Virgin Australia Business Class - Meals, Menus & Service

[antycbr]

BNE-SYD last night was the pie (again) or the Quinoa and Halloumi Salad (below).

If you happen to get Jean Paul as your CS on your flight he will definitely look after you. Loved his references to “the great Harbour City” and the constant checking on J pax. No disappearing down the back like some VA business crew do. Each person in the cabin addressed by name and a thank you for our loyalty as platinum.

I also note that the cheese pack is Mainland not Bega. If I remember correctly Bega has 4 crackers and 4 slices of cheese… more cost cutting…

 

[henrus]

I also note that the cheese pack is Mainland not Bega. If I remember correctly Bega has 4 crackers and 4 slices of cheese… more cost cutting…

I actually think there is some method to the madness, some ports like BNE load mainland whereas others load Bega. It must be what they can get at each of the catering hubs.

 

[Harthagan]

On CNS to SYD at 6.30am all that was available was cereal and a muffin. Cairns lounge is still closed so yeah not too impressed with that.

Attendants never asked if anyone in J wanted anything else to drink during the remainder of the flight. In fact they just closed the curtain and were talking amongst themselves the whole time. I guess they just assumed everyone wanted to sleep. It was funny when the announcement came for them to be seated for landing as they had already been sitting the entire flight!

 

[Harthagan]

BNE-SYD last night was the pie (again) or the Quinoa and Halloumi Salad (below).

If you happen to get Jean Paul as your CS on your flight he will definitely look after you. Loved his references to “the great Harbour City” and the constant checking on J pax. No disappearing down the back like some VA business crew do. Each person in the cabin addressed by name and a thank you for our loyalty as platinum.

I also note that the cheese pack is Mainland not Bega. If I remember correctly Bega has 4 crackers and 4 slices of cheese… more cost cutting…

Wow what a stark contrast between levels of service. I was first to board on my last J flight from CNS to SYD and no-one was greeted by name including me and my partner who are both platinum. No other drinks offered after our breakfast of cereal (the only option) either, but instead of hiding down the back our 2 attendants just sat down in front with the curtain closed and talked the whole time lol.

 

[antycbr]

Wow what a stark contrast between levels of service. I was first to board on my last J flight from CNS to SYD and no-one was greeted by name including me and my partner who are both platinum. No other drinks offered after our breakfast of cereal (the only option) either, but instead of hiding down the back our 2 attendants just sat down in front with the curtain closed and talked the whole time lol.

Yes completely different which is what I noticed between DRW-BNE and BNE-SYD. For a company trying to keep its J offering sort of alive they need to weed out this kind of bad crew.

 

[jonboixxx]

Yes completely different which is what I noticed between DRW-BNE and BNE-SYD. For a company trying to keep its J offering sort of alive they need to weed out this kind of bad crew.

It has all to do with the cabin manager; I've had both extremes recently. For the sit-down types, a couple of "stretch the legs" to the galley/toilet normally does the trick. And also a bit of friendly conversation, with a "do you think, I might be able to get a little top-up later?" also works for me. Frustrating, but some are definitely falling back into bad habits.

 

[jakeseven7]

Yes completely different which is what I noticed between DRW-BNE and BNE-SYD. For a company trying to keep its J offering sort of alive they need to weed out this kind of bad crew.

I guess they aren’t really focusing on corporate accounts / business class anymore... I bet if they were ordering planes from scratch with this new strategy they probably wouldn’t even have a J class at all, it doesn’t really fit their new business model. They are kind of stuck with it I guess.

 

[antycbr]

I guess they aren’t really focusing on corporate accounts / business class anymore... I bet if they were ordering planes from scratch with this new strategy they probably wouldn’t even have a J class at all, it doesn’t really fit their new business model. They are kind of stuck with it I guess.

They could have unbundled J and just sold it as a premium seat… but then they would lose the upsell potential of having business class which people can use points to get upgraded to, therefore driving revenue through Velocity; and the future on carriage from DL/SQ/EY for premium passengers.

The loads in J have been good for most of my flights so I suspect with some cost cutting to the meals it’s probably at least breaking even.

There’s a fair bit of premium leisure market out there still particularly with borders closed.

 

[chooms]

Mushroom and truffle ravioli on a recent BNE-CBR flight:



What I like to call the ‘thousand dollar meat pie’ (better than QF’s thousand dollar+ meat pie)

 

[antycbr]

Mushroom and truffle ravioli on a recent BNE-CBR flight:

View attachment 251029

What I like to call the ‘thousand dollar meat pie’ (better than QF’s thousand dollar+ meat pie)

View attachment 251030

What do you think of the Green Beacon?

 

[chooms]

What do you think of the Green Beacon?

Not a huge fan. But I think the other option was Pure Blonde..

 

[henrus]

Not a huge fan. But I think the other option was Pure Blonde..

I guess each to their own, I'm a big fan of the green beacon (but then again I visit the Newstead tap room frequently).

I also think it's better than the 150 lashes that the roo serves. What annoys me is that they charge a high price for business but can't offer a good beer. Air NZ serves better beer (and more choices) in domestic economy than trans tasman business.

 

[openseat]

On a flight a few days ago from Perth to Brisbane (VA469) the cabin supervisor (?) provided what I considered to be one of the better experiences of service on a domestic flight. In fact I recall having a lot of great flights on this leg with VA in J. Anyway - we were given a choice to have the meal as a lunch straight after takeoff, or as a dinner about an hour before arrival. I chose the latter. He put together a little snack pack with a drink in the meantime for those who chose to eat later. He also kept the drinks flowing in the cabin, apart from when he took a break mid way through the flight. A really excellent flight even though it was only the 737. We also had some great views of the bight and the cliffs on the Nullarbor out of the left hand side.
I had the chicken in the pita bread - which turned out to be quite good. The ante-pasta was very tasty as well. The carrot cake was moist, though not really my favourite - I would have liked a (real) cheese plate with the nice shiraz, but you can't have it all.

 

[Ade]

Getting caught up on price brackets can be fraught with danger as there are some absolutely terrible wines that come with higher price tags

Slightly OT, I tasted an Argentinian Grenache (or Gamay Noir, not sure) from ALDI for $10 and it was as tasty as a $40 bottle from other shops.

 

[Ade]

In general I find the wine selection perfectly fine on virgin, but usually the Qantas wine is of higher quality (after much research ).

I find this to be true with the wine cases that I ordered off QF Wines & VA Wines. I tried a few bottles of Cab Sav, Pinot Noir & Sav. Blanc from QF and VA and I found the QF ones to be more mature/palatable ... the VA ones were a bit too strong/tart for my liking ...

 

[chooms]

Corn fritter with mushroom and spinach for a breakky flight out of Brisbane week or so ago.

 

[Ade]

Cabin supervisor said it was a non-catered flight.

Are there even such flights in QF or VA or any full services (supposedly) airline?

I thought even the LCC ones have buy on board ... so technically catered, but needs to be purchased

 

[Ade]

Tandoori chicken burger

In VA, from what I saw on this thread, for vego, the mains options are the Halloumi or cauli salad or gnocchi with broccolini ...

I really wish airlines did a veg burger or a falafel burger or wrap for once .. I'd pay to fly that service .. veg burger with chips ... like the ones you get in Grill'd or some cafe place with a veggie burger ...

 

[sudoer]

What annoys me is that they charge a high price for business but can't offer a good beer.

I guess the problem is that "good beer" is such a subjective term.

I'd love to see one of the airlines pick up a solid hazy pale or NEIPA from an independent brewer, and offer it alongside whatever cough lager they want to appease the masses, but I just don't think the demand is there for it in the J cabin.

VA is miles ahead with Wayfarer so far, sadly the most interesting beer QF has served is their recent Centenary Lager which just seems to be a rebadged JS Shackles.

The unfortunate reality is that your older C-suite travellers (who NP probably has top of mind when deciding J class F&B) would probably prefer a Crown over anything else, or those with some tastebuds are probably going for the wine because that's what they're more familiar with...

I visit the Newstead tap room frequently

My local bottleshop (in Sydney) ordered a keg of Jungle and canned it themselves - went down a treat!

 

[henrus]

I guess the problem is that "good beer" is such a subjective term.

I'd love to see one of the airlines pick up a solid hazy pale or NEIPA from an independent brewer, and offer it alongside whatever cough lager they want to appease the masses, but I just don't think the demand is there for it in the J cabin.

VA is miles ahead with Wayfarer so far, sadly the most interesting beer QF has served is their recent Centenary Lager which just seems to be a rebadged JS Shackles.

The unfortunate reality is that your older C-suite travellers (who NP probably has top of mind when deciding J class F&B) would probably prefer a Crown over anything else, or those with some tastebuds are probably going for the wine because that's what they're more familiar with...

100% agree with everything you've said. Anything from an independent brewery would be nice, yes I know Green Beacon is no longer independent but it's better than 150 lashes or Heinkenen which are the only two options I've received on QF J/Y recently. Even just a choice of IPA, Pale Ale and Larger would be nice.

I know domestic J wines aren't that fancy but it baffles me that on some airlines in J/F they spend $$$ on bottles of wine but the best beer offering is a Heineken or Tiger (looking at you SQ/EK). USA-based airlines seem to be the best with at least one IPA on most J cabin menus.

A few weeks ago I flew Air New Zealand BNE-AKL-CHC. It confused me when they had just Steinlager for the business class BNE-AKL cabin but on the AKL-CHC Economy Koru Hour they had about four types of beer including pale ales, IPA's and some more Steinlager. No idea why the shorter economy flight had better beer than the business cabin but I won't complain.