Virgin Australia

We recently booked our honeymoon for April 2016 to Vanuatu flying with Virgin Australia. A couple of weeks after we booked it we heard about the closer of the airport in Vanuatu due to safety concerns and that Virgin have suspended all flights. We rang them as soon as we found out, this over a month ago now, to find out if our honeymoon would be affected. They assured us that everything would be fine by April and it would not affect us. Not feeling convinced we rang again a couple of weeks later and asked if we could get a refund so we could rebook our honeymoon before it was to late, as we had seen in the newspaper that the airport in Vanuatu would be closed until April. When we rang the second time they said they would not refund us as everything will be back to normal by our departure date on the 11th April. Today we have revived an email saying our entire honeymoon has been cancelled due to the airport problems. We understood that this is not Virgin Australia fault. We then rang and asked how long until we receive the refund on our flights so we can use it to rebook another honeymoon ASAP as it is only 1 month untill our wedding. Virgin said the soonest we will be able to get a refund is in 8-12 weeks! We spent an hour and a half on the phone with them trying to explane we can't have a honeymoon anymore if our money is tied up with them as we have no money now to rebook another honeymoon. They had no concern and after spending so long in the phone with them we got nowhere!

Virgin Australia seems to operate multiple levels of service depending on which route you fly, if you fly a so called 'leisure or holiday' route you get a high density 737 packed with seats with very little leg room. I'm 6'2" but on Jetstar I have enough room to sit but on Virgin Australia my knees were pointed towards the ground, and Virgin believe they are a premium carrier - I don't think so!

Adelaide to Bali. A good flight, with helpful staff. On the return flight we had to go via Melbourne due to factors beyond Virgin's control. But we were put into a Airport Hotel, along with 30 others, and on the first connecting flight in the morning. The seats were comfortable as was the inflight free entertainment. Only minor issue, lack of toilets as just two at the back for tourist class which led to delays

Brisbane to Adelaide return. Both flights were pleasant. Things are slightly better with Virgin Australia now that they are a full-service airline, although some food and beverage items remain non-complimentary. The cabin crew were attentive, friendly and smiling. The seat was more spacious than expected, and certainly more spacious than most long-haul international flights I've been on. I love the IFE that is freely accessible using the WiFi system onboard as long as one has the app installed on their hand-held devices - this is not available on domestic flights of other Australian airlines. The selection was sufficiently extensive, and excellent for short-haul flights. The complimentary snacks came in rather small portion, but were delicious. My return after-working-hours flight from ADL comes with complimentary alcoholic beverages, which is a huge plus. Overall a very pleasant experience, great value for money.

Can't fault the food or the service with Virgin Australia, but was given emergency seats 14A and 14B. Felt very uncomfortable about the fact that the passenger sitting next to us in 14C was constantly drinking small bottles of wine. My husband counted approximately 6 bottles that were served to him. It didn't seem right to be given that much alcohol during a flight, especially being in an emergency seat and that it was only a 3 and a half hour flight from Denpasar to Perth. It seemed different staff were serving him so they probably wouldn't have realised how much he had.

Flew Virgin Australia from Auckland to Denpasar via Adelaide. The first stage to Adelaide was fantastic but that was on an Air New Zealand Plane (codeshare agreement). All downhill after that. The cabin was freezing and they don't supply blankets or pillows. No onboard entertainment you are meant to download an App, which on our tablets we couldn't get sound. The only toilets available are at the back of the plane, at one stage the queue was 10 people going down the aisle, felt sorry for the people in the aisle seats as they kept getting bumped as people tried to squeeze past the queue to get back to their seats. I will never fly or recommend them again, I have also been told that if you book through Air NZ you still end up on a Virgin plane through the code share system, I would be seriously let down if that was the case.

We were travelling from Johannesburg to Sydney via Perth, Johannesburg to Perth with South African Airways was an extremely pleasant flight - however from Perth to Sydney via Melbourne with Virgin Australia was one of the worst flights I have ever experienced. Flight delayed in Perth so we were eventually placed on another flight via Melbourne - total delay 10 hours, however that I can live with, not a problem - my concern was the ground staff they were very poor in communication and did not know what was going more interested in talking between themselves and handing out food vouchers. I guess whilst the passengers are eating they can't ask questions. They evertually placed us on a flight via Melbourne although there was a direct flight going to Sydney departing 10min later We were informed that there were no business class seats on the direct flight and all business class passengers would be on our flight via Melbourne that was not correct we were the only Business Class passengers from the previous flight. We waited in the Business Class lounge very disappointed a very poor selection of food. Business class service on both flights was not noticeable, why did we bother paying the extra. We were under the impression that Virgin were trying to attract Business Class passengers - they are oviously using a new approach, not sure that it will work. We complained to Virgin and they offered points, that to us is offensive and a waste as it is not my intention to fly Virgin again with out an acceptable explanation. Airlines should he held accountable as it is not always possible to select the airline you prefer as on many occasions - there is only one airline servicing a particular location.

Hobart to Sydney via Melbourne with Virgin Australia, and great service and friendliness. The flight departed Hobart early and landed ahead of schedule in MEL. MEL-SYD was fully booked (early morning on a Monday), crew were extremely friendly and efficient on this short sector. I never understand why some economy passengers demand the world on a one hour flight! I enjoy Virgin Australia and recommend their service.

Gold Coast to Sydney with Virgin Australia. My initial flight was cancelled as the plane needed to be used for an earlier flight that had been cancelled. Therefore putting me on a later flight. This caused issues as I had an international connecting flight which I was now going to miss. After managing to get onto an earlier Virgin Australia flight and having 1hr 30min to make the international flight, they did not load my bags onto the flight and could not locate them in time, resulting in me missing my international flight. Had they loaded the bags, made me aware that they were not onboard or checked them through to London (my final destination), I would have made the international flight. Ground staff at the Gold Coast airport were extremely unhelpful and dismissive saying that as my international flight was not a partner airline they could not assist with my queries or concerns.

Successful bid for an upgrade from economy class. Sydney to Gold Coast is only a 1h 20min flight, and my bid was AUD 170 above economy, so was it worth it? I don't belong to a scheme which gives me lounge access, so this was a plus, and the Virgin business lounge at Sydney was clean, large, and well laid out with lots of workstations. One problem was the wifi, which, despite getting the password from reception, I couldn't get to work on either of my devices. At the gate, priority boarding had me stuck in a queue for 5 mins, before I could get to my seat (1d). Plenty of leg room, comfortable, older-style leather seat. No drink before take-off. Cabin crew very friendly. The supervisor was looking after business class, and did a very good job. Drinks, including a choice of wine and beers were served. There was no choice of meal (a very short flight and only 8 business class passengers), and it was asian prawn noodle salad or just economy-style snacks. The salad was tasty, but a nightmare to try and eat without getting it all over myself! Shredded salad and soft noodles do tend to fall all over the place! My wine was a very pleasant tempranillo blend and it hit the spot from my point of view. Entertainment is basically bring your own or make sure you've downloaded their app before you get on board, because you can't download it when you're on the plane. No other entertainment provided. Being at the front did give me priority deplaning on arrival. Was it all worth the extra AUD 170? Yes, but could do better. A glass of wine before take-off, a choice of meals which have a better ability to stay on a fork, and perhaps some entertainment to make up for me not being psychic enough to download their app, maybe! Would bid again for the upgrade. Wouldn't pay full price though!