Virgin Australia

Night Flight MEL-PER. I was seated in the very back row of economy - on the aisle and pleased (at least) to have the only spare seat on the plane next to me. Soon to be seen struggling down the aisle was a parent and infant. The parent took up the single aisle seat across the aisle from me. Babe in arms. I offered to swap seats as I had the free seat next to me. Done - thanks all around- I know what it is like to be travelling with a child so was happy to provide them the extra seat space. After take off I was tapped on the shoulder by FA and escorted into business class. During the flight I was approached by every one of the cabin crew and thanked for my gesture. Surprised and appreciative - and advised by the crew that sadly my simple gesture was very rare indeed. Now that is disappointing! Well done Virgin Australia for excellent customer service.

No inflight entertainment cramped seating arrangement for long haul flight from Auckland to Bali via Brisbane. Staff were very average the only good thing I have to say with travelling Virgin Australia was that the food and beverages on offer were decent.

BNE-LAX. Unfriendly staff 13 hrs no drinks offered when I asked was told to wait as food would be served soon. 1hr later food and no drink I just gave up. Flight home was only better because I was able to sleep most of the way - no more friendly.

PER-DPS return Business Class. SQ Lounge in Perth a very nice touch. Flight up was delayed however made up time in the air. Food service and beverage service was up to par. Flew older 737 800. Outbound crew couldn't do enough. On the return - access to Premier Lounge this is barely adequate with minimal food and beverages very basic and shared by a combination of carriers. I also believe that the outside world can pay for access. To top it off they call us out of the lounge and to the holding area 1 hour before the plane had even arrived at DPS. So we sat in the holding area for nearly 2 hours before boarding. They knew where we were why make us leave the lounge and sit for 2 hours in a holding area. Business Class should be the last to be sent to the gate for immediate boarding first not really up to Business Class standards. The meal and beverage service on the return was adequate but sparse. There were only 8 people in business class on a 737 so if someone wants the cheese plate its not a good look to forget to bring it out. Disappointing compared to the outbound and against recent trips with Garuda Business Class on the same route. Upgrade the plane with a better IFE system the Ipads are inadequate and the selection is very limited. When there are only 8 people to look after don't forget the cheese plate. Nice touch though advising BC that the forward bathroom was to be opened to the main cabin after the main meal service.

I booked the flight ex Sydney to Melbourne via virgin Australia domestic. Due to the issues in Sydney airport so many airlines cancelled the flights. Other airlines like Qantas and Jetstar provided the accommodation to their clients and gave them compensation. Virgin just informed their clients that everything was out of control the only thing you can get from virgin Australia is only words "sorry virgin can not do anything to help you you need to ring to rebook the flight by yourself!" No more Virgin for me and my family.

VA 4135 22nd Sept. Denpasar Bali to Perth WA. Awful staff delayed check-in delayed on tarmac for an hour no water offered absolutely shocking food the worst airline I've flown with. I was expecting much better from Virgin! I've never had a reason to write an airline review but I sure felt the need after the experience we had. There is so much more to tell but I've emailed Virgin direct regarding the situation of a drunk passenger in the Exit Row who was obviously unfit to sit there but who staff did nothing about but to tell us we were unfit to sit in the Exit row because of our concerns about this passenger. It was a joke the whole experience. Never will I fly with Virgin again.

VA696 on A330. PER-MEL. Virgin Australia leaves a great first impression for me as this is the first time I have flown them as VA instead of their low-cost forerunner DJ (Virgin Blue). Flight departed on-time and arrived at the destination 30-40 minutes early. Customer service manager made in-flight announcements with passion and clarity. Cabin crews were also friendly. The IFE had an extensive catalogue of music but not so with movies. Furthermore a 3.5mm jack in-ear headphones was provided instead of the usual ones with two jacks. The sound only came from one side of the headphones. This coast to coast flight offered a complimentary hot meal and it was a choice between chicken casserole or Thai green curry. Overall the flight was very pleasant and I would fly with VA again.

Melbourne-Bali return in September. Probably won't use them again internationally. Flight leaving Melbourne was very delayed boarding. The flight was then delayed in departing by an hour - we sat on the tarmac for that time in a hot stuffy aircraft because 6 people had to have their luggage removed. Whilst the pilot was apologetic about this we were not offered any refreshments while we waited and the crew seemed to care less about passengers irritation at the delay. Check in itself at Melbourne airport was an exercise in inefficiency. 4 check in staff allocated to economy class passengers but with 4 international flights being checked in all at the same time the wait to check in was well over one hour. Very poor. The lady who checked me in appeared to be unsure about procedures and had to refer to her supervisor standing behind her. No ability to check in online either so check in was time consuming. I received a txt from Virgin before the flight saying that the wireless inflight entertainment would be available on my flight so I downloaded the app in anticipation - but the IFE did not work on the plane - the stewardess told me so when I asked. No apology from the captain or the head stewardess. It was a long boring flight up to Bali with no entertainment options and hungry passengers who expected to be able to purchase some snacks or food on board but there was nothing available for purchase. The meal was not served until 1pm (4 hours after the flight was scheduled to depart) - with nothing provided earlier in the flight other than a drink and with only 2 meal options one of which they ran out of early on. Why not have snacks available for purchase on flights of this length. Coming back on the redeye at 10.10pm was slightly better as the meal was served promptly departure was relatively on time and the IFE worked. Check in at Denpasar airport in Bali was a shambles. Virgin insist on your arriving at the airports to check in at least 3 hours' prior to departure time they do not have ground crew available to check you in until 2 hrs 50 mins prior to your flight. Long queues eventuated as a result. Check in was slightly quicker than in Melbourne however. Seats on the planes were comfortable but Virgin should be ashamed of using such small planes on these flights. There were only 2 toilets available at the rear of the plane to economy class passengers (there was one at the front but the crew refused to allow even "desperate" passengers to use this saying it was for business class passengers. There were ridiculous queues for the toilets as a result. The crew on both flights were generally not particularly friendly or helpful. Virgin used to be much better - what has happened?

WLG-BNE-POM-BNE-WLG. I've have been traveling VA when I go to PNG because I have no other choice. My experiences with them say they are always looking for ways to improve. The food choice is not as good bland sandwiches however the pies are only served on certain flights. AUD and NZD currency are both used and credit/visa card facilities are available. Beverages such as tea coffee and water are free. I'd recommend paying for food in advance as they have choices for you and they would serve you first before others who would purchase their food onboard. I don't find the food expensive but that's my opinion others opinions may differ. Entertainment is always good during my flights. Their movies and shows etc are always updated however no entertainment between BNE-POM. I find boarding flights in NZ takes so long however boarding flights from BNE-POM are always quicker and vice versa. I once cause the flight from POM-BNE to delay 20mins and as a result my connecting flight was delayed as well. I was then escorted to my next gate by ground staff. VA has lovely friendly and attentive staff. I find the planes between NZ- AUST are older and planes between AUST-PNG are nicer and newer. You can pretty much change seats during flights if you want to. The airline is very informative and take-off and landing have always been excellent! I would definitely recommend flying with VA.

Flown to Los Angeles and back to Sydney in September with Virgin. Overall experience was below average. It had the smallest meal trays I have seen with plastic cutlery which I found to be very poor. The menu was announced on the speaker which I found surprising and was extremely difficult to understand. When asked crew for a kids menu it appeared a big deal or didn't exist most other airlines provide a small kids toy or coloring without asking. Meals were below average entertainment was ok. I hate stick in your ear headphones unlike most airlines which have proper headphones. I believe for the cost of the airline service could have been better.