Pacific Blue Passenger Reviews and Pacific Blue Customer Trip Reports   a World 4-Star Airline         Add your Pacific Blue Review   Pacific Blue detailed 4-Star ranking   Airline Reviews : A-Z Index       Customer Review scoring : Pacific Blue   8 out of 10 43 reviews

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Pacific Blue customer review :  4 September 2012 by Douglas Carter   (New Zealand)

Flew from Rarotonga to Auckland in August 2012 - one of the worst flights of my life. Very uncomfortable seat that was positioned under a jet stream of freezing cold air from the air con system right into my seat. Despite being asked five times the air-hostesses couldn't fix the problem and wouldn't let me shift to a seat out of the path of the freezing stream of air. Instead of listening to the customer and at least apologizing they had clearly been trained to use standard responses aimed at appeasing customers - nonsense about how they were "slowly warming the plane up otherwise people would pass out" and having to keep the entire back row free - no doubt so they can be comfortable. And they don't carry blankets. Despite wearing four jerseys I was absolutely frozen the whole journey. I will never fly Virgin again.

Pacific Blue customer review :  25 June 2012 by T Cahill   (Australia)

Flew Brisbane - Christchurch, worst flight of my life. 6pm flight was delayed 3 hours so we didn't leave until 9pm meaning a late night arrival into Christchurch. Paid an extra $25 to be served a meal on the flight, received a sausage roll. Seat was very uncomfortable and I had back pains by the time we landed. There was also a crying baby a couple of rows behind me, but there's not much you can do about that. Despite this the cabin crew were very nice the whole flight.

Pacific Blue customer review :  19 January 2012 by D Poignand   (Australia)

Canberra-Brisbane-Denpasar return. Booked via BNE due to suitable departure and arrival times, Virgin subsequently changed flight times twice, imposing an early morning flight ex-CBR and, worse, a 01.30 hrs arrival time at BNE on return leg. No inter-terminal bus or Skytrain at that hour, necessitating (expensive) taxi trip to a deserted domestic terminal and a long wait for the 05.30 hrs domestic flight to CBR. Onboard, no digEplayers available except for business class, despite website implying they would be. Cabin staff knew this (both int'l sectors) but were not upfront about it. They also seemed not to know about the dire situation at BNE, telling me to "ask the ground staff" whereas none could be found after disembarkation. Also ignored call button and I had to go down the back and interrupt their chatting. Will look for alternatives next time to Bali but afraid there may not be any better choices.

Pacific Blue customer review :  19 December 2011 by G Norton   (New Zealand)

Dunedin-Christchurch-Adelaide return. I have flown this route many times and via all three stops before. For this route the service is consistently below average. Fares are generally low for a good reason, the flights are off hours and a long overnight wait at Christchurch airport overnight. Seats are standard economy ones, hence they are cramped and not the most comfortable. This is not unexpected though. Each time my tray was dirty. It seems that the cleaning crew would remove large and visible rubbish, but trays would not be wiped. Cabin crew are ok, they are not the most friendly but not the worst. Overall this is ok if you are young and on a shoestring budget and willing to endure. It is not the best for families.

Pacific Blue customer review :  2 November 2011 by K Bennett   (New Zealand)

Auckland-Apia return. Outbound on time and uneventful. On the return the flight was delayed by an hour due to what was described as "operational delays". Heard FA discussing with an off duty hostess that it was because they had flown in late from Brisbane the night before and there has to be a certain amount of time off before they fly again. FA's were generally disinterested and some were just rude. I was amazed to find that you even have to pay for water, not to mention tea or coffee. Although I realise it is a budget airline, so many things were badly done that I will actively choose not to fly Pacific Blue again.

Pacific Blue customer review :  17 October 2011 by B Spencer   (Australia)

Have flown regularly with Pacific Blue from Brisbane to Denpasar - mainly due to direct flights and lack of competition. Generally on time, but extremely uncomfortable seats for longer flights. As far as service goes, I paid for and received additional leg room in the exit row on the way to Bali, but was told on the return it was unavailable. Being 6'3" I wasn't particularly impressed. Two years later and about 8 or 9 calls to the airline, I'm still waiting on a response and a refund. Cabin service was average. Meals are reasonable for the cost involved, but $3+ for an undersized bottle of water is ridiculous. On top of this, they regularly seem to run out of water for sale and food choices on board. On my last flight, as I arrived early and had breakfast in the airport, I didn't order a meal when it was offered as I wasn't hungry. An hour later I asked to purchase one and was told "Our meal service has finished but you can purchase snacks". To top it off I was later denied purchasing another soft drink as I was told we we're about to commence descending - still about 1500km out of Denpasar. Found this a little hard to believe and got the impression the crew didn't really want to have to do another sweep of the cabin prior to landing. Domestically, I don't know how Virgin Australia expects to compete with Qantas asking for the same price and charging for food and beverages. As a very regular domestic flyer, it drives me insane when I there is so much stuffing about with credit cards and running to and from the trolley, just to get a cup of coffee - worse if I'm seated at the back. First thing in the morning I want a coffee before arriving for a meeting. At least save the grief and build this into the ticket price!! At the end of the day, I get where I need to be, but I have had a lot more pleasant journeys. Forget the hype about Virgin becoming a 'full service' airline - they're simply not.

Pacific Blue customer review :  20 September 2011 by J Henneberger   (Australia)

Tonga to Sydney was worst flight we have been on. The seats were extremely uncomfortable, the air conditioning far too cold, no blankets and had to pay for water on a 6 hour flight.

Pacific Blue customer review :  18 September 2011 by Kathryn Pati   (Australia)

Went with a disability group to Vanuatu with this plane. Nothing special, seats felt like vinyl though they stated leather, no TV screens in the headrests, so you have to pay $15 to borrow a DVD player and some DVD's. Would only recommend if you were looking for something super-cheap and didn't mind paying $ for food, entertainment (though the audio you don't pay for, you have to buy headphones) and luggage. Staff were nice.

Pacific Blue customer review :  13 September 2011 by J Disley   (Australia)

Cairns-Auckland return in Premium Economy. No priority boarding, no Champagne, only a poor warm white wine, only hot meal - a pie in a bag, no service, and same on return. All this for a steep price.

Pacific Blue customer review :  6 September 2011 by Y Strash   (New Zealand)

AKL-SYD return. At both ends check-in was slow, late and their staff was unhelpful and borderline rude. Inflight was ok. No free entertainment, but reasonable seat space and the onboard staff nice. You do get what you pay for, but don't expect them to do anything they don't need to do.

Pacific Blue customer review :  31 August 2011 by N Ledwell   (Australia)

Perth-Phuket return. Heading to HKT was fine with perhaps only a 60% load factor, the flight was comfortable and not too bad. Return to Perth on the 738 was the most awful flying experience I can recall as the load factor was virtually full so hardly a spare seat. 6.5 hrs is just too long to be spending in a narrow body in hot stuffy conditions. Staff as usual tried hard which is nice.

Pacific Blue customer review :  27 June 2011 by N Broun   (Australia)

Flew Pacific Blue DJ 4149 and DJ 4148 return Perth to Phuket. Service was excellent and the flight attendants where kind and humorous. I didn't expect this from a low cost airlines. the food was great and such a good variety, movie choice was also good but a little boring in genre. The seats where good but could use some improvement, they where basically economy class seats but with more leg room, also it can be a little uncomfortable sitting on a leather seat for 6 1/2 hours. Overall a pleasant experience both ways and i would fly with Pacific Blue any time.

Pacific Blue customer review :  8 June 2011 by E Thomas   (Australia)

Sydney-Nadi, older plane, old red seats. Staff very friendly and bright. Well presented in new uniform. Great service. Couldn't fault, great value for money.

Pacific Blue customer review :  10 March 2011 by R Wilson   (Australia)

Melbourne to Denpasar, plenty of room, food average and costly. Pacific Blue use Virgin Blue aircraft so you get the live satellite tv for $9.90 each way, but between Mildura and the WA border it was almost unwatchable, kept dropping out even though we were on cruising level with no turbulence, from WA border on it was fine until they switch it off as you cross the Australian coastline, so its pretty pointless.

Pacific Blue customer review :  5 March 2011 by D Moffat   (New Zealand)

I have flown with Pacific Blue ex Auckland several times now since Air New Zealand changed their way in selling seats. I have found Pacific Blue to be exceptional with their service.

Pacific Blue customer review :  17 January 2011 by B Smithson   (Australia)

HKT-PER. I realise this is the longest flight Pacific Blue run but it was confusing and amateur from start to finish. The local Phuket check-in staff sat on the luggage belts in typical Thai style watching me and chatting for 10 minutes while I stood in the check-in line (I was the only one in the line). Eventually someone came up to me and told me the flight was oversold so they were waiting for the captain to arrive to see if I could fly. Boarded a cramped B737-700 with dirty seats. Told the AV wouldnt work until we were in Australian airspace but we could purchase individual movies which were clumsily announced at random times during the flight. The limited food / drinks service was incredibly slow - I woke up 1.5 hours into the flight and they still hadn't taken any food orders. Sometimes they could serve food / drinks together, other times they couldn't. Certain foods were only served on certain runs. Virgin/Pacific Blue is great for short flights but I will never attempt another flight of this length again - this business model is not suitable for it.

Pacific Blue customer review :  27 December 2010 by Chris McQuaid   (New Zealand)

AKL-BNE-HIR return. Uneventful flights outbound - on time, with friendly cabin crew. Didn't bother with food. Homeward trip was a different story! Long queue to check in due to proximity to Christmas and a full plane. Onboard on time, but then announced that we had had to fill right up with fuel due to storms near Brisbane and the possibility that we may have to divert, and an error had been made in the manifest and that we would have to unload 400 kg (which included two staff travelling home). Also had to wait for latecomers (no excuse at Honiara - there's nowhere to go in the terminal) and while waiting it started to rain. That caused another big delay, because it meant that we were now too heavy to get off the wet runway. Captain and cabin crew supervisor kept us fully informed, kept us watered while we were waiting and gave out complimentary tea and coffee during the flight. Big electrical storms near Brisbane further delayed our arrival by about 15 minutes, and meant a change of plane for those of us carrying on to Auckland. We were told exactly where to go and who to see - the heavy rain delayed the transfer of our luggage to the new aircraft, but it all made it safely to Auckland, which we reached about 2 hours late. The second cabin crew were as friendly and efficient, which was really the only redeeming feature in what was a forgettable day's flying.

Pacific Blue customer review :  23 September 2010 by Sophie Read   (Australia)

BNE-HLZ return Boeing 737-800. Check-in at BNE took a very long time as three flights to different destinations were being checked in at once. Uneventful journey to HLZ, my only gripe being no IFE unless you want to pay $20 for their digEplayer - I guess you get what you pay for on a LCC. The crew were polite and friendly. Legroom far superior to JetStar. Bought their Mid-Flight Munchies combo deal which gave me a vegetarian wrap, Byron Bay cookies and a can of Coke for $14. Not bad considering a hot meal was $10 and looked pretty miniscule! Word of warning for those pax travelling to HLZ - takes a ridiculous amount of time to pass Customs (which is especially strict in NZ) and Passport Control as there were only three counters available and it took on average 5 mins per passenger just to get past Passport Control. The flight was at night and arrived at 11pm NZ time so it made it a lot worse as there were some very tired people waiting, and it took me an hour to get through. Definitely avoid HLZ airport if you can and fly to AKL. Return leg to BNE early morning flight, again fairly uneventful and had a row to myself which was nice, cabin crew not as polite this time, and one of them seemed like she didn't want to be there. Bought the Mediterranean wrap combo again. Made it through Passport Control and Customs at BNE in under 20 minutes - a far bigger airport of course but much more efficient. Pacific Blue offered pretty good value for money especially as I booked the flights that same day. Would not fly to HLZ again as it is the worst airport I've been to, but would fly to AKL with them.

Pacific Blue customer review :  14 September 2010 by D Hake   (UK)

AKL-OOL. Really pleasant experience, was allocated an emergency exit row seat without paying/asking for it. Flight had quite a few spare seats. Very cheery Kiwi crew and the cost of refreshments on board was a bargain compared with LCCs in Europe. Would definitely use them again when next in that part of the world. The only slight let down was the check-in queue at AKL.

Pacific Blue customer review :  6 September 2010 by Terry Stokes   (Australia)

SYD-NAN. Check in slow. This airline is basically a low cost carrier so apart from a seat and your luggage you need to pay for everything else. Seats are comfortable and the crew seem friendly enough. Departed and arrived on time.

Pacific Blue customer review :  15 August 2010 by C Holland  (Australia)

We booked return flights to Bali from Melbourne (direct) in August 2009, flying back to Australia on August 12th 2010. Two weeks before leaving Australia for our holiday we were informed our flight was flying home via Brisbane and would require us to clear customs in Brisbane, wait 3 hours and than catch a train to the domestic terminal - finally arriving in Melbourne at 1330 instead of 0530. We then have a 3.5 hour car trip on top of this delay. They were not sale price seats when we booked - we paid pretty much top dollar. We will never fly Pacific Blue / Virgin again. Couldn't even purchase water without a credit card not everybody has one!

Pacific Blue customer review : 10 May 2010 by Ian Vagg

Customer Rating : 5/5

Brisbane to Nadi return on Pacific Blue and purchased extra leg room seats. Sat in the front row both times and had the middle seat free. Very enjoyable trip. Check in was easy both ways -crew were very friendly -food and bar service was satisfactory On way back the seats were the new premium economy seats with an adjustable middle armrest which was more comfortable than the existing fixed armrest seats This was our first experience with Pacific Blue and happy to use again for short range flights.

Pacific Blue customer review : 20 April 2010 : by R Handelman

Customer Rating : 4/5

AKL-ZQN & DUD-AKL. AKL-ZQN leg was uneventful though Pacific Blue do need to have more desks at the check-in. Legroom was reasonable and for such a cheap price. DUD-AKL was also uneventful though no self-service check-in and a massive line at the terminal.

PACIFIC BLUE review : 17 February 2010 : by J Scanlon

Customer Rating : 5/5

MEL-CHC. Great value for money, seats comfortable, good legroom, aircraft new and spotless. Ground staff and cabin crew polite and friendly. Food reasonably priced and fresh. Left Melbourne on time and arrived in Christchurch 25 minutes early.

PACIFIC BLUE review : 16 April 2009 : by D Walker

Customer Rating : 5/5

Bne-Vila Flight late arriving by 1.5 hours. But once onboard the crew made up for it. Two drink rounds. Full flight, cabin clean, staff very good and chatty. .Value for money at $400 return including tax.