. The tomato relish I like but mustard - god I would never have had mustard. Scrape it off - try to pick up parted / divided roll and eat it hot dog like - you guessed it - sausage is colder than champagne - i struggled through half it and sent rest back.

Breakfast too was just ok - main part was some dry wrap with egg and bacon inside - had indigestion for hours after.

Overall a VERY VERY VERY ORDINARY experience. As I said I am a very strong / loyal VA customer but will not make this mistake again.

Have already secured QF F outbound award flight for nest year - will try to secure return QF flt when becomes available - VA - JUST NOT GOOD ENOUGH.

 

[Cruiser Elite]

Can you elaborate as to why it was so underwhelming?

See next post please

A nice change to see that they've changed their refund policy.

So overdue - so overdue

Is this thread for a trip report Cruiser Elite?

I am not sure if this is a trip report - or throwing it out their for open discussion - of just an expression of my disappointment - just my thoughts.

 

[Cruiser Elite]

Now I did have a mate in USA same time as me - he did MEL-LAX on VA - LAX-SIN-MEL on SQ.

He said he had a great flight on VA - crew were energetic and fun - experience was very good. He said it wasn't SQ standard but the direct flight made up for that - go figure.

 

[pauly7]

Cruiser Elite - that was probably the funniest trip report I have EVER read on here!! I was on the floor crying!!! What a Fawlty towers of a flight....! I can't believe you sent all of that back to the galley, over and over.

I'm so sorry that (although it entertained me) you had such an awful flight though. I suggest putting the above into a more succinct summary and shooting it off to DJ for some sort of compensation (if you can be bothered and want to risk flying them again).

I agree with you that their IFE is quite limited.

 

[samh004]

Get up go to galley - I aint waiting - Champagne please - handed one and wander back to seat - you guessed it not cold. Drink it - FA comes along - another Champagne Sir - yes please this time a cold one please - she wanders back a few mins later - you guessed it - not cold. Had enough by now - push button - FA comes down - this Champagne is just NOT COLD - it must be colder - I am sorry Sir we have to park off-bay for a number of hours and we cannot get Champagne colder - not acceptable - I will try to get you a colder one - comes back maybe 1 degree colder but still unacceptable - I gave up after this.

I'm trying to understand this... when they park off-bay, does that mean they have no power at all? I am confused here, because if they can't keep the champagne cold, how do they keep the food cold? Or is all the food offloaded/loaded in LAX (in which case, why can't the drinks be looked after in the same way)?

It just seems odd, and agree, unacceptable. Sounds like the service was very off on your flight. Have you given appropriate feedback?

 

[Cruiser Elite]

I'm trying to understand this... when they park off-bay, does that mean they have no power at all?

I certainly do not understand this

Have you given appropriate feedback?

I am in process of doing so.

 

[Paddy55]

Sorry to hear of your experience.
Regardless of airline, if you pay for J you expect a J experience.
Not much care in what was dished up to you by the sound of it

 

[tuapekastar]

Cruiser Elite, I jumped on AFF today intending to (and I still will) post something along the same lines re VA/DJ possibly starting to lose their lustre after my weekend transcon return trip. My issues do pale a little in comparison with yours though, what an ordinary experience. And that can be all it takes to lose loyal frequent customers like yourself...I hope the staff and management are well aware of this, and that your trip was an exception, and not an indication of declining standards after a, err, flying start so to speak.

 

[lovestotravel]

Doesn't sound all that bad to me, the main issue would be warm champagne and the lounge, which until the LAX lounge is fixed, means I fly NZ or QF

The rest of it is you really just didn't like the food or IFE, but each to their own

No wine list - Well that's amateurish really too actually

A few points

The FA that pointed me to wrong seating position initially came along and apologised for level of service - said it was his first day in this cabin and that he had made mistakes but was trying really hard - how could anybody not cut him some slack after that admission.

Shouldn't be thrown into the cabin in the deep end like that, VA should have done more training!

am I spoilt by SQs product quality?
YES

However, I would be sending this TR as feedback to VA (but slightly more concise)

 

[lovestotravel]

Cruiser Elite, I jumped on AFF today intending to (and I still will) post something along the same lines re VA/DJ possibly starting to lose their lustre after my weekend transcon return trip. My issues do pale a little in comparison with yours though, what an ordinary experience. And that can be all it takes to lose loyal frequent customers like yourself...I hope the staff and management are well aware of this, and that your trip was an exception, and not an indication of declining standards after a, err, flying start so to speak.

My flying is already back to 60/40 QF/DJ now as the inconsistent service levels of DJ really annoy me!

 

[docjames]

Pretty funny TR (but no doubt not funny at the time).

Sounds like quite a bit of work to do for VA ex-LAX (although I find QF are usually better service-wise ex-Aus than Ex-Lax). Not sure if it relates to the crew short layovers / not enough recovery in LAX perhaps??

 

[Cruiser Elite]

The rest of it is you really just didn't like the food or IFE,

Not a case of not liking food or IFE - was a case that neither were up to standard - IMHO.

Oh I left out plenty small things too - like waiting for 10 mins for replacement napkin after first one drowned in oil when I dropped it on entree plate.

Then having second napkin delivered without cutlery after cutlery cleared with entree plate - then waiting 10 mins for cutlery to come before I could start main - it was a just a comedy of errors and smacked of amateurism.

 

[anat0l]

Side note: IIRC QF J does not have a wine list. The menu simply says that a variety of Australian wines are offered and to ask your FA to advise selection.

That is at least my experience, but that was some time ago - things might've changed since then.

(Note: I'm not counting the copy of QF's In-flight Guide to Wine included in the seat pocket)



The rest of the comments sound very so-so, but sounds like typically one of those incidents that could happen on either of the big Aussie two.

For the warm champagne I would taken matters into my own hands, and demanded the bottle, a bucket, some ice, water and salt. OK I'm being comically hypothetical here....

I'm surprised the food came out cold / underheated. In J isn't that a cardinal sin?

Sent from my GT-I9300 using AustFreqFly

 

[lovestotravel]

Most people don't enjoy a cold sausage......

 

[serfty]

Side note: IIRC QF J does not have a wine list. The menu simply says that a variety of Australian wines are offered and to ask your FA to advise selection.

That is at least my experience, but that was some time ago - things might've changed since then.

(Note: I'm not counting the copy of QF's In-flight Guide to Wine included in the seat pocket)
...

How can you not count the copy of the in flight wine guide? IME, the wine selection will be represented in that booklet - it can be looked it up then.

 

[Cruiser Elite]

I have no idea what QF do or don't do - I don't fly them.

What I do know is that SQ certainly list ALL wines in menus in ALL classes - I would have thought most International carriers would do same - if I am wrong happy to take that one back.

 

[Noob]

Cruiser Elite, some great feedback here for VA - don't skimp on the details & comparisons to SQ's offering.