MEL-PER Virgin Australia business class A330

[Justinf]

Thought I'd do a trip report on the Virgin Australia A330 coast to coast J service. Everyone else has, so why not?
It won't be a long one, as most have seen this before, but I just wanted to indulge myself and offer my opinion on it. You won't find any groundbreaking info here. Just a person's opinion on the service offered.
Friday 17, August
MEL-PER 1pm
Load in J: 4 out of 24 seats were occupied. My seat was 1C, but I moved to 1A.
On time performance: left the gate at 1.30pm, arrived PER on time at 3.15pm, but took some time to taxi into the bay. We needed a tug and sat on the tarmac for a good 15 minutes.

First impressions were positive. Nice roomy cabin and the 2-2-2 configuration of the new A330. 2 people seated in the middle rows of row 2 and one person in 1K and me in 1A.
Was greeted by name and immediately offered choice of juice, champagne or water. I chose the champers.



Was offered a menu before take off and was told by the FA that she would take my order soon after take off.





After three beers in the Lounge, I was in the 'comfort zone' but was determined to push through and enjoy it. With only 4 PAX in J, I knew we would be looked after.
In the Lounge, I also had a few of the Vietnames rolls, which were delicious, but I didn't have too many as I wanted to enjoy the lunch service on this flight.
We took off to the north and our flight time was given as 3 hours 45 minutes. The IFE was available from gate to gate, so after scrolling through the movie options, nothing took my fancy. I ended up settle on Wrath of the Titans. I love a good epic, but sadly, good would not be used to describe this movie. I had to pull the window shades down as sunglare was affecting the quality of the TV screeen.
The FA (I have forgotten her name which is a shame, as she did a wonderful job) took my lunch and drink order. I chose a sangiovese and the lamb mint salad.




I have forgotten why the glass in the pic is empty. I had either wolfed down the first one or it hadn't been poured yet.
The entree was delicious. The lamb tender and the mint salad with pumpkin, very nice. The sourdough roll was the highlight though. Warm and comforting.
The sangiovese was very nice, but chilled, which I am sure is not deliberate, but chilled red wine goes against all my beliefs.
Time for the main. I chose the snapper on a bed of lightly spiced couscous.


The fish was very, very nice. Nicely cooked, perhaps a little overcooked, but the couscous was perfectly flavoured and really balanced out the meal. I probably should have chosen a nice white wine to go with it, but I was enjoying the sangiovese too much!
After a little relaxing while watching Wrath of the Titans (which wasn't turning out as badly as I had expected), it was time for dessert. I went for the cheese platter and asked for a dessert wine to accompany it. As you can see the wine glass came with barely wine in it, which is obviously how it is meant to be served, but I would have liked a little more than a thimble.





More to come.

 

[Justinf]

Oh, I forgot to mention that once I was given a menu to look over, I was also offered my first drink. I chose the sangiovese and was accompanied by a bowl of warm nuts. Sorry, I couldn't go back and post this in the first page. My bad.



The cheese plate was a satisfying way to end the meal. By this stage I was a little full and slightly 'tipsy' but not letting that deter me, I ordered a congnac and settled in to watch the rest of the movie.

With the meal service finished, I played around the with seat buttons and finally got into a position I was happy with.



The seats laid more flat than I was led to believe. I would have no trouble sleeping in these on a long haul flight and actually wanted to doze on this flight, but as a nonfrequent J flyer, I wanted to be awake the whole time.
By this stage, the FAs kind of disappeared. I tried to ring the call button for another drink, but the call button did not work. It took another 15 minutes until I saw the FA again and asked for a Baileys. It is interesting that after reading so many reports about the VA A330 J service and never having to ask for drinks to be topped up, I found this to be the opposite.

 

[Justinf]

With Wrath of the Titans finished (not too bad, not great), there was still time to watch another movie. Like I said, the choice didn't inspire me, so I thought I would stick with the 'epic' theme and I chose John Carter. I found the RED system difficult to manouvere and the response from when I pushed a button to when it actually worked onscreen was annoying. Consequently, I would push it two or three times in frustration and I would find my having to push back to get to where I wanted to be.
Time for a Baileys.


By this stage, I didn't need any more alcohol, but what the heck. I didn't have to drive once arriving in Perth and I was due to meet some mates at the Grosvenor Hotel pretty straight after checking into the Pan Pacific, so I thought if I stopped now, I probably wouldn't make it to pub. I ordered a Cointreau and tried to watch the rest of John Carter, but is so excruciatingly bad, I just laid out and relaxed.


Pretty soon we were descending into PER. It was 11 degrees and raining in MEL when I left and was a blissful 21 and sunny in Perth. WHile turning my mobile phone off I managed to drop it in between the seat and the aircraft and I could hear it shatter into two pieces and I couldn't retrieve it. That's what you get for A: being clumsy to begin with and B: plying yourself with beer, wine, dessert wine, and liqueors. Duh!
Pretty soon we landed and instead of being first off the aircrat, I was last as I had to get three FAs to help me retrieve my phone. One of the guys said it happens regularly. It took a good 15 minutes to finally manouevere the seat into a position where he could get his arm underneath. I felt like a total knob and thanked them and apologised profusely.
Once off the aircraft, I realised I had left my complimentary amenities pack behind.
Do I annoy these poor people even more by going back and getting it, or do I let it slide?
I went back and fortunately I was able to get one pretty quickly. I think the FAs may have been glad to see the back of me.
DId I enjoy the flight? Yes. Very much. For a $305 flexi fare upgraded with half points (and recuperating half the points back anyway) it was a no brainer. The service was terrific (although slow on the drinks, but it's not like I didn't get my fill was it?).
Food was actually very, very, very nice. I didn't expect the snapper to be so tender. It was crisp on the outside and juicey in the middle. It also didn't have that overpowering snapper taste. The spiced couscouse complimented it nicely.
Seat was very comfortable. A bit hard for me to work out, but then I struggle to use a TV remote proplery. For a 'normal' person it probably would be quite easy. As I had nobody behind me, it meant I could play around with the settings quite a bit, but if I did have someone behind, me I would imagine I would been very annoying to him/her.
So all in all a great flight. I would recommend the service to anyone.
Oh and the purpose of my trip was to see my beloved Richmond play Fremantle at Subiaco.
Unfortunately we lost by 22 points and the scoreline actually flattered us, but here's a pic of me outside the ground before the game when I was a little happier than afterwards.


Thanks for reading.

 

[Must...Fly!]

Great TR.

I'm heading to MEL in VA J next weekend to see the Eagles play the Hawks! Everything I read says VA J is amazing...my fingers are crossed for a good experience!

 

[Justinf]

Great TR.

I'm heading to MEL in VA J next weekend to see the Eagles play the Hawks! Everything I read says VA J is amazing...my fingers are crossed for a good experience!

That will be a great game and it won't be spoiled by Ross Lyon's horrible game plan.

 

[jazza1971]

Good one Justinf, 1A doesnt dissapoint! Did you use the call button on the seat control? I recall there being two with one one working, same with the buttons for the lamp above you.....

 

[Justinf]

Good one Justinf, 1A doesnt dissapoint! Did you use the call button on the seat control? I recall there being two with one one working, same with the buttons for the lamp above you.....

I think I used the seat control button. It didn't really matter. I had enough lubrication and waiting 10 mins for a drink wasn't going to kill me. I was like a kid in a toy shop though. I wished i had tried the tamperanillo that was also on offer, but I was enjoying the sangiovese too much.