Outstanding DJ service

[Justinf]

Hi everyone,

Not sure where to put this, but this seems as good a place as any.
Took a flight from MEL to CBR this morning.
Seated in 4C on a B738. 10 mins after takeoff when the seatbelt signs went off, the FA asked if I would like to move to PE. Ummmm...yes please. So I moved to one of the PE seats. I thought this was strange but wasn't arguing. I wasn't planning on having anything from the food trolley, but the FA said that I could have anything I wanted free of charge. I took him up on the offer and had a G&T. I politely asked him why he was doing this but also made it clear that I was very grateful. He said that as a silver member, DJ 'valued my support' and that this was a small way to say thankyou.
Blew me away. A lowly silver member getting this treatment. He asked if I wanted a refill despite it being only 10 mins from landing, but I politely declined saying he had done more than enough for me.
I was rapt.
I also had a pretty good conversation with him. He said the changes to DJ's 'premium' service were going to be:

lie-flat beds on red-eye flights and trans-Tasman flights on the A330
hot meals in premium (or business or whatever they will call it)
the new name will be Virgin Australia - apparantely the red tape with SIA is done and dusted
free drinks for gold and platinum members
They are scrapping the E170, but keeping the E190. He said that despite reports suggesting otherwise, the E170 was costing quite a lot to operate and needed to be serviced and maintained more regularly
The B737-700 and 800 will continue to be the workhorse of the fleet

Ummm...I can't remember anything else. Was still rapt to be stretching my 184cm body out full length, albeit on a 43-minute flight.

I am going to give positive feedback to the FA who provided this service to me, but I have withheld his name as the info he divulged some pretty confidental info to me.
It may all turn to be bollocks. But I thought I would share with my fellow Aus FF forumers.
Hope I haven't coughped on for too long.
Happy New Year everyone.

 

[clifford]

Hi everyone,

Not sure where to put this, but this seems as good a place as any.
Took a flight from MEL to CBR this morning.
Seated in 4C on a B738. 10 mins after takeoff when the seatbelt signs went off, the FA asked if I would like to move to PE. Ummmm...yes please. So I moved to one of the PE seats. I thought this was strange but wasn't arguing. I wasn't planning on having anything from the food trolley, but the FA said that I could have anything I wanted free of charge. I took him up on the offer and had a G&T. I politely asked him why he was doing this but also made it clear that I was very grateful. He said that as a silver member, DJ 'valued my support' and that this was a small way to say thankyou.
Blew me away. A lowly silver member getting this treatment. He asked if I wanted a refill despite it being only 10 mins from landing, but I politely declined saying he had done more than enough for me.
I was rapt.
I also had a pretty good conversation with him. He said the changes to DJ's 'premium' service were going to be:

lie-flat beds on red-eye flights and trans-Tasman flights on the A330
hot meals in premium (or business or whatever they will call it)
the new name will be Virgin Australia - apparantely the red tape with SIA is done and dusted
free drinks for gold and platinum members
They are scrapping the E170, but keeping the E190. He said that despite reports suggesting otherwise, the E170 was costing quite a lot to operate and needed to be serviced and maintained more regularly
The B737-700 and 800 will continue to be the workhorse of the fleet

Ummm...I can't remember anything else. Was still rapt to be stretching my 184cm body out full length, albeit on a 43-minute flight.

I am going to give positive feedback to the FA who provided this service to me, but I have withheld his name as the info he divulged some pretty confidental info to me.
It may all turn to be bollocks. But I thought I would share with my fellow Aus FF forumers.
Hope I haven't coughped on for too long.
Happy New Year everyone.

Very nice, but Virgin Blue will always be.... Virgin Blue.

If they want to change things, they've got to competely dump the LCC approach and start afresh, including a new name. Time to move on from the 18 year old girlie hosties (lobotomy is essential).

 

[777]

Very nice, but Virgin Blue will always be.... Virgin Blue.

If they want to change things, they've got to competely dump the LCC approach and start afresh, including a new name. Time to move on from the 18 year old girlie hosties (lobotomy is essential).

Clifford, seems the bit about the new name escaped you there.

Have you entirely missed the months of speculation and subtle confirmation from many at DJ about the new name, approach, partners, services0 (much of which is already becoming evident and has been for a long time - not sure when you flew with them last - and much more is allegedly coming), business models etc.

Indeed, did you miss the bit about the new name in the post you responded to?

777.

 

[medhead]

The scrapping of the E170 was reported a little while ago.

I had a similar experience last week being moved into PE seats before push back.

Very nice, but Virgin Blue will always be.... Virgin Blue.

If they want to change things, they've got to competely dump the LCC approach and start afresh, including a new name. Time to move on from the 18 year old girlie hosties (lobotomy is essential).

I dare say it must have been a long time since you flew with DJ.

 

[markis10]

The E170s have been up for sale for some time, and the new J seats will be like the American product, also expect turbo props soon to help those centers that are currently serviced by one airline , aka Gladstone, Bundy (where you probably need a flying boat) etc.

DJ also does not have a plat level at present, then again neither did QF until JB did a reorg!

 

[Justinf]

Ah, sorry. Didn't realise the E170s were being scrapped. Old news.
Clifford, I think it's been a while since you've flown DJ. Haven't heard a joke like 'And if you are caught smoking in the toilets, you will be made to sit on on the wing' joke for at least 18 months.
Sorry if my post seemed overly enthusiastic. I have always been enthusiastic about flying but it has been this forum that has allowed me to express it and not feel like a total loser. When I try to talk about it to my family and friends, I am viewed as some kind of freak.

 

[medhead]

Ah, it's good to be enthusiastic about these things. Any news about potential DJ changes are great to hear.

 

[777]

One thing that keeps coming up is enhanced onboard perks for DJ golds. Several people have mentioned being offered P/E seats, free drinks, etc - even silvers now it seems but it's never happened to me. First reports started back around Oct and i've made about a dozen flights since then.

Admittedly my flying slowed a bit in the last couple of months and have had a couple of recent trips flying up the back with Mrs 777 and our young lap infant .777 but still nope, nada, nyet - have not been offered so much as free glass of water despite just clocking over into my 3rd year of DJ Gold.

Still seems quite inconsistent for now?

 

[Justinf]

Ah, it's good to be enthusiastic about these things. Any news about potential DJ changes are great to hear.

Thanks mate. Happy New Year.

 

[Postcode]

I flew DJ once many years ago and decided the IFE was the FAs. I grew out Playschool many years ago sadly enough. I really disliked the experience. It was like flying on KMart. Decided to give them a miss since then.

Recent reports such as the above from Justinf along with the hands on approach by John Borghetti who is looking to make his mark on the airline and make it really something, and appealing to and rewarding passengers who choose the airline on a more frequent basis is to me at least making it a much more appealing product. Am looking at Velocity and what it can mean to me.

How many QF WPs do we have here who mention they rarely/never receive an op up?

By the way Justinf you live in my childhood home town. So lucky.

 

[Justinf]

I flew DJ once many years ago and decided the IFE was the FAs. I grew out Playschool many years ago sadly enough. I really disliked the experience. It was like flying on KMart. Decided to give them a miss since then.

Recent reports such as the above from Justinf along with the hands on approach by John Borghetti who is looking to make his mark on the airline and make it really something, and appealing to and rewarding passengers who choose the airline on a more frequent basis is to me at least making it a much more appealing product. Am looking at Velocity and what it can mean to me.

How many QF WPs do we have here who mention they rarely/never receive an op up?

By the way Justinf you live in my childhood home town. So lucky.

Thanks mate. BH is the best place on earth, except for now with all the tourists.
Interesting though, I think it's pretty obvious that DJ is going to compete on some serious level with QF. By talking to the FA today, I got a glimpse of what they are going to do. Will QF do lie-flat beds on the red-eye? Who knows? Competition is good.

 

[mannej]

I think it's pretty obvious that DJ is going to compete on some serious level with QF. By talking to the FA today, I got a glimpse of what they are going to do. Will QF do lie-flat beds on the red-eye? Who knows? Competition is good.

Would QF be in a position to offer the lie flat beds on red eye services? More than likely, it would mean some fleet reshuffling, but would they that's the question?



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[Justinf]

One thing I forgot to add in my OP, was that the FA said Live2Air is definitely being scrapped and is being replaced by the Red system that is used on V Australia and Virgin America.
I didn't mind the Live2Air if a footy or cricket match was on one of the Fox Sports channels, but having experienced the Red IFE system, I can safely say that it is vastly superior.

 

[medhead]

Would QF be in a position to offer the lie flat beds on red eye services? More than likely, it would mean some fleet reshuffling, but would they that's the question?

It was recently reported that they are jetstarising the fleet for interoperability purposes, which makes business sense. But I'd say that would limit their ability to offer lie flat beds on trans continental flights. http://www.australianfrequentflyer....new-dom-qf-a330-200-a-21663-8.html#post390391

 

[anat0l]

How many QF WPs do we have here who mention they rarely/never receive an op up?

That's because op-ups are meant to be rare - they are just that: operational upgrades. This isn't America where top elites are supposed to receive an upgrade all the time and then you raise hell and earth if you don't get one. The factors for an op-up change from flight to flight. Until we can get manifests and full loyalty information profiles on all pax for every flight tested, I don't think its safe to say that a WP who has never received an op-up is being ripped off. (We did start a thread where we reported all our flights and experiences, but no one ever digested the data and I think there would have provided no conclusions).

Well done to our OP. I wonder if this means DJ's upgrade policy will be radically different, i.e. more like the America-based airlines.

 

[GladstoneTim]

Good to hear further rumours about the possibility of DJ hitting more regional areas and hopefully giving QF a run for their money and assisting regional locals get better priced fares and choice.

 

[goldfishinabowl]

Found the service very good yesterday during one of the E190's "technical problems". After a delay due to airport closure, we set off from Sydney terminal, but stopped on the taxiway five minutes later. We had to return to the gate and swap to an E170. I found the cabin crew and ground staff dealt with it professionally and their apologies seemed genuine.

Heard ties are in the new uniform for men.