General Virgin Australia discussion

[scopedope]

Flew J on VA today for first time in years. I won't be back.

It's agonisingly obvious why business travellers don't fly VA. An unpolished, amateurish product from kerb to kerb.

 

[MEL_Traveller]

Flew J on VA today for first time in years. I won't be back.

It's agonisingly obvious why business travellers don't fly VA. An unpolished, amateurish product from kerb to kerb.

To be fair… that’s only about 50% of the time!

There are some things which are good, like PDBs. And when the CM is great, they’re great (which is the majority of them).

 

[jase05]

Work experience kids were busy last night.
Logged in just after midnight and in my searches there was J availability on practically every QR flight including the VA ones ex Australia for dates I wanted but they disappeared in a matter of minutes. Guessing someone flicked the wrong switch

 

[Happy Dude]

Flew J on VA today for first time in years. I won't be back.

It's agonisingly obvious why business travellers don't fly VA. An unpolished, amateurish product from kerb to kerb.

Anything in particular that lead to this conclusion @scopedope?

I've flown a few sectors recently, all short like CBR-MEL, MEL-ADL, and other than the one issue described in my OP, I'd describe my experiences as very good. All were on time, recognised status and priority, comfortable, nice service, and acceptable food with one pasta thingy being delicious. Not sure I could ask for, or expect, anything more?

 

[Gold Member]

Work experience kids were busy last night.
Logged in just after midnight and in my searches there was J availability on practically every QR flight including the VA ones ex Australia for dates I wanted but they disappeared in a matter of minutes. Guessing someone flicked the wrong switch

You sure that wasn’t the Friday night turps temporarily adjusting your cognitive abilities?

 

[scopedope]

Anything in particular that lead to this conclusion @scopedope?

I've flown a few sectors recently, all short like CBR-MEL, MEL-ADL, and other than the one issue described in my OP, I'd describe my experiences as very good. All were on time, recognised status and priority, comfortable, nice service, and acceptable food with one pasta thingy being delicious. Not sure I could ask for, or expect, anything more?

• Sydney T2 was busy - huge line for premium bag drop (I'm WP). T3 never takes me longer than 2 minutes to bag drop.
• Lounge took over 10 minutes to get a single shot espresso.
• No recognition or mention of status.
• Individual next to me took the last wine PDB so I only got offered a water.
• Used rubber gloves for cleaning thrown on the floor of row 1.
• Tray table didn't work properly and had to prop it up with my knees or it flopped down.
• Pasta dish was stone cold in places and boiling in others - almost like it was microwaved, which I admit is weird because they don't have microwaves on board. No sweets offered although I admit I wouldn't have had it anyway.
• No drink top up offered. No tea or coffee offered.
• No wifi on board to work during flight.

 

[jase05]

You sure that wasn’t the Friday night turps temporarily adjusting your cognitive abilities?

I wish it was but it wasn’t.
Didn’t last long and I tried booking one ASAP and it errored out

 

[MEL_Traveller]

Anything in particular that lead to this conclusion @scopedope?

I've flown a few sectors recently, all short like CBR-MEL, MEL-ADL, and other than the one issue described in my OP, I'd describe my experiences as very good. All were on time, recognised status and priority, comfortable, nice service, and acceptable food with one pasta thingy being delicious. Not sure I could ask for, or expect, anything more?

They are good… until they aren’t. And when I was doing weekly flying you could have a few good flights in a row, but then a shocker. And unfortunately that does instill some trepidation for your next flight.

Like the CM we had that refused to do any pre-departure service. You worry you’re going to run into that individual again.

Or when when we had a run of gate staff calling the flight early in the lounge …. that went on for a good month until someone obviously had a word and it stopped. Or general boarding commencing twenty seconds after priority boarding… gate staff not understanding, or not caring, that priority boarding is valuable for overhead space, and once you start general boarding that benefit is lost.

Or when CMs decide to ignore status and rows for meal choices.

So yeah,there are great flights when everything works well. But then it doesn’t. I’ve experienced all the things mentioned by the OP at some stage in the 120 flights I did.

 

[kerfuffle]

Individual next to me took the last wine PDB so I only got offered a water.

You can still ask for sparkling wine. They'll just have to pour a new glass.

 

[Happy Dude]

• Sydney T2 was busy - huge line for premium bag drop (I'm WP). T3 never takes me longer than 2 minutes to bag drop.
• Lounge took over 10 minutes to get a single shot espresso.
• No recognition or mention of status.
• Individual next to me took the last wine PDB so I only got offered a water.
• Used rubber gloves for cleaning thrown on the floor of row 1.
• Tray table didn't work properly and had to prop it up with my knees or it flopped down.
• Pasta dish was stone cold in places and boiling in others - almost like it was microwaved, which I admit is weird because they don't have microwaves on board. No sweets offered although I admit I wouldn't have had it anyway.
• No drink top up offered. No tea or coffee offered.
• No wifi on board to work during flight.

Well that all sure does sound very average. I'm glad I don't have to deal with SYD regularly.

What's the go with using bag drop as a premium pax? I never use it as it feels like using the self service at the supermarket and I just like plonking down the WP card at priority checkin. I'm a little nervous that I'd stuff it up somehow too.

 

[Harrison_133]

What's the go with using bag drop as a premium pax? I never use it as it feels like using the self service at the supermarket and I just like plonking down the WP card at priority checkin. I'm a little nervous that I'd stuff it up somehow too.

There is no self bag drop for any airline at SYD T2. You have to drop your bag at a manned desk even if you use a kiosk to print your bag tag.

Self bag drops will be added during the upcoming terminal upgrades.