Virgin to Qantas Comparison

[twinaisle]

Certainly with the brand revamp, a different type of customer is being attracted to Virgin these days which appears to be a little less…. ‘Refined’ to put it politely. I’m sorry you have to try and pick up after them.

I have also noticed how dirty the Virgin planes are at the moment so your explanation helps explain why…

I'm glad I'm able to put it into perspective for some as to why the aircraft maybe a little bit more untidy than usual.

We try to clean as best as we can but at times we hustle it to prioritise boarding, to minimise delays especially when we don't want to run out of hours!

Would be great if pax would hurry and board especially when the flight is already delayed though

 

[pauly7]

I'm glad I'm able to put it into perspective for some as to why the aircraft maybe a little bit more untidy than usual.

We try to clean as best as we can but at times we hustle it to prioritise boarding, to minimise delays especially when we don't want to run out of hours!

Would be great if pax would hurry and board especially when the flight is already delayed though

Doesn’t sound like the front line workers are being set up to succeed by the Virgin ivory tower kings and queens that’s for sure.

 

[Must...Fly!]

I think we all know why turn times are tight and costs are being kept minimal...

They are both as bad as each other.

Virgin informed me of 1h10m delay to my evening flight earlier in the morning.

Come to airport 90 minutes early to find a further delay now totalling 1h40m. Did they not deem the further delay worthy of mention.

Oh and the boarding pass has a boarding time of 4:55pm which is after I checked in.

Difference here is your first delay would have been a committed delay hence the communication, your flight was not going to leave earlier than that.

The boarding time on the BP is a sabre limitation iirc.

 

[twinaisle]

Turn times are minimal also due to our working hours that got extended. 4 sector days are made with minimal turns so we can be more productive

 

[RooFlyer]

Soz - we have to clean it. We're faced with unrealistic turn times and when delays hit it reduces the turn time even more. Sometimes it's better so say "f it" quick clean to get the AC out on time.

Well, if its any comfort, I'm a recent QF (15 years Plat) --> VA convert (Plat very soon) and I haven't had any issues with VA aircraft presentation or cleanliness Hasn't crossed my mind. I think there are some Qantas diehards here who may be being a little harsh .

 

[JohnK]

Difference here is your first delay would have been a committed delay hence the communication, your flight was not going to leave earlier than that.

The boarding time on the BP is a sabre limitation iirc.

Ended up with more than 2 hour delay. There were at least 3 other flights cancelled.

Not blaming the crew. There was mention the aircraft was delayed in the morning and got worse throughout the day.

Surely that's an issue management needs to address? There are multiple carriers out there and people are booking multiple trips. Can't keep leaving 5-6 hours between connections hoping airlines don't stuff up the connection.

 

[twinaisle]

Ended up with more than 2 hour delay. There were at least 3 other flights cancelled.

Not blaming the crew. There was mention the aircraft was delayed in the morning and got worse throughout the day.

Surely that's an issue management needs to address? There are multiple carriers out there and people are booking multiple trips. Can't keep leaving 5-6 hours between connections hoping airlines don't stuff up the connection.

Once there are delays to aircraft it's very rare that another aircraft would get displaced to recover something else as it's too much of a cluster f to do.

There's literally no spare aircrafts or staff in operations to pull it off as it creates a lot of work.

 

[tdimdad]

Sitting in the BNE lounge yesterday and enjoying my breakfast solidified my move to what some others here seem to be doing: VA for domestic and OneWorld for international.

Many basics for a status pax just simply work with VA much better than with QF: priority boarding, priority baggage, and meal offerings in the lounges. If they also had the priority security available, it'd round up this nicely.

The last time I flew QF domestic was July 2022, QF int'l in December 2022. Comparing the meals in the VAd lounges to what they were in the "Qantas Pubs" (QP) last year, VA has put a lot more thought and effort into them. They may still be simple even with a dietary requirement I can get a lot more substantial meal out of them. Yesterday morning was the first time in years I had a toastie - just because they had a GF version available. That would have been unheard of in QP's... Also, the hot meals work a lot better, in general. In fact, I can rely on getting to eat something in the VA lounges, unlike the QP's and their flights which are completely a hit and miss (or, at least, used to be).

It's the small things making your travel easier and more pleasant that count if the schedules and prices are close enough to each other. QF has become a necessary evil just to maintain the OW status for my overseas trips (my usual destinations are better serviced by OW than others).

 

[Digicola]

Even with VAs recent… unfriendlier measures such as price increases (more in line with QF than with JQ these days) they do tick many boxes.

I maintain OWE status because I’m working towards lifetime membership and because F lounges are a real treat. If VA gave me an incentive to go past 800 SC I’d direct more international spending their way. Depending on what the NH partnership looks like I’d be mostly satisfied with VAs virtual network. For years a huge problem for me has been the substantial backtracking going through SIN to Korea and Japan (China being offset by the sheer number of destinations available).

But I get you, on domestic flights they’ve been quite reliable and they got my trust and business back when almost 2 years after bankruptcy I called them up and they refunded me my ticket on the HND inaugural as a future travel credit, absolutely no questions asked.

They’re still missing a few comfort factors such as more wifi availability and a better PER product but I can live without that for now.