Visit to Perth: QF vs VA new business suite comparison

[subichow]

Really? I thought VA's IFE was cough, unless I was missing stuff?

I also found VA IFE a little short on options. There wasn't much I really wanted to watch, which is not good as I'm flying Sydney to Perth again next week and fear I'll have nothing to watch for 4-5 hours :S Luckily I'll be coming back on Qantas so I'll have some fresh options there!

One thing I did notice with the VA seat was that I found the table made leg room a little tight while sleeping (when stowed away at the top obviously). I couldn't easily turn around side to side with knees bent and it just felt a little small around the knee/leg area.

 

[Bindibuys]

I have just booked QF Syd/Per/Syd for the gathering in November. Also have seat 4K reserved both ways. So thank you for the video.

 

[a330j]

Really? I thought VA's IFE was cough, unless I was missing stuff? Admittedly I rarely fly with them so I was unfamiliar with it, but I'm a young male so am reasonably tech-savvy.
I thought that QF's seats felt softer, but VAs were also quite good.

I certainly agree re: priority boarding. I was looking back at my video and I'm not actually sure which lane I was in! I may have actually made it up!!??

Edit: oh, and did you find VA's table a bit cheap and brittle? It didn't have the solid feel of QFs swing-out table.

Yes I agree the table was a bit cheap and brittle compared to QF. A bit like economy really where the tray folds over on itself. Re the IFE, VA just had a lot more to offer than QF. Who knows maybe VA have upgraded its content. QF only had about 10 movies to select from but VA had much more - although I didn't count. Certainly I found QFs easier to get around. Both were nice big screens. I went for a walk through economy on both and screens on both were tiny.

Like I said, I'm not big on detail so for me both seating units (for want of a better term) were very similar with the odd difference about where to plug things in or how to operate the seat and the "offset" seating in QF where the seats are not directly against the window or behind each other. QF also had a lap sash seatbelt which I had never struck before on a plane but which I thought was a good idea.

For me the most noticeable/memorable? differences were the quality of the food and the FAs, both I thought VA was better.

 

[PaulST]

I have just booked QF Syd/Per/Syd for the gathering in November. Also have seat 4K reserved both ways. So thank you for the video.

Enjoy! It's a nice seat as you get a view and some privacy from the aisle.

 

[PaulST]

Yes I agree the table was a bit cheap and brittle compared to QF. A bit like economy really where the tray folds over on itself. Re the IFE, VA just had a lot more to offer than QF. Who knows maybe VA have upgraded its content. QF only had about 10 movies to select from but VA had much more - although I didn't count. Certainly I found QFs easier to get around. Both were nice big screens. I went for a walk through economy on both and screens on both were tiny.
.

There were definitely more than 10 movies so you must have been looking in the wrong place (which is QF's software designers fault for not making it more user friendly). Maybe there were just 10 in the premier category?
I flew both flights in early Jan.

 

[a330j]

More than likely. It would never occur to me that when you select movies on the IFE it would be further split into premier and the rest. I guess if that is the case I didn't look hard enough or maybe I saw it and it didn't register. Next time I will see if the FAs have time to guide me through all the ins and out of the IFE.

 

[PaulST]

More than likely. It would never occur to me that when you select movies on the IFE it would be further split into premier and the rest. I guess if that is the case I didn't look hard enough or maybe I saw it and it didn't register. Next time I will see if the FAs have time to guide me through all the ins and out of the IFE.

I did notice that the FA's on the VA flight asked every J pax if it was their first flight in the new suite and proceeded to show them around if it was. It was a nice touch, I thought, since there's a lot of hidden storage compartments.

 

[UpInTheAir:)]

Just to refresh.. VA J suite is great..
I've flown virgin a lot in the last 4 weeks and the entertainment still entertains me even to the US and back I still find things to watch

 

[LadyC]

Thanks for the review PaulST. Was helpful in working out what to expect on the Virgin J product. Flew MEL-PER this morning with virgin and was very impressed with the suite and the service.

 

[PaulST]

Thanks for the review PaulST. Was helpful in working out what to expect on the Virgin J product. Flew MEL-PER this morning with virgin and was very impressed with the suite and the service.

You're welcome. I believe that this same business suite is going into the VA 777-300ERs that cross the pacific to the US so, when compared with the QF option on the same route (SB2, and sometimes even SB1s!), it's significantly better!

 

[UpInTheAir:)]

I miss VA
My QF J to PER this morning..

 

[UpInTheAir:)]

Back on the purple side of the island
Sarah is my new best friend

Having said that I had a QF Suite on the way over and it was also very nice