Now Open: New Lounge in MEL

[zig]

Well I am sitting here, at the minute, enjoying my latté and some breakfast opposite the bar in Melbourne's new lounge.

WOW!!!

Everyone here seems so pleased to be here (even at an ungodly, before 6am time on a Friday!)

Must be good coffee, but hate to break it to you that today is Thursday, not Friday (the weekend is still a couple of days away)

 

[drewbles]

Dear Virgin,
Thank you for finally giving QF a run for its money.

In response, I have started booking more flights with you out of MEL, but only to SYD/BNE. Until you fix the awful seats in whY though (yes, I know the new a/c are nice and the new seats are nice) and bring the A330 on MEL-PER (I hate 737's on transcon) I will only take these short haul segments.

Yours truly,
A thankful soon-to-be-ex-QF-WP

 

[crazydave98]

Dear Virgin,
Thank you for finally giving QF a run for its money.

In response, I have started booking more flights with you out of MEL, but only to SYD/BNE. Until you fix the awful seats in whY though (yes, I know the new a/c are nice and the new seats are nice) and bring the A330 on MEL-PER (I hate 737's on transcon) I will only take these short haul segments.

Yours truly,
A thankful soon-to-be-ex-QF-WP

You're welcome drewbles.

The A330 will certainly become the primary aircraft for MEL-PER (be a while before we have no B737s at all on trans-con).

When you say awful seats are you refering to the ones with fixed headrest or the movable/wings model? The former will be gone soon enough (as older aircraft and particularly -700s are phased out of fleet over next year or so). The latter will take more time - some of these will be recovered and some will be replaced by the new seats (different manufacturer). But the aim will be to have the best possible product on trans-continental and triangle routes (full J class, Boeing Sky Interior, new seats, cabin dividers etc.)

cheers
CrazyDave98

 

[pshepvic]

You're welcome drewbles.

The A330 will certainly become the primary aircraft for MEL-PER (be a while before we have no B737s at all on trans-con).

When you say awful seats are you refering to the ones with fixed headrest or the movable/wings model? The former will be gone soon enough (as older aircraft and particularly -700s are phased out of fleet over next year or so). The latter will take more time - some of these will be recovered and some will be replaced by the new seats (different manufacturer). But the aim will be to have the best possible product on trans-continental and triangle routes (full J class, Boeing Sky Interior, new seats, cabin dividers etc.)

cheers
CrazyDave98

To be honest, I prefer the seats without the adjustable headrest! Being 6'3" I find that even when the headrest is raised up, it still sits behind the top of my shoulders rather than behind my head. The older seats are higher and I find better for my neck. There have been a few cases where the new seats have had broken headrests, and they have been locked in place so I couldn't adjust them, which makes it more uncomfortable with the whole headrest behind my upper back.

All in all, I do find the seats on DJ quite hard (particularly when flying further than MEL-SYD) so I'm looking forward to as many of them being replaced as possible with nice, new, soft cushion seats!

I'm also not a fan of leather (particularly the firm leather - don't mind the JQ J class seats, they seem to be softer) and would much prefer fabric like on QF, however I do realise this presents more cleaning issues.

But if the new seats are comfy I'm willing to live with leather, with all the other improvements I'm seeing this is certainly going to be off-set!

 

[drewbles]

You're welcome drewbles.

The A330 will certainly become the primary aircraft for MEL-PER (be a while before we have no B737s at all on trans-con).

When you say awful seats are you refering to the ones with fixed headrest or the movable/wings model? The former will be gone soon enough (as older aircraft and particularly -700s are phased out of fleet over next year or so). The latter will take more time - some of these will be recovered and some will be replaced by the new seats (different manufacturer). But the aim will be to have the best possible product on trans-continental and triangle routes (full J class, Boeing Sky Interior, new seats, cabin dividers etc.)

cheers
CrazyDave98

To be honest i'm not sure. I've only taken 2 DJ flights this year, One at an ungodly hour, the other the same night after a very heavy day of drinking in Sydney

My only real complaint was the seat itself for padding. It was so rock hard.

I'll pay more attention on the several ones I have coming up. Looking forward to the 330 on the PER route. Is there any timeframe you can even hint at for us here? The majority of my domestic flying is MEL-PER (or if you guys can do a MEL-SYD-PER I'm happy to do that, if the price is right of course!).

 

[pshepvic]

As per my post over on another thread, flew back from Sydney on VH-YFE today with the new BSI interior. J class seats were awesome, so if the Y class seats at least have similar cushioning they should be much better.

 

[crazydave98]

As per my post over on another thread, flew back from Sydney on VH-YFE today with the new BSI interior. J class seats were awesome, so if the Y class seats at least have similar cushioning they should be much better.

They are from the same manufacturer (BE Aerospace) and personally I found them very comfortable. Was interesting to dismantle one during the evaluation process and see how they are constructed.

 

[pshepvic]

They are from the same manufacturer (BE Aerospace) and personally I found them very comfortable. Was interesting to dismantle one during the evaluation process and see how they are constructed.

Good to hear. Although with the new VA fare structure, the corporate pricing we have is now less for PE/J seating than the old Corp Plus fares, so I know what I'll be booking from now on!

 

[Misha]

Must be good coffee, but hate to break it to you that today is Thursday, not Friday (the weekend is still a couple of days away)

Yup - I kept getting that all day too... It's what happens when you are having the worst month in years - and have a late night (work, not party) and then get up at 3am to catch a plane.... ooops

still, for a thursday morning - the people (and man were there heaps!!!!) still seemed very chipper

 

[DJ 1D]

Visited the MEL lounge Wednesday evening. Very impressive- very stylish. Definitely focused on the business traveller - less kid-friendly (gone is the pool table and cinema with oversized beanbags), which isn't surprising.

Overall a fantastic looking space.

 

[DJ 1D]

And as an aside, today is my birthday and on my flight to OOL tonight I will pass 100k status credits with 6 months to go on my re-qual date!

Come on Virgin Platinum!

 

[Keith009]

... and it totally exceeded all expectations! Staff were cheery even though it was 6am in the morning. Great design - super trendy, minimalist and clean line - win! If you love progressive design you'll have a great time here. The high bar looked like an amazing place to be when the bar is open and there's more traffic in the Lounge - great sexy spot for people watching over many sips of bubbly. Also loved the great looking yet comfy furniture - lots of funky chairs.

Brekky was much like that in the QF J lounge, just smaller portions. The barista made a great soy latte, and the OH agreed that the coffee (flat white is his normal order) is a lot better than that produced at the QF J lounge.

The Lounge would also benefit a lot from some chill, groovy tunes, which would make it a far more relaxing spot to unwind in.

All in all, it's like the hip new place to be! (in Melbourne Airport at least)

 

[malmacdowall]

And as an aside, today is my birthday

Happy Birthday.... You share the same date with my OH.....

 

[sydstar]

I'm very interested in visiting the lounge next time I'm in MEL.

As it will be a PM flight, out of interest - what is the beer selection like?

Also, have spirits been introduced? (or still just beer/wine?)

 

[pshepvic]

As it will be a PM flight, out of interest - what is the beer selection like?

Great - and I'm basing that on the old beer selection from before the refurbishment, so it might have improved even more since!

Also, have spirits been introduced? (or still just beer/wine?)

I'd heard a rumour that they had, but not 100% sure.

 

[notzac]

Am in said shiny new MEL lounge right now, and sadly there appears to be no spirits available. Reasonably respectable range of wine and beer (though attempting to enjoy a cheeky glass of the Fleur de Lys was certainly a mistake )

 

[notzac]

(though attempting to enjoy a cheeky glass of the Fleur de Lys was certainly a mistake )

Small update - the Pinot Noir is far more acceptable! Some very faint background music would also definitely improve things IMHO..

 

[pshepvic]

Small update - the Pinot Noir is far more acceptable! Some very faint background music would also definitely improve things IMHO..

Maybe a piano in the corner, with someone singing soft, sultry tones? Dim the lighting a little as the evening goes on?

 

[TonyHancock]

Maybe a piano in the corner, with someone singing soft, sultry tones? Dim the lighting a little as the evening goes on?

I'm available for wedding's, christenings and airport lounges! :shock:

 

[Misha]

I'm available for wedding's, christenings and airport lounges! :shock:

I'm happy to acompany you - bear in mind I can't sing, dance or play an instrument, but am available to lay in various suggestive positons over the piano

Piano would be good on veranda - up a level and overlooking tarmac...