Virgin Blue perception

[MikedOut]

Do you mind me asking how long ago your experience was? I think you will find the bogans have migrated to Tiger (see their TV show if in any doubt) and no reason for a business traveller with only hand luggage to go anywhere near any check-in queues: you can check-in on the net up to 24hrs before departure or your mobile device on the way to the airport with CheckMate. Lounge members can check-in at reception. Given your central coast location I'm not sure whether you fly from SYD or NTL but if the former, there are 6 check-in kiosks next to the service desk (against the glass wall closest to the road) which I have never seen fully used.
cheers
CrazyDave98

Dave, late reply to your question, been away and couldn't remember AFF password

I'll admit it was probably about 12 months ago and was my 1st Virgin flight (Virgin virgin?) so not used to what they may have had available in terms of alternate check-ins etc. Usually leave from Syd mainly because of the QF Dash8's from Newcastle and no lounge for brekkie. Seems from a number of the comments that things have changed a bit at Virgin so I suspect that at some stage I'll give them another try. Hopefully it'll be a better experience.

Cheers;
MikedOut

 

[GCC]

soemone mentioned the annoyance of cabin crew leaning on the seats talking to other pax.
damn annoying isn't it that they are doing their job and being the face of the company.......to the miserable faces more often than not in the cabin.........
damn annoying also when the pax in front drops the seat back during meal service to the annoyance of his fellow pax..........
damn annoying when the pax wants a whizz just as the trolley dollies get going
damn annoying isn't it!

want luxury - charter your own jet!!!

Well, I don't need to charter a jet if I don't like DJ. I'll keep flying QF instead, and that is the original topic of the thread - whether QF business travelers like me would move to DJ as is hoped / planned by their management.
Re the seat leaning - for 15 minutes it wasn't the "face of the airline" I encountered. It was the FA's bum inches from my face, as they leaned on and bump bump bumped my seat back. "Damn annoying?" - damn straight. Ignoring the needs of pax around them is not doing their their job and did not impress or endear them to anyone.

 

[medhead]

Re the seat leaning - for 15 minutes it wasn't the "face of the airline" I encountered. It was the FA's bum inches from my face,

In a situation like that where you find yourself eye to eye (so to speak) with the better side of someone, a comment like "well I can see what you had for breakfast" should work well. At face value, said with the right tone, it comes across as a joke. But as they go away and think about it they'll realise that it is actually a rather offensive comment. And hopefully that will make them realise that their behaviour is offensive.

 

[Siegfried]

This third category was out in force this week signing the praises of Virgin Blue.....

Not really relevant to the topic, but I was amused by the typo on the AFF home page. Does this mean that the third category is composed mostly of the deaf (and/or signifcantly hearing impaired, to be politically correct)??

 

[Pooch]

Having flown DJ twice (well, 4 times if you count the return trip!) it's an experience I'll never repeat - for the reasons elaborated by many others.

Interestingly, tho', I just received notice from Amex that my "free annual flight" will no longer be with QF as of 1 October ... their new "carrier of choice" is now ... you guessed it ... Virgin.

So ... guess I'll be cancelling the Plat Amex and make sure I book my 2010 flight before 1 October!

 

[apj01]

I couldn't see how you can crack jokes one minute and then talk about safety the next. I just looked at the FA's and thought if this plane crashes, I cannot rely on you. They give the impression that they would be out the door before any pax, screaming their head off.

Virgin - never again!!!

 

[rdb]

Being a QF FF and even more importantly a Qantas shareholder (with over 7,000 shares) I prefer to fly QF but will fly other airlines if there is no QF service or an inferior QF service.
In the last week I had cause to travel and because my outward journey involved two flights I decide to fly Virgin because it was easy - no having to collect baggage and recheck it in as was the alternative QF/JQ connection. I returned home a different route all QF.
I have to say that there was little difference between the two services, apart from the food and entertainment, that I observed, and I do think maybe Virgin has moved their general handling of their customers a bit up market. I loathed my early experiences with Virgin but there was nothing of that now.
While QF is full service (which I do like) and you have to pay for food on Virgin this is the only area where QF really outdoes Virgin. Qantas has classical music in their entertainment programme which I could not find on Virgin but then Virgin has the screen showing the flight route and details which QF domestic does not have, at least not on B737, and I could easily spend a whole ADL/SYD flight watching that.
I thnink it is necessary for Virgin to move up market a little if for no other reason than to keep some pressure on QF in its standards. And if I was Virgin I wouldn't want to be found at the appalling low level of standards experienced with Tiger.

 

[stailmanki]

I used to fly QF regularly BNE/CNS had gold status & QC at one stage but QF refusal to check me in at BNE international terminal after arriving SQ really annoyed me.I joined Velocity & burned all my QF points.I agree with an earlier member that these days the only real difference DJ/QF is no (free) I.F.E. or food/drinks on DJ ,also I now have to pay the ( RIPOFF!) $6 train fare between BNE terminals , free for QF.The worst experience I've had on DJ was a few years ago CNS/BNE when we were subject to a pimply youth invited to sing us all a "rap" song , horrendous ! The lame jokes & imporvised IFE seem to have ceased now thankfully.

Can't use the kiosks to check in when you pay extra for Blue Zone seating,,, the reason being that they want to see if you are fit enough to operate the emergency exit,,, how do they get around this one on QF ?

I rack up Velocity points shopping & booking hotels ( Hotel Club cheap as any other in Asia) , Pleeease DJ join *A & give QF a shake up

 

[medhead]

Can't use the kiosks to check in when you pay extra for Blue Zone seating,,, the reason being that they want to see if you are fit enough to operate the emergency exit,,, how do they get around this one on QF ?

They don't get around this one on QF. If seating in an exit row the kiosk prints out a slip that you have to present to the desk in order to collect your boarding pass, so they check if your fit enough.

 

[AirlineGuy]

The lame jokes & imporvised IFE seem to have ceased now thankfully.

Believe me it's still very much there - it's all dependant on the flight attendants you end up with. I very much look forward to the day it's stopped.

There are some examples on youtube ... searched pacific blue flight attendant

 

[ethernet]

From a very sensitive price persons perspective.

Several years ago, Virgins prices mirrored QF, but QF had more flights, so I eventually stopped using Virgin - it was pointless, and just booked QF, then Jetstar had good enough offers.

Then Tiger came along, and I did the Tiger thing - until recently when they jacked up luggage allowance options, and decided to cancel / delay flights, and fail to update the time boards, and now ratcheted up prices and lead times even more. So I started looking again.

Due to family illness had to do a CBR->MEL rtn. Used Vline to Mel (XPT from Albury) as Friday evening is never cheap in this town.

Considered bus to syd then Jetstar to Mel, but the train/bus options, but even for non-peak time slots - they wanted too much.
Then tried MEL-> CBR on Virgin, and lo and behold acceptable.
The flight was say 1/2 full at 2PM so the lines and boarding was fine, and ontime.
Compared to Tiger - it was luxury.

Faults: No hot drinks on the flight, and in Canberra, the baggage carousel did not have my flight on it.

I have booked some other out of Canberra flights on Virgin, as they (appear) stopped shadowing QF's prices.

I know many Canberra departments also stopped searching Virgin, and stopped using them because their prices were the same (but no lounge or FF) - so missed public serpent trade big time.

Yes, my perspective has improved.

 

[HardieBoys]

My perceptions of DJ have also improved. My first impressions were that the female staff were very much chosen to fit the Richard Branson 'Aryan fraulein' look, and the whole group shoulder massage thing was just too much to bear.

More recent impressions are favourable, due to my experience of better on-time departures, and I like the Embraers. That said, I still dislike the way they will stick an unaccompanied minor next to a male passenger that's already booked in, then tell the male passenger they'll have to move. (I saw this this morning in Sydney - the young male's father then piped up and said, "He's travelling with his sister". They'd not worked out the UM and the male passenger had the same surname.)

Still, my domestic flight preferences would be:

QF > DJ > JQ >>> Tiger

 

[PineappleSkip]

Last flight on DJ was POM-BNE-CBR in Y+ and I wouldn't bother again. Only apparent benefit was bulkhead row both flights and vacant middle seat POM-BNE. Free ordinary food neither here nor there.

My pluses and minuses for doing DJ on POM-BNE

Pluses
Not creaking air niugini aircraft
"Are we there yet" video on the monitors
efficient crew cf shambolic service on PX
cheaper to do multi sector (cant do multi out of POM on QF website, can't get e-deals one way to or from POM so costs more)

Neutral factor
presence or absence of jokes - I can't remember on those last two flights whether they joked or not

Minuses
No QF status credits and DJ status seems to me much harder to obtain
Much less value from Velocity points than QFF.
Can't burn my points in J or F - for me , thats what they're for!!
No star alliance membership so minimal points earn/burn opportunities
No free food (I think the PX free offering is better than DJ you pay meal)
No lounge access ex POM or BNE (although quiet DJ lounges a big + if available)
737 not 767 (big minus if you prefer window)
Generally only marginal price advantage over QF, PX generally cheaper

Cheers skip

 

[Justinf]

Just booked a MEL-ADL return flight for me and my 10-year-old daughter to visit relatives. $350 return for both of us. 4.05pm leaving MEL on a Thurs and 3.15pm leaving ADL on a Sun. I have silver membership so we just take the one bag so no baggage fees. I am a Lounge member so we get to use the Lounge in MEL and ADL. I prefer DJ. I like the level of service I receive as a predominantly leisure traveller. I did notice that QF was offering $75 flights for the same sectors a week ago, but no longer. I would have booked QF $75 fare over DJ's $99 fare but got $69 going over and $99 coming back.

 

[ozbeachbabe]

Last flight on DJ was POM-BNE-CBR in Y+ and I wouldn't bother again. Only apparent benefit was bulkhead row both flights and vacant middle seat POM-BNE. Free ordinary food neither here nor there.

My pluses and minuses for doing DJ on POM-BNE

Pluses
Not creaking air niugini aircraft
"Are we there yet" video on the monitors
efficient crew cf shambolic service on PX
cheaper to do multi sector (cant do multi out of POM on QF website, can't get e-deals one way to or from POM so costs more)

Neutral factor
presence or absence of jokes - I can't remember on those last two flights whether they joked or not

Minuses
No QF status credits and DJ status seems to me much harder to obtain
Much less value from Velocity points than QFF.
Can't burn my points in J or F - for me , thats what they're for!!
No star alliance membership so minimal points earn/burn opportunities
No free food (I think the PX free offering is better than DJ you pay meal)
No lounge access ex POM or BNE (although quiet DJ lounges a big + if available)
737 not 767 (big minus if you prefer window)
Generally only marginal price advantage over QF, PX generally cheaper

Cheers skip

Another huge plus of flying versus the other alternative:

1) You got out alive!

In light of above all your minuses are actually pluses!

You would not get me on the alternative airline under any circumstances whatsoever.

People that work in the safety area of a third world airline (not talking about any country specifically here) may find something wrong with practices, bring it to someone's attention then hey presto find they have to leave that country because they're getting death threats from the highest person in the Govt.

Corruption is alive and well in some countries and just because aircraft "pass" regular checks does not mean they are safe. Money talks.

 

[harvyk]

From a very sensitive price persons perspective.

Several years ago, Virgins prices mirrored QF, but QF had more flights, so I eventually stopped using Virgin - it was pointless, and just booked QF, then Jetstar had good enough offers.

Yeah I noticed that, a couple of years ago I needed to do a flight from MEL-BNE,

Both QF and DJ had seats left for exactly $150, both planes left MEL and arrive in BNE within 5 minutes of each other, and it was my pre-lounge \ FF point days, so the only difference was on QF I got breakfast and entertainment included (main screen obviously) and with DJ I had to pay for my brekkie and no free IFE (except for moving map).

and I wasn't against the idea of flying DJ as I had flown them the previous day from CBR-MEL, it's just for exactly the same price I was going to have the free breaky and watch TV.

 

[dk4]

...no free IFE (except for moving map)...

Just being completely pedantic, but Virgin Blue doesn't offer a "moving map" - GPS style display, rather a "static map" with a moving aircraft icon display.

Thus, the aircraft can actually fly off the side of the map (try flying to/from Tasmania) and onto a new background map. As opposed to a "moving map", which itself moves while the aircraft icon remains centred in the display (at different levels of zoom).

Of course this Positioning service is better than what Virgin Blue's competitors currently offer, across the majority of their B737/A320 fleet seat backs.

 

[harvyk]

Just being completely pedantic, but Virgin Blue doesn't offer a "moving map" - GPS style display, rather a "static map" with a moving aircraft icon display.

I'll take your word on that, it's been a while since I was last on a DJ A/C.

Either way my point remains completely valid. They can't charge the same as the full service airline option, and then not provide the full service, and expect people to be happy with that. I think they where charging that price in the hope that people looked at them first with the thought QF was going to be more expensive and thus wouldn't bother.

 

[Stephen_Burnham]

I travel DJ about 3 times yr to Gold Coast on family business. I agree they have cut out the jokes etc inflight which I miss - it really set them apart from QF & JS who are both boring. They now appear to have lost that point of difference.
Perhaps business travellers don't like the bogans who also travel on DJ particularly back from the GC.
Have always found IF staff very professional & helpful, so a bit of fun should never effect their overall perception - just add colour to their brand.
Have travelled JS once & will never do again - BORING - & departed over 1 hr late ex O/S terminal (going to Japan via GC).
Hope new DJ management realise they have something different, & ensure their point of difference remains part of their brand mix.

 

[Max Samuels]

I am generally not a fan of DJ. And it really has nothing to do with the actual flight but is more the before and after. T2 at Sydney is such a hole. T3 (the Qantas terminal) seems a luxury shopping mall in comparison. I suppose I am so used to T3 that T2 is such a horrible shock.

Last year I had to fly SYD-MEL on DJ because work had a new policy about flying the cheapest possible fare (even though it was only about $35 less than the QF fare). The flight was late - about 90 mins. There was nowhere to sit at the gate. People sitting all over the floor and leaning on walls. There was nowhere for me to escape. No club. No nothing.

And it seemed that every second person has one of those blue, red & white refugee bags - you know the ones that look like the are made of plastic grass and that people stuff full of cough they bought at the markets?

Anyway the flight was ok but the before experience was total death.

Having said that, however, has anyone been in the Qantas Club at Launceston????? Wow - it was literally behind the check-in counter. One almost had to step over the baggage conveyor to get to it. And it was so small it was a like a staff tea-room. All I remember is that it was packed with people and there was a TV shoved on a sideboard and it was playing that dreadful episode of "Doctor Who" where Kylie Minogue was guest-starring... it all seems so surreal now I wonder if it actually happened!