Virgin Australia (DJ) Coast to Coast Business

[moa999]

Virgin Coast to Coast


My first DJ Coast to Coast flights in business (upgraded from flexi using the last of last year's complimentary upgrades)


DJ555 SYD - PER
A330 Old


Things started to go wrong at checkin... Maybe an omen.
I decided to use mobile checkin and pulled up my seat 3A, remainder of business full then open selections in economy. Not good and wouldn't let me checkin. Also showed 3 middle seats (old config)
Managed to do it an hour later on desktop.
Speedily through the Premium Checkin in Syd and a short time in the lounge.


Boarded out of Gate 39 and then sat on the tarmac for 5min after last passenger before doors closed. Taxied out then got a manual safety demo (interesting!).
After takeoff announced that IFE being reset... Never worked for the whole of flight for my seat, but had a vacant seat next to me so watched that. However the program (a week into November bore nor relation to that in the magazine). It was close to the Eastbound selection but not (flying west). (i hypothesized a busted tape so they swapped with last month's but still to have no information was a disappointment ).
Huge legroom on these old Emirates planes but they look a little dated already despite the reVirginisation. Also noted that Virgin are allocating the middle seats on these planes.


Champagne offered on ground and good service throughout, albeit wines on the cart not described particularly well. Printed menu was a nice touch with same one used for both east and west but selections a little weird.
On the westbound the unhealthy choice is duck entree then pork belly main (both heavy) whereas on the eastbound you could easily choose a salmon/salmon combination

I did the duck/pork belly combination and whilst good it was filling.

 

[moa999]

Westbound economy meal was Beef massaman or vegetarian pasta


Westbound Business Wines
White - Dundelion Pinot Grigio 2011; Gatt Ascent Voigner 2011
Red - Taylors Shiraz; Unknown Pinot noir
Dessert - Elderton Botrytis Semmilion
Champagne - Lanson


Printed menu


330 C7/8 15OCT12


Eastbound Breakfast (0400-0929)
Juice - Fresh orange juice
Bakery - Croissant or wholemeal roll served with a selection of preserves or Vegemite
Fruit - Seasonal fruit selection with Greek yoghurt and honey (V)
Mains - Bacon, Swiss cheese and Swiss brown mushroom tortilla wrap; Bircher muesli with macadamias and blueberries (V)
Coffee - Filter, Espresso, Cappuccino or Latte
Tea - Madame Flavoured range - Special blend black tea, earl grey twist, green tea with jasmine & pear, or mint tisane
Hot chocolate


Eastbound lunch & dinner (0930-2259)
Bakery - Your choice of warmed artisan bread
Starters - King smoked salmon with soba noodles and ponzu dressing ; Cauliflower and coughin soup with chives (V)
Mains - Arabic spiced lamb cutlets with Lemon couscous, sweet potato and chickpeas ; Atlantic Salmon fillet with roasted baby fennel, Confit capsicum and cherry tomato dressing ; Summer vegetable frittata with Catalan pepperonata and green asparagus (V)
Cheese - Tarago River Brie, Gippsland, Victoria ; Maffra Cheddar, Gippsland, Victoria ; Old Telegraph Road Baw Baw Blue, Gippsland, Victoria... Cheese accompanied by grapes, a Glace apple and crispbread
Coffee - Filter, Espresso, Cappuccino or Latte
Tea - Madame Flavoured range - Special blend black tea, earl grey twist, green tea with jasmine & pear, or mint tisane
Hot chocolate


Eastbound overnight (2300-0359)
Supper - Cauliflower and coughin soup with children chives (V); Chicken and pesto mayonnaise finger sandwiches... Both choices are accompanied by Mini chocolate eclair
Juice - Fresh orange juice
Bakery - Croissant or wholemeal roll served with a selection of preserves or Vegemite
Cereal - Bircher muesli (V)


Fruit - Seasonal fruit selection with Greek yoghurt and honey (V)
Coffee - Filter, Espresso, Cappuccino or Latte
Tea - Madame Flavoured range - Special blend black tea, earl grey twist, green tea with jasmine & pear, or mint tisane
Hot chocolate


Westbound breakfast (0400-0929)
Juice - Fresh orange juice
Bakery - Croissant or wholemeal roll served with a selection of preserves or Vegemite
Fruit - Seasonal fruit selection with Greek yoghurt and honey (V)
Mains - Breakfast bruschetta with smoky bacon, pork chipolata, sautéed mushrooms, tomato and basil compote; Orange hot-cakes with mango, passionfruit and mint (V)
Coffee - Filter, Espresso, Cappuccino or Latte
Tea - Madame Flavoured range - Special blend black tea, earl grey twist, green tea with jasmine & pear, or mint tisane
Hot chocolate


Westbound lunch & dinner flights (0930-2259)
Bakery - Your choice of warmed artisan bread
Starters - Peking duck, green mango and papaya salad with tamarind dressing; Butternut pumpkin soup and with Persian feta (V)
Salad - Mixed leaf Salad with Chardonnay vinaigrette (V)
Mains - Roast pork belly with red cabbage, roast pumpkin, caramelized apple and crackling ; Barramundi fillet with Fragrant prawn and udon noodle broth ; Caramelized onion tart with rocket, pinenut and Parmesan salad (V)
Cheese - King Island Black Label Cheddar, Tasmania; Tarago River Shadows of Blue, Gippsland, Victoria ; Old Telegraph Road Brie, Gippsland, Victoria... Cheese accompanied by apricot and pistachio paste, grapes and crispread
Dessert - Milk chocolate and pistachio cheese cake with dark chocolate shards
Coffee - Filter, Espresso, Cappuccino or Latte
Tea - Madame Flavoured range - Special blend black tea, earl grey twist, green tea with jasmine & pear, or mint tisane
Hot chocolate

 

[moa999]

Spent a couple of nights with friends in Perth then down to he Southwest.

Took the Australind (train) to Bunbury then bus to Bussleton.
Couple of days in Bussleton and a BNB (Jacaranda Lodge), which included one day on a wine tour (Cellar D'or - small 13 seat bus and five boutique wineries), then hired a car and drove to Augusta / Cape Leeuwin lighthouse before working my way up Caves Road and the great beaches and town to Cape Naturliste. Beautiful wines and amazing beaches.

One night at the Pullman Bunker Bay (formerly Quay Grand). Absolutely brilliant property and very reasonable midweek (entertainment book). Massive high ceiling suites that are self contained and a short walk to a near private beach. Afternoon drinks at the balcony bar overlooking Bunker Bay and saw at least 10 whales in the Bay before sunset. Decent restaurant onsite. As it should be the majority of the wine from the Margaret River.

Then the Southwest/Veolia coach direct back to the airport where I sit watching the last day of the cricket in the Virgin lounge. Is a large rectangular box with limited separation and bar/ food on the wall at one end. Despite having glass on two sides, an opaque film blocks tarmac views :-(

 

[Daver6]

Did the old a330's have power sockets in business?

 

[moa999]

Didn't notice any and checking a prior review - the ex-Emirates planes have no power options
Airline Review: Perth to Sydney in Business Class: Virgin Australia's new top "Coast-to-Coast" Airbus A330 offering - Airlines | flights | hotels | travel tech | style | apps - Australian Business Traveller
The new planes with the Weber seats (same as SQ regional have a multi-plug power adapter, 2 usb ports and a video port)
Virgin Australia's new Airbus A330 lie-flat business class seats - Flights | hotels | frequent flyer | business class - Australian Business Traveller

Albeit the power and USB ports are hidden down the side of the seat and can be hard to get an angled power plug to fit (eg some mobile phone ones). The USB also didn't want to power my BB Playbook.

 

[Daver6]

Hrmmm...if that is the case I'm going to be one annoyed customer tomorrow. Flying J tomorrow from PER to SYD and based on the seat layout, it is an older A330. I specifically asked Virgin if they have in-seat power on their A330's in business and was answered in the affirmative.

 

[Noob]

Hrmmm...if that is the case I'm going to be one annoyed customer tomorrow. Flying J tomorrow from PER to SYD and based on the seat layout, it is an older A330. I specifically asked Virgin if they have in-seat power on their A330's in business and was answered in the affirmative.

They must have been confused between the two layouts - Can you charge it up before hand?

 

[moa999]

Ex-Emirates



New delivery


Loved the legroom in the old Emirates plane... that was it.

New business is great. The lockable draws under the IFE unit are great.
The IFE I found a bit clunky scrolling down through five screens (eg for new movies) to see choices but no way to get back to first screen, and not as well presented as the QF Panasonic system - but still a vast improvement on the exEmirates bird.
Only downside to the seat design was power. There is a useful laptop nook to the side of your seat but the power/2x usb and AV inputs run down this nook and are partially obscured by seat. The power point itself is quite recessed and I was unable to fit my BB charger which expands to the right (fitted fine in the B seat so I used that)
Notably some of the very white materials that Virgin has chosen are already showing black marks.

 

[moa999]

(also posted on J catering thread) - http://www.australianfrequentflyer....stralia-business-class-catering-38257-16.html

Westbound Starters - Peking duck, green mango and papaya salad with tamarind dressing;



Westbound Salad - Mixed leaf Salad with Chardonnay vinaigrette (V)
Westbound Mains - Roast pork belly with red cabbage, roast pumpkin, caramelized apple and crackling



Eastbound Mains - Arabic spiced lamb cutlets with Lemon couscous, sweet potato and chickpeas



Westbound Cheese - Tarago River Brie, Gippsland, Victoria ; Maffra Cheddar, Gippsland, Victoria ; Old Telegraph Road Baw Baw Blue, Gippsland, Victoria... Cheese accompanied by grapes, a Glace apple and crispbread

 

[Daver6]

They must have been confused between the two layouts - Can you charge it up before hand?

Laptop battery needs replacing and only lasts a few hours. That really isn't the point though. I asked a specific question about their product. They gave an unambiguous answer that theur A330 J product has in-seat power. Either they don't know their product or outright lied to me. Either option is not acceptable really.