I’ve only flown VA — BNE-LAX, LAX-BNE, SYD-LAX and enjoyed the experience on all 3 flights. I like that VA ‘makes-up’ the seats for sleep with a comfort foam pad. And the bar is a nice place to get away from the airplane seat for a while. And, I think if the ticket is booked with VA flight number you’ll get mileage based MQDs (which was a ++ on my flights).
The VA flights will depart/arrive at LAX TBIT, if that matters, although I think VA still checks in at T3.
Last flight, 11/2017, from LAX on VA, I think it was the Etihad lounge which was nice and with an interesting food selection.
A few years ago, VA used the NZ/StarA lounge.