Virgin Australia

My wife and I have just flown to Apia and back on VA operating for Virgin Samoa. Both aircraft's were older Boeing 737-800 in fine order. Cabin and toilets excellent and friendly flight attendants. Good inflight magazine and portable video/music players were available with a small selection of movies and music. Flights left on time. Meal both ways was a beef wrap. For a four hour flight these were good flights.

Flew SYD to Brisbane and back. Both flights very good. Modern clean aircraft with professional crews. On way back from BNE I arrived at airport 2 hours before my flight and at check in was asked if I wished to move to an earlier flight. Nice touch.

Plane and Crew acceptable - however I was delayed by 5 hours in leaving on a 2 hour trip - even though there were 4 flights ahead which I could of been moved to. These people put the already booked plane to the end of the queue! Absolutely frustrating and I would not recommend this service.

SYD to AUH (VA 29) 13 June 2013. Mixed feelings about this flight - while the food and IFE was excellent the service from the flight attendants was horrible to say the least. On a number of occasions they would shout at customers and other times not respond to requests (like a glass of water). Virgin Australia seriously needs to manage their staff better because they are sure to lose a lot of passengers if they continue at this rate.

Flew Sydney to Denpasar July 1. After flying Jetstar last time we found Virgin far superior. Particularly appreciated the free meal and free alcohol which is new policy. Being 737 did mean only toilets at the rear of plane which meant you had to pick your times. The crew were polite and helpful. Can't comment on inflight entertainment because we took our own and didn't notice any other. Would definitely fly Virgin again.

Flight from Sydney to Melbourne which had been booked for months cancelled on the day of the flight. Passenger put on another flight one and a half hours later which arrived in Melbourne at 11.05pm causing much inconvenience.

Flew to Bali (Denpasar) on DJ4197 from Brisbane (return) in mid June 2013. Airplane was a Boeing 737-800 quite new and consisted of economy seats and a handful of Premium Economy seats (separated by a tinted half-wall and rope). Flight left on time. Good points were the service and friendliness of staff and the food was actually quite good. Ticket didn't include any pre-paid meals but everyone on board got complimentary hot lunch which was appreciated. No bottles of water were served but staff were happy to provide re-fills or sealed 100ml tubs. Flight time was supposed to be 6.5 hours but we were forced to circle Bali airport for another hour due to traffic congestion. In Flight Entertainment wasn't available. I thought this was very poor. No blankets available either. Virgin is using a domestic plane (B737-800) which is designed for short 2-3 hour flights for an international flight. Plane was very cramped and hardly any leg room for someone of my height (1.8 m). The layout was 3 seats each side with two toilets at the back for economy which is not enough when the plane was full. Our seats were in Row 10 which was fine. At least Virgin's flights to Bali are direct which is why we chose them. Overall 5/10 I wouldn't be in a rush to fly with VA again to Bali.

MEL to Bali. Plane flight and cabin crew all good. Entertainment was zero - no movies no screens no radio. Luckily had an ipads ready pre-loaded. Biggest Issue - Food and drinks. Or lack thereof. Whole family starving so whilst waiting for main meal we wanted to order from the Virgin inflight menu which was poor but we were hungry and happy to pay for the limited morsels on the menu. However there was no food to be ordered. After a long wait the main finally arrived which was fine. The price of the flight was not cheap and it's a 6 hour flight so I think Virgin are skating on thin ice here and should at least warn customers of what to expect.

BNE-HTI in a 737-800 the aircraft was very clean and tidy. The staff were friendly. I sat in Row 3 (which is a bulkhead seat) and had more than enough legroom. Virgin Australia's major failing is the lack of In-Flight Entertainment onboard their 737s. The lack of In-Flight entertainment wouldn't matter on a short flight (Canberra- Sydney) but on a 2 hour flight it is a bit ridiculous. I would recommend bringing an iPad or Laptop with movies on if you want to watch movies. We were offered a sandwich and a biscuit for lunch which was very very plain. The seat was comfortable though it did appear that the bottom cushion had completely separated from the back portion of the seat. The head rest was very comfortable and the leather was a nice touch. I would recommend them but make sure that you bring your own entertainment if you're flying on their 737s.

SYS-LAX May 3/22. Premium economy - great seat sat in back row only problem was noise from baby crying from economy seats. Food great service first class - nothing was a problem. Check in smooth and quick.