FlyerTalk Forums - View Single Post - Mini-TR - Virgin Australia - SYD to MEL Return

Feb 6, 2014, 2:16 am

matthandy

Join Date: Jul 2008

Location: Kent, UK

Programs: BA Gold, SPG Platinum, Marriott Platinum, Hilton Diamond

Posts: 3,809

Part 2 - Melbourne and Virgin Australia Business to Sydney

My friend lives with his family in Eltham, and it took us about 35 minutes to drive there. As we did it started to rain and the green vegetation around really did remind me of being back in the UK.

We arrived at the house and I said my hellos to my friend's wife and daughter. She is now two and really likes to play and have fun. She's generally very good but she did run me ragged some times! She has endless energy.

We didn't really do a great deal during the day, very normal things in fact. My friends had just moved in so we went to the local shopping centre to look at furniture and pick up a few things from Target. We also went to a very nice garden centre and I picked up a present for my friend's sister, as I would be spending Christmas with his family out in rural Victoria.

In the evening we cracked open a bottle of wine and settled down to a home cooked dinner. Their furniture hadn't arrived yet (their container was on a ship somewhere between Singapore and Perth) so we made do with a camping table and chairs.

After another bottle of wine it was time for bed.

I woke to the sound of kookaburras, a noise that once heard you'll never forget. Also, my room was freezing! Since moving to Australia my perception of what is 'cold' has really changed. It was probably 12 degrees or so outside but to me it felt like minus 10.

My friends aren't really early risers so there was none of that worrying about whether I was being rude by staying in bed. It was only 8.30 after all. Their daughter tends to get up at about 7 but they were happy enough to let her play in bed with them until it was time to get up.

Breakfast (well brunch) had been organised at the same garden centre that we went to before. I went for my usual, eggs Benedict. It was rather good.

After that we decided to take a walk. I'm not sure exactly where we went but it was fairly local.

It wasn't a long walk as rain started to threaten but the views from the top of the hill that we climbed were great. Both my friend and I had recently bought the iPhone 5s and hadn't yet used the slow-motion video feature. Well, we decided to behave like children and stood on top of a small wooden sign and then jumped off in spectacular fashion, the slo-mo camera capturing it all. Suffice to say, there's a rather funny video of me sounding like a bear as I leap from the sign and land on the ground next to my friend's excited daughter. That won't be going on Youtube.

The view from the hills near Eltham

Soon it was time to head off to the airport. My flight was scheduled to depart at 5.30pm and I wanted to be at the airport for around 4ish to get a good look at the lounge before boarding at 5.

My friend dropped me off at the airport, terminal 3 and I went straight past check in. I had checked in using my mobile and I couldn't be bothered getting a paper boarding pass.

I then made my way to the Virgin Lounge which interestingly is actually before security. I'm not aware of other major domestic airports in Australia where this is the case. Personally, I do not like this arrangement as inevitably it means arriving at the gate much too early due to having to leave the lounge early because of the risk of long queues at security.

Priority Check In at Melbourne's Terminal 3 (Virgin)

Entrance to the Virgin Australia lounge

I was barely welcomed in to the lounge as I just flashed the boarding pass on my phone. Wow, the lounge was packed out! I had read on the Virgin Australia board that the lounge was undergoing refurbishment and that this meant it was half the size of normal, still, serving a large city such as Melbourne, the lounge was very small and felt cramped.

The lounge was in the same style as the Sydney lounge, with lots of white and purple everywhere. The bar area was long and thin and contained the food area as well. There wasn't a huge amount on offer food wise, the usual cold selection of sandwich items plus some cheese. The bar area was a bit better stocked with a good selection of wines to choose from. There was also a selection of beers and other drinks to choose from. I can't remember if the bar was manned but I suspect that it was.

The main food and drink area

Bar area - lots of purple

Red wine selection

I made my way to the main seating area which faced large windows overlooking the apron. It was right next to one of the gates, so much so that the wing tips of the parked 737-800 there seemed to almost touch the glass.

Like the rest of the lounge, the seating area was packed out and I had to manoeuvre around a bit to get a table. This was unfortunately located next to two very loud gentlemen who conducting a 'very important' business meeting in public, in the lounge. I've always wondered why people do this, perhaps they are too self-centred to realise that they are disturbing other people and that everyone can hear the details of their business dealings which may not be desirable. I've been a lift before when I overheard information from our rivals about a piece of work that my company was bidding for. What's the saying from the war? 'The walls have ears'.

Packed seating area

A nice glass of Pinot Noir

A Virgin 737 parked very close to the lounge window

At about 4.50 I decided to head out the lounge towards security and to the gate. I had no idea how busy security would be and as it turns out, I could have stayed in the lounge a little longer than I did.

Security at Terminal 3 is a mess. For a start it seems like quite a makeshift set up to be honest, cobbled together overnight. There were a number of lanes (no priority lane that I saw) but because it the security area was crammed into such a small space people who were slow blocked the whole thing up. There wasn't room for them to move out of the way whilst they sorted out their stuff. Not impressed. I do hope that the security screening area will be revamped along with the other areas of Terminal 3.

My flight was leaving from Gate 1 which unfortunately is right next to Boost Juice. Once that mixer is going it's very difficult to hear the gate announcements.

I could see the aircraft and it was still in the old 'Virgin Blue' livery. This was disappointing as I was hoping get the newer style cabin onboard. As it turns out, this was the case as the aircraft had been refitted inside but not yet re-painted.

Boarding commenced at about 5 with kids and those needing assistance first. This was followed a few minutes later by Business class and Velocity Frequent Flyers Gold and above.

I made my way forward, had my boarding pass scanned on my phone and then got given a paper one as well. I'm not sure why.

No air bridge was used for this flight for some reason so everyone had to embark from the tarmac, both front and rear.

Gate 1

The Business cabin on this 737

Looking behind to economy

I was welcomed on board by name and then pointed in the direction of my seat. I took out a few things from my bag and then stowed it in the overhead locker. I then settled down and watched as the other passengers boarded.

I'd recently flown with Qantas in Business to and from Cairns so I was able to compare the Virgin seat with the Qantas one. My observations are that the Virgin seat is probably about the same width although the centre console is wider than that on Qantas. There's no leg rest with the Virgin seat and personally, I prefer cloth over leather but that's only the case on the older Qantas seat. Overall, they are both pretty similar products.

As boarding started to slow down a bit the crew member that would be serving in the Business cabin came around to offer a pre-departure beverage of either juice or a fruity mocktail. I went with the mocktail and it was very refreshing actually.

Soon after a rather strange man entered the cabin and sat in 1D. He acted and behaved very aggressively, giving deep stares to crew members and any passengers that looked at him. During taxi he took out some rosary beards and proceeded to swing them around his hand, one way and then the next so there was a constant 'clack, pause, clack' in the cabin. It was incredibly annoying but he gave off the impression that he should not be messed with. If he was a big time drug dealer or gangster that would not surprise me at all. Very, very odd.

Leg room

Very nice mocktail

The view from 1A

Almost at the last minute a large family boarded and took up all of the remaining six seats in the Business cabin. The father seemed to be known to the crew whom I presume he had flown with before. My guess is that he was a top tier frequent flyer or other CIP. His young son ended up sitting next to the strange man and I could tell that his father was concerned as he kept asking if he was ok.

Push back took place at around 5.40pm, 10 or so minutes behind schedule.

Look, it's a 787!

We lined up on the runway and I noticed that we were being followed by the Jetstar 787. It's actually quite a nice looking aircraft up close. I will fly her one day.

Take off was fine although we did seem to go almost to the end of the runway before rotating. The seat belt sign was turned off pretty quickly and the lovely female crew member serving in the Business cabin made herself known and started offering the afternoon snack service.

For some reason, she asked 2A first, I'm not sure why. The choices were a pumpkin salad or a beef pie. I was surprised as I had expected something smaller like a cheese plate.

Once she came to take my order I had decided on the pie and just some water to drink.

Cruising over rural Victoria

Beef pie, bread and dessert (black cherry cake)

When the tray arrived I was pleasantly surprised. The 'snack' was rather substantial. The tray included a dessert and also came with an offer of warm bread.

The pie itself was really excellent. The meat was succulent and tender and the pastry wasn't too dry. I was very impressed. The bread was nicely warmed and the cake was moist and flavourful. I'd say that it was very enjoyable and arguably more so than the meal that I'd had ex. Cairns only a couple of weeks prior.

Once the tray was cleared I was offered tea or coffee which I declined.

The service was friendly throughout but not particularly engaging. I don't blame her though. Serving 8 passengers drinks, a full tray and then tea and coffee in about 45 minutes takes some doing.

We started our descent at around 6.25pm at which point the service was wrapping up.

Coming into Sydney

Embaer on stand

The descent was smooth and the landing easy. As we came in Sydney was bathed in a lovely warm glow. The approach onto the Westerly runway from the North is spectacular.

We landed at about 6.50 and were on stand and parked up at around 7pm which was just on schedule.

Once the air bridge was attached Mr Gangster made sure that he was off before anyone else and then the rest of the cabin disembarked. I thanked the crew and then wandered out into the terminal. I had no bag to collect so I was able to head straight down to the railway station for a train directly back to Museum station.

Domestic station platform

Verdict

This was a good flight and surprising service on a short business sector to Sydney. The food was very good and the service was friendly. I didn't really like the lounge arrangements in Melbourne but I'm sure that this will improve once the refurbishments are complete.

The seat was comfortable although arguably not as good as the Qantas seat offered on the same route.

My overall impression is that Virgin Australia offers a solid business product but the lack of differentiation with the lounges and the slightly 'lower cost' feel of the overall experience means that I'd still rate Qantas more highly than Virgin Australia for domestic business services.