How is V Australia Doing So Far?
Apr 12, 2009, 11:28 am
#1
Original Poster
Join Date: Apr 2009
Posts: 1
How is V Australia Doing So Far?
Is it just us, or is our review of the V Australia the most comprehensive? It’s probably just us, so that’s why we went out exploring to see what other people are thinking about the newest airline down under.
It seems to be a success so far, no major complaints, and best of all—it’s causing other airlines to finally lower prices. Maybe we’ll get to go back to Australia in 2009 after all.
One FlyerTalk user was on the first flight from Sydney to Los Angeles and shares some in-flight observations. It seems that this person feels that V Australia can definitely be considered a worthy competitor to Qantas:
V Australia has the "cool" factor common to all Virgin Group airlines, new state of the art aircraft, very enthusiastic if as-yet-inexperienced FA's and perhaps a touch more comfortable seating. An added plus to some is that it's not Qantas -- whose safety record of late hasn't been quite as good as in the past. Virgin Blue's Velocity FF members can earn points on it.
Up in the air things seemed to go pretty well, but fans of Starbucks and Dunkin Donuts may have quickly dismissed the new airline:
The plane is new, resulting in a few glitches like isolated hung seatback entertainment consoles and mood lighting in one cabin not being in sync with the rest of the plane for a while. And the service is new enough that there are still a few kinks, such as no coffee available on that flight due to the supplier having loaded "the wrong kind of coffee", whatever that might mean! I don't think I saw ONE of them taking a break over the entire 12 hour flight, so kudos to them for doing a credible job under demanding, somewhat high-pressure circumstances.
Overall, this line pretty much sums up what we think V Australia is going for:
...if you want the trendiest, "hippest" non-stop flight experience between Australia and the US, V Australia is it, for sure
Over on a Australian Frequent Flyer forum, another user shares yet another pretty positive experience.
This was one of the highlights of the flight. Each seat contained a copy of “View - your V Australia inside guide to inflight entertainment” which introduces you to Red, the easy to use Panasonic touch screen system. With movies, TV releases, music & music video and a great selection of games (both single and multi-players) there is alot to keep even the fussiest passenger entertained. You can also “talk” to other passengers either seat to seat or via a chatroom using the keyboard on the handset control. There’s also and in-seat USB port but unfortunately the computer power available in every seat advertised on V Australia’s website is incorrect as it is only for premium economy and business class passengers.
These long haul flights definitely can make even the most experienced traveler hungry. No matter if you're a window or an aisle, eventually the M&Ms won't cut it, and you are going to need some grub. We're just glad that the plastic forks were easy to use, we hate those tricky ones:
The dinner service was extremely slow and disorganised (but hey, it’s a new airline and they had to iron out the glitches!) Service commenced before 6pm and we were finally served at 6.40pm. I don’t know when the last passengers ate. By the time we were served they had run out of the vegetarian option and the corned beef seemed the least popular. Dinner was surprisingly good with the menu listed on the IFE screen. The plastic cutlery was of good quality and easy to use.
We'll continue to keep our eyes and ears open to keep tabs on V Australia, but we're thinking that there'll only be good news from down under.
It seems to be a success so far, no major complaints, and best of all—it’s causing other airlines to finally lower prices. Maybe we’ll get to go back to Australia in 2009 after all.
One FlyerTalk user was on the first flight from Sydney to Los Angeles and shares some in-flight observations. It seems that this person feels that V Australia can definitely be considered a worthy competitor to Qantas:
V Australia has the "cool" factor common to all Virgin Group airlines, new state of the art aircraft, very enthusiastic if as-yet-inexperienced FA's and perhaps a touch more comfortable seating. An added plus to some is that it's not Qantas -- whose safety record of late hasn't been quite as good as in the past. Virgin Blue's Velocity FF members can earn points on it.
Up in the air things seemed to go pretty well, but fans of Starbucks and Dunkin Donuts may have quickly dismissed the new airline:
The plane is new, resulting in a few glitches like isolated hung seatback entertainment consoles and mood lighting in one cabin not being in sync with the rest of the plane for a while. And the service is new enough that there are still a few kinks, such as no coffee available on that flight due to the supplier having loaded "the wrong kind of coffee", whatever that might mean! I don't think I saw ONE of them taking a break over the entire 12 hour flight, so kudos to them for doing a credible job under demanding, somewhat high-pressure circumstances.
Overall, this line pretty much sums up what we think V Australia is going for:
...if you want the trendiest, "hippest" non-stop flight experience between Australia and the US, V Australia is it, for sure
Over on a Australian Frequent Flyer forum, another user shares yet another pretty positive experience.
This was one of the highlights of the flight. Each seat contained a copy of “View - your V Australia inside guide to inflight entertainment” which introduces you to Red, the easy to use Panasonic touch screen system. With movies, TV releases, music & music video and a great selection of games (both single and multi-players) there is alot to keep even the fussiest passenger entertained. You can also “talk” to other passengers either seat to seat or via a chatroom using the keyboard on the handset control. There’s also and in-seat USB port but unfortunately the computer power available in every seat advertised on V Australia’s website is incorrect as it is only for premium economy and business class passengers.
These long haul flights definitely can make even the most experienced traveler hungry. No matter if you're a window or an aisle, eventually the M&Ms won't cut it, and you are going to need some grub. We're just glad that the plastic forks were easy to use, we hate those tricky ones:
The dinner service was extremely slow and disorganised (but hey, it’s a new airline and they had to iron out the glitches!) Service commenced before 6pm and we were finally served at 6.40pm. I don’t know when the last passengers ate. By the time we were served they had run out of the vegetarian option and the corned beef seemed the least popular. Dinner was surprisingly good with the menu listed on the IFE screen. The plastic cutlery was of good quality and easy to use.
We'll continue to keep our eyes and ears open to keep tabs on V Australia, but we're thinking that there'll only be good news from down under.
Apr 28, 2009, 5:48 am
#2
Join Date: Feb 2004
Location: NYC
Programs: Amtrak Select Plus, Marriott Platinum, Marriott Lifetime Gold, Hilton Diamond
Posts: 3,123
Wirelessly posted (BlackBerry8320/4.5.0.81 Profile/MIDP-2.0 Configuration/CLDC-1.1 VendorID/100)
I just got back from Sydney and loved V Australia. Could not recommend them enough. The employees and coach product are excellent. Made the long flights totally bearable.
I just got back from Sydney and loved V Australia. Could not recommend them enough. The employees and coach product are excellent. Made the long flights totally bearable.
Apr 29, 2009, 4:24 pm
#4
Join Date: Jul 2003
Location: Australia
Programs: QF LTS, Marriott LTP, ALL GOLD
Posts: 2,440
Apr 29, 2009, 8:21 pm
#5
Join Date: Oct 2001
Posts: 299
My wife and I did the LAX-BNE run on AP 13 out, back on AP 22. The new 777 was great, the service was very good for a new crew. The loads were very light. I question if the BNE service will make it. We were in E+ (great product at great price). Biz class was 5 or 6 sold seats/E+ was 10-12 seats sold/E was about 90 seats out bound and maybe 135 seats return. IFE was very good. We will not talk about the food quality....the snack chips saved me....
Scott
Scott
May 4, 2009, 11:22 pm
#7
Join Date: Dec 2005
Location: SYD
Programs: QF Platinum (LTG), OW Emerald, Accor Platinum; Hyatt Explorist.
Posts: 2,165
My wife and I did the LAX-BNE run on AP 13 out, back on AP 22. The new 777 was great, the service was very good for a new crew. The loads were very light. I question if the BNE service will make it. We were in E+ (great product at great price). Biz class was 5 or 6 sold seats/E+ was 10-12 seats sold/E was about 90 seats out bound and maybe 135 seats return. IFE was very good. We will not talk about the food quality....the snack chips saved me....
Scott
Scott
May 13, 2009, 9:38 pm
#8
Join Date: Sep 2005
Location: LAX
Programs: AA ExPlat, HHonors Diamond
Posts: 1,130
I don't know what you guys are talking about but I thought the food was delish! And my buddy, being the human food compactor that he is, asked for seconds, and in true Aussie fashion was told "no worries!" and 5 minutes later was polishing off a 2nd dinner.
May 14, 2009, 4:23 am
#9
Join Date: Jul 2008
Programs: QF, VN, SQ, SPG, IHG PG
Posts: 453
No!!!! MEL needs those UA flights! But having another international carrier in generally nice 
I imagine one day that MEL's international Terminal would be all full! including the new area! then it would trully look like an international airport!
I imagine one day that MEL's international Terminal would be all full! including the new area! then it would trully look like an international airport!
May 19, 2009, 6:45 am
#10
Join Date: Feb 2004
Location: NYC
Programs: Amtrak Select Plus, Marriott Platinum, Marriott Lifetime Gold, Hilton Diamond
Posts: 3,123
I thought the Y food on V Australia was quite excellent. The Thai beef and chicken and leek casserole were both tasty, as were the breakfasts.
May 25, 2009, 10:05 pm
#12
Join Date: Aug 2004
Location: OSL/IAH/ZRH (time, not preference)
Programs: UA1K, LH GM, AA EXP->GM
Posts: 38,265
On DJ food is the one single thing that is not disgusting.
DJ's existence also is the one single argument that will most likely keep me from every trying VS or VA.
May 26, 2009, 6:10 am
#14
Join Date: Aug 2004
Location: OSL/IAH/ZRH (time, not preference)
Programs: UA1K, LH GM, AA EXP->GM
Posts: 38,265
May 26, 2009, 1:02 pm
#15
Join Date: Feb 2009
Location: LAX
Programs: AA
Posts: 18
It is extremely rare but it can happen. My wife and I flew VA from LAX-SYD in April and we tried to get an upgrade since the flight was less than half full. We were in Y+ and the only to get into J was if you paid the fare difference. I was willing to do it, but was told that it had to be done at least 3 hours prior to departure. My wife is pregnant and we bought the tickets before we found out so I wanted her to be more comfortable on such a long flight. Anyway, they called the supervisor over and she was EXTREMELY nice and gave us a complimentary upgrade to J. No such luck on the way back though, but Y+ was pretty comfortable anyway.