travelling with virgin australia

Forums › Travel (planes, train, cruise) › travelling with virgin australia - any gotchas?

elpenguino

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#259997 5-Nov-2019 23:28

I have to go to Oz and on this particular day Air NZ didnt have any flights at the best time so , heaven help me, I have booked with virgin.

Are there any pitfalls I should look out for?

I heard you stream entertainment on your own device on board but the reviews for the virgin media app are not encouraging so I'll ensure I have something to watch / read.

Most of the posters in this thread are just like chimpanzees on MDMA, full of feelings of bonhomie, joy, and optimism. Fred99 8/4/21

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#2348712 5-Nov-2019 23:28

Allow me to introduce you folks to our new travel community: TravelTalk NZ.

We hope to see you there!

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#2348728 6-Nov-2019 06:47

I found the movie and music choice better than qantas . The plane seems newer (Sydney route) not as rattling as the qantas and felt like more leg space. The food was also nicer than air nz and qantas. I use them often for work trips to Sydney can’t complain so far on their service

Zeon

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#2348731 6-Nov-2019 06:51

I don't get why people love Air New Zealand so much. I've probably flown on 30 different airlines and most delays, dramas etc. have happened with Air New Zealand.

For example on Sunday I flew from Brisbane to Auckland and the flight was an hour late for vague "operational requirements" (all AirNZ flights were late leaving Brisbane) and they lost luggage. They did find it the next day and couriered it quickly which is a plus though. From/to Australia I have been on Jetstar, virgin, Qantas, Emirates, China Airlines and Philipinnes airlines and never had a major delay or lost luggage.

And for usually the most expensive airline, AirNZ feels like a low cost carrier with needing to pay extra for baggage, movies and food.

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sbiddle

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#2348733 6-Nov-2019 07:09

I pledged to never fly VA again a few years ago because they were so dysfunctional and incompetant.. so can't really offer any advice.

Batman

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#2348736 6-Nov-2019 07:17

VA: i had luggage damage and after 2 years of complying with all their instructions it came back a full circle and i was back at square 1 at the start of the circle

I gave up.

2 years of following instructions that led to nothing.

Apart from that I found the plane to be an older model but otherwise it got me from A to B.

whether I'd fly with them - it depends on the route, the timing of flights and price.

never say never in life!

gbwelly

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#2348753 6-Nov-2019 07:46

elpenguino:

I heard you stream entertainment on your own device on board but the reviews for the virgin media app are not encouraging so I'll ensure I have something to watch / read.

They are fine, the Android app works as advertised, just make sure you install it in advance. Can't comment on iOS though. Also don't forget the obvious -remember your headphones. For the 5x I've used them in the last couple of years the food has been superior and more generous than Air NZ in my opinion.

Also, the best bit is that they just have two flight attendants stand and demonstrate the safety procedures without inducing national shame with a cringe-worthy, expensive vanity project video involving All Blacks or Richard Simmons etc.

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sbiddle

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#2348756 6-Nov-2019 08:00

I find it interesting that there are already multiple posts on here where people talk about food - is that something you actually care about?

I'm genuinely interested because on Air NZ the number of people who pay extra for a meal (so the fare price will be the same as Qantas or Virgin) sits at around 35% in economy. Most people these days couldn't care less about a meal between NZ and Australia for such a quick flight and don't see value in paying $25+ for a meal on the flight.

My understanding is VA will also only give you a single drink with their F&B service so no topups.

sen8or

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#2348758 6-Nov-2019 08:14

Flown them once to Sydney, no issues. Installed their entertainment app on iPad, was an older gen 3 I think and had no dramas. Can't remember the meal, it was a morning flight so likely a breakfast of some kind, but for a 3 or so hours flight, the presence or absence of a meal is neither here nor there. If you don't want to trust the inflight entertainment app, you could always d/load something from Netflix to watch offline

sidefx

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#2348760 6-Nov-2019 08:32

sbiddle:

I pledged to never fly VA again a few years ago because they were so dysfunctional and incompetant.. so can't really offer any advice.

After a 28 hour delay for a flight from the gold coast a few years ago, during which time we couldn't leave the airport for 6-7 hour stints over 2 days as they dragged out the decisions with terrible communication, and bused everyone to brisbane on the first evening then decided to cancel the flight and try again the next day, I'd have to agree...

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trig42

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#2348834 6-Nov-2019 08:37

Flew with them in August to/from Syndey.

On the way over we paid for the upgrade to Business (which is like Premium economy on AirNZ). Can't complain - service was great, and lots of drinks. The meals were fantastic and they supplied us with a tablet for entertainment.

On the way back we turned down the upgrade (we had put in a bid for it both ways and got accepted both ways). The service was fine, meal was OK, only one drink. Had our own devices for IFE - the iPad worked perfectly, Surface Pro would not load the movie (could see the menus etc, was very clunky in windows).

The only gripe I had was that when we booked (start of the year) I had booked for our return flight to land in AKL at about 5PM, leaving us enough time to get home to Waiheke Island without having to stay a night in AKL. They cancelled that flight, so we got moved to one which would have landed about 10pm. I then had to book a hotel as I couldn't guarantee it was going to be on time (an hour late, and we would have missed the last ferry to home). They then cancelled that one, and we actually ended up on a plane that landed at 12.15am. They didn't want to know about me having to book a hotel because they had cancelled the flight I requested. Note - they cancelled those two flights a couple of months before we flew, it wasn't a last minute thing.

dan

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#2348839 6-Nov-2019 08:49

flew them recently, app worked well, download it before you get on the plane

i was a bit annoyed on check in on both sides, they could not find my wife in the system and had to spend 15-20 mins each way finding a staff member to manually check her in, it was silly

because mine, her and kids were all purchased online at the same time with no changes to the order afterwards, yet only she disappeared from the system. buggy.

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sbiddle

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#2348850 6-Nov-2019 09:20

trig42:

Flew with them in August to/from Syndey.

On the way over we paid for the upgrade to Business (which is like Premium economy on AirNZ). Can't complain - service was great, and lots of drinks. The meals were fantastic and they supplied us with a tablet for entertainment.

They scrapped the complementary tablets in September.

elpenguino

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#2348855 6-Nov-2019 09:41

sidefx:

sbiddle:

I pledged to never fly VA again a few years ago because they were so dysfunctional and incompetant.. so can't really offer any advice.

After a 28 hour delay for a flight from the gold coast a few years ago, during which time we couldn't leave the airport for 6-7 hour stints over 2 days as they dragged out the decisions with terrible communication, and bused everyone to brisbane on the first evening then decided to cancel the flight and try again the next day, I'd have to agree...

Sounds like advice from both of you is : bring food , water and a sleeping bag.

As I said, there was no ANZ option or other direct flight (BNE) that day so my choices were 1.

Most of the posters in this thread are just like chimpanzees on MDMA, full of feelings of bonhomie, joy, and optimism. Fred99 8/4/21

Senecio

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#2348866 6-Nov-2019 10:08

sbiddle:

I find it interesting that there are already multiple posts on here where people talk about food - is that something you actually care about?

I'm genuinely interested because on Air NZ the number of people who pay extra for a meal (so the fare price will be the same as Qantas or Virgin) sits at around 35% in economy. Most people these days couldn't care less about a meal between NZ and Australia for such a quick flight and don't see value in paying $25+ for a meal on the flight.

My understanding is VA will also only give you a single drink with their F&B service so no topups.

I would never pay for a meal on a trans-Tasman flight when flying for personal reasons. I fly TT for work every second month, not frequently enough to earn status in lounges nor frequently enough to justify the cost of a Koru membership. Company policy is to always book Works airfares in lieu of lounge access.

allan

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#2348867 6-Nov-2019 10:10

sbiddle:

I find it interesting that there are already multiple posts on here where people talk about food - is that something you actually care about?

I'm genuinely interested because on Air NZ the number of people who pay extra for a meal (so the fare price will be the same as Qantas or Virgin) sits at around 35% in economy. Most people these days couldn't care less about a meal between NZ and Australia for such a quick flight and don't see value in paying $25+ for a meal on the flight.

My understanding is VA will also only give you a single drink with their F&B service so no topups.

Depends on the time of day and the airline I'm flying. If Air NZ, then I have lounge access - so early morning and evening return flights I don't care about a meal trans Tasman. If other airlines, then yes it's convenient and saves having to find airport food.

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