heleno

)) Before landing

At breakfast time, the FA’s distributed feedback survey forms and requested that we fill them out. It’s nice to know that a company is interested in their customers’ opinions!

Oh, by the way, J-class is indeed treated to hot towels in the morning, as all passengers on long international flights should be. Yes, I’m still on my one-woman campaign to convince VA to provide them in economy as well, if they’re not already doing so, as I expect to be flying Y-class more often than J, and I like this airline.

Quick side note: V Australia, I’ll admit this. Your pyjamas ended up in my purse with my toothpaste when I changed out of them in the morning, and I forgot to take them out when I was back at my seat. They’re black and easy to overlook.

We touched down at 8:25am according to the flight tracker on the IFE (note that unlike Virgin America, which uses Google, V Australia uses a more traditional-looking flight tracker map system). Business class exits the plane at a different door at the front of the plane (vs. the one we boarded through, between business class and the rest of the plane), giving us a head start on economy and premium economy passengers. I suppose this is most useful for those with no checked luggage, as the international business class tag on my luggage didn’t seem to mean it was among the first bags off the plane – never does, on any airline I’ve experienced, and sometimes my J or F class bags, marked as such, have even been the LAST off the plane probably due to some baggage attendant with a strange sense of humor. I was sufficiently surprised by the different point of exit, and by Lee offering to take my pic sitting in my seat before I exited the plane, that I didn’t remember to take a pic of the flight crew. Sigh.

[ Quick edit to add something I forgot to mention ] The "Over the Rainbow" tune that was playing as we all exited the inaugural flight in Los Angeles showed up again as the arrival exit music for this one, so apparently it's in regular use. It's an upbeat, cheery choice that makes me smile when I hear it, and I'm glad they kept it around. The version they play is an instrumental-only version of the arrangement by that Hawaiian singer who covered the original song some years back. It is the latest in a list of great arrival music chosen by Virgin Blue, the most memorable of which, to me, was "All I want for Christmas is you" a couple years ago. An airline has one more chance (other than getting your bag back to you at baggage claim) to leave you with a positive impression as you exit, and good, upbeat music contributes to that.

The FA’s had handed out express passes to J-class customers, to help us get through customs as quickly as possible. Alas, it is only possible to use the pass if one doesn’t have food to declare. I have a few American ex-pat friends in Australia and my trips to Oz tend to involve supply missions; the cooler (esky) full of cajun rice mix, Reese’s and root beer requested by my friends nixed my ability to use it.

I noticed that it was 8:59am at baggage claim. This time, there was no, “Hurry up, get out of the way, an Airbus Is Coming!” urgency at baggage claim and customs, which was good – this makes sense, as the inaugural flight’s departure and arrival times were unusual, so it is reasonable that there would be a different set of traffic in the airport.

)) Summary

My flight from Seattle to LAX was fine and uneventful, and the chocolate chip cookies were good.

My time in the Alaska lounge met my expectations, but wasn’t super-impressive from international business class standards, given my experience with various international carriers’ lounges. I’d set my expectations going in, knowing that this was a domestic lounge, and found it to be a quite nice one.

The V Australia flight, however, stood out as an *experience* because of the business class service, features and amenities provided along with that lighthearted, let’s-not-take-ourselves-too-seriously Virgin personality (which happens to mesh well with the Aussie culture, hence the popularity of the domestic Virgin Blue carrier). The closest J-class experience I’ve had to it, in terms of the personality of it, is Hawaiian, but their other J-class trappings don’t even begin to compare to VA’s. And while QF and UA may be closer equivalents to VA as far as seating and dining and a general high end “vibe” go, they have a more “corporate” personality that isn’t as good a match for me as VA’s.

Why not have a bar with bar stools? Why not have stars in the ceiling to give people something interesting to look at, at night? Why not have china whose saucer displays a message like, “Look, a flying saucer” when one lifts up one’s teacup? And if there’s an American passenger who’s crazy enough to fly from LA to Sydney just to get on your airline’s first flight, why not make note of it and remember her when she comes back? Some airlines do some of these things, but only VA does all of them.

I end up upgrading to J class on about half my trips to Australia, on various carriers, usually on the segment of my trip TO Australia rather than back from it. And I definitely think flying V Australia business class again would be worth it, particularly on the outbound section of my trip even if I couldn’t cost-justify it in both directions. It’s much easier for me to justify business class at V Australia’s prices than at Qantas’. Any extra “luxe” of Qantas in terms of cabin feel or gourmet level of food seems to come at a price that can be nearly double V Australia’s and it’s a matter of personal opinion as to whether it’s worth it or not. I experienced great service on V Australia, the equivalent or better of any I’ve had in business class on other airlines. I had a flat bed seat. I didn’t have to skip or skimp on meals, and feel like I was losing out on part of the value of premium class travel, because of a lack of food that matched my tastes. Beyond that, extras are great but I consider price next when evaluating a premium travel experience, so as long as V Australia’s pricing remains competitive, they’re the front runner for me.

People who think more expensive must mean better, or who’ve been loyal to the flying kangaroo for decades and don’t like change, will likely still go for Qantas. Although, they might want to try VA just to see if the extra $$ for QF are really worth it for them. And those who like traditional US carriers will likely stick with United. Those comments are especially true for those who like acquiring FF miles through Qantas or United.

I’d encourage others, again, particularly those who like Virgin Blue in Oz, or non-traditional carriers like Southwest in the US, to try V Australia’s business class if you’re in the situation to fly business class between the US and Oz. And if you’re interested in having your own nearly private business class cabin for 1, 4 or 6 of your closest friends, V Australia is where you’ll find it.

As noted above, the main exception to my recommendation would be if you want/need to accrue FF files and aren't a member of Velocity Rewards, the V Australia program (it's currently restricted to AU and NZ residents, although they're working on expanding it). V Australia really provides a lot of value for the price.

Now, V Australia, are you going to give us some hints on how to get upgrades to J class? I saw info on how to go from economy to premium economy, but didn't see info on how to upgrade to business class.

Cheers until the next TR…