24/04/24 | VA551 | SYD to PER
Up bright and early for the 7:15am departure to Perth. The lounge was very quiet at this early hour which was pleasant, I also got to use the premium entry which is a bit of a rarity for me! Great views of the early morning airport activity from the lounge with the 6am EK415 just about to lift off to DXB.
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Boarding commenced a few minutes early at 6:42am. CM David introduced himself to each passenger, let us know the estimated flying time of 4hr 52min and offered a choice of beverage. I went with a juice but he was offering juice, still water, sparkling water or sparkling wine. Nice to have all the options especially on a transcon flight.
Took off on schedule, eventually at 31,000ft the seatbelt sign went off and meal orders were taken in the order 2AC, 2DF, 1DF, 1AC (they were served however in the traditional order). Options were scrambled eggs with cheese and bacon on sourdough or a coconut chia bowl with fresh fruits and fruit compote. I chose the scrambled eggs and a mimosa, as well as sparkling water and a coffee. I think everyone was able to get their first choice.
David brought out the first round of drinks whilst the meals were being prepared.
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Soon breakfast was brought out. Both options were served with coconut yoghurt and a lemon and orange cake.
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Enjoyed all aspects of the meal, the yoghurt was nice and refreshing, the scrambled eggs with cheese and bacon mixed in was great and the cake was a nice sweet note to finish on.
After breakfast I was offered more coffee and another mimosa, didn't need any more coffee but couldn't refuse the mimosa!
A bit later in the flight a tray of snacks was brought around including Natural Chip Co chips, Byron Bay cookies, Tim Tams and Santos nuts. The tray was then left self-serve in the galley alongside some bottles of water. I grabbed some chips and cookies.
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Had a big day of drinking ahead of me in Perth so after the second mimosa I swapped to a Coke Zero.
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Service on the flight, not just from the CM but from the entire crew was exceptional. Really friendly and attentive, when I finished my Coke Zero another one showed up without even asking! Best crew I've had in a long time and all seemed to be enjoying themselves.
The aircraft (VH-YFF) was fitted with Wi-Fi which was super fast, for some reason it stopped working over the Great Australian Bight and I thought perhaps it was due to being on a more southerly flightpath than usual but I eventually figured out it had kicked me out and I had to log back in again. Perhaps it is on a timer or something, just something to keep in mind if you encounter the same!
Bottled water was handed out prior to descent to take with us for the onward journey.
Overall a fantastic flight, one of my best on VA in quite a while with a fantastic crew, excellent food/drink options and a smooth departure/arrival experience.
My flight home was in Y and indeed an announcement was made that a limited number of hot meals were available with the choices being sweet and sour chicken or pumpkin ravioli with basil pesto. I had already had a great lunch in the PER lounge (the Thai chicken soup was incredible and also got some party pies and sausage rolls just before boarding) but thought I would give this onboard meal purchase a go just for the experience. And what an experience it was!
Ordered and paid, then waited. Like an hour later there was still no sign of the meal. Eventually one of the FAs came by and advised that the packaging on the meal was defective, however they had a spare crew meal which they were happy to serve, which was also a chicken and rice dish. The crew meal showed up maybe fifteen or so minutes later, to make up for the trouble they even gave me some free cheese and crackers, which I appreciated.
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Food itself was nothing spectacular, I was happy to give it a go but think I will stick with eating in the lounge in future
Unfortunately it was one of the ex-Silk Air planes with no Wi-Fi, no moving map and atrocious TV/movie options, so I kept myself busy admiring the views out the window.
Service even in Y on this flight was good, multiple water runs were done and it's not their fault the meal loaded was defective, although it would have been nice to have been told a bit earlier about the meal issues they ultimately did a good job with the service recovery. Hopefully a one-off but if it is more common it should be raised with the PER caterers. Kudos to Ben and Beth in the Y cabin for making it an enjoyable trip home.
. I know that's somewhat par for the course on golden triangle flights these days, but it's still unfortunate.
