clipped_wings
Established Member
- Joined
- Feb 7, 2016
- Posts
- 1,109
All I can say is WOW!
Many of my friends here would know that I have spent the last 8 months or so, planning our 20th Wedding Anniversary trip to the USA. We fly here often with our 4 kids, usually packed in from row 46 back. But this time it was all the way in style - J class on the Virgin Australia 777.
Now, every year, husband and I forget our anniversary. It's just one of those things - we usually giggle at the end of the day that we really need to pay more attention. But, each year comes and goes and babing babang - we forget again. Soooo, I did the smart thing and booked our outbound flight on our anniversary. Voila! There was NO way we were gonna forget this year!
Originally, we could only afford return flights in PE. Husband was Silver status at that point, so we needed to work fast to accumulate points and SC. Churning credit card points and a few domestic flights added up real quick. In no time at all, he was SG with enough points to upgrade the two of us. Trouble was, there was no reward seat availability. After checking EVERY SINGLE DAY, I managed to find seats for the LAX-SYD leg, so we called up Velocity and secured 4D/G. Yippee!
I kept monitoring our departure date, but no reward seats appeared, so I eventually asked to waitlist for an upgrade for the SYD-LAX sector. Thus began the long and painful process of watching all those delicious seats get snapped up by paying PAX as the days counted down. Resonated the fact that PE was still going to be an exciting new experience, but magically, at T-72, we received the great news - upgrade confirmed! First thing I did was ring Velocity and grab 5D/G - last ones left in the forward J cabin.
Our departure day was surreal - we kissed the tin lids goodbye and skipped off to the airport with so much anticipation. It was extraordinary at the Business Class check in counter. The staff were gracious and almost excited for us. We were given express path cards and waltzed through security and customs. In no time at all, we were standing in front of those Hallowed Walls at the Koru Lounge. I made sure were were dressed appropriately, this was a very special day for us and I didn't want to come off as a pair of yobbos. Nor did I want to appear as stuffy snots, so our attire was smart casual - with NO THONGS PEOPLE (please don't crucify me on a new thread.......this debate has already been exhausted haha)
Anyway, we enjoyed a leisurely few hours in the Lounge before wandering down to our departure gate. I felt the boarding process was pretty organised at the Sydney end, although it was amusing to see so many business or status pax trying to board before staff opened up the gate. They kept getting politely turned away, but hovered around the front of the line regardless.
Boarding began and we were ushered through the first aerobridge - a nice touch, even thought technically, I never did get to turn left as I had always dreamed!
The new suites are just divine. Exactly as previous people have described. Our row was perfectly positioned in the front cabin and we settled in quickly. I did what any novice Biz class passenger would do. I pressed every button and opened every door. I turned the lights on. And off. And on again. I was like a small child, having the time of my life. Our FA's came past and introduced themselves. They welcomed us by name and asked if we would like something to drink. I mentioned it was our anniversary, so of course champagne was in order. Congratulations were offered all round and before we knew it, two generous glasses of 2006 Ayala were presented. After boarding was completed, it was announced that departure was delayed for a while, so the cabin crew kept the champagne flowing. It was going to be an awesome flight! Small offerings of nuts, olives and snap peas appeared before the CSM came around to introduce himself as David. What a delightful person. He ensured nothing was too much trouble and when he found out what day it was, he asked if we could meet him in the bar after dinner.
Take off was smooth and the flight was as fun as you could imagine. We settled in for a few movies, had a fabulous dinner of feta, beet and green salad, followed by beef fillet for the mains, then a cheese plate for dessert. Perfect with the shiraz.
It must be mentioned that I finally got to hold those cute Opera House salt & pepper shakers! I don't ask for much in life, but once I saw them, I wanted them. I asked our beautiful FA Chantalle, if I could purchase them. She winked and said she would see what she could do.
After dinner, true to his word - David appeared and invited us for a nightcap in the bar. It was minutes to the hour that we were married, so we joined him and seated ourselves at the uber cool Business Class Bar. He popped another bottle of bubbly and everyone cheered us at exactly 2:30pm. After some laughs and genuinely warm conversation, David allowed us to retire for the night. Our beds were made up with PJ's and amenity kits placed over our pillows. Sleep quality was ok, I was probably a little tipsy by this stage, so I reverted to water through the rest of the flight, but still woke through the night pretty dehydrated. My fault for thinking champagne has no effect at 36,000 feet.........
Breakfast was totally indulgent - cappuccino, bacon & eggs, warm crusty bread rolls etc. Watched another movie on that enormous screen and changed out of my PJ's.
Arrived at LAX feeling a little tired, but extremely happy with our experience. As we were preparing to deplane, Chantalle slipped me a little present: TWO sets of salt & pepper shakers! If that wasn't fabulous enough, David then came by and presented us with a bottle of Ayala from the flight crew as an anniversary gift! I was gobsmacked and totally teary. What a way to celebrate 20 years!
After an amazing holiday across the States, including excellent service and points allocation from Delta, it was time to head home. The *A lounge was nice, but very crowded. Lounge seats were a little hard for an extended period, but the ones inside were soft and obviously popular with the regulars. The outside deck was deserted and a little cool, so we opted for the mezzanine bar. One thing I will say - as long as there are mobile phones, there will always be obnoxious people using them. Loudly. We had a nice chap reading quietly opposite us, so we opted to refrain from too much conversation in respect that he had been there first. After he left, we settled in to read ourselves, until the peace was shattered by a woman who obviously wanted the world to know how important she was and how many boozy nights she had on her business trip. What a klutz. She finally left and (thank God) wasn't on our flight.
Boarding from LAX is a bit of a circus. There are no distinct lines and everyone is in it for themselves. We didn't care, as we knew our seats were going to be spectacular, so we kept calm and looked forward to our impending slumber. This time, however - we were smart and declined the alcohol over some serious sleep quality. And it paid off - we slept solid for over 7 hours and arrived home feeling totally refreshed. One thing to note on this flight. As I was in a D seat, my FA offered me use of the ladies only bathroom, forward on the starboard side. I had heard about this Golden Ticket for many years, but believed it to be a myth. Alaina reassured me that it was indeed, exclusive for women only, but I did see a young guy jump in whenever he wanted, so I don't know that it is regulated. The toilets were always spotless and full of potions and creams to make the flight comfortable. Loving the real hand towels!
Lucky for us, David was on this flight again. He remembered us immediately and stopped by during the flight to hear of our travels. His warmth and charm were major factors in the whole experience and I will always be grateful to him for making us feel so important.
Finally - one last but not least benefit. Priority luggage tags had ensured our bags were among the first off the carousel at Sydney. That almost NEVER happens. It was a grand way to return home and left us with nothing else to wish for.
Virgin Australia - you have helped make this holiday one of the finest. It's going to be hard going back to economy, but I think I've got it all figured out. If enjoying Business Class means less flights, less often and with less kids - then so be it. We all have to make sacrifices eh?
Seriously, all we need to do, is book the kids in Y and ask them to sit still for 14 hours or so..........
Many of my friends here would know that I have spent the last 8 months or so, planning our 20th Wedding Anniversary trip to the USA. We fly here often with our 4 kids, usually packed in from row 46 back. But this time it was all the way in style - J class on the Virgin Australia 777.
Now, every year, husband and I forget our anniversary. It's just one of those things - we usually giggle at the end of the day that we really need to pay more attention. But, each year comes and goes and babing babang - we forget again. Soooo, I did the smart thing and booked our outbound flight on our anniversary. Voila! There was NO way we were gonna forget this year!
Originally, we could only afford return flights in PE. Husband was Silver status at that point, so we needed to work fast to accumulate points and SC. Churning credit card points and a few domestic flights added up real quick. In no time at all, he was SG with enough points to upgrade the two of us. Trouble was, there was no reward seat availability. After checking EVERY SINGLE DAY, I managed to find seats for the LAX-SYD leg, so we called up Velocity and secured 4D/G. Yippee!
I kept monitoring our departure date, but no reward seats appeared, so I eventually asked to waitlist for an upgrade for the SYD-LAX sector. Thus began the long and painful process of watching all those delicious seats get snapped up by paying PAX as the days counted down. Resonated the fact that PE was still going to be an exciting new experience, but magically, at T-72, we received the great news - upgrade confirmed! First thing I did was ring Velocity and grab 5D/G - last ones left in the forward J cabin.
Our departure day was surreal - we kissed the tin lids goodbye and skipped off to the airport with so much anticipation. It was extraordinary at the Business Class check in counter. The staff were gracious and almost excited for us. We were given express path cards and waltzed through security and customs. In no time at all, we were standing in front of those Hallowed Walls at the Koru Lounge. I made sure were were dressed appropriately, this was a very special day for us and I didn't want to come off as a pair of yobbos. Nor did I want to appear as stuffy snots, so our attire was smart casual - with NO THONGS PEOPLE (please don't crucify me on a new thread.......this debate has already been exhausted haha)
Anyway, we enjoyed a leisurely few hours in the Lounge before wandering down to our departure gate. I felt the boarding process was pretty organised at the Sydney end, although it was amusing to see so many business or status pax trying to board before staff opened up the gate. They kept getting politely turned away, but hovered around the front of the line regardless.
Boarding began and we were ushered through the first aerobridge - a nice touch, even thought technically, I never did get to turn left as I had always dreamed!
The new suites are just divine. Exactly as previous people have described. Our row was perfectly positioned in the front cabin and we settled in quickly. I did what any novice Biz class passenger would do. I pressed every button and opened every door. I turned the lights on. And off. And on again. I was like a small child, having the time of my life. Our FA's came past and introduced themselves. They welcomed us by name and asked if we would like something to drink. I mentioned it was our anniversary, so of course champagne was in order. Congratulations were offered all round and before we knew it, two generous glasses of 2006 Ayala were presented. After boarding was completed, it was announced that departure was delayed for a while, so the cabin crew kept the champagne flowing. It was going to be an awesome flight! Small offerings of nuts, olives and snap peas appeared before the CSM came around to introduce himself as David. What a delightful person. He ensured nothing was too much trouble and when he found out what day it was, he asked if we could meet him in the bar after dinner.
Take off was smooth and the flight was as fun as you could imagine. We settled in for a few movies, had a fabulous dinner of feta, beet and green salad, followed by beef fillet for the mains, then a cheese plate for dessert. Perfect with the shiraz.
It must be mentioned that I finally got to hold those cute Opera House salt & pepper shakers! I don't ask for much in life, but once I saw them, I wanted them. I asked our beautiful FA Chantalle, if I could purchase them. She winked and said she would see what she could do.
After dinner, true to his word - David appeared and invited us for a nightcap in the bar. It was minutes to the hour that we were married, so we joined him and seated ourselves at the uber cool Business Class Bar. He popped another bottle of bubbly and everyone cheered us at exactly 2:30pm. After some laughs and genuinely warm conversation, David allowed us to retire for the night. Our beds were made up with PJ's and amenity kits placed over our pillows. Sleep quality was ok, I was probably a little tipsy by this stage, so I reverted to water through the rest of the flight, but still woke through the night pretty dehydrated. My fault for thinking champagne has no effect at 36,000 feet.........
Breakfast was totally indulgent - cappuccino, bacon & eggs, warm crusty bread rolls etc. Watched another movie on that enormous screen and changed out of my PJ's.
Arrived at LAX feeling a little tired, but extremely happy with our experience. As we were preparing to deplane, Chantalle slipped me a little present: TWO sets of salt & pepper shakers! If that wasn't fabulous enough, David then came by and presented us with a bottle of Ayala from the flight crew as an anniversary gift! I was gobsmacked and totally teary. What a way to celebrate 20 years!
After an amazing holiday across the States, including excellent service and points allocation from Delta, it was time to head home. The *A lounge was nice, but very crowded. Lounge seats were a little hard for an extended period, but the ones inside were soft and obviously popular with the regulars. The outside deck was deserted and a little cool, so we opted for the mezzanine bar. One thing I will say - as long as there are mobile phones, there will always be obnoxious people using them. Loudly. We had a nice chap reading quietly opposite us, so we opted to refrain from too much conversation in respect that he had been there first. After he left, we settled in to read ourselves, until the peace was shattered by a woman who obviously wanted the world to know how important she was and how many boozy nights she had on her business trip. What a klutz. She finally left and (thank God) wasn't on our flight.
Boarding from LAX is a bit of a circus. There are no distinct lines and everyone is in it for themselves. We didn't care, as we knew our seats were going to be spectacular, so we kept calm and looked forward to our impending slumber. This time, however - we were smart and declined the alcohol over some serious sleep quality. And it paid off - we slept solid for over 7 hours and arrived home feeling totally refreshed. One thing to note on this flight. As I was in a D seat, my FA offered me use of the ladies only bathroom, forward on the starboard side. I had heard about this Golden Ticket for many years, but believed it to be a myth. Alaina reassured me that it was indeed, exclusive for women only, but I did see a young guy jump in whenever he wanted, so I don't know that it is regulated. The toilets were always spotless and full of potions and creams to make the flight comfortable. Loving the real hand towels!
Lucky for us, David was on this flight again. He remembered us immediately and stopped by during the flight to hear of our travels. His warmth and charm were major factors in the whole experience and I will always be grateful to him for making us feel so important.
Finally - one last but not least benefit. Priority luggage tags had ensured our bags were among the first off the carousel at Sydney. That almost NEVER happens. It was a grand way to return home and left us with nothing else to wish for.
Virgin Australia - you have helped make this holiday one of the finest. It's going to be hard going back to economy, but I think I've got it all figured out. If enjoying Business Class means less flights, less often and with less kids - then so be it. We all have to make sacrifices eh?
Seriously, all we need to do, is book the kids in Y and ask them to sit still for 14 hours or so..........
