Virgin Atlantic PE SYD-LHR. No fun

[smckay]

Flew Virgin Atlantic PE Syd - LHR with stop in HK. Not impressed. I'm not a 'frequent' flyer (once per year funded by Moi) so maybe my comments are not relevant.

Compared to my 1 QF PE trip LAX-SYD, VA are missing the point.
The seats are shocking. A flat bottom squab which made my rear parts numb after about 30 minutes (into a 21 hour flight - eeek) and I ended up sitting on 2 pillows on the whole return flight, lumbar support which did not work (hostie didn't know and admitted no one ever asked her), regular economy headsets which cancelled no noise out and lack of promised goodies. No newspaper on 3 legs, no fruit bowl on 3 legs, breakfast into Sydney was a joke (chopped sausage or cheese and tomato on a bun. 1 only OK, we have Economy mouths to feed as well). Complimentary ice cream? Never saw any thing resembling that.

Only good run was HK - SYD where we had a pretty friendly hostie who told us her name and that she would look after us (and did).

Food was OK, 3 selections each leg. Wine was awful; Aussie wine is best IMHO.
1 of 2 toilets broke HK -LHR so it was a quick trip around the cabin.
A340 is a noisy plane; engine and A/C noise gets to you after a while.
They tell me they have won awards for the IFE; very few decent movies, TV shows are American sit-coms which I avoid and they turn it off 1/2 and hour before you land . They didn't say what award they won...

I did save $2,000 over Qantas, but at only 500 bucks a leg I was wishing I had stumped it up.

Qantas are dear and I hate they way they jam the price up but I think I will be a flyer with them again whilst the price is right. I did enjoy being able to order a ham cheese and tomato bap any time night or day and being served by a friendly bloke, and munch it in a comfortable seat.

 

[markis10]

How much did you pay to save $2000 from QF?

 

[yohy?!]

The VS PE product is dated but as you say the price differential to QF is huge.

Bear in mind that VS created PE more than a decade ago and the current cabin you experienced is 5 years old now and due for a refresh (along with Upper class) - not the most even comparison to QF PE on a brand new A380!

 

[smckay]

Paid $6,600 for 2 return. Could have got Qantas for $7,800 (from memory) but at the time I was a bit freaked out at putting that many sheckels on 2 seats... Now it's not an issue, I'd pay it.

The cabin definately is dated and having ridden a Emirates A380 the week before to NZ in cattle, I knew what i was missing out on in terms of silence :evil:

 

[markis10]

Paid $6,600 for 2 return. Could have got Qantas for $7,800 (from memory) but at the time I was a bit freaked out at putting that many sheckels on 2 seats... Now it's not an issue, I'd pay it.

The cabin definately is dated and having ridden a Emirates A380 the week before to NZ in cattle, I knew what i was missing out on in terms of silence :evil:

Thanks for the reply, for some reason I was thinking it was one traveller and the diff was 2000, regardless it sounds like it's worth flying with QF in future.

 

[pauly7]

As per other posts, Qantas PE is highly regarded, has won many awards and relatively new (and yes from Aus can be more expensive!).

Virgins product is old and in desperate need of an update, their entire fleet/all classes pretty much!

Apples and oranges....

 

[smckay]

Yep, been there tried that, now ticked it off. Funny how the TA and others thought VA were great and "I would love it".
Luckily next time QF has a sale I can jump on it and rest happily.

 

[dk4]

Thanks to the OP for the post. When I went to Hong Kong "earlier in the year" (pre-AnyTimeAccessRemovalNotification) I too was looking at the (P.E.) price difference between VS & QF - around $400 (return SYD-HKG, at the time). But ended up paying the extra for QF, being a formerly-fairly-loyal WP.

However, "the other week" (post-AnyTimeAccessRemovalNotification) I was tempted to try VA P.E. for the first time (obviously on a different route). And I must say that I was impressed overall. (Clean, modern cabins with great IFE and extremely attentive service throughout the flight, including personal-in-seat-pre-departure welcome onboard, by each of the two FAs. But slightly let down by the "stiff backing" to the seats [seems a DJ trait] and quantity/quality of the F&B [perhaps closer to JQ *class than QF P.E.].)

So, now that QF (post-AnyTimeAccessRemovalNotification) has encouraged me to fly more with the competition, I was considering VS for my next HKG trip. So, I am interested to hear more from anyone about their VS P.E. experiences. :?:


P.S. The irony is not lost on me, that I might have to be thankful for QF notifying me of "Any Time Access Removal", or I would probably never have realised just how well things are being done over at VA. :shock:

 

[yohy?!]

Thanks to the OP for the post. When I went to Hong Kong "earlier in the year" (pre-AnyTimeAccessRemovalNotification) I too was looking at the (P.E.) price difference between VS & QF - around $400 (return SYD-HKG, at the time). But ended up paying the extra for QF, being a formerly-fairly-loyal WP.

However, "the other week" (post-AnyTimeAccessRemovalNotification) I was tempted to try VA P.E. for the first time (obviously on a different route). And I must say that I was impressed overall. (Clean, modern cabins with great IFE and extremely attentive service throughout the flight, including personal-in-seat-pre-departure welcome onboard, by each of the two FAs. But slightly let down by the "stiff backing" to the seats [seems a DJ trait] and quantity/quality of the F&B [perhaps closer to JQ *class than QF P.E.].)

So, now that QF (post-AnyTimeAccessRemovalNotification) has encouraged me to fly more with the competition, I was considering VS for my next HKG trip. So, I am interested to hear more from anyone about their VS P.E. experiences. :?:


P.S. The irony is not lost on me, that I might have to be thankful for QF notifying me of "Any Time Access Removal", or I would probably never have realised just how well things are being done over at VA. :shock:

I travelled SYD-HKG on VS PE earlier this year using a Miles + Money fare

http://www.australianfrequentflyer....s-and-trip-photos/syd-hkg-w-vs-hkg-24768.html

 

[sheikeee]

=/ having second thoughts about my VA flight now...

 

[JetLagged]

=/ having second thoughts about my VA flight now...

No need for me to ever rethink a flight with VA - as I'll never make one that is not ABSOLUTELY necessary to do so (as in, QF doiesn't fly there) OR I'm in a coffin being flown home to Aus - must write a codicle to my will stating that VA are NOT AND NEVER WILL BE the preferred carrier of my remains!

 

[JohnK]

Interesting comments. I am thinking about redeeming a VS SYD-HKG premium economy award for later in the year as it is 22,000 VS points in economy and only 27,000 VS points in premium economy. Surely VS premium economy cannot be worse than VS economy. Not that I have ever flown VS economy but for a simple comparison it will be interesting to try out VS premium economy or even upper class..

=/ having second thoughts about my VA flight now...

Why VA? VA is Virgin Austaralia. The OP is discussing VS which is Virgin Atlantic.

 

[Bundy Bear]

Interesting comments. I am thinking about redeeming a VS SYD-HKG premium economy award for later in the year as it is 22,000 VS points in economy and only 27,000 VS points in premium economy. Surely VS premium economy cannot be worse than VS economy. Not that I have ever flown VS economy but for a simple comparison it will be interesting to try out VS premium economy or even upper class..

Why VA? VA is Virgin Australia. The OP is discussing VS which is Virgin Atlantic.

For 27,000 Amex points VS in PE for the SYD-HKG flight isn't too bad, Qantas have a better product but mainly because it is newer.

I flew SYD-HKG in November 2009 and it wasn't too bad, maybe the seat isn't the best but I am more after a bit more legroom and a better food selection.

Qantas Premium ex Australia is very expensive, and I find VS a good compromise.

 

[smckay]

They use 2 planes; A340-600 and 747/757(?)

I found the airbus real noisy and lack of noise cancelling headsets was woeful. Maybe Boeing stuff is better?

I would rate VA PE SYD-HKG-LHR poorly and I'll go another carrier - prolly the trusty Qantas - on my next trip this year.

Shame as the next trip on VA would put me silver FF

 

[kamchatsky]

Interesting comments. I am thinking about redeeming a VS SYD-HKG premium economy award for later in the year as it is 22,000 VS points in economy and only 27,000 VS points in premium economy. Surely VS premium economy cannot be worse than VS economy. Not that I have ever flown VS economy but for a simple comparison it will be interesting to try out VS premium economy or even upper class..


Why VA? VA is Virgin Austaralia. The OP is discussing VS which is Virgin Atlantic.

Yes if using points, VS PE is actually pretty good given the point differential with Y is pretty small. The seats are bigger, not sure if food is better (never tried VS Y, only PE and J) but at least more spacious than Y.

Of course, you should just go for VS J if you can for 40000 points, especially if it is HKG-SYD which is overnight and can sleep properly on bed. I actually had some decent sleep on it!.

Ironically, QF Y SYD-HKG is 30000 QF points, so VS J is only 33% more points required than QF Y.

 

[JohnK]

Qantas Premium ex Australia is very expensive, and I find VS a good compromise.

Always looking for good compromises. Cannot see myself paying QF asking price for Y+ unless they have decent specials ex-HKG like last year.

Of course, you should just go for VS J if you can for 40000 points, especially if it is HKG-SYD which is overnight and can sleep properly on bed. I actually had some decent sleep on it!.

I purchase airfares to get from A->B (sometimes via C) not to sleep. I like sleeping on my bed when I get home or hotel room if not at home. I do not have issues sleeping when I need to sleep.

Whether I go VS PE or J will depend on my VS miles balance at the time of booking. Would ideally like to save Amex MR points for a rainy day....

 

[sheikeee]

Why VA? VA is Virgin Austaralia. The OP is discussing VS which is Virgin Atlantic.

Oh god forbid I made typo!

I'm due to fly VS PE SYD-HGK this wednesday. May post on findings soon after!

 

[JohnK]

Oh god forbid I made typo!

VA and VS are totally different airlines. But Austaralia is still Australia.

I'm due to fly VS PE SYD-HGK this wednesday. May post on findings soon after!

Where is HGK? Is that the same as HKG or is it another typo? Unfortunately when typing acronyms and making typos the result is totally meaningless or very confusing.

 

[djfuzz]

Where is HGK? Is that the same as HKG or is it another typo? Unfortunately when typing acronyms and making typos the result is totally meaningless or very confusing.

Clearly he meant Hakarta.

Is it fair to say that VA's product compares more favourably than VS's product as described here? Looking for PE fares for my parents' annual US trip, and as with all other postAnytimeAccessRemovalNotification self-funded fare searches, have discarded any ill-founded notions of loyalty and have been looking at all options - VA and NZ seem to be very competitive in terms of both product and price (especially the new NZ space seat), but hopefully VA doesn't suffer the service deficiency described by the OP.

Interesting to note that I'm not the only ungrateful WP who's actively been trying to move flights away from QF since the aforementioned notification, as the other thread certainly made me feel that way. Then again, we're just a few people, I'm sure QF won't notice behind the buckets of cash they just saved and the hoardes of lounge users grateful that a couple of extra WPs a day have been kept out for a penalty kick.

 

[JohnK]

Is it fair to say that VA's product compares more favourably than VS's product as described here?

Yes we all have different experiences.

I do not like QF premium economy and would not spend that much money on it. Some people rave on about it.

I have not tried VS PE so for 27,000 miles, which have been accumulated on 1 days car hires, it is worth trying to form my own opinion.

Interesting to note that I'm not the only ungrateful WP who's actively been trying to move flights away from QF since the aforementioned notification, as the other thread certainly made me feel that way. Then again, we're just a few people, I'm sure QF won't notice behind the buckets of cash they just saved and the hoardes of lounge users grateful that a couple of extra WPs a day have been kept out for a penalty kick.

I will move some international flights away from QF. Some paid on SQ and some awards like VS PE. I see no reason to move domestic flights away at this stage as the pricing is fine for me and I cannot (don't want to) maintain status on 2 FF programs.