20th Anniversary Celebrations in the Sky

What better way to celebrate a milestone anniversary than by jetting off overseas in Business class?

As if the occasion couldn’t have been more special, it also happened to be the first long-haul Business class flight for our member clipped_wings. The flight chosen to mark the occasion was Sydney-Los Angeles, and our member was lucky enough to score an upgrade to Business on one of Virgin Australia’s newly refurbished Boeing 777s! It may have been our member’s first time in Business, but it is unlikely to be the last. They were simply blown away by the outstanding service.

All I can say is WOW! Many of my friends here would know that I have spent the last 8 months or so, planning our 20th Wedding Anniversary trip to the USA. We fly here often with our 4 kids, usually packed in from row 46 back. But this time it was all the way in style – J class on the Virgin Australia 777.

Virgin Australia recently refurbished its fleet of Boeing 777s used on long-haul flights to Los Angeles and Abu Dhabi. Brand new seats have been fitted in Business class, in a 1-2-1 configuration so that every passenger enjoys direct aisle access.

The new suites are just divine. Exactly as previous people have described. Our row was perfectly positioned in the front cabin and we settled in quickly. I did what any novice Biz class passenger would do. I pressed every button and opened every door. I turned the lights on. And off. And on again. I was like a small child, having the time of my life.

Another feature of Virgin’s newest Business class product is a small on-board bar. The crew, more than happy to join in celebrating the occasion, invited our member to the bar for some celebratory champagne.

After dinner, true to his word – David appeared and invited us for a nightcap in the bar. It was minutes to the hour that we were married, so we joined him and seated ourselves at the uber cool Business Class Bar. He popped another bottle of bubbly and everyone cheered us at exactly 2:30pm.

The crew on board this flight made the experience all the more special, and our member has nothing but praise for them. There’s just one problem: it will be hard to fly long-haul in Economy ever again! But with a bit of planning and assistance from the AFF community, that might not be such a problem after all…

Virgin Australia – you have helped make this holiday one of the finest. It’s going to be hard going back to economy, but I think I’ve got it all figured out. If enjoying Business Class means less flights, less often and with less kids – then so be it. We all have to make sacrifices eh?

Enjoy the full trip report HERE.

The editor of Australian Frequent Flyer, Matt's passion for travel has taken him to over 90 countries… with the help of frequent flyer points, of course!
Matt's favourite destinations (so far) are Germany, Brazil & Kazakhstan. His interests include aviation, economics & foreign languages, and he has a soft spot for good food and red wine.

You can connect with Matt by posting on the Australian Frequent Flyer community forum and tagging @AFF Editor.
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