Virgin Australia Business Class - Meals, Menus & Service

[clipped_wings]

This question has probably been asked Ad Nauseam: has anyone ever asked a FA whether they could keep those adorable salt & pepper shakers from J long haul? I have absolutely no shame and will doing this, husband is mortified but prepared to say he doesn't know me........

The worst they can say is "no", isn't it?

 

[Marty_]

Yeah. You can do it and they sometimes oblige.

 

[MarkD]

BNE-PER 19/6/16. 7 pax in cabin, service awesome. Food really good. Will do a TR up tomorrow on this and SQ.

WOULD PUT UP SOME PICS OF MEL-BNE on 22/6 but there was a brief " we've got this spinach thingy or some muesli if you want it, if not do you want a coffee. Coffee arrived about 15 mins later and FA's then hid behind curtain for next hour and a half. Could hear them chatting away laughing loudly and pigging out on presumably j meals that nobody took. Virgin is so hot/cold Im thinking its not worth the potential disappointment when they are ****house. Maybe they need some random mystery shoppers onboard to keep these some of hese lazy FAs in touch.. More than happy to do that job

 

[Deleted member 29185]

service awesome. Food really good

Excellent post MarkD! I also think you've hit the nail on the head. VA seem to be making transcon their line of defence....at the sacrifice of all other J routes. The bit I really cannot for the life of me understand, is why sacrifice anything? They pay the staff regardless so why not make the cabin supervisors earn their pay and push them to be a supervisor rather than a mate of the crew (the two are not mutually exclusive BTW).

VA don't need mystery shoppers, they just need to listen to feedback and act on it, rather than bin it like they seem to. I couldn't be bothered wasting my time giving feedback, as I know it's not wanted nor read. Take the VFF interaction here on AFF. Previous VFFers engaged quite well, but in recent years it's been more miss than hit. I can't believe that VA spent so much cash (that they didn't have to spend) to get within sight of the finish line, only to give up so abysmally. ALL J should be receiving the type of service and food that you received on your transcon, end of story. (IMHO)

 

[clipped_wings]

They pay the staff regardless so why not make the cabin supervisors earn their pay and push them to be a supervisor rather than a mate of the crew (the two are not mutually exclusive BTW)

Excellent observation swanning_it

A very wise employer, who had promoted me to supervisor - called me into his office to give me the good news. I was elated obviously, but he offered this stern warning: "You have a job to do. These people need leadership. You are not here to be liked".

Harsh conditions, yes - but it is the way business works. We need that hierarchy to maintain equilibrium and someone has to be the boss.

Sounds like VA cabin crew need a refresher in the role that each of them has to play.

 

[Mattg]

VA523 SYD-OOL
Yesterday's 13:10 departure

The lunch choices were a spinach & feta quiche or a chicken salad. I had the salad, which was tasty although I thought the serving size was perhaps a bit small. The side dish was peas with cottage cheese, mint & onion (I think).



No sparkling wine, but I was offered a choice of chardonnay or "cab sav" as the red option. I believe it was the same wine as in the lounge.

After lunch I asked for something from the pantry menu and it was promptly delivered to my seat in a bowl. It was not proactively offered; I had to specifically ask for it.



J had 3/8 seats occupied and the service from cabin supervisor Mathew was attentive. He ensured my drinks were kept topped up throughout the flight.

 

[bigd]

VA 719 ADL-PER
30/06/16
E190
Load 4/6

Lunch service

2 choices
Some soup (didn't hear what it was sorry!)

Or

Lamb shanks which everyone on board got.

Its was served with a raspberry laminton for desert.

Was a really nice meal.

 

[Marty_]

Interested to see the comments about transcon. I have noticed on some east coast flights that there is a drop in staff morale and professionalism. Both used to be so good that it was noteworthy. Now they are decidedly average, on the whole. Did SYD > PER and PER > MEL this week, however, and everything was absolutely top notch. Also reminded that The Business is a great product.

 

[Justinf]

mel-adl 12.05pm. Lamb shanks with gnocchi, honey carrrot and ricotta salad and strawberry lamington. One of the better j meals I have had ages.

 

[QF WP]

Don't forget the green olives. I am almost salivating like Pavlov's dog here looking at those two pictures of lamb shanks . Although cottage cheese is pretty low on my list of things to eat...could have to do with the consistency, smell and taste...

 

[Eggsbenedict]

Breakfast on a recent MEL-HBA Onion tart and smoked salmon with creamed eggs. I had the tart which was really nice and partner had the salmon who said it was delicious. Mango yogurt and strawberry lamington on the side.





Service was great. Closest service to trans-con I have received in ages.

 

[webslave]

Did MEL > PER last Friday night in J. 6-7 people in the J cabin in total. Main meal options were red duck curry, some sort of cod dish, and feta pie. My wife and my colleague both ordered the duck as did I and my colleague and I were later told they didn't have enough and one of us would have to change. Not sure why they picked on us; my wife and I were travelling on WP upgrades (I have status, my wife doesn't), and my colleague was a points upgrade from Y and is SG.

Service was slow when it was there, and hiding behind the curtain for the vast majority of the time. So haphazard in fact that they didn't get around to clearing away the glass from my beverage before landing and then yelling at me from the galley during the landing to put it away somewhere (I ended up holding it in my hands because there was a bit of chop heading into Perth). Probably the worst I've had in trans-con J.

 

[Marty_]

^^ That's really bad. I did PER > MEL 2 weeks ago and it was all good.

Also did SYD > LAX yesterday and have to say it was perfect. Almost too perfect. The FA's work extremely hard on this flight - they must be totally done in after 13 hours. The only error was that my FA failed to introduce himself to me (though he took my jacket and gave me an orange juice) - an error which later dawned on him and he was most apologetic. Otherwise I just couldn't fault the utmost perfectionism. The food was really good (beetroot salad, beef with mash, cheese plate; breakfast was an omelette with the usual extras). Lots of offers of additional food and drinks, and offered to make up my bed and pack it away when it looked timely without my prompting. The flight was totally full and I can see why if they keep this up.

I do wonder whether sometimes people are too sensitive. If I was travelling on an upgrade, I would have been prone to interpret his non-introduction as a snub, but as I was full-fare paying, I knew it was an oversight. His later apology confirmed it.

 

[blackcat20]

^^ That's really bad. I did PER > MEL 2 weeks ago and it was all good.

Also did SYD > LAX yesterday and have to say it was perfect. Almost too perfect. The FA's work extremely hard on this flight - they must be totally done in after 13 hours. The only error was that my FA failed to introduce himself to me (though he took my jacket and gave me an orange juice) - an error which later dawned on him and he was most apologetic. Otherwise I just couldn't fault the utmost perfectionism. The food was really good (beetroot salad, beef with mash, cheese plate; breakfast was an omelette with the usual extras). Lots of offers of additional food and drinks, and offered to make up my bed and pack it away when it looked timely without my prompting. The flight was totally full and I can see why if they keep this up.

I do wonder whether sometimes people are too sensitive. If I was travelling on an upgrade, I would have been prone to interpret his non-introduction as a snub, but as I was full-fare paying, I knew it was an oversight. His later apology confirmed it.

The long haul crew I've had have all been sensational.

 

[Eggsbenedict]

The long haul crew I've had have all been sensational.

Just complete by 2nd SYD/BNE - LAX and I agree with this comment 100%

 

[Aussie_flyer]

Have found the same with long haul, lovely crew

 

[Warks]

Meanwhile down the back...


By the way, these are delicious!

 

[Milefest]

Meanwhile down the back...
View attachment 75266

By the way, these are delicious!

They were offered on an 8am flight a few days ago. Probably not the best time of day to cater chocolate, everyone in my row declined.

 

[Deleted member 29185]

By the way, these are delicious!

Not wanting to be a Mr "We Hate VA"........but judging by the size of the thumb in the photo, that snack is smaller than some of the crumbs I sweep off the kitchen bench after the kids breakfast is finished!

 

[Muppet501st]

VA782 today, Very nice lunch service