Economy X [Domestic free for Platinum] - May 2017

[Jack_OC]

Then perhaps your best option for now, until all the aircraft are fitted is to select the exit row by preference and avoid this whole situation. Once the entire fleet are fitted then you won't have this problem.

Yep - I know that now!

By the way, I have since successfully experienced YX. This time using Fly Ahead - I got 5A. The lounge agent made a point of saying it's an extra legroom seat, to which I replied "are you sure?" and told her about my previous experience. She said something along the lines of "oh, that's a shame, but this plane definitely has Economy X'. So either this info was available to her, or she was just bluffing! Anyway, the legroom was good - definitely noticeably better than the old row 5. Rows 3-5 were completely full, so no shadows. Still though, Fly Ahead on a busy flight often used to mean getting seated somewhere down the back, so this was a pretty good outcome.

Going back to the previous discussion about whether Economy X might persuade me to fly more often with VA again - I remain undecided TBH, as a result of my mixed experience this week.

 

[samas]

I've been encountering a strange issue with OLCI. When I select an XY seat it prompts me with a warning stating that these seats incur an additional fee. After accepting the fee and selecting an XY seat then saving, it reverts me back to the seat I originally booked. I'm currently gold status, anyone else encountered this?

I've had the same problem before as a WP trying to select exit row prior to YX being launched...

 

[BRIS_VA_HAWK]

Was on VA605 to MKY this morning. Zero in Business and 4 in Economy X, with the rest of the bus being fairly full. Stickers were up in the overhead bins but no discernable difference in leg room in rows 4 & 5. Whilst I appreciate virgins requirement to make some money I wonder how well this is going to work on the lower traffic routes.

 

[Pleb Status]

Whilst I appreciate virgins requirement to make some money I wonder how well this is going to work on the lower traffic routes.

Why do you say that?

As the seat count is the same and the conversion costs have been very low, even if VA sell no YX seats at all they lose very little. As I stated previously, the introduction of YX can be seen in part as revenue raising and also an increase in benefits to WP.

The four pax sitting in YX were most likely very happy with the change...

 

[Jack_OC]

Was on VA605 to MKY this morning. Zero in Business and 4 in Economy X, with the rest of the bus being fairly full. Stickers were up in the overhead bins but no discernable difference in leg room in rows 4 & 5. Whilst I appreciate virgins requirement to make some money I wonder how well this is going to work on the lower traffic routes.

I suspect you were on one of the planes that hasn't been refitted yet, as the difference in Economy X legroom in Row 5 is very noticeable IMHO.

The non-refitted plane I was on last week had the Economy X stickers in the bins (on the inside), and the seats were blocked out as Economy X during OLCI, but they turned out to not actually be Economy X seats. This may not have been readily apparent to everyone if it wasn't for them apologising and giving a refund voucher to the one bloke who had paid for an Economy X seat. It's quite possible that the only pax in Rows 4-5 on your flight were Platinums, and apparently VA doesn't see any need to apologise for the absence of Economy X unless you actually paid for it.

If my suspicion is correct here - this is another reason why VA should be making a point of apologising to everyone in Rows 4-5 on the non-refitted aircraft - otherwise people go away thinking that the Economy X "extra legroom" is all just a sham.

 

[samas]

I was on VA713 ADL to PER this morning. Very light load about 50pax. Likely due to the Western Australia Day celebrations/public holiday. Great to see Economy X working well. I had a huge 16-seat shadow that stretched from 3A to 5F where a special assistance passenger was.


There were economy x stickers inside the overhead bins, that were open upon boarding. Nothing on the exterior. No special headrest. Even being 6'4" I couldn't notice any reduction in leg space in Row 3, but I hadn't been in Y on B738 for at least 6 months.

 

[BRIS_VA_HAWK]

Samas, you were most likely on one of the jets that has been stickered, but not re-fitted - similar to my two trips last week.
On a related note, came home from NQ on VA778 on Saturday morning - 10am-ish out of Cairns, 12pm into Brisbane.
1 pax in J, 4 in YX, I had a shadow in row 6, however from 7 back to 30 it was close enough to full.

Why do you say that?

As the seat count is the same and the conversion costs have been very low, even if VA sell no YX seats at all they lose very little. As I stated previously, the introduction of YX can be seen in part as revenue raising and also an increase in benefits to WP.

The four pax sitting in YX were most likely very happy with the change...

Whilst I take your point about VA's conversion costs to YX being low, if it comes at the expense of p!ssing off Golds who now get shuffled back then I'm not sure it's the wisest of moves. Would be interesting to see what the take up rate of YX is across the network once it gets moving.

 

[Pleb Status]

Whilst I take your point about VA's conversion costs to YX being low, if it comes at the expense of p!ssing off Golds who now get shuffled back then I'm not sure it's the wisest of moves. Would be interesting to see what the take up rate of YX is across the network once it gets moving.

All VA hears from the 'peanut gallery' here is that there is not enough separation between SG and WP.

VA address this concern by giving something to WP whilst removing almost nothing from anyone else and they still get criticised.

No wonder they take very little notice of what goes on here....

 

[BRIS_VA_HAWK]

All VA hears from the 'peanut gallery' here is that there is not enough separation between SG and WP.

VA address this concern by giving something to WP whilst removing almost nothing from anyone else and they still get criticised.

No wonder they take very little notice of what goes on here....

Point taken however as a SG myself I'm not exactly enamoured with an "enhancement" that will cost me extra $$ while J & YX aren't highly patronised.

Having said that I do recognise that my current sample size of flights (BNE-MKY and CNS-BNE this week) may not be representative of the overall market, which is why I mentioned that it will be interesting to see what the take up rate of YX is going to be once it's fully rolled out.

 

[andyhui01]

Whilst I take your point about VA's conversion costs to YX being low, if it comes at the expense of p!ssing off Golds who now get shuffled back then I'm not sure it's the wisest of moves. Would be interesting to see what the take up rate of YX is across the network once it gets moving.

SG's haven't lost much. You still get the same seats and while you might be 2-3 rows back. When OLCI opens, I have been able to get back to Row 6-7 Aisle almost every time.

I actually tried to get my last 180 SC's to make Plat this time round (I normally don't bother) so I can get in Row 4/5.

 

[mannej]

Considering that VA and Flybuys are handing out Gold taster status like it's going out of fashion, are you really surprised that SG don't have access to this zone for free?

 

[grubbidok]

I flew VA1 across the Pacific a few days ago. Load was pretty light but Economy X was virtually empty. As per usual they sent the VA rep around to schmooze with all the WPs in Y but I still can't understand why VA can't even do an op-up for WPs in Economy X on international flights if there is space. In the first row of 'normal' Y seats (i.e. the second row behind the bulkhead in the second Y section of the Cabin) there must have been at least 6 WPs that he went to to "personally introduce himself, talk about how VA can help make our trip more comfortable".

Most of you know that I already feel a bit miffed about Economy X as a concept anyway, but the fact that Economy X was empty and they *still* refused to allow WPs into the seats to me just shows to me that VA really doesn't give a toss about elites unless you're travelling in the pointy end, and adds to the list of what's the point of loyalty for a Y traveller anymore (when I could probably move my travel around and at least guarantee lounge access in a couple of programs rather than go for WP and partner SG in VA).

I get not having a guarantee (neither do other airlines), but I can't think of another airline with a similar product that allows them to go empty rather than using it as a non-guaranteed elite bonus.

 

[Lemon_Party]

I don't fly VA internationally, but from a domestic view point I'll be pretty happy if the current trend continues and the first few rows are lighter loaded for WPs.

It's a clear differentiator and gives an added incentive to strive for or maintain WP status.

First flights for me next week to see how things fare PER-BNE and BNE-MEL.

 

[Marty_]

Gotta say I am enjoying it. The first 3 rows are half empty on all my east coast flights since Economy X was introduced. I get it for free and it seems nobody else wants it. Especially nice to have so many extra legroom seats for a 6'8" yeti like me. Better than the row 3 days.

But it does make me wonder - is the product a failure for VA? Given it's so cheap and so poorly used, I can't imagine they are making any big bucks on it.

 

[Muppet501st]

Gotta say I am enjoying it. The first 3 rows are half empty on all my east coast flights since Economy X was introduced. I get it for free and it seems nobody else wants it. Especially nice to have so many extra legroom seats for a 6'8" yeti like me. Better than the row 3 days.

But it does make me wonder - is the product a failure for VA? Given it's so cheap and so poorly used, I can't imagine they are making any big bucks on it.

I gotta say, that im enjoying it too, the last few flights have been very similar

 

[zig]

I flew on Sunday and as Gold the best I could select was row 6. There was 1 passenger only in row 3. Before takeoff the flight attendant told rows 6 and 7 that we were welcome to spread out into the empty seats once airborne.

 

[clipped_wings]

Most of you know that I already feel a bit miffed about Economy X as a concept anyway, but the fact that Economy X was empty and they *still* refused to allow WPs into the seats to me just shows to me that VA really doesn't give a toss about elites unless you're travelling in the pointy end

Amen. As mentioned in an earlier post of mine, we have 6 of us travelling SYD-LAX and the furthest up front we could manage on an empty 777, was Rows 27/28. I'm up for an extra $900 just to move us to YX, but the extra legroom is hard not to justify over a 14+ hour flight. Two males are over 6" so it looks like I'm coughing up the cash.

I guess we're the poor saps Virgin Board members envisaged when they proposed the new YX cabin and they'll be gleefully rubbing their porky little hands together when my hard earned dough hits their trough.

 

[Muppet501st]

Amen. As mentioned in an earlier post of mine, we have 6 of us travelling SYD-LAX and the furthest up front we could manage on an empty 777, was Rows 27/28. I'm up for an extra $900 just to move us to YX, but the extra legroom is hard not to justify over a 14+ hour flight. Two males are over 6" so it looks like I'm coughing up the cash.

I guess we're the poor saps Virgin Board members envisaged when they proposed the new YX cabin and they'll be gleefully rubbing their porky little hands together when my hard earned dough hits their trough.

Yeah this sucks. I ended up choosing to fly with NZ to the states because it was cheaper to upgrade to exit rows than the previous row 20 bulkhead on VA's 777.
Be good if they offered up Yx like DL does for its high flyers in C+. Surely there wouldn't be more than a dozen WP's in Y on the TPAC route. Which would leave plenty of seats available to the other pax to pay the $ to upgrade

 

[Bagpuss]

Gotta say I am enjoying it. The first 3 rows are half empty on all my east coast flights since Economy X was introduced. I get it for free and it seems nobody else wants it. Especially nice to have so many extra legroom seats for a 6'8" yeti like me. Better than the row 3 days.

But it does make me wonder - is the product a failure for VA? Given it's so cheap and so poorly used, I can't imagine they are making any big bucks on it.

"Mr Thomas said Virgin was tracking well for the last quarter of the year, with some demand returning to the domestic market and customers responding well to Virgin's new Economy X.The extra large seats, which Virgin finished rolling out to its entire fleet last month, paid for themselves within two and a half weeks, Mr Thomas said."

Taken from Virgin Australia bets on Hong Kong with Beijing, Shanghai slots hard to secure

 

[Bagpuss]

I have recently done a number of domestic sectors in the last few weeks (IE PER - BNE multiple times, MEL - PER, BNE - NTL) and it seems to be mainly the middle seat being left vacant.

As anything who's paying for and and who are Plats are two different things.

That said, I think it will appeal to the corporate market who are happy to give employees the extra leg room.