Trip Report: V Australia & Virgin America

[Joe Frampton]

Trip Report:
VA007 - BNE/LAX- 13 SEP 09 - 1100/0700 - B77W- Seats 5F & 5G (Business Class)
VX781 - LAX/SEA- 13 SEP 09 - 0915/1155 - A319 - Seats 12A & 12B (Economy Class)

(Sorry no photos)

Just had a nice night out on the town in Seattle after a very smooth & relaxing trip from Brisbane on 2 Virgin flights, so time for a little trip report.

VA007 - BNE/LAX- 13 SEP 09 - 1100/0700 - B77W- Seats 5F & 5G (Business Class)

Check-in: The best words you can ever hear at the check-in counter are... "Good news, you've been upgraded to business class"... and so it was, we were upgraded from our premium economy booking into 5F & 5G on the V Australia 777 to LAX. Not only does this get you the full business class package, but also the express pass through customs and security, which was very nice on a busy Sunday morning at Brisbane International with loads of flights on the board. Waiting in the check-in line, I counted how many people were lining up for business (very few), and premium economy (loads - and there are only 40 seats), and could tell that the numbers didn’t add up. So I’m not exactly sure how this works on V Australia right now, but suffice to say that loads of premium economy passengers were being bumped into business, and economy into premium economy. There were very few “suits” on board, and most people in business class were very casually dressed (like us!), and had probably not expected the upgrade. Anyone else got any experiences on this?

Flight Technicals: Sorry, didn’t get a rego on this one! I was more concerned with getting my glass of Moet Chandon. This was just about the smoothest flight I’ve ever had across the Pacific – 95% smooth with just a tiny bit of turbulence and no major bumps at all. The 777 is a super confident beast, and for the first 2 hours after take-off, you could have been unaware you were even flying - even the most nervous flyer would have been laughing. The route took us from BNE Runway 01, across Moreton Bay, south of Port Vila, directly overhead Vitu Levu (Fiji), from Southwest to Northeast, well south of Honolulu to Los Angeles, a series of left turns in overcast conditions, landing at LAX towards the west on 25L or 25R (sorry, not exactly sure – but I think 25R!)

Cabin & Seating: As soon as you get on board, you notice how fresh & nice the V Australia 777 is. More than that - this plane is “uber” cool, from the mood lighting to the entertainment systems, to the doonahs, pillows and pyjamas in business class (the crew make up your flat bed for you), to the 2 bars (premium economy and business), and the ice water jugs in economy class. And the simply brilliant RED entertainment system, with massive swing out screens in business class, and I have to pay homage – this system did not miss a beat for all 12 ½ hours of the flight. It’s a REAL treat if you’re used to the Qantas or United 747’s. The mood lighting was very cool, and is used particularly well when they want to adapt the cabin environment from day to night or vice versa, regardless of the light outside the aircraft. The LED stars in the ceiling are a nice touch too. My only concern, when checking out economy class, was that some people have to sleep under blue light... a bit weird.

But back to business class... The configuration on V Australia is 2-3-2, which I thought a little unusual for business class really. We didn’t pay full price for this service, so I want to be very constructive with my criticism, but these business class seats were quite narrow, and if I’d paid full price $3000-4000? and was stuck in the middle of a row of 3, as a single traveller, I’d be seriously pis*ed. Especially if everyone was sleeping, when you’d need to clamber over your neighbours’ 6 foot flat bed... The seats have awesome controls, with “upright”, “relax” and “bed” as the 3 basic configurations, then you can make loads of other fine adjustments including a lumbar massage setting. Not my cup of tea! Our row of business class (Row 5), is seperated from Rows 1-4 by the sit-down bar (with 4 bar stools) and a (decorative?) bulk head with an LCD screen. The 3 “zones” of Row 5 – port seats, middle seats & starboard seats could be individually curtained off to make private areas. We didn’t mind too much, except we had a single traveller in 5D, and my wife and I in 5F & 5G - so it was slightly weird when they closed us off behind the curtains! Rows 1-4 in business don’t have these curtains – just an open cabin area. One more thing - Row 5 gets really, REALLY cold - even the cabin manager said this had been reported.

You get a full conventional powerpoint at your seat to use a laptop, as well as USB port (which we didn’t use, so I’m not sure how this works!) Business class get a nice decent pair of noice-cancelling headphones to use with the RED system, although I got to my third pair before finding one that actually worked in both ears. But this was looked after nicely by the cabin manager, full credit to him (and more on the crew later). You get a nice pillow and doonah for sleeping, and (quite warm) black pyjamas with the V Australia insignia if you ask for them. We kept ours - they’ll be useful for some cool nights in Alaska over the next week! No on-board amenity kit was offered, which I thought was unusual for business class. I actually got the feeling they may have been slightly unprepared for the almost full load on this flight.

Food & Service: I have really mixed feelings on this topic, as I feel the cabin staff did the best job they could on this flight, but I have to call it as I see it. Would it be unfair to say overall that... V Australia have the “hardware” of a potentially brilliant business class service, but the “software” is not quite right yet? This business class has the right aircraft, the right seats – hell, even the Moet Chandon ready to pour and the Sydney Opera House salt & pepper shakers on the white tablecloths, but it still lacked the polish or refinement of business class on airlines such as Qantas or Singapore Airlines... Why? The cabin crew didn’t know our names or address us by our names; we had to go to our 3rd menu choice for the main meal; the main meal took about 3-4 hours to serve in total – just TOO long; there was no coffee/tea service with the main meal – was I supposed to ask, or did they just forget? There were premium spirit brands on board, but these are severely limited, and they didn’t have the ingredients on board to make a proper bloody mary; they lost our breakfast orders and we had to fill out forms for a second time while the people around us were eating their breakfast. I think that’s enough for now... It was quite obvious to us that the business class cabin had been quite literally topped up by upgrades like us, thus making the catering orders pretty hard to manage for this flight... AND the cabin crew did their utmost to fix these problems as they occurred, AND the food was all delicious apart from the breakfast omelette which had gone rubbery... So I make these comments as a typical full fare paying business class passenger, and not a customer who readily accepted (and is VERY grateful for) such a superb upgrade. We still loved this flight – we absolutely & overjoyously loved it... so my comments are really focused on whether Virgin are actually pitching this service as a FULL business class product, or a slightly cut rate business class product. Much like the whole discussion about whether Virgin Blue is an LCC or a full service airline, V Australia perhaps need to consider sending some of their staff on QF & SQ to see what the full business class models are like...

Of course I also checked out Premium Economy & Economy – I think the last economy cabin has the best legroom; premium economy looks well worth it too, but of course, business is better!

VX781 - LAX/SEA- 13 SEP 09 - 0915/1155 - A319 - Seats 12A & 12B (Economy Class)

Just a few words on this one, as I was mainly asleep. Getting on Virgin America is like boarding a se*y purple nightclub, with 2 shades of blue & purple providing the “mood” lighting in the cabin (the first thing you see as you walk down the jetway!), funky purple perspex/glass panels separating first & coach; some awesome 80’s new wave hair-dos (both the ground staff & cabin crew), black leather seating, pilots dressed ridiculously in propaganda black from head to toe, same awesome “Red” entertainment system as V Australia. If there were any awards for trend setting & mood lighting, Virgin would win hands down.

On the upside too, the flight took off on time (from LAX 24L towards the ocean), flew on time, landed on time in Seattle & was smooth. AND, I felt positively full of Virgin vibes getting off... and that has to be a good thing

More soon as we fly Continental to Anchorage...

Joe.

[BradR]

Hi Joe

I am off to US on VA next month and interested in your opinions. I am currently booked in Y+ though would happily accept the J upgrade if it comes my way.

My work typically flies DJ domestically and QF internationally but I chose VA as they were $1800 cheaper than QF on the MEL-LAX-MEL sectors. The only downside is that Y+ on VA doesn't give you lounge access whereas my QF Club membership would have got me in lounges in MEL and LAX. (Did you get Lounge access in BNE when you got your upgrade? Website tends to suggest there is no int'l lounge available ex BNE for any pax.)

As VA has delayed its start up out of MEL, I have to fly DJ to BNE to meet my outbound flight and come back via SYD. This is in Y+ in both cases and domestic Lounge access is included.

My ultimate destination is BOS and I originally intended to fly transcontinental with VX but my homeward journey now includes Houston and VX don't yet serve IAH. It is amazing trying to get decent flights within the US. You either get extortionate fares on the non-stops into hubs such as BOS-IAH for USD500 on CO or milk-runs via other cities on other airlines (BOS-IAH on US can be had for USD100 for the same times as CO but it takes much longer.) Currently it looks like I'll use AA internally in the US; at least I get lounge access using my QF Club membership though I hear AA is amongst the worst of the US domestics and that is saying something!!!

[Adam G]

Brad - unfortunately on that route (Houston - LAX) you're stuck with most of the legacy carriers. I do a fair bit of domestic travel in the US and use Jetblue whereever possible followed by Virgin America and Alaskan. You do have the option of Continental on that route which will at least get your baggage interlined & save you dragging it around LAX though.

[Robert S]

Originally Posted by Joe Frampton

My only concern, when checking out economy class, was that some people have to sleep under blue light... a bit weird

When I flew with them, this was part of the sunset sequence prior to night mode... I think on one of my flights it was like this for a not insignificant amount of time. During the night, all cabin lights were off. As discussed previously (with some debate ), pax who want to read are given USB lights and pax who want to sleep enjoy the darkest cabin I've ever experienced.

[Michael Morrison]

I flew VA2 over the weekend SYD-LAX in business and really enjoyed it. I didnt really find the seats any narrower than the competition... We flew AC on the way over and the seats were definately better than the herringbone config. I also liked that the bed went 100% flat which made it better than the GEN 1 skybed.

All in all I had a good flight and was called by name the whole time (first name not Mr xxx)... Food service was pretty quick - proably because it is late at night and everyone wants to sleep.

[Adam G]

If you wanted it VOZ was the aircraft.

The comment re the seats is interesting - people initially think they are thin however then once in them think they aren't.

For interests sake they are actually on the wider side - 23 inches - this is wider then QF (21.5), DL (21), AC (20.3) & NZ (22) - the only wider on a similiar pacific route are UA (23.5).

Not sure if you're going back through SEA but if you are make sure you get a chance to go to the Museum of Flight (http://www.museumofflight.org/) I spent hours there during a recent trip to SEA and would rate it better then the Boeing tour. You can even walk through a Concorde & old Airforce One (the B707 varity).

[James Smith]

Does V Australia have any on-line check in facilities similar to Virgin Blue? Can only find reference to airport check in. Flying to LAX from SYD on 30 September, 2009.

[BradR]

I don't believe VA have online check-in. Pacific Blue definitely doesn't. I requested my t/a to organise seat allocation for me and this was OK.

You can call VA and tell them your seat request. Have a look at SeatGuru and choose a seat. Well thats what I did anyway.