Virgin Australia Business Class - Meals, Menus & Service

[TMP]

This is the “skinless chicken sausage” I had a while back in the VA lounge MEL. It was sort of an oatmeal thing!

Oh the devil, the devil!

 

[BNEFlyer]

BNE - DRW
PDB - water only
Pre- lunch drink and snacks offered.
Lunch served at about 11.30am.
Choices were the chicken parmigiana or spinach and ricotta ravioli. I opted for the ravioli. It was okay but sadly very bland and also hadn’t been heated enough.
One top up of wine when the lunch tray was cleared. After that the crew disappeared. No pantry offers

View attachment 338828

That's worth a complaint/feedback.

 

[dk4]

That's worth a complaint/feedback.

...and, also a compliment. IME a separate service of drinks and snacks prior to the meal service is not standard for a Darwin flight. I personally love it when the CM does a pre-meal drink on longer flights (like Qantas) but they don't have to do it! (And, when they do, they also complete it so much quicker than Qantas, because they don't have to set up and slug a drinks cart down the aisle.)

Also, just nit-picking, but the OP did get an offer from the pantry! Any snack served with the non-standard pre-meal drink service would have been a pantry snack (unless the CM served the cheese and crackers early as the drink snack, which I have seen done before).

And, finally, I don't think pantry has to be offered by the CM, some do this is an added bonus, but it is always available IF YOU ASK (although, a disappearing CM (presumably to eat their meal, rather than emergency), without one of the other FAs heading to the front to baby-sit for them, is definitely a valid complaint IMO, as is no juice/wine offer pre-departure, if the CM didn't note lack of time, or missing item).

One of the CMs/FAs might chime in with more info though....

Please don't kill the personalised variability of up-service VA offers, or we will get stuck with the robots from Qantas... the "computer says no" company! And drones that do the bare minimum.

 

[MEL_Traveller]

The only thing IMO setting VA apart is the PDB. It’s a major thing though.

For inflight meals and service QF really has the edge, and a pretty big edge. Bread with your meal. Personalised interaction with the crew during service. Added touches such as garnishes completed table-side.

 

[jase05]

Personalised interaction with the crew during service.

I must be extremely fortunate because I find it the complete opposite.
I reckon 8/10 flights with VA the crew is attentive and fantastic whereas QF I can only say the same on probably 6/10 flights. The VA staff can occasionally seem disinterested but I’ve rarely seen them be downright rude like you can get on QF

 

[BRIS_VA_HAWK]

Oh that thing is absolutely disgusting. Haven't seen it for a while thank god.

If they're fresh, I've found them to be reasonable. Paired with baked beans they go alright as well.

 

[MEL_Traveller]

I must be extremely fortunate because I find it the complete opposite.
I reckon 8/10 flights with VA the crew is attentive and fantastic whereas QF I can only say the same on probably 6/10 flights. The VA staff can occasionally seem disinterested but I’ve rarely seen them be downright rude like you can get on QF

It’s the service element …. are you going to have a dressing on the salad, or some chutney with the breakfast offering, etc. With VA the only interaction really is the time they take your order.

I rarely get offered a drink top up on VA. QF much more common.

In economy the QF crews are good, generous with their food offerings (routinely offering spare serves) and a second bottle of wine.

 

[jase05]

I rarely get offered a drink top up on VA. QF much more common.

Definitely the opposite to what I’ve found which is unfortunate. Most flights my drinks don’t even get to quarter full before being offered a top up and pantry nearly always gets offered and sometimes even multiple times.
Had numerous PDB top ups whilst waiting on the tarmac occasionally

 

[dk4]

I rarely get offered a drink top up on VA. QF much more common.

I am the opposite as well. MEL_Traveller do you drink wine with you meal?

IME Qantas CSMs are on autopilot for wine refills during their service, but I drink spirits, and am most often forgotten for refills on QF... but I definitely get spirit refills on Virgin. (But I do sometimes ask, though generally I get offered before I ask... but I time my 2nd refill request with the tray being removed, then mostly the CM remembers that I am still drinking post-meal and checks back again later too. Whereas at QF they just normally forget, because they are protocol driven, which means; wine, then tea/coffee, then they disappear.)

 

[MEL_Traveller]

I am the opposite as well. MEL_Traveller do you drink wine with you meal?

IME Qantas CSMs are on autopilot for wine refills during their service, but I drink spirits, and am most often forgotten for refills on QF... but I definitely get spirit refills on Virgin. (But I do sometimes ask, though generally I get offered before I ask... but I time my 2nd refill request with the tray being removed, then mostly the CM remembers that I am still drinking post-meal and checks back again later too. Whereas at QF they just normally forget, because they are protocol driven, which means; wine, then tea/coffee, then they disappear.)

It might be the time I fly? Invariably my flight is crewed by those finishing a long day, or long two or three day rotation. They are usually more concerned about going home, or ‘this being our last flight’, or ‘let’s get this last flight out of the way’ and multiple variations of that.

Water top-ups occur on about half my flights. Wine top-ups slightly less. Sparkling… offered to me maybe twice this year?

 

[MattA]

VA867 MEL-SYD this evening. Not in J, but it was one of the ex Silk Air birds sans divider so I could hear everything that was going on up there from row 3.

Turns out we were not only sans divider, but also sans J catering.

Before takeoff, CSM did the rounds of all 8 J PAX asking if they had been advised that catering was not assured on this flight today, then handing them a business card and asking them to scan a QR code and submit a complaint to be compensated. She sounded genuinely frustrated (more so than the pax to be honest—someone said it was fine and she told them “no, you’ve paid for J, please ask the company why you’ve received no catering and you will be compensated.”)

On an unrelated note, while the lack of a divider might be a downgrade for J, how good is row 3 on these birds? Legroom for miles!

 

[MEL_Traveller]

VA867 MEL-SYD this evening. Not in J, but it was one of the ex Silk Air birds sans divider so I could hear everything that was going on up there from row 3.

Turns out we were not only sans divider, but also sans J catering.

Before takeoff, CSM did the rounds of all 8 J PAX asking if they had been advised that catering was not assured on this flight today, then handing them a business card and asking them to scan a QR code and submit a complaint to be compensated. She sounded genuinely frustrated (more so than the pax to be honest—someone said it was fine and she told them “no, you’ve paid for J, please ask the company why you’ve received no catering and you will be compensated.”)

On an unrelated note, while the lack of a divider might be a downgrade for J, how good is row 3 on these birds? Legroom for miles!

Ha! Good luck with the complaint! My complaints about no IFE on 4/8 flights in a row got a ‘IFE is complimentary, and not guaranteed on all aircraft or routes’, so… we don’t owe you anything.

Lucky you departed and arrived in time, Yesterday’s 867 left 1hr25 late!

 

[MattA]

Ha! Good luck with the complaint! My complaints about no IFE on 4/8 flights in a row got a ‘IFE is complimentary, and not guaranteed on all aircraft or routes’, so… we don’t owe you anything.

As I say, I was in row 3 on this occasion so I was perfectly happy. Just an interested observer of events up the pointy end on this occasion…

 

[dandandan]

Conversely, the chicken sandwich is the one I get all the time on that route. The bottom is soaked in oil by the time it is served (which is probably why it tastes so good), so I have to turn it over, to pick it up and eat it (I refuse to use a knife and fork to eat a sandwich ).

The thing is, as it's coated in oil you want to use the knife and fork however the bread is too hard to cut with the knife. Any pressure applied, sees the purple trays flex inwards and then they flex back out when you take the pressure off and drinks usually spill!. Had this meal on J ADL-SYD today.

Similar experience SYD-ADL J yesterday, when some eggs were served on Turkish bread however you can barely slice the bread because of those purple plastic trays which are warped and make the meal go everywhere.

On both these J flights and I reckon say 8 of the last 10, if a wine or cup of tea was ordered with a meal no water was also offered. Offers of wine fills ups are rare and the offer to hang a jacket is almost non existent these days. Some polish is needed I think.

 

[MEL_Traveller]

The thing is, as it's coated in oil you want to use the knife and fork however the bread is too hard to cut with the knife. Any pressure applied, sees the purple trays flex inwards and then they flex back out when you take the pressure off and drinks usually spill!. Had this meal on J ADL-SYD today.

Similar experience SYD-ADL J yesterday, when some eggs were served on Turkish bread however you can barely slice the bread because of those purple plastic trays which are warped and make the meal go everywhere.

On both these J flights and I reckon say 8 of the last 10, if a wine or cup of tea was ordered with a meal no water was also offered. Offers of wine fills ups are rare and the offer to hang a jacket is almost non existent these days. Some polish is needed I think.

Yeah. Learned that in my first VA flight! I out the drink in the centre console now

As I say, I was in row 3 on this occasion so I was perfectly happy. Just an interested observer of events up the pointy end on this occasion…

Got that! I was observing from afar! I don’t think they’ll get much, if anything. Other than a ‘we’re sorry to hear we didn’t meet your expectations’… as if it’s the passenger with unreasonable expectations.

 

[VA777]

It’s the service element …. are you going to have a dressing on the salad, or some chutney with the breakfast offering, etc. With VA the only interaction really is the time they take your order.

I rarely get offered a drink top up on VA. QF much more common.

In economy the QF crews are good, generous with their food offerings (routinely offering spare serves) and a second bottle of wine.

My flight on VA from Perth to Sydney last week was excellent. I have learnt there is usually one meal that is Gluten Free and I advise the FSM when they do their meet and greet and pre-take off drink.

I received the meal of my choice (both were gluten-free!), and she was regularly coming around topping up water and drinks and asking if I wanted anything else, such as tea, which I did.

I was impressed that on my tray were a couple of little GF snacks to replace the dessert, which I greatly appreciated.

 

[keepitcivil]

My flight on VA from Perth to Sydney last week was excellent. I have learnt there is usually one meal that is Gluten Free and I advise the FSM when they do their meet and greet and pre-take off drink.

I received the meal of my choice (both were gluten-free!), and she was regularly coming around topping up water and drinks and asking if I wanted anything else, such as tea, which I did.

I was impressed that on my tray were a couple of little GF snacks to replace the dessert, which I greatly appreciated.

Glad to hear that. I have always wanted to take my partner (who is a Coeliac) with me on a J flight as she's only ever flown Y before, but feared there was little point if she couldn't have a meal. I've heard it's hit-and-miss though about how much GF they can provide, varies flight to flight?

 

[Gladstone Tim]

Glad to hear that. I have always wanted to take my partner (who is a Coeliac) with me on a J flight as she's only ever flown Y before, but feared there was little point if she couldn't have a meal. I've heard it's hit-and-miss though about how much GF they can provide, varies flight to flight?

I wouldn’t count on anythig being available, keepitcivil. My wife is coeliac and the best she has received in J on VA was a bag of chips, but presented in a bowl, and a prepackaged biscuit. It’s a bit lame that J pax can’t prearrange GF meals.

 

[AustraliaPoochie]

Glad to hear that. I have always wanted to take my partner (who is a Coeliac) with me on a J flight as she's only ever flown Y before, but feared there was little point if she couldn't have a meal. I've heard it's hit-and-miss though about how much GF they can provide, varies flight to flight?

Just bring along food she can eat.
Bring her along for the "seating at the point end" bit.
Even if she does not eat a lot or drink a lot in the lounge, at the least, she should get some place to sit and be away from the "plebs", seen the combo T3 and T4 of MEL lately?
Shocking, its now like a big huge shopping Westfield Scentre mall.
Ick.
===
Oh, for some airports, flying J get priority sec processing.
But for MEL T4, they seem to want everyone to be plebs, couldn't see a priority line at the combo T3/T4 new fangled int security similar hands akimbo system screening.
Sorry for the "angst", not happy MEL airport!

 

[dk4]

...My wife is coeliac and the best she has received in J on VA was a bag of chips, but presented in a bowl, and a prepackaged biscuit.

The gluten free cookie was part of the previous pantry: when pantry went through its last menu refresh, the cookie was swapped out for a kitkat... so I don't think there are any dedicated gluten free items in the pantry at the moment?