Virgin Australia

VA160 Brisbane to Auckland. I was keen to try out Virgin's new trans-Tasman business class experience but it was a truly underwhelming experience. It starts with check-in where the VA staff member couldn't find me on the flight as she was typing my surname incorrectly. Much anxiety later I make it to the Air NZ lounge which is far inferior to the QF lounge at BNE International and far inferior to what you would expect for a leading airline's lounge at a key international experience. Not VA's fault. Boarding was not polished. An announcement was made that boarding would commence in the next 10-15 minutes however the incoming aircraft hadn't even arrived! Premium boarding didn't really work either as the economy queue was served at the same time and moved faster than the Premium queue. Not a huge problem but normally premium customers are given the opportunity to board before normal boarding commences. On board is where VA are really let down. No champagne prior to departure - in fact VA do not offer champagne at all on trans-Tasman flights! Only white and red wine which is a real shame. CSM was polite and sweet - but there was no wow factor. She wasn't aware of what cheeses were being offered nor which fruits were on the fruit plate. Offered me Crown lager which was actually a Crown Pale Ale and she didn't know the difference. Didn't know whether the Peroni was a light or heavy beer. Hence asked for a Bloody Mary which is my fall back flying drink and VA do not have Bloody Mary mix or spices. These are really small things but not what you expect in international business class. The meal was served on a tray all together - no place mat nor hot towels were offered.. The main course was only just hot so didn't allow time to have salad first and then dessert was served in a box! The IFE is good. I used the Samsung tablet provided although an announcement was made to say that VA hadn't loaded them in economy for the full fare passengers. I wouldn't want to travel on a VA 737 on a long sector - I really missed having a foot rest or extendable section of the chair to support your lower legs. My message to passengers would be to save your money and points and fly economy across the Tasman. The VA experience is nothing more than a Domestic Business service if that and below that of competitors flying the same route often for cheaper.

I'm a VA Gold FF and recently booked a return flight with virgin Australia from Port Hedland to Bali for mid Feb. 2 weeks before we were due to fly out I noticed a comment regarding changes to the Bali flights on a local social media page. People were informing other passengers that were booked the twice weekly VOA flight from PHE-DEN that the schedule had changed. I then logged on to my FF page to see that VA had automatically put me on a flight out 3 hours prior to originally booked and a return flight back to Port Hedland 25 hours earlier than what was originally booked. I had no phone calls or emails to inform me of the change and had subsequently already booked accommodation for these nights in Bali. I called their customer service on the Monday and was told that they decided to cull one of the weekly return flights from PHE-DEN that its their discretion to make schedule changes when they please. They coldly informed me that my only other option aside from flying out 25 hours early was offer me a different return flight on the original day I was booked to return to Oz however that return flight would take 19 hours and 3 different stops to come back to Hedland instead of 2 hours direct. I fly quite regularly and have never dealt with a airline like VA and I will be avoiding using them going forward.

Flew Adelaide to Denpasar. Overall a good experience and in future I would not hesitate to fly with Virgin Australia again. The cabin crew were polite and friendly food was decent and the free alcoholic drinks was most welcome indeed. My only gripe was there was no entertainment given it was a small plane and 5 hours and 15 minutes is a bit too long to travel without entertainment. Nevertheless compared to Jetstar this airline is impeccable and I would happily pay a premium to fly Virgin over Jetstar in the future.

Flew with VA on BNE-SYD return for work. Similar to my last experience with VA I find the product to be very average and the attitude of the staff below average. As others have noted the cabin crew tend to be very bubbly and friendly to each other (and to other staff who are travelling for duty or pleasure) however turn this off immediately when responding to customers. I would still prefer to fly Qantas on domestic flights.

SYD-LAX-BOS return. All good until a delayed codeshare connecting flight. No ownership of the problem by VA even though whole trip purchased through VA. No attempt to hold the flight for 10 or 12 pax who were 15-30 minutes late no access to luggage and no help with accommodation for the 24 hour wait until the next flight. This all in the middle of the night. VA ground staff literally said that it wasn't their problem and that we needed to talk to Delta. 3 trips back and forth between terminals in the middle of the night and finally found out that VA had our bags (but couldn't give them to us because the guy with the key had gone home until 4pm the next day) and Delta gave us a hotel voucher good until mid-day the next day. I extended the hotel at my own expense so that I wasn't sitting at the airport for another 8 hours in dirty clothes bought myself some food and paid for an internet connection to contact home and make arrangements for someone to look after my kids. VA made no attempt to help and coldly refused to help when asked. I've travelled extensively over many years and delays happen. But I've never seen an airline treat its customers with such contempt and disinterest. They turned a minor annoyance into an ordeal through poor ground crew and poorer linkages with codeshare partners. Aside from that the lounge at LAX (Star Alliance) is excellent the flight crew are friendly and attentive and the onboard food and beverage is good. The seats are comfortable and they do a good job of timing lighting changes and service to allow a good sleep and adjusted arrival both ways.

I flew from the Gold Coast to Sydney yesterday my flight was meant to leave at 10.05 am. First of all it was late by half an hour after that we all boarded the aircraft that as far as it went. About half an hour later sitting on the aircraft they decided that they had some problem with the wiring we all had to go back to the terminal. At first they said it will only take 15 minutes to fix about 1400 hours we were still at the airport at 1420 hours we finally boarded the aircraft then we had to wait another 20 minutes because they realised the aircraft needed refuelling. Because of all that I missed my connecting flight to Hobart which was the only flight left of the day so no one knew if I had to stay overnight in Sydney until I arrive there so they found a flight to Hobart via Melbourne. Never again I will fly with Virgin again.

PER-SYD and return. A330-200. Inflight entertainment was excellent. Food was generally very good although the roast pork on the SYD-PER sector was dry. Cabin crew a bit abrupt on the SYD-PER leg. One thing I found very irritating was the captain announcing the seatbelt sign for turbulence then the cabin crew to only echo the exact same thing again. I've flown this and the BNE sector on the A330-200 a number of times and 8/10 is the lowest score I have given.

OOL-SYD-CBR-OOL in February on B737 and ATR72. Nothing but positives to report. Good lounges at both ends priority boarding reasonable seats for domestic business very good food and excellent service from the cabin crew. Food has improved dramatically and drinks always flow freely. The Virgin cabin crew always amaze me. They do their job with enthusiasm are happy to engage with the passengers are very pro-active with customer service and are totally unpretentious. A pleasure to fly with and my preferred carrier.

Flew Perth-Broome on an E-190. Check in was a disgrace the check in crew could not calculate the weight of my bag and charged me an extra $20 for my baggage (which weighed 14kg) . Boarding was somewhat smooth cabin was crowded. Seats were not comfortable. Service was terrible cabin crew were not friendly nor helpful. For a 2.5 hour flight a small sandwich and water. Charged an extra $2.50 for a small can of soft drink. The landing in Broome was terrible. Will never fly with Virgin Australia again.

Flew Los Angeles to Melbourne via Brisbane. The staff from check-in at LAX all the way to the domestic flight were with one or two exceptions distant and unfriendly. Smiles were few and far between and they seemed to do the absolute minimum required. Annoyingly they are chatty and bubbly when talking among themselves but that disposition is not wasted on customers. Aside from that the legroom is fantastic the best I've had on a long- haul flight. Food was pretty mediocre (a salad without dressing cold bun bland chicken) and there were almost no water or juice runs through the cabin (on a 13-hour flight!). Inflight entertainment was also sub-standard compared to Delta and Qantas. The domestic flight was uneventful and on-time.