PACIFIC BLUE review : 21 June 2008 : by B Sluyter

Customer Rating : 5/5

AKL-BNE return ($99:00) also transfered flights to Virgin Blue BNE-Townsville return. AKL Check in was great with no problems. Bussed out to the aircraft on a very cold morning had great seats with plenty of leg room. Service on all flights was excellent. Purchased the personal movie option for our son which was great. Drinks and food offered three times (recommend the cooked breakfast), FA's friendly but in no way overbearing. Arrived at BNE on time and baggage handling was quick. Return leg check in at BNE was also excellent with no fuss. Boarding was quick (via airbridge). Transition between our international flight in BNE to domestic Virgin Blue to Twonsville was hassle free also.

PACIFIC BLUE review : 11 May 2008 : by L Wilson

WLG-CHC. Check in swift and friendly. Cabin crew engaging but not over the top. The seating was comfortable - row 26 where I was sitting more than sufficient for a half hour flight. Overall I would give this experience (even if it was brief) a 9/10. It would be great to see them increase flights a little to suit business travellers like myself.

Pacific Blue review - by Mandy Dixon

15 March 2008  Customer Trip Rating :

Melbourne to Port Villa (via Brisbane). First time for us flying to Vanuatu on Pacific Blue. Checked our bags through from Melbourne, had a quick transit in Brisbane - which does require changing from domestic to international - then on our way. Unfortunately when we arrived in Vanuatu or bags did not. After a bit of confusion with the staff in Vanuatu the Australian manager told us the bags had missed the connecting flight from Brisbane. After sorting out this, we then missed our connecting flight to Santo. This was a disaster, but the Virgin boss went, we felt, out of her way to help, by finding us accommodation in Port Villa (and there were 16 of us!!) and organized free transfers to the hotel. She also got our flights changed for free, which was a relief. By the time we checked in, there was already a message for us saying the bags would arrive the next day - which they did. 10 days later the staff remembered us and put us in rows 1, 13 & 14, which are all exit rows as an apology. Our bags made it home with us I'm happy to report. The Virgin/Pacific Blue planes are comfortable and the service is good. Even with the lost bags, we would fly them again as the personalized service is second to none.

Pacific Blue review - by Steve Hinton

4 February 2008  Customer Trip Rating :

AKL-BNE return. Check in at was a little slow as there were numerous Pacific Blue flights departing. Bussed out to the aircraft. Pacific Blue 737-800 are nice aircraft. I'm 6'3" so paid the extra NZ$30 per flight for the "Blue Zone" seats on the exit row. Normal seats did not look too bad in terms of legroom, Blue Zone seats are recommended. Seat width is not too bad and the leather upholstery is very comfortable with adequate padding. Service outbound was excellent. Purchased the personal movie option which was great. Drinks and food offered three times, FA's friendly but in no way overbearing. Arrived at BNE on time and baggage handling was reasonably quick. Return leg check in at BNE significantly quicker than AKL. Boarding was quick (via airway this time). As this was an evening flight FA's warned in advance that there would only be a single service so people could sleep if they wanted. Flight again on time. Blue Zone Seats were comfortable and I slept a little after the movie (purchased personal option again). Baggage at AKL was slow as there were multiple flights coming through arrivals (took about an hour overall from deplaning to getting out of the terminal). Overall for the price I could find no fault at all with the Pacific Blue service on these flights. I will be using them again.

Pacific Blue review - by H Kelly

24 January 2008  Customer Trip Rating :

BNE-CHC-BNE in early December. Paid the absolute bargain price of $350 return. BYO sandwiches and paid about $3 for a cup of tea which is fine. Return journey was on time and no hassles checking in at either airport. Although at Brisbane on the outward trip, one of our group was stuck in traffic and was going to miss the 2hr check-in cutoff by 20 mins. I informed the desk crew and they said it was fine, he will be ok to check in because "we don't really cut off check-in until about 30 minutes before departure" - hang on a minute, this is inconsistent with the T&Cs published with the ticket. It was a fairly full plane too, only a handful of empty seats. Manage your expectations accordingly! Overall, a great service at a great price, and for a 3.5 hour flight, who cares?

Pacific Blue review - by Ian Ritchie

21 January 2008  Customer Trip Rating :

WLG-CHC-WLG. Great legroom and comfortable seats - people in front reclined and still plenty of room. Return used check in kiosk and got an empty seat next to me. Pleasant crew although aircraft PA volume remarkably loud.

Pacific Blue review - by B Dale

11 December 2007  Customer Trip Rating : n/a

Wellington-Christchurch-Wellington. 45 minute flights each way. The biggest disappointment was online check-in. It showed a full pre-allocated flight each way, so although being one of the first 3 "guests" to check-in, I still ended up at the rear of the plane one row from the toilet and unable to get a window seat on the right side. Thankfully I got better seats on the return flight. The seats were not at all comfortable, either. Good legroom, but no lumbar support and they made one sit vertically upright. Other than that it seemed no better or worse than the competing airlines I usually fly. I normally fly a 4 sector trip to either Cairns or similar. Each flight is about 3 hours long, if not more. Although the fares may be cheaper, looking at their menu and internet prices, they'd need to be at least $300 per trip cheaper than the full service airlines to allow me to enjoy the food, drink lounge access and preferential seating to match what I'd normally enjoy on their full service competitor. Despite all the Virgin group advertising telling me what's wrong with the airlines I normally fly, they did nothing to delight me into reconsidering my preferences. The poor seat comfort and seat selection options are big draw backs for me. I'm glad I found this out on a short flight rather than a 5 hour transcontinental service inside Australia.

Pacific Blue review - by Alexandra Greenwood

9 August 2007

Brisbane to Port Vila return. Check in at Brisbane slow but uneventful, flight over was great. Comfy seats (we were in 15 A and B - exit rows), good service. Flight left early and arrived early. Check in at Vanuatu was 100% on Brisbane, really friendly staff only too happy to help. We requested 15 again but it was unavailable, however the manager made a few changes for us and got us in row 14 (which is also an exit, but seats dont recline fully). For a 2 hr flight, who cares? Really bowled over by priority check in for families with little kids, extra staff helping with bags and fragile goods - you name it. We departed 15 mins early and the ground crew even came out to the tarmac to wave goodbye! The flight back was good too; less annoying cabin crew, good food and home 35mins early. Arriving in to Brisbane and straight through customs to our awaiting bags. All up 4.5 stars!

Pacific Blue review - by Phillip Brander

12 October 2006

Nadi (Fiji) to Sydney with Pacific Blue on their Boeing 737-800. Quite a pleasant experience - on time departure, early arrival. Crew were friendly, and did not over promote their products. The airplane seems to have quite a decent amount of leg room which was surprising for the budget price. Overall, a good experience and would more than likely use Pacific Blue again if the price was right.

Pacific Blue review - by Daniel Ribarovski

1 February 2006

SYD-CHC-SYD with Pacific Blue. Both flights ontime and in new 737-800's. Crew excellent on both flights as always with the Virgin Group. Inflight service was efficient and fairly priced. The fares were very cheap (less than half of what Qantas and Air NZ charge) so one can live without free food! Overall level of service is much better than Qantas. Will definatley fly Pacific Blue when next travelling to NZ or the Islands.

Pacific Blue review - by P Nacken

8 August 2005

Pacific Blue between Fiji / Australia. A no-thrills / bring your own lunch operation with pretty much no leg room for a 6'2" man, but at that size one gets used to that. But the FAs were outstanding. We had the pleasure of having one female FA on both flights, she remembered us after one week, and she spent half hour at one time walking around with our baby boy on her arm. I also enjoy their 'we are not too serious' attitude, which I understand is a turn off for others. For short flights I would surely fly again with them.

Pacific Blue review - by Darren Elvin

9 March 2005

Sydney - Wellington. Four check-in desks open, queue was slow due to staff advising passengers that Sydney departure delayed 2 hours due to late in coming 737-800 from Christchurch. Technical reasons given. Once checked-in were given $5.00 "Delay vouchers" to send at Sydney airport. Were allocated seats 23 E/F with the middle seat blocked out at our request. Do not accept rear cabin seats unless you enjoy being surrounded by screaming babies & misbehaving children. The rear toilets on the 737-800 are only equipped with baby changing facilities. Once through immigration we ordered breakfast using the Pacific Blue vouchers, unfortunately Pacific Blue staff did not date stamp any of the passenger vouchers making them useless at the airside shops. Boarding was gate 55, entry to plane via tarmac & wobbly staircase. Were quickly seated, door slammed shut & we raced off to the runway. Due to our missed slot, we waited 25 mins on the tarmac while every Qantas plane at the airport departed before us. Pacific Blue is obviously not a favourite of the Sydney clearance team. Finally airborne two & a half hours late. Once at 35,000 ft out came the hard sell by the friendly crew. Snacks, drinks headsets & Richard Bransons book were rammed at us, that trolley tore up & down that aisle 3 times on a 3 hour flight! Obviously in-flight sales are an important revenue stream for Pacific Blue. We chose to take our own rolls, drinks, headsets, newspaper & book as there is zilch in-flight entertainment. Also, bring a jumper as there are no blankets, pillows supplied on Pacific Blue & it did get chilly. Finally on the ground in Wellington exactly two & a half hours late. No attempt to make up time, but lots of apologies from crew/captain. Return flight, Wellington - Sydney :check-in was swift with 4 desks open. Seated 4A/B. New Zealand departure tax of $25 must be paid at the foreign exchange desk after check-in. With only 2 counters open accepting payments the queue was horrific when more than 2 international flights were departing....this is a joke! Departed exactly on time 15:45 & out came the trolleys once we reached 35,000ft - 2nd verse same as the first. I chose Pacific Blue due to the excellent fare & ease of internet booking. Saved $264 over Air NZ for us both & would fly again Sydney - Wellington / Christchurch. However, will stick with Emirates on the Sydney - Auckland leg due to low price, great Inflight entertainment, meals, drinks, blankets, pillows & usually half empty.

Pacific Blue review - by Ron West

28 January 2005

Melbourne - Wellington. I booked Pacific Blue because they were much cheaper than QF or NZ, and because their planes were likely to be a lot newer (I was right on that score - all services I travelled on had new equipment - whereas QF were offering 733 services between Mel and Wellington). I had to travel via Sydney. Long lines at Mel, I was able to check in at a hand luggage only check in counter, with very little waiting time. Courteous ground staff person checked me for both sectors to Wellington. I was told to "take the bus from the domestic terminal to the international terminal" in Sydney. I checked-in early, decided to try out the Blue Lounge. I paid $5 to get in, and $3 for a reasonably OK coffee. It's the same area as the old Ansett Golden Wing lounge - but more on a pay-for-what-you- use basis, and with a more youth oriented fit-out. Basically I paid $8 for my cup of coffee - very pricey. DJ803 Mel-Syd was a smooth and uneventful flight. At check-in I had asked for and was given a forward aisle seat. I am 194cm tall, but the leg room wasn't too bad. I didn't have any refreshments on the flight. Checked for transfer bus info in the in-flight magazine - there were maps of the terminals, but absolutely no useful information. On arrival at Sydney airport, there were no signs about the bus, and the ground staff seemed frantically busy, so I followed the signs to the international terminal and suddenly found myself in the baggage claim area, with no bus in sight, nor any Virgin Blue staff. I decided to take the train ($4 - lucky I had kept some A$). It was 30 minutes late, but finally arrived. Again, on arrival at the international terminal, it took quite a while to find the DJ checkin. Check-in for DJ42 to Wellington was courteous, forward aisle seat given to me on request. Plane was 738, and only 2/3 full. I noticed that a substantial number of pax didn't avail themselves of the service cart, nor had they brought their own bottled water on board. My ploughman's lunch was fine; coffee smacked of instant. I did notice one pax ask for water - when told she would have to pay said she didn't have any money, and the FA gave her a bottle. But this raises the more contentious issue of charging pax for water on long flights. Do people suffer from dehydration? I think charging money for food/water is OK for one hour hops, nor for longer journeys. Wellington-Syd on DJ45 on 25th October was similar to the flight out. Check-in did however give me basic handout on the bus transfer arrangements in Syd. On arrival in Sydney I elected to throw away my ticket and stay the night in Sydney. I did check out the tranfer bus arrangement at Sydney airport however - over at the bus area I was directed to I saw a small shuttle bus (minibus) with a very large swarm of pax around it. I didn't hang around to see how that was resolved. Hardly the stuff of legendary service! I wouldn't say that DJ is a bunch of amateurs - but tthe transfer between terminals was not a good look, and hardly the arrangement to appeal to a business clientele. Next day returned from Sydney to Melbourne on a QF 744 - domestic leg of an international flight. Despite the many disparaging comments I've seen on QF international in Skytrak recently, it was a revelation after DJ. - blankets, pillows, a meal service, and no FAs-pretending-to-be-cute-baseball- cap-wearing-kids selling products to pax. I didn't have to pay for water, and the 744 was heaps more comfortable than the DJ 738s. Fair was $76 - better value than the DJ offering of, from memory, $69 for the same day. Would I fly DJ again? Only if I had to. And for longer distances, not unless I was well prepared with my own bottled water and deli food.

Pacific Blue review - by C Mgone

8 April 2004

MEL-CHC-MEL and found the Boeing 737-800's to have enough leg room for a three hour flight. Of course you couldn't beat the fare even compared with an Industry Discount fare. The computer system was running slow in MEL so the expected long queues were even longer than expected.


 

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