Virgin "Business" from Bali to brisbane

[jetlagger]

Fully agree and Virgin needs to continue ironing out the quality issues in its J class, but for people on here to claim that VA shouldn't be allowed to call it 'Business' is unfair and shows a lack of understanding of the status of 'Business Class' all around the world.

Do people really expect that all business class is of the long-haul SQ/LF/QF/EK standard?

it should never be classified as 'true" business class... It is most definitely not.. Misrepresentation... would be the closest comparison..

 

[Moopere]

Not a great experience by any means - it's important to bear in mind though that Bali is a leisure destination and as such you're unlikely to find any carrier operating their best J product there simply because there is no market for it.

Yeah, well, maybe. But if they charge appropriately for the ticket then they are surely obligated to provide the service???? Otherwise don't make J available on the route

 

[jetlagger]

Yeah, well, maybe. But if they charge appropriately for the ticket then they are surely obligated to provide the service???? Otherwise don't make J available on the route

It is often the age old adage of "Smoke & mirrors" selling technique.. airlines marketeers reek of it!

 

[pat25d]

it should never be classified as 'true" business class... It is most definitely not.. Misrepresentation... would be the closest comparison..

What is true business class? Serious question... What components does true business class have?

 

[serfty]

What is true business class? Serious question... What components does true business class have?

It depends on the markets. The airlines will provide as little as reasonably possible and call it "Business Class".

To get a good guide you need to review the competitor's offerings.

Posted on a wing and a prayer ...

 

[Deleted member]

For me
Short haul : a wide seat , good IFE, Good Food , Wine. Overall comfort

Long Haul ( holiday travel) : as above with lie flat, space to move about , It's not just about he destination , it's the journey as well,

I can't say as a regular Biz traveller as I don't fly often short haul for biz and never long haul for biz.

I want to arrive not feeling as if I have spent 14 hours in a sardine can.

 

[Fruitcake]

So... let's say I, as non-regular flyer, book a QF trans-tasman flight in J. It's an international flight, so if I go to the QF website to get an idea of what sort of product I'm getting as an international business class passenger. All I'm shown is a picture of a skybed. The fine print does tell me that it's only available on on A330s and 747s but there is not even a text description of what's offered outside of skybeds.

Do I have a right to be upset when I board and find I've purchased an international premium economy seat?

More to the point, if I posted my disappointment on this forum would I be love-bombed with consolation or I would I be told that every knows international flights to New Zealand are only of domestic standard?

 

[pat25d]

So... let's say I, as non-regular flyer, book a QF trans-tasman flight in J. It's an international flight, so if I go to the QF website to get an idea of what sort of product I'm getting as international business class passenger all I'm shown is a picture of a skybed. The fine print does tell me that it's only available on on A330s and 747s but there is not even a text description of what's offered outside of skybeds.

Do I have a right to be upset when I board and find I've purchased an international premium economy seat?

Or a 7 hour flight from PER-AKL with NZ on it's 767...

 

[mannej]

Or a 7 hour flight from PER-AKL with NZ on it's 767...

That is moving to 772 ops within the near future.

 

[Deleted member]

So... let's say I, as non-regular flyer, book a QF trans-tasman flight in J. It's an international flight, so if I go to the QF website to get an idea of what sort of product I'm getting as an international business class passenger. All I'm shown is a picture of a skybed. The fine print does tell me that it's only available on on A330s and 747s but there is not even a text description of what's offered outside of skybeds.

Do I have a right to be upset when I board and find I've purchased an international premium economy seat?

More to the point, if I posted my disappointment on this forum would I be love-bombed with consolation or I would I be told that every knows international flights to New Zealand are only of domestic standard?

Not sure I would expect a lie flat on a trans Tasman flight.
But I get your point.
However I didn't think the fine print was that fine.

 

[pat25d]

OPs main gripes:

- Hair in food: bad, but not indicative of the failure of an entire business. I would hope the CSM would have sorted this out if it was brought to their attention instead of waiting to complain on an Internet forum.
- Poor recline/no footrest: Footrest should be improved, recline is shown on VAs website and the OP had already been on a flight where he could have looked at the J seats. I don't believe VAs J recline/seats are significantly different to other regional J seats.
- lounge wifi: **** but deal with it, plenty of lounges have Internet too slow to even use (EY F lounge I'm looking at you!)
- apricot on cheese platter: WTF? Ask for something else!

 

[Fruitcake]

Not sure I would expect a lie flat on a trans Tasman flight.
But I get your point.
However I didn't think the fine print was that fine.

That's a fair point, I probably should have said footnote rather than fine print.

 

[fbrimfield]

I think the OP has gone...

 

[eastwest101]

For me
Short haul : a wide seat , good IFE, Good Food , Wine. Overall comfort

Long Haul ( holiday travel) : as above with lie flat, space to move about , It's not just about he destination , it's the journey as well,

Maybe starting with this definition - but would also add:

Am I paying at least 1.5x or maybe 2x the price $$ (or maybe points) of a typical Y ticket at the back of the same aircraft?

If the answer is yes - then the statement above is a starting point and my expectations would be similar to above: much more room, better food, drinks, more personal service, IFE and access to other benefits like lounges and more SC's and points.

 

[richie9x]

I just did this flight from DPS to BNE on the way back from Flores, although it Y rather than J. I got the lounge invite by being platinum velocity. As reported by the OP wifi access comes at an extra cost $5 for I think 4 hours. There are computer terminals that can be used for free and you can also plug in your computer to an ethernet cable for free. There is free wifi in the rest of the terminal. But for some reason wifi in the lounge costs money. It seems to be a lounge wide policy not particular to Virgin customers. A number of flag carriers also use the lounge (Cathay, Malaysian, JAL) so their customers would have the same issue as well.

The flight was quite empty in J and Y. I had 2 free seats next to me and the row behind was also empty. There were 3 passengers in J, although one looked like staff. Although I can see the OPs point in that I can't see the value in paying 3 or 4 times more just to get a slightly better meal.

 

[bigbadbyrnes]

Forgive my thread necromancy.

I am considering booking a flexi BNE-DPS and doing a points upgrade but wanted to get something clear:

I have flown on the new BSI fitted business class services domestically with Virgin a dozen times or so - new wide grey leather seats, heaps of room in the 2x2 config, etc. You know exactly what I mean.

I have flown on a Virgin flight to Dunedin on DJ74, narrow body NZ registered VA metal where the 'premium' seating (not sold as business class) is very similar to the old domestic 'premium economy', in a 3 x 3 config with the middle seat blocked.

For the services running BNE -DPS, is the hard product more like the new(ish) domestic BSI product or more like the product found on VA's NZ rego'd narrow body craft? (737-800s?)

Many thanks and safe flying,
CB

 

[yohy?!]

Forgive my thread necromancy.

I am considering booking a flexi BNE-DPS and doing a points upgrade but wanted to get something clear:

I have flown on the new BSI fitted business class services domestically with Virgin a dozen times or so - new wide grey leather seats, heaps of room in the 2x2 config, etc. You know exactly what I mean.

I have flown on a Virgin flight to Dunedin on DJ74, narrow body NZ registered VA metal where the 'premium' seating (not sold as business class) is very similar to the old domestic 'premium economy', in a 3 x 3 config with the middle seat blocked.

For the services running BNE -DPS, is the hard product more like the new(ish) domestic BSI product or more like the product found on VA's NZ rego'd narrow body craft? (737-800s?)

Many thanks and safe flying,
CB

It's the new product, the PE seats now only appear on NZ flights I believe

 

[Noob]

Forgive my thread necromancy.

I am considering booking a flexi BNE-DPS and doing a points upgrade but wanted to get something clear:

I have flown on the new BSI fitted business class services domestically with Virgin a dozen times or so - new wide grey leather seats, heaps of room in the 2x2 config, etc. You know exactly what I mean.

I have flown on a Virgin flight to Dunedin on DJ74, narrow body NZ registered VA metal where the 'premium' seating (not sold as business class) is very similar to the old domestic 'premium economy', in a 3 x 3 config with the middle seat blocked.

For the services running BNE -DPS, is the hard product more like the new(ish) domestic BSI product or more like the product found on VA's NZ rego'd narrow body craft? (737-800s?)

Many thanks and safe flying,
CB

All flights with "Business" as an option have a dedicated business class cabin (Unless the flight is operated by a E190 which are being refitted, but currently offer blocked seats effectively creating a 1-1 configuration)

All flights for BNE-DPS show up with a Business option and are operated by 737-800 aircraft, so it looks like you're good to go

 

[Saab34]

I will give you some good news. BNE-DPS is only flown with a certain block of 737's, of which are VH-YI*

Which means this route is BSI guaranteed!

 

[eastwest101]

I will give you some good news. BNE-DPS is only flown with a certain block of 737's, of which are VH-YI*

Which means this route is BSI guaranteed!

Interesting - so VA put the BSI interior aircraft on a route that only has one inferior competitor (JQ) instead of routes where they have 1,2 or even 3 other competitors? Is it something to do with the length of overwater on this flight (extra rafts) that mean that the YI* usually operate BNE-DPS?