Virgin Australia Business Class - Meals, Menus & Service

That’s a shame. I thought it was a good service when I was shown it. Perhaps they might run in the problem of the 'pack shot' versus what you get. 🙂
That's what happens when crew go rogue, it sets up different expectations for everyone.

TBH the food presentation isn't too bad. I'm sure there's a marsupial out there with less than ideal frozen meals ;)

It has allergen advice for us to identify if someone can't eat anything but it's no ways means that they cater to meal requests.
 
I will say that on the SYD-MEL flight, the CSM was "average at best" and seemed to like shoving the ipad in front of everyone's face instead of fully explaining the meal...
 
That's what happens when crew go rogue, it sets up different expectations for everyone.

TBH the food presentation isn't too bad. I'm sure there's a marsupial out there with less than ideal frozen meals ;)

It has allergen advice for us to identify if someone can't eat anything but it's no ways means that they cater to meal requests.
You mean the flying wallaby REX? The food quality is better plus i get a bubbly and the main course as well as is the wrapped snacks. Time to do the switch-a-REX with the Flying REX! 🤣 🤣

And no "marsupial out there" is a gentle phrase to put it. I heard it get referred by a specific airline as the other mob.

Example sentence: "Thanks for flying with us and not choosing the other mob." (after captain apologises for flight delay and starts to introduce co-pilot who is starring in Farmer Wants a Wife and someone dropped their 1 million dollar rolex watch and they'd better claim it before they leave or 🤣 🤣 )
My thought: As if the pax paying for full price kangaroo fares are more of a mob than you 🤣 🤣
 
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You mean the flying wallaby REX? The food quality is better plus i get a bubbly and the main course as well as is the wrapped snacks. Time to do the switch-a-REX with the Flying REX! 🤣 🤣

And no "marsupial out there" is a gentle phrase to put it. I heard it get referred by a specific airline as the other mob.

Example sentence: "Thanks for flying with us and not choosing the other mob." (after captain apologises for flight delay and starts to introduce co-pilot who is starring in Farmer Wants a Wife and someone dropped their 1 million dollar rolex watch and they'd better claim it before they leave or 🤣 🤣 )
My thought: As if the pax paying for full price kangaroo fares are more of a mob than you 🤣 🤣
The last time I checked the tyrannosaurus REX was extinct 😈😂
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Another go at the roast chicken with creamed corn for lunch on the PER-SYD flight a few days ago. Just as tasty like last time. Went nicely with a g&t. View attachment 382207
PER catering is one of the tastiest suppliers in the network! They're doing themselves a very good reputation the catering company there!
 
PER catering is one of the tastiest suppliers in the network! They're doing themselves a very good reputation the catering company there!

Which ports supply catering and other than Perth, is there much difference between them as to quality of meals?

Do you get to supply feedback to the company if you notice one particular supplier is letting the side down?
 
Which ports supply catering and other than Perth, is there much difference between them as to quality of meals?

Do you get to supply feedback to the company if you notice one particular supplier is letting the side down?
All major cities. PER and ADL would be the best (my opinion) and the east coast is gate gourmet.

We do, we are very vocal and very opinionated when it comes to meal feedback. Meals probably are the main contributor which makes or breaks the flights for us 😂 we probably get more disheartened than the guests when it comes to meals!
 
We do, we are very vocal and very opinionated when it comes to meal feedback. Meals probably are the main contributor which makes or breaks the flights for us 😂 we probably get more disheartened than the guests when it comes to meals!

Great that you can ad do tell the management where the suppliers fall down. And yes, I can imagine how disheartened you can get when yo can see what's being served isn't what should be. Fortunately, that doesn't happen to me on VA much :) (I'll accept my on-board op-op for my next flight, please 🤣 )

priority boarding

Wrong thread?
 
Great that you can ad do tell the management where the suppliers fall down. And yes, I can imagine how disheartened you can get when yo can see what's being served isn't what should be. Fortunately, that doesn't happen to me on VA much :) (I'll accept my on-board op-op for my next flight, please 🤣 )



Wrong thread?
Especially when everyone is upgrading for $30 and we don't have enough meals! It's very frustrating for us at times!
 
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Winter menu launch on the 15th may.
New dishes and some old favourites will be appearing.

There's also hot meals being sold in Y on transcon flights already. I don't know if it's been mentioned.
Nice.
I love the Kung Pao Chicken dish but have now had it on my last 5 flights 🤣
 
Flew MEL-ZQN in VA J last week. The meals I'm sure were fine (I don't recall them not being), and the shiraz certainly was.

And as a side note, the domestic NZ lounge at ZQN is one of the best domestic lounges I've been in anywhere. Quite large, decent selection of food/drinks and lots of comfy seating. Great views of the mountains too, and not crowded out to hell. Puts VA lounges to shame.
 
I also just had it yesterday for 2 flights in a row!

giphy.gif
 
24/04/24 | VA551 | SYD to PER

Up bright and early for the 7:15am departure to Perth. The lounge was very quiet at this early hour which was pleasant, I also got to use the premium entry which is a bit of a rarity for me! Great views of the early morning airport activity from the lounge with the 6am EK415 just about to lift off to DXB.

20240424_061633.jpg

Boarding commenced a few minutes early at 6:42am. CM David introduced himself to each passenger, let us know the estimated flying time of 4hr 52min and offered a choice of beverage. I went with a juice but he was offering juice, still water, sparkling water or sparkling wine. Nice to have all the options especially on a transcon flight.

Took off on schedule, eventually at 31,000ft the seatbelt sign went off and meal orders were taken in the order 2AC, 2DF, 1DF, 1AC (they were served however in the traditional order). Options were scrambled eggs with cheese and bacon on sourdough or a coconut chia bowl with fresh fruits and fruit compote. I chose the scrambled eggs and a mimosa, as well as sparkling water and a coffee. I think everyone was able to get their first choice.

David brought out the first round of drinks whilst the meals were being prepared.

20240424_080737.jpg

Soon breakfast was brought out. Both options were served with coconut yoghurt and a lemon and orange cake.

20240424_082207.jpg

Enjoyed all aspects of the meal, the yoghurt was nice and refreshing, the scrambled eggs with cheese and bacon mixed in was great and the cake was a nice sweet note to finish on.

After breakfast I was offered more coffee and another mimosa, didn't need any more coffee but couldn't refuse the mimosa!

A bit later in the flight a tray of snacks was brought around including Natural Chip Co chips, Byron Bay cookies, Tim Tams and Santos nuts. The tray was then left self-serve in the galley alongside some bottles of water. I grabbed some chips and cookies.

20240424_101302.jpg

Had a big day of drinking ahead of me in Perth so after the second mimosa I swapped to a Coke Zero.

20240424_110318.jpg

Service on the flight, not just from the CM but from the entire crew was exceptional. Really friendly and attentive, when I finished my Coke Zero another one showed up without even asking! Best crew I've had in a long time and all seemed to be enjoying themselves.

The aircraft (VH-YFF) was fitted with Wi-Fi which was super fast, for some reason it stopped working over the Great Australian Bight and I thought perhaps it was due to being on a more southerly flightpath than usual but I eventually figured out it had kicked me out and I had to log back in again. Perhaps it is on a timer or something, just something to keep in mind if you encounter the same!

Bottled water was handed out prior to descent to take with us for the onward journey.

Overall a fantastic flight, one of my best on VA in quite a while with a fantastic crew, excellent food/drink options and a smooth departure/arrival experience.

There's also hot meals being sold in Y on transcon flights already. I don't know if it's been mentioned.

My flight home was in Y and indeed an announcement was made that a limited number of hot meals were available with the choices being sweet and sour chicken or pumpkin ravioli with basil pesto. I had already had a great lunch in the PER lounge (the Thai chicken soup was incredible and also got some party pies and sausage rolls just before boarding) but thought I would give this onboard meal purchase a go just for the experience. And what an experience it was!

Ordered and paid, then waited. Like an hour later there was still no sign of the meal. Eventually one of the FAs came by and advised that the packaging on the meal was defective, however they had a spare crew meal which they were happy to serve, which was also a chicken and rice dish. The crew meal showed up maybe fifteen or so minutes later, to make up for the trouble they even gave me some free cheese and crackers, which I appreciated.

20240428_173621.jpg

20240428_173712.jpg

Food itself was nothing spectacular, I was happy to give it a go but think I will stick with eating in the lounge in future 😄

Unfortunately it was one of the ex-Silk Air planes with no Wi-Fi, no moving map and atrocious TV/movie options, so I kept myself busy admiring the views out the window.

Service even in Y on this flight was good, multiple water runs were done and it's not their fault the meal loaded was defective, although it would have been nice to have been told a bit earlier about the meal issues they ultimately did a good job with the service recovery. Hopefully a one-off but if it is more common it should be raised with the PER caterers. Kudos to Ben and Beth in the Y cabin for making it an enjoyable trip home.
 
24/04/24 | VA551 | SYD to PER

Up bright and early for the 7:15am departure to Perth. The lounge was very quiet at this early hour which was pleasant, I also got to use the premium entry which is a bit of a rarity for me! Great views of the early morning airport activity from the lounge with the 6am EK415 just about to lift off to DXB.

View attachment 383071

Boarding commenced a few minutes early at 6:42am. CM David introduced himself to each passenger, let us know the estimated flying time of 4hr 52min and offered a choice of beverage. I went with a juice but he was offering juice, still water, sparkling water or sparkling wine. Nice to have all the options especially on a transcon flight.

Took off on schedule, eventually at 31,000ft the seatbelt sign went off and meal orders were taken in the order 2AC, 2DF, 1DF, 1AC (they were served however in the traditional order). Options were scrambled eggs with cheese and bacon on sourdough or a coconut chia bowl with fresh fruits and fruit compote. I chose the scrambled eggs and a mimosa, as well as sparkling water and a coffee. I think everyone was able to get their first choice.

David brought out the first round of drinks whilst the meals were being prepared.

View attachment 383065

Soon breakfast was brought out. Both options were served with coconut yoghurt and a lemon and orange cake.

View attachment 383066

Enjoyed all aspects of the meal, the yoghurt was nice and refreshing, the scrambled eggs with cheese and bacon mixed in was great and the cake was a nice sweet note to finish on.

After breakfast I was offered more coffee and another mimosa, didn't need any more coffee but couldn't refuse the mimosa!

A bit later in the flight a tray of snacks was brought around including Natural Chip Co chips, Byron Bay cookies, Tim Tams and Santos nuts. The tray was then left self-serve in the galley alongside some bottles of water. I grabbed some chips and cookies.

View attachment 383069

Had a big day of drinking ahead of me in Perth so after the second mimosa I swapped to a Coke Zero.

View attachment 383070

Service on the flight, not just from the CM but from the entire crew was exceptional. Really friendly and attentive, when I finished my Coke Zero another one showed up without even asking! Best crew I've had in a long time and all seemed to be enjoying themselves.

The aircraft (VH-YFF) was fitted with Wi-Fi which was super fast, for some reason it stopped working over the Great Australian Bight and I thought perhaps it was due to being on a more southerly flightpath than usual but I eventually figured out it had kicked me out and I had to log back in again. Perhaps it is on a timer or something, just something to keep in mind if you encounter the same!

Bottled water was handed out prior to descent to take with us for the onward journey.

Overall a fantastic flight, one of my best on VA in quite a while with a fantastic crew, excellent food/drink options and a smooth departure/arrival experience.



My flight home was in Y and indeed an announcement was made that a limited number of hot meals were available with the choices being sweet and sour chicken or pumpkin ravioli with basil pesto. I had already had a great lunch in the PER lounge (the Thai chicken soup was incredible and also got some party pies and sausage rolls just before boarding) but thought I would give this onboard meal purchase a go just for the experience. And what an experience it was!

Ordered and paid, then waited. Like an hour later there was still no sign of the meal. Eventually one of the FAs came by and advised that the packaging on the meal was defective, however they had a spare crew meal which they were happy to serve, which was also a chicken and rice dish. The crew meal showed up maybe fifteen or so minutes later, to make up for the trouble they even gave me some free cheese and crackers, which I appreciated.

View attachment 383073

View attachment 383074

Food itself was nothing spectacular, I was happy to give it a go but think I will stick with eating in the lounge in future 😄

Unfortunately it was one of the ex-Silk Air planes with no Wi-Fi, no moving map and atrocious TV/movie options, so I kept myself busy admiring the views out the window.

Service even in Y on this flight was good, multiple water runs were done and it's not their fault the meal loaded was defective, although it would have been nice to have been told a bit earlier about the meal issues they ultimately did a good job with the service recovery. Hopefully a one-off but if it is more common it should be raised with the PER caterers. Kudos to Ben and Beth in the Y cabin for making it an enjoyable trip home.
It sounds like you enjoyed the flight!

Sounds like David went all out with offering 4 choices of pre departure drinks and handing out crew bottles of water and a self serve area😄

I'm for our guests having a good experience but it also sets you up for having those expectations of others when CM deviate from our service guides.

It makes us, the ones who say no to requests and who are following standards look like idiots when guests say "I got it last time"

As a reminder and FYI Self serve snacks in the galley, bottles of water, sparkling water for pre departure is not what we offer.
 
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Tonight's beef on a SYD-MEL. Overall good meal, although presentation is a bit bland (but I don't really mind).

My main issue is this is my 3rd VA flight in a row to be cancelled and rebooked, then have the rebooked flight delayed at least 30 minutes :(. I know that's somewhat par for the course on golden triangle flights these days, but it's still unfortunate.
 

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