Virgin Australia Passenger Reviews and Virgin Australia Customer Trip Reports

We flew from Coolangatta to Sydney return in August. The outbound flight was on one of their newest aircraft with new design of roof panels and mood lighting. That flight out was comfortable enough and the return flight was on one of the older red 737 aircraft and was also comfortable enough. Flights were just as comfortable as Qantas, except you have to pay for your baggage and meals which to me is fine for a short 1-2 hour flight. Arriving from International destinations: On the return trip, we were arriving at the international terminal from a flight from Bali with Garuda. The good thing about Virgin is that they have some domestic check in desks in the international terminal. This makes international to domestic transfers so convenient. Once you come out of Quarantine etc where friends, relatives and drivers wait for passengers, turn left and walk as far as you can until you reach what looks like the end, go through the passageway and you will find the Virgin Australia check in counters and domestic transfer bus there. A couple of negative points. Those who have cheapest fares get the worst choice of seats at the rear of the aircraft when doing web check in and you don't get to use the jet bridges. If this doesn't suit you, then select your seats and see if you can change them when you arrive at the airport. The best seats at the front go to the highest or full fare passengers at first. On both flights, boarding was a little slow at the gate and staff there seemed a little disorganised compared to other flights I have been on. The only other negative point I can think about is that Virgin only allow seat selection at booking to their silver and above members - I'd like this option available to all passengers.

MEL-ADL, 12/07/12 - B737-800. Used online Check-In, arrived 45 mins before the flight, no delay at bag drop. Straight through security, and into gate lounge. Staff very chatty and friendly with elderly passengers at the gate lounge, boarding commences on-time, and even though it was a late afternoon flight the aircraft was clean, tidy and presentable. Seat was 28F and there was no one in 28 D, E. Some misbehaving passengers promptly dealt with in a professional manner before taxiing commenced. Flight departed 10 mins ahead of schedule, No charge for Live2Air. Trolley service was prompt and the Luke Mangan 'New Yorker' sandwich was really tasty and fresh. Arrived in ADL 15 mins ahead of schedule, bags were ready by the time we departed the aircraft, only small delay was that the disembarking was through front only.

MEL-BNE-MEL First time flying Virgin Australia since the facelift. Still awesome service, the aircraft was clean and comfortable. The free Foxtel was a pleasant surprise, the food was overpriced and not worth it, and would be nice to see a cheaper option than a $10 sandwich. Other than that a much more pleasant and modern experience than flying QF.

Pleasantly surprised by the comfort on this Airline with plenty of legroom in standard economy seat - only negative no catering was loaded before departure in Sydney but staff did a great job to compensate. 4 hour flight Sydney to Nadi Fiji passed quickly.

We flew to Los Angeles (return). Everything on board was great apart from gluten free meals. They were bland and dry and lacked imagination. They served grilled chicken breast without any kind of sauce, which was difficult to eat. Also served thick rice cakes for both breakfast and dinner without any butter or jam portions included on the tray. Whereas the other passengers automatically had butter and jam with their croissants. Their meals looked much more appetising. Also those with special meal requirements were served about 30 minutes before the rest of the passengers, but had to wait for drinks when the rest of the passengers were being served their meals and drinks at the same time. By then we had eaten our meal but had no appropriate accompanying drink.

OOL-MEL, 16/08. Pleasant check in agent, courteous and professional. Likewise for the J lounge staff at OOL. The lounge itself is new and spacious and a good selection of snacks. Onboard service very poor. One round of food/beverages that you pay for. What was disappointing was the lack of visibility and professionalism of the crew. Not one water round on a 2+hr flight, no further rubbish collection, toilets dirty and missing tissues and towels. Considering the flight wasn't even a quarter full, this is unacceptable. Told to 'put rubbish in the seat pocket' as crew were 'busy' securing the cabin. This again I accept, but perhaps had they shown some cabin presence during the previous hour. During the flight a female FA sprawled across the last row of seats in full uniform, watching movies. Advised the Cabin Manager, politely, on disembarking of the poor service. She looked surprised and frankly was ineffectual.

We have just completed a round the world trip flying premium economy and what a pleasant surprise it was. We must make special mention of the leg from Los Angeles to Melbourne which was on a 777 aircraft, for being the best flight I have experienced. Would certainly recommend Virgin Premium economy.

Very pleasantly surprised at the service, layout and comfort on this service form Sydney-Abu Dhabi return. Great crew and meals very tasty with great presentation. Liked the woman's only toilets in Business class. Wouldn't hesitate to fly them again. Only downside was the inflight entertainment which I feel could be better.

I flew from Cairns to Melbourne last Friday August 10, having flown Virgin a few times I was surprised to learn the service has dropped off somewhat. My first grudge was my flight was delayed by an hour with no reason given what so ever. Once we boarded the plane which looked a little aged, I discovered there was no inflight entertainment which makes for quite a boring 3 hour trip back to Melbourne. Other than that the inflight service was quite good but the first couple things I mentioned have made me wonder if I should give Jetstar a go next time.

Canberra - Sydney - Fiji return, economy. This airline needs to decide whether it is 'full service' or a low cost carrier. It likes to think it is a full service airline yet it adopts many practices of the likes of Jetstar and Tiger such as checking in for luggage and charging for everything onboard. Bizarrely they serve you a free snack on a 40 minute CBR-SYD flight but you have to pay for food and drink on the 5 hour haul from Sydney to Fiji - crazy! If their fares reflected the low cost approach it would be fine but they were more expensive than Air Pacific.

Our flight from Broome to Perth was delayed by 5 hours. We understand delays can occur, but Virgin Broome was uninformed, unhelpful and unsympathetic. We were stuck in a tiny airport with virtually no facilities for around 6 hours. Virgin offered $8 vouchers – a contemptuous gesture for $700 in fares. There are quite a few things Virgin could have done to make the delay less unpleasant - none of those things were even attempted. It might be best to avoid Virgin at remote locations – their procedures for long delays are not effective.

AKL-BNE last Sunday on B737-800. Pushed back on time, airborne less than 10 minutes later. Landed a few minutes early despite headwind, but then held on board for a short time while medical staff checked over a child. Excellent cabin crew, greeting me by name when I boarded. In-flight announcements the best I've heard on an international flight, including the captain pointing out we were being overtaken by a B777 a couple of thousand feet below. Fully informed about the quarantine situation, and the First Officer came out of the cockpit to join flight attendants in saying goodbye. My only real gripe is the in-flight food - I hadn't pre-paid for a meal, so got a gourmet pie from the menu. It was delicious, but cost $10! Seats were also a bit narrow for someone as wide as me. No in-flight entertainment, but very good airline magazine.