Is the romance fading???

[R36snowbound]

I am VA platinum and on average complete 2 flights per week with VA.

Over the past 2 months, I have noticed a reduction of passangers in the business class cabin and staff seem less attentive.

I used to get a welcome back on board Mr xyz when I presented my boarding pass, now nothing on most occasions.

After downloading the virgin app onto my Ipad to access their inflight new inflight entertainment system, I got to use it once. Then on my next 5 flights, 2 of the planes did not have it equipped and on the other three flights, the plane was equipped with the system, but it was "broken". This was especially annoying as I received an email from Virgin the day before my flight, advising me the new entertainment system was available on my upcoming flight.

Everyone has good days and bad days at work, yet on the other hand, a smile costs you nothing, something that I think some VA cabin crew have forgotten.

I am a big VA fan, I hate to say it but the romance is fading IMO.

 

[Sprucegoose]

change girlfriends ?

 

[cove]

Son number two was very impressed with his J run a few weeks ago. Maybe the thing he loved most was using my Velocity points instead of his Qantas points.

 

[a330j]

Flew J from PER to BNE yesterday with VA, first J trip. FAs couldn't have been more attentive, service was great so was the food and the whole experience. J was about 3/4 full.

 

[toowongman]

Flying with VA isn't dissimilar to having a bipolar partner. Some days it's great and some days it's pretty woeful.

 

[Mogul]

There is nothing romantic about sharing an aluminium tube at 40,000ft with a couple of hundred people to start with .

 

[Atleastonce]

I am VA platinum and did 11 flights in the past 3 weeks, and always got a welcome back when boarding. I also get comments at the gate when my boarding pass is on my phone, my iPhone cove is a 3D solar system, then that creates conversation and a welcome back.

 

[mickeyc747]

The romance isn't fading it's faded

 

[UP4014]

Son number two was very impressed with his J run a few weeks ago. Maybe the thing he loved most was using my Velocity points instead of his Qantas points.

Always a good trip when someone else is picking up the tab.

 

[Deleted member 29185]

The romance isn't fading it's faded

Going......going........gone

 

[R36snowbound]

There is nothing romantic about sharing an aluminium tube at 40,000ft with a couple of hundred people to start with .

Hi Mogul, I am sure that you appreciate the thread title was a play on Virgin's marketing phrase.

Flew MEL to SYD in J on Friday night, had a very nice trip. Both airports were in chaos, as both down to one runway. J was 50% full and cabin crew very attentive.

Would prefer not to have to change girlfriends as when I am not flying in J, I do enjoy row 3 in the main cabin, don't want to start at the bottom all over again.

 

[mono88]

change girlfriends ?

Just don't do it mid-flight!

 

[russ]

I don't give a stuff about the romance, as long as the sex is good.

I usually fly domestic QF and VA J 737s. I have a slight preference for VA because:

• there's a hard divider between J and Y WP, so they can't put their feet up on the back of my armrest
• VA's magnetic rope thing keeps out more WPs than QF's curtain
• the police the J overhead bins to stop Y WPs putting their stuff there
• there's fewer passengers in J, so the dunny is cleaner and more available
• they let you have as many M&Ms as you can eat (try asking QF for a snack and they just look at you funny)
• more chance of a powerpoint at the seat
• It's about $1,000 cheaper per flight!

The wifi service is a nice idea but the interface is terrible and there are limited shows.

 

[Melburnian1]

russ, when you suggest '$1000 cheaper per flight', are you referring to a price comparison between QF and VA for a SYD - PER - SYD return ticket in J, or some other route? Saving $1000 is a lot.

 

[russ]

Return? I wish! I'm talking about one way Sydney/Darwin
QF is ~$1940 one way
VA is ~$915 one way

 

[erkpod]

The front cover of the Sunday Terrorgraph today.

 

[mickeyc747]

And those papers were handed out to J pax on QF today

 

[erkpod]

And those papers were handed out to J pax on QF today

I don't think your average QF pax in J would be convinced by an ad.

 

[anat0l]

I don't think your average QF pax in J would be convinced by an ad.

Depends. I was invited to marketing research which was all male in attendance. Most of them were considerably advanced corporate wise compared to me - significant positions or company heads - and most flew Virgin significantly, and in cases exclusive of Qantas. By inferring from their comments, some of them flew Virgin because they felt there were a lot more good looking FAs who were younger, bubblier and who looked like someone you could and would like to hit on. My comment I made about professionalism of a FA seemed to be lost on most of those in attendance.


I don't know what the "romance" was meant to be. Certainly, VA is a lot better than the old Virgin Blue and it is well positioned to compete with its domestic rival. But what was the "romance"? Was it the classical dress uniforms and scarf motif? If it was meant to be putting back into flying what had been lost by flying the competition, that's only had some flashes of success IMO. I'm not saying the initiatives were a failure, but I fail to feel the "romance".

All I see is an airline which has turned into a genuine rival for the domestic market - nothing more, nothing less. There was no romance.

To take a less literal angle on the topic, I suppose I haven't noticed any marked change in the service standard of VA. It's not much better nor worse than flying VA last year or so - perhaps Sabre notwithstanding - but that said there are still aspects of the operation which I find deficient compared to the competition. People speak of mind blowing differences to Qantas - except for a few notable points, I haven't noticed it before, and I still don't notice it now. They're still in easy striking range of competition, though, which is important, otherwise VA would be rolled by now.

 

[mono88]

I don't think your average QF pax in J would be convinced by an ad.

You would be surprised. The more you are supposed to know the dumber you can be.
Marketers will specifically target advertising to relevant customer segments or sometimes individuals. Depending on the product or service, who better to target than the people with the money to spend. And spend it they do.