My first trip report. It's not that often that I don't travel on heavily discounted or award economy, so it's a good subject for my first TR.

VS200 HKG-SYD
Departure time: 19:20
Arrival time: 6:50
Aircraft: A340-600

Staff were polite and generally satisfactory (subject to the black mark below). All of them were Cantonese Chinese speakers in our section - you'd think Virgin borrowed a Cathay crew or something.

The seat was really comfy - really good compared to an economy seat. Of course it doesn't compare to business but I don't get to travel business that often (once every 2-3 years). Even mum's back was approving of the seat.





Also there's a lot more alcohol than Cathay - champagne on arrival, multiple servings of both Red and White during the meal, cognac after. I didn't realise this before but glass size is definitely less than a restaurant/bar serving, but not less than any other airline. Good for me cos I can try more of everything.




The other point was the food. The dinner was marginally better than both Cathay and Qantas. Mum's worries about non-Cathay food was unfounded at least this time.




Some black marks to note though:
- when I woke up before anyone else with a really dry throat (possibly due to all that alcohol I chugged), my own bottle of water was in my backpack which my mum used as a sleeping footrest. I hit the cabin attendant button but was kept waiting for 3 mins before a flight attendant came up. For a 35 person cabin attended by two CAs before a meal run, this was kind of long (I think I'm being spoilt by Cathay...Qantas should take longer).
- the plane is visibly aging. I guess it's been on of the "4 engines for long haul" planes that have been (partially) refurbished. Although the exterior is generally new, the tables have a lot of accumulated dirt under them. The rubber stopper underneath the table feels like falling off. The guy in the aisle opposite tore off his meal table armrest
- the amenity kit was tacky and the button broke off. But I appreciated the socks it contained as my own socks were making my feet itchy





- the IFE is clumsy, with two cursors. Doing anything with it involves using both D-pads. Feels like playing a PS3 - Mum couldn't do anything with the IFE on her own. Mum's IFE hung at one point and had to be rebooted:




The IFE doens't work during take-off or landing even to show a moving map (I:map or something like that). We had to taxi all the waay down the runway in HKIA for a southern takeoff. Not having the IFE or my electronic devises to entertain is seriously dissatisfactory for me.

The movies loaded weren't bad though. I was hoping to see Wall Street 2. It's not been loaded on yet but I got Twilight Eclipse, which I missed in the cinema. Well it's a good opportunity to watch and diss what a horrible writer Stephanie Meyer is. Kristen Stewart didn't look too bad on the IFE though, and the fight scenes showed up okay.



Breakfast consisted of a "sausage roll" or "cheese roll". I expected a sausage roll to be a pork-filled pastry like Starbucks (they were a major office staple when I worked in Aus) - but it turned out to be a bread roll with cut sausage pieces. On Cathay and Qantas, a full breakfast is offered, though the "sausage roll" was filling enough. And it was warm.




Notwithstanding the general comfort of the seat whilst you're doing nothing, it's a bit tricky when you're reaching for baggage under your seat cos the seat is quite deep. So when I was trying to reach for the backpack in the bottom of my seat it was a bit of a challenge. In an normal Qantas/Cathay pre-Olympus seat (the Olympus seat solved this problem entirely, but at great cost), I'm able to reach for my bag somewhat easier.

Something to be said about the ethnic mix of VS PE travellers - all of them are Caucasians except us - I was expecting we won't be the only Chinese family with aging parents who would plump for VS PE. Most travellers appear to be connecting from London.

The aircraft was generally quiet (I'm finishing this TR up on a 767; the A340's noticeably quieter).

The last cabin call before landing was amusing "cabin crew, thanks for your hard work, seats for landing." Nice, and deserved.

I didn't get a window seat so I couldn't do any aerial photography this time (TA couldn't get me window seat on booking, tried changing it during online checkin 23 hrs 59 mins prior to departure with no luck). But by the time I saw land we were already over Botany Bay on a northern approach to Kingsford Smith. We came down rather hather and braked hard - I was a bit worried about the crystal tumblers I was hand carrying for a friend's wedding present [nothing broke when the present was opened].

After landing, I wanted Mum to try the Upper Class seats - but Mum bolted out of the aircraft like every other lousy holiday-maker so the opportunity was lost.

I'm also unhappy about the timing of the inbound flight - 7:20PM take off is a little trying for me - I only managed to complete my last meeting with my boss at 5:35PM (getting out of the office pre-leave is always tricky) and scrambled to the airport with a colleague also travelling that evening (not to Aus) by cab --> Kowloon Station AEL --> Airport. Made it to the gate at 6:40PM and even had some time to go into the Gate 60 lounge and grab a Soda Water - but no time for shower and can only wash my face and attempt a hair wash in a public sink.

Worse still, I didn't get to sleep until 11:30PM or so which meant I only got 4 hours sleep as I was woken up. I almost crashed the car on my way back from lunch and my sis in law had to take over. The take-off time is a major downer.

It's my first experience on a PE/S product, I look forward to travelling in PE more often - esp when CX rolls it out (please please please can it be sooner?)