Virgin Australia

Have just completed a couple of flights with VA domestic and again found they were excellent in all areas. Seated in front row of Business and promptly offered a juice or water and prior to take-off informed of the menu for breakfast or lunch. Entertainment system offered though I have the Virgin Inflight system installed on my Ipad. Food is always very good and service is most attentive. I have said before the crew always seem to enjoy their job and offer to refresh water and offer newspapers etc. Planes are always clean and their prompt departure times always amazes me for such a big airline. Many fellow passengers I have spoken with during flights in recent times are now confirmed VA travellers.

The flight was a nice short trip, only 35 mins. The crew were lovely and the flight was smooth. My only gripe was the tea and coffee was out of order as there was a malfunction and the toilet was very very small. Overall a great flight for the time you are in the air.

I bought a ticket to fly from Sydney to Frankfurt via Abu Dhabi with Air Berlin. The first leg from Sydney to Abu Dhabi was operated by Virgin Australia. I have flown overseas multiple times with other airlines, a couple of times to Germany too. All of them gave me the option to increase my baggage limit by paying extra before the flight (you get charged a lot more per kg on the day at the airport otherwise). Virgin Australia tells me that I do not have the option to do that. Even budget airlines gave me the option increase baggage limit up to 50kg. In the light of Virgin's rather positive reputation, I think this is highly unsatisfactory and they certainly do not live up to their reputation. (For goodness sake, I was even willing to pay extra to increase the limit; I was not asking for a freebie. They are hopeless.) I was also disgusted by Virgin and AirBerlin trying to "pass the ball" between themselves for an eternity, not taking any responsibility or care. It is just poor customer service, poor work ethics. Some staff over the phone were also rude and impatient, but let's not even go there. Never am I going to have anything to do with Virgin again.

I booked via Etihad and the LHR to Abu Dhabi was operated by Etihad but the next leg (near 15 hrs) was operated by Virgin Australia. Entertainment was very poor. Screens were old, very limited choice on all counts, film, TV, radio, audiobooks. The seats were uncomfortable (even more then they usually are on a 15 hr plane journey). I dont think the bathrooms got a clean throughout the flight and the impact on cleanliness was severe. I have flown some budget airlines so this means I am fairly easily pleased and my expectations are low. I wasnt pleased with this flight and experience. To make it worse, it also means I'll avoid booking Etihad because I would be concerned about getting stuck with Virgin.

I was very disappointed by Virgin Australia's performance a few days ago. During the course of the afternoon many flights from Sydney were being canceled without any explanation being provided to customers. When I arrived at the airport in Sydney yet more flights (to Melbourne) were cancelled and my own flight disappeared from the departure board! There was no explanation for this or for the cancelations during the day. Or rather, talking to many frustrated passengers, it seems that Virgin had given no fewer than 5 different explanations ranging from 'bad weather' (not true as we checked most of the Australian cities), mechanical problems, change of equipment (but again no explanation provided), 'just don't know' (statement made by reservation staff to several passengers) and so on. We understand that problems occur at all airlines from time to time but the real test of a good airlines is its commitment to keep customers informed and on a regular basis, whenever problems arise. On this occasion, Virgin's performance was abysmally poor. My flight eventually left Sydney 45 minutes late. I was lucky as all around me at the Sydney airport dozens of irate passengers were being told that they wouldn't be able to fly until the next day. Again, no explanation.

Check in at Brisbane was poor, machines didn’t work and there seemed to be a shortage of staff though when I finally reached the counter the young lady was polite and helpful. Actual flight was good except the cabin was freezing really needed that blanket. I was involved as a helper in a medical emergency and was impressed with the care and attention given by the crew. Found the shell like seats a little hard.

We bought the tickets during a Virgin sale, so got a good price. Virgin offers service equal to Qantas, often at a lower price. Adelaide-Sydney we were offered coffee/tea and a sandwich. We had packed some salad, so time passed quickly. We used the Virgin entertainment app on tablet which worked perfectly. Arrival on time. Bags delivered quickly.

I was supposed to take the later flight to Melbourne, but due to the weather report when I arrived at the counter, staff suggested me to take the earlier flight, as my original flight may be cancelled. Very nice ground staff. Chick in smooth and quick. The cabin crew was a little bit rude. After take off, a complimentary drink and muffin was served, this flight has in-flight entertainment system by using the smart phone app. Connect to the plane's entertainment wifi, and I could watch movie and listen to music on my smart phone. But the choices were very limited, plus the plane has no charger. The flight arrived Melbourne early, and the baggage claim was quick.

MEL-SYD return and multiple flights. Once again this airline is as good as they come. Flew business class between Melbourne and Wellington recently and was more than impressed with the quality of the food and service. Lounges for Trans-Tasman flights are shared with Air New Zealand which are both very good in Melbourne and Wellington. Recent trips to Sydney and return have also been impressive. Nice apple muffin served and water, juice tea or coffee offered and due to Platinum status seating in row 3 a bonus. The other thing about VA is their turn-around time which is pretty quick. Often seated at Departure gate and watch passengers disembarking and in what seems no time at all you are being boarded for your flight. Staff are always friendly and helpful. Overall an airline that is really striving for excellence.

Four friends and I flew to and from Samoa. Unless absolutely necessary we all with never fly with Virgin again. Pros: The staff were generally friendly. The planes appeared to be fairly new and comfortable. Negatives: There is no inflight entertainment. I do not have an Ipod so I could not linkup to the planes internal computer system, which is what you have to do. No food of any description was provided. Coffee, tea and water was the only thing - not good enough for a 6 hour flight. Food was available for sale. Only one type of sandwich which had nuts, a vegetarian wrap, a meat pie - basically inedible - $10. Juice/cold drinks - I can't remember how much as I didn't buy one due to the outrageous prices. What topped the whole experience off was us having to pay an extra $150 at Samoa airport to get each of our surf boards back. When we left Sydney Virgin accepted our luggage as per our agreement/ticket. That being 1 x carry on luggage, 1 x bag and 1 x sporting equipment. In our case the sporting equipment were surfboards. We were on a surf holiday so I suppose it only makes sense to have surf boards. On our return when we booked in at Samoa airport we were told we had to pay approximately $150 extra to get each board back. We challenged that and was told there had been a change in procedure. Flying with Virgin Australia should have been a good experience. It was not.