17/02/23 | VA65 | SYD to DPS
Another excellent VA experience. A PDB tray of sparkling wine was brought round with bottled still water already waiting at our seats. A request by one passenger for a PDBeer was quite understandably knocked back!
Instead of going straight to dinner service, a drinks and snacks service was offered first with dinner not until about 90 minutes into the flight. Somewhat understandable given Sydney to Denpasar is just about the longest flight in their network and I enjoyed the extended service, but I can also see how this might be controversial given VA still haven't sorted out an international lounge and the flight had been delayed by almost an hour.
I had a gin and tonic to drink. Snacks offered were chips, nuts or both and for review purposes I went for both! Enjoyed both snacks although if I had to choose one it would be the chips.
A top-up on the G&T was also swiftly offered.
Dinner options were the Thai-style chicken green curry with rice or truffle mac and cheese with ratatouille. I went with the green curry.
Both options were served with a starter of capsicum (EDIT: I'm told it's actually beetroot hummus!) dip with warmed flatbread, Mainland cheese and crackers and a chocolate cake. Thoroughly enjoyed this meal, the flatbread and dip were surprisingly good and the green curry tasted fresh with just the right amount of spice. Had sparkling water and a glass of merlot to accompany the meal.
Order of service on this flight was the traditional 1A, 1D, 1F, 2A, 2C, 2D and 2F (1C unoccupied). The green curry was popular and looked to have run out by the time 2D were ordering, but after double-checking an extra one was found and offered to them.
Our flight attendant Tehlia was great. She addressed all passengers by name throughout the flight and kept the drinks topped up. I think they tend to get some interesting characters on this flight, particularly in the Y cabin, so some of the announcements were a bit Jetstar-esque but delivered with that signature fun Virgin flair
. Rope was in place which kept the J cabin quiet. Interestingly in Y, after the first cart service the lights were turned off and the crew took a 30-minute break during which time passengers were advised to use the call bell only for medical emergencies. Given the departure time and flight length it seemed they were selling plenty of food and drinks in the back.
The merlots kept coming and I had four glasses by the time we reached Bali.
One complaint about the flight is that my tray table in 2A was broken; it didn't sit flat and slanted down. I was worried about its ability to support the meal tray and found the best solution was to extend it out and rest the right edge on the centre console, this meant it sagged in the middle but was otherwise stable enough to eat/drink on. Aircraft was VH-YIW should you want to avoid it! Seat could also have been a bit cleaner, as you can see from the tray table below and there was also some empty Panadol strips left over from a previous passenger in the seat pocket. Lavatories were perfectly clean though.
But apart from the tray table and seat cleanliness issues it was an enjoyable flight with good food, drinks and service. Stay tuned for a review of the return journey, which features a little "blast from the past" for the VA 1.0 fans! For now I'll leave you with this beautiful sunset over the great state of Western Australia.
(sorry 2F!)
