Virgin Australia's new A330, B777 business class
Aug 11, 2015, 12:43 pm
#46
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Technically it states October to December for LAX:
"Virgin Australia's fleet of five Boeing 777s will be refurbished in two waves: from October to December 2015, which is expected to primarily feed the Sydney-LAX and Brisbane-LAX services; and then February-April 2016 to bed down all three of Virgin Australia's international routes including Sydney-Abu Dhabi flights."
So it is plausible that they could show up mid-November on LAX-SYD/BNE.
"Virgin Australia's fleet of five Boeing 777s will be refurbished in two waves: from October to December 2015, which is expected to primarily feed the Sydney-LAX and Brisbane-LAX services; and then February-April 2016 to bed down all three of Virgin Australia's international routes including Sydney-Abu Dhabi flights."
So it is plausible that they could show up mid-November on LAX-SYD/BNE.
Aug 12, 2015, 5:04 am
#47
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I also read somewhere that seat maps into next year for the 777 routes all show the old cabin configuration. Wonder when they'll start releasing the new ones?
Aug 12, 2015, 3:56 pm
#49
Join Date: Nov 2013
Location: Dublin, Ireland
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Aug 17th is when the new J Class starts SYD to PER
http://www.ausbt.com.au/virgin-austr...unch-august-17
http://www.ausbt.com.au/virgin-austr...unch-august-17
Aug 12, 2015, 5:53 pm
#50
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So, they have five 777s, and they're taking one out of service at a time. They currently use 4 to service daily SYD/BNE-LAX and 1 to fly SYD-AUH 3x weekly, which they'll be taking out of service during refurbs. I'm using the dates that the SYD-AUH service won't run in my analysis below and based on the windows (50 days Oct-Dec and 64 days Feb-Apr I'm assuming the split is 2 aircraft then 3).
Oct 27 -Dec 16 they'll do 2 aircraft serving the LAX routes. That means by Christmas either SYD or BNE will be entirely on reconfigured aircraft, or there will be one flying from each giving a 50/50 chance of having the new configuration.
Then they resume the refurbs on Feb 2, and a third a/c should be finished by the end of Feb (23 Feb if the time is split in thirds). At this point, SYD or BNE are seeing purely new J while the other is getting it half the time (or they do some sort of rotation since both fly to LAX giving about 75% chance on each route). Late March (15 March if the time is split in thirds) the fourth is completed, allowing them to fly all the LAX routes with new J. Finally, the fifth aircraft is completed and resumes flying SYD-AUH on April 7. Of course, all of these dates are based off the assumption they are able to stick to the schedule.
So, it looks like there's a good chance I'll be in the new seats on my LAX-BNE flight the last week of March. I'm not really sure how I feel about that. Trying out brand new seats is kind of cool, and they look quite sleek, but my wife and I are currently in 1AC which seems like a good setup as well if we want to talk during the 14 hour flight.
Oct 27 -Dec 16 they'll do 2 aircraft serving the LAX routes. That means by Christmas either SYD or BNE will be entirely on reconfigured aircraft, or there will be one flying from each giving a 50/50 chance of having the new configuration.
Then they resume the refurbs on Feb 2, and a third a/c should be finished by the end of Feb (23 Feb if the time is split in thirds). At this point, SYD or BNE are seeing purely new J while the other is getting it half the time (or they do some sort of rotation since both fly to LAX giving about 75% chance on each route). Late March (15 March if the time is split in thirds) the fourth is completed, allowing them to fly all the LAX routes with new J. Finally, the fifth aircraft is completed and resumes flying SYD-AUH on April 7. Of course, all of these dates are based off the assumption they are able to stick to the schedule.
So, it looks like there's a good chance I'll be in the new seats on my LAX-BNE flight the last week of March. I'm not really sure how I feel about that. Trying out brand new seats is kind of cool, and they look quite sleek, but my wife and I are currently in 1AC which seems like a good setup as well if we want to talk during the 14 hour flight.
Aug 12, 2015, 9:49 pm
#51
Formerly known as jlars77
Join Date: Oct 2014
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FWIW, one blogger called the virtually identical QR seat "excellent" and another the "best" biz product in the skies. 30" width with the armrests down and 80" pitch with much larger foot cubby than CX J. Maybe some nice bar upgrades too?? 
Aug 14, 2015, 12:42 am
#52
Join Date: Mar 2007
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Aug 16, 2015, 7:57 pm
#53
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I saw this article in the SMH today:
http://www.smh.com.au/business/aviat...16-gj0f0o.html
Not sure why they are saying this because Cathay Pacific has had Nespresso onboard since at least 2001.
http://www.smh.com.au/business/aviat...16-gj0f0o.html
Virgin Australia will treat its transcontinental business class passengers to the world's first Nespresso coffee in the sky
Not sure why they are saying this because Cathay Pacific has had Nespresso onboard since at least 2001.
Aug 17, 2015, 9:34 pm
#54
Join Date: Jul 2011
Location: Washington, DC
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I saw this article in the SMH today:
http://www.smh.com.au/business/aviat...16-gj0f0o.html
Not sure why they are saying this because Cathay Pacific has had Nespresso onboard since at least 2001.
http://www.smh.com.au/business/aviat...16-gj0f0o.html
Not sure why they are saying this because Cathay Pacific has had Nespresso onboard since at least 2001.
"There's also a new Nespresso coffee service, using the world's first custom-designed Nespresso machine to be fitted to an Airbus A330, which Virgin promises will "deliver the finest coffee in the sky."
So it's the first custom-designed [blah-blah-blah] machine.
Aug 18, 2015, 2:14 am
#55
FlyerTalk Evangelist
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I saw this article in the SMH today:
http://www.smh.com.au/business/aviat...16-gj0f0o.html
Not sure why they are saying this because Cathay Pacific has had Nespresso onboard since at least 2001.
http://www.smh.com.au/business/aviat...16-gj0f0o.html
Not sure why they are saying this because Cathay Pacific has had Nespresso onboard since at least 2001.
Virgin Australia will now introduce Australia's first Nespresso machines in the sky
Aug 21, 2015, 9:48 am
#56
Join Date: Nov 2013
Programs: Alaska Airlines MVP Gold 75K, Virgin America Elevate Gold, American Airlines AAdvantage
Posts: 15
My SYD-PER flight for this April that was booked via Delta got updated with a new seat map that was viewable from Delta's website. Looking forward to seeing the LAX-SYD flight being updated later this year.
Aug 22, 2015, 8:01 pm
#57
Join Date: Apr 2002
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What's the typical routing on the one upgraded 330 bird?
QF prioritised their new J on the PER-SYD/PER-MEL red-eyes, thus going west for the 8/9am departures.
Wonder what my likelihood of getting it on a 6am west coast departure
QF prioritised their new J on the PER-SYD/PER-MEL red-eyes, thus going west for the 8/9am departures.
Wonder what my likelihood of getting it on a 6am west coast departure
Aug 24, 2015, 2:23 am
#58
Join Date: Oct 2010
Location: BNE
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Sep 29, 2015, 10:46 am
#60
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