Today’s flight with Virgin Australia from Los Angeles to Melbourne, Australia tipped me over two million kilometres (1.25 million miles)  travelled by aeroplane!  This is a distance equivalent to 50 times around the earth. I have eaten, read, slept, chatted and worked for 16 and a half weeks of my life in the air.

I record all of my 857 flights at Flightmemory.com. This database allows me to keep al of my flight information in one place and print maps based on the data. In case you think I am completely geeky, here is the blog post which explains how my friend Tony started using Flightmemory. His memory is one motivation for continuing to record my flights.

Key Stats:

 This flight also re-earnt me my Platinum Status with Virgin Australia.  I now hold Platinum with them until December, 2013. Flying a lot has some rewards.

This week I fly nowhere (unless I win the lottery!)

In aviation, a year can make a huge difference. A year ago Virgin Australia was Virgin Blue.  They did not have A330s and they had no business class. All that changed in May, 2011 when the discount carrier became “ahem” less discount. Since then, my observation is that Virgin have continued to improve their product. Significantly, they managed to increase profits by 118 per cent last year. Not an easy feat in this industry.  Today, I review their A330 Business Class product.

Booking: 9 out of 10

Virgin Australia has a very simple and straight forward booking system at www.virginaustralia.com.au

All fare classes and levels are displayed on the one screen. Scrolling between days of travel is very easy. When booking an economy seat, they prompt you to upgrade to business class for an extra fee. I was actually upgrading to Business Class using one of my four free upgrades gained annually for being a Platinum flyer. To upgrade that way or to use frequent flyer points requires a call to the frequent flyer service centre which is a small nuisance, albiet for a great reward! Be great if you could organise the upgrade on -line.

I then offset my greenhouse gases and chose my seat. All easy!

Check In: 10 out of 10

Online check in  was also very easy with Virgin Australia. As a result, of this system, I by passed completely the check in desks at Perth airport. In fact I cannot even remember seeing the area! (I don’t, as a rule, check luggage in).

Lounge: 7 out of 10

The Perth Lounge was the one I used to visit when I flew the old Ansett Australia out of Perth. I was very pleased to see it is due for an update and I am really looking forward to seeing it when I am back in September. Be interesting to see how much like the Melbourne lounge it becomes. Staff were very welcoming.

Boarding: 8 out of 10

We started boarding a little late. The Boarding area, itself, seemed to be a little chaotic. It didn’t seem to be a very large gate area for the number of passengers milled around. People were scattered everywhere. I suspect the build up had intensified because of the late boarding.

I joined the  Business Class/Platinum/Gold priority line which had a lot of people in it.  When the announcement ewas made for priority boarding, there was a surge forward. Turns out most people had decided they would “self nominate” as Priority.   The agent magically cleared the interlopers out of the way in seconds. The guy in front of me was asked if he was priority and he shrugged his shoulders and moved out of the queue.

After all that,  I was one of the first to board. I am such a geek about planes.  While I love the Airbus A380 and A340 and think the A320 is okay, I was not initially , a fan of the 330. However, after 20 flights in the last five years (and 94 ooo kilometres) with Qantas, Cathay, Virgin, Etihad, Royal Jordanian, Singapore  and Lufthansa, I have fallen in love with the plane!  As I boarded “Cable Beach” (the first of Virgin’s A330s delivered in May, 2011, I gushed to the crew how much I loved it. We got a very warm welcome from Johnny at the door. His smile lit up the gangway. Just the right touch. He directed me left into the Business Class Cabin and my favourite seat.

On Board: 10 out of 10

Business class has 27 seats arranged 2-3-2 (behind a single 2-2-2 row at the front). My favourite Virgin Australia A330 seat is  1K  in the front row of business on the right hand side. I recently observed I think I sit on the right had inside of planes more than the left side. Whys that? Leg room is quite generous (as pictured). Pitch is 62″ between seats

The Business Class cabin was very calm and staff very welcoming. The load was very, very light with just five  seats occupied.

Each seat had headphones, and blanket. The seat has a range of reclining options but doesn’t lie flat. Virgin’s  A330s due to be delivered shortly,  are rumoured to have lie flat beds.

A welcome drink (orange juice, water and sparkling wine) came around. Menu for flight followed with newspapers next. Finally, the amenities kit was delivered.

I learnt there are ten crew aboard the plane, when I presented the staff with chocolate eggs for Easter (I  appreciated the team working at Easter for me and they liked the eggs!).

Economy was much fuller. The economy class cabin of 251 seats is set up in a  2-4-2 configuration with a few rows of 2-3-2. Each seat has its own seat-back video screen for in-flight entertainment. Standard seat pitch is  31″ with 33″ at the bulkheads.

Safety Briefing- 7 out of 10

Virgin has a cute video showing all safety features. Great video but I like to have more involvement from the Flight Attendants during the safety briefing. After all, I will be relying on them and not a video if I ever have to evacuate a plane quickly.

Takeoff: 10 out of 10

We paused at the runway for a few seconds as the two engines got louder. We started slowly,  very slowly.  Airbuses always seem to be slow beasts to launch into the air unlike the Boeings that thunder into the sky. As we moved down the runway with the Perth International terminal on the right, the front wheels lifted and we were aloft. The ride on the runway was actually quite rough – of course one feels it more up the front! Is the runway overdue for some maintenance- or are the fly in- fly out operations that take 1000s of people every week through the airport to mining sites and oil rigs throughout the state taking their toll?

Perth can be very windy and bouncy in climb but we had none of that. The suburbs flashed past and then we were crossing the dry farmlands , ironically re-tracking the same route,  I had taken a few days earlier to Esperance. (see  Trip Report April 10). The seatbelt was switched off very soon after takeoff.

The Flight: 10 out of 10

The crew brought around hot towels soon after take off. Adam, my cabin attendant introduced himself and asked for drinks and menu orders. After, he addressed me as Mr Cowling,  I asked him to call me by first name. The guy sitting in 3K asked the same thing. I noticed the crew on the 737 going over did not address us by name. Is this an A330 thing or inconsistent Virgin service?

I ordered  ”The Australian” Cocktail designed by Chef Luke Mangan. Adam served it  with a selection of mixed hot nuts (pictured).

We had a very smooth flight across Australia. We had some light turbulence 35 minutes into flight (almost at the town of Esperance ). This was nothing to be excited about. The seat belt sign stayed off.

Meals: 10 out of 10

I was very hungry so enjoyed lunch immensely (I had eaten sparingly in the lounge). There were two choices of starters, three main courses and two desserts. I started with  Prosciutto and char grilled vegetables with bread, dukkah and olive oil. I accompanied it with sparkling water. The other option was a mildly curried pumpkin and coconut soup. Mildly curried always makes me nervous. The Proscuiutto was superb.

For the main dish, I went for braised duck served with chorizo. I was very, very happy with my choice. It was accompanied with a delicious white wine (which I cannot remember now..must have enjoyed it a lot!)

I am afraid I was a bit of a pig with dessert having both the coconut custard with lychees, strawberries and pineapple and the Australian cheese selection (King Island Blue, Jindi double cream and Heidi Gruyere)!

Entertainment: 8 out of 1o

The A330 In-flight Entertainment System in all classes includes six channels of movies, nine channels of TV and music videos, and audio entertainment. I found the selection okay.

Landing: 10 out of 10

Before landing, I had another of the delicious cocktails. We were given another hot towel which was lovely. A perfect ending to an almost perfect flight.

We touched down smoothly and I sadly farewelled the crew!

The Verdict

My rating: Overall 92% (4.6 out of 5)- my overall rating of Virgin Blue flights: 4.6 (based on 19 flights)

Skytrax Rating of Virgin Australia: 4 star

Positives:   Service, Meals, Seat, Cabin Crew, Welcome Aboard, website

Negatives: No option on website to upgrade

Would I fly them again?  Yes. Yes.Yes.

My last trip Report: April 10:  Skywest  Perth (PER) to Esperance (EPR)  Fokker

A lot of miles to cover this week. Seven flights to three countries with four airlines.

First Melbourne to Auckland, NZ via Sydney with Qantas.
Then onto the USA via Melbourne with Virgin Australia. Am trying out their Premium Economy product -a year later. Be interesting to see what has changed. Any Virgin Australia 777 flyers have any recommendation as to the better Premium Economy seats?
I get to fly my first Spirit flight in the USA which I will report back on. I chose Spirit deliberately so I could see what they are like. Wish me luck for that flight! Spirit are supposed to be a little like Ryanair (who I hate flying with). I am fascinated to see.

My report today is about my roundtrip flights from the West Australian city of Perth (pop: 1.7 million) to Esperance (pop 9536), a regional town in Western Australia and return on Skywest Airlines Pty Ltd. This Singapore based carrier flies regional and commuter services across the mining and agricultural state of Western Australia. Flights are operated under their  own colours and some will soon be flown with  Virgin Australia colours. NB This is not the same  Skywest who fly regional services in the USA on behalf of United, US and Delta.

Since 2004, Skywest in Australia have expanded their fleet from  7 aircraft to 18 aircraft. They will soon add more aircraft (ATRs) as part of their new ten year alliance with Virgin Australia. Revenue has risen steadily but fuel costs have also risen rapidly reducing profit by 37% this year so far. Still For a number of airlines. in the rough and tumble world of airlines, this would be a gig that would be envied by many  with a monopoly on most of their routes.

Booking: 7 out of 10

The actual booking engine at www.skywest.com.aux is very straightforward and earns them top marks. It clearly shows all the fares available on each flight. There are four flights in each direction between Perth and Esperance, most days. Skywest offers only economy service with four types of fare.

Where they lose marks with everyone,  is the monopoly they have on the Esperance to Perth route. As a result, it is general opinion that fares are very high.Certainly, everyone I spoke to in the town spoke resentfully about the fares. The cheapest fare is their discounted Webbit at around $169 for a flight distance of 360 miles, or 580 km. These fares are pretty much booked out in advance all the time. I scrolled through and I saw little availability for the webbit seats. Skywest do say “get in early!”. The fare then climbs to $359 each way which may be the only fare available at the last minute. My fare to Esperance ended up being way more than my flight from Melbourne to Perth, a 2700km (1600 mile) flight.

Virgin Australia frequent flyers  have been able to earn points on Skywest flights for some time now.

 Check In: 9 out 10

On line check in is available. I have yet to see the point of online checkin for departures out of Esperance as there is only one desk to check in at. You may save a few seconds at the counter but thats about it. Flying out of Perth, the online check in makes more sense.

On arrival at Perth, there were lines of miners ready for their Fly in Fly out shifts. 6 to 730 am apparently is peak hour at Perth airport for these groups. Many of them looked grim faced heading int a nine or ten day tour of duty in dangerous conditions away from families. I was in awe of the efficient way Skywest, were rapidly handling the check in. Staff were positioned at the head of then lines directing customers to the next agent quickly. The lines were moving fast. Staff at Perth were not by any means abrupt.

At Esperance  airport things were a little quieter. The airport is a small building with a baggage unloading space, lavatories, vending machines, small waiting area a check in counter — and free wifi. 26 kilometres out of twin in the middle of scrub and there is wifi very impressive. Thank you Esperance Council! Check always feels a little more harried here because the single staff person always seems under pressure.

My bag weighed (9kg). There is no bag check at the gate so I checked it in. Something I do not do very often!

At Check in, I requested and got front row seats on the Fokker 50m aircraft in both directions:  1G  going to  Esperance  which has some extra leg room and 1A coming back which has a huge amount of leg room.

Boarding: 9 put of 10

Boarding was via tarmac at both airports. At Perth, we were bussed to the plane. At Esperance it is a very short walk from the door of the terminal to aeroplane stairs. Crew were polite in welcoming people on board. Both times, boarding was relaxed, stress free and fast.

There are no airport security checks for passengers at Esperance airport. That will shortly change with new government security regulations. The Esperance airport staff are bracing themselves for a flood of complaints.

On Board: 8 out of 10

The Fokker 50 has 46 seats arranged 2 by 2. Seat pitch is a very comfortable 33″. The planes though older, are in great condition. The flight attendants appeared to very young crew. They were very polite and appeared quite reserved. The passengers on the flight to Esperance were mostly fly in fly out. This and it being an early morning flight meant the plane was very quiet. The return flight was much more boisterous.

There is no entertainment on board apart from a complimentary newspaper on every second seat coming from perth and the remains of the read newspapers of the return flight!

Safety briefing was clear.

Flight

630am is peak hour at Perth  airport, it seems. We sat waiting for clearance for 30minutes before taking off very smoothly. We landed ten minutes late but had to wait for another ten minutes for the luggage. Skywest has a service where passnegers can order  a taxi from the crew who radio ahead for waiting cabs.

On the return, we flew out of Esperance right on time,  on a very windy day. The pilot accelerated rapidly. We swayed from side to side down the runway and then bounced through the climb.  I love flying! The rough weather continued for ten minutes into the flight  but we so soon levelled out. Flight crews were very good with announcements. We landed on time into Perth where there was a longish walk back to the terminal and my waiting friend.

I actually really like the Fokker 50 a with its interesting arrangements with the wheels and engines. I am sad that Fokker went broke. This photo of the same plane that I was one, was posted by Bob  on the skywest.blogspot.

Meals: 7 out of 10

Skywest provides free light cold meals on its flights. To Esperance I was given a breakfast (cereal, milk,  orange juice and on the return snacks. Non alcoholic drinks were available free of charge.

The Verdict

My rating: Overall 80% (4 out of 5). My overall rating of Skywest based on six flights is 4.3 out of 5.

Positives:   Roomy, fast check in

Negatives: High fare

Would I fly them again?  Yes. A nice solid product delivered well. The perception of the airline’s pricing is poor. Should any significant competition emerge on Skywest routes and, I think you would see a loss of customer loyalty-fast.

My last Trip Report: March 13: Gulf Air: Bahrain (BAH) to Abu Dhabi (AUH) Embraer 170

Once upon a time (August, 2000 to be exact), a new airline was launched in Australia to challenge the two long standing carriers: Ansett and Qantas.

That airline was Virgin Blue. The name was chosen in a competition playing on the Australian custom of calling a redhead Blue or Bluey. I flew Virgin Blue 12 times around Australia and rated them 4.4 out of 5. They initially used a low cost Southwest/Easyjet model with some quirky Australianisms and the Virgin feel.

In 2003 Virgin Blue started Pacific Blue, a New Zealand based subsidiary which provided services between NZ, Australia, Phuket, Bali and Pacific Islands. They also flew domestically across NZ for a short time. I flew Pacific Blue, a mere four times and rated them 4 out of 5.

Polynesian Blue

This airline was created in 2005 to take over the international part of the Samoan Government’s flag carrier Polynesian Airlines, after its  ill-fated expansion bankrupted the carrier and was costing the government of Samoa half its annual budget to stay afloat! This new airline, a joint venture between the government of Samoa and Virgin Blue gave Samoa international flights to Australia and NZ. I never flew these guys.

V Australia

In 2009, saw the arrival of V Australia flying between Australia and the USA, followed by South Africa, Thailand and Abu Dhabi. The story goes that Singapore airlines with their interest in Virgin Atlantic and control of the Virgin name did not want the Virgin brand on that sector. (There has been intense debate between Singapore Airlines and the Australian government over Singapore’s desire to fly directly between Australia and the USA). So after another public competition, V Australia was the name. I have flown V Australia four times now and I have loved them every single time. I rate them 4.8 put of 5.

So what next in the story up to?

Following a change of CEO in 201o a new strategy was unveiled for the airline moving it from low cost carrier to full service airline. As part of that strategy, Virgin Blue became Virgin Australia in February 2011.  I have now flown Virgin Australia ten times (4.4 out of 5).

Last week

The Virgin Australia name replaced Pacific Blue and V Australia. Polynesian Blue became Virgin Samoa. Consistent branding will take some time to roll out so expect to see Planes, napkins, uniforms and boarding passes in various iterations.I like the uniforms and colour schemes.

Two Questions:

1. Will these changes make money for Virgin?
2. For me, I wonder how I keep on rating Virgin Australia from now on? Do I start again or combine their previous scores into one score? Oh the dilemmas of an airline geek!

Air New Zealand took its stake in Virgin Blue(owners of V Australia and Virgin Australia) to 19.9% as a result of a fairly low share prices.The last time they took an interest in an Australian airline (Ansett), it almost bankrupted Air New Zealand and the Australia’s longest running domestic carrier Ansett ceased to exist.

Ten years later, Air New Zealand are hopefully wiser and Virgin are a better business than Ansett Australia were. Former chief executive Rod Eddington “described Ansett publicly and internally as a great airline, but a poor business”.

It makes huge sense for Air NZ to have a strong relationship with an Australian carrier. The tie ups with V mean passengers can flow into and out of the Australian and New Zealand markets and Air NZ international routes.

I believe it would also make sense for Virgin Australia to join the Star Alliance network just as Ansett was a member. They made overtures to SkyTeam via Delta.

I am curious to see Virgin-Air NZ future plans.

They are clearly out to compete heavily with Qantas domestically with new lounges, business class, ramped up frequent flyer program

I am less sure of what the plan is for V Australia, their international arm, after they  come in under the Virgin Australia banner in 2012. Flights to Phuket and South Africa were halted. Fiji is off the cards and China seems on hold. Qantas is ramping up Asian expansion. Will Virgin focus on Middle east  or Asia?

Virgin Australia are losing money. At what point will their backers say “enough is enough”

What interest will Singapore Airlines take in the whole project? They tried to take over Ansett. They have made no secret of wanting to fly Australia-USA and have been blocked continually. Their investment in Tiger Airways Australia to my mind has been a debacle. Singapore now have an alliance with Virgin Australia. Would they be interested in owning a share of a full service Australian airline especially if it gave them access to the USA?  Singapore also own 49% of Virgin Atlantic. The other 51% of Virgin Atlantic is owned by the Virgin Group who own 25% of Virgin Australia. A Singapore-Air NZ-Virgin combination would be a formidable force.

In the meantime, an ex Virgin executive has gone to Tiger.

As always, the Australasian airline scene remains interesting.

After 43 years of flying I flew on my 777th flight.

In a previous Blog post, I was trying to decide whether to fly my 777th on an Air New Zealand or V Australia 777. I appreciated the advice from friends to try Air NZ’s new 777-300 and was glad I did. I have recently blogged about V’s superb business class product on the 777-300. This Air NZ flight gave me lots of opportunity for comparison.

For those who haven’t been following: I flew #737 on a Southwest B737, #747 on a Qantas B747, #757 with United and #767 with Qantas. For some the number 777 represents perfection and my 777th flight was indeed close to perfect! I took 78 pictures would you believe?!

Check In: 10 out of 10

Air NZ have a dedicated Check in for Business and Gold passengers at Auckland Airport with a lift (elevator) straight into customs, immigration and security saving  much time walking around the long way. Worth staying gold for just for this feature! I checked in early, was the only one using the check in area and was through the whole process in just under 10 minutes!

Lounge: 10 out of 10

The Auckland Air NZ  lounge is superb. I enjoyed wifi, meal, snacksand a shower. I ate carefully because I wanted to save room for the on board meal! (V Australia use the same lounge at Auckland)

While waiting in the lounge, I met the on board Concierge, Belinda (pictured next to me).  I have not seen this innovation on any other airline and its beyond impressive.  My previous experience suggest that the team that Air NZ have chosen for this role are all very good and Belinda was no exception. Concierges answer questions, problem solve, help develop itineraries and make life aboard more pleasant for travellers. Belinda was saying she gets a huge variety of questions – from “can I store luggage at LAX” to “where do I connect?” to “what restaurants are good in San Francisco“.

I introduced myself to Belinda as the plane geek flying for the 777th time on a 777. She acknowledged that reservations had emailed about me and she had a small gift for me. Thanks Air New Zealand. Impressive again.

Boarding 9 out of 10

After leaving the lounge, we had another passport and boarding pass  check. Some passengers were randomly searched. How someone can have got through check in and immigration with a wrong or false passport I don’t know. It seems like overkill. Do they really think they will catch them at this point?

There was almost no line up for the priority boarding line and I zapped through it being wished a good flight by ground staff. Belinda was on hand in the lounge area and welcomed me by name which was a nice touch.

There was a small line to get on the actual 777 but it was moving quickly. There was a sign in the passageway reminding passengers to have their boarding pass ready to show in the aircraft. I have not seen that before but it is helpful especially for people who are not expecting this. I have noted there are some countries where the staff don’t look at the boarding pass as you enter the aircraft. On board, I was  invited to go left into the front business class cabin.

On Board: 10 out of 10

The Air NZ 777-300 has three cabins as does V Australia. V dedicates more of their plane to Economy.

Air NZ

V Aust

You will see from the diagram that Air NZ have opted for the herringbone design resulting in four seats across the Business cabin as opposed to V Australia’s more traditional layout with seven across.

The front cabin was about half full on this flight.  There were plenty of staff bustling around. Within seconds of putting my bags in the roomy overhead locker, a flight attendant appeared to take my jacket for hanging.

Seconds later, another approached bearing drinks. I asked for champagne.

She smiled and said:  ”I can give you sparkling wine on the ground and champagne in the air. Well at least until we beat the French in the Rugby” (which they did indeed do, a few days later 37-17).

I said “oops. Forgot about the French”. 

The Air NZ Business Class Seat: 8 out of 10

I sipped my drink and enjoyed my cashews as I checked out my seat. The seat is leather 22″ wide (V Australia’s is one inch wider at 23″). It has a separate ottoman footrest which you can store stuff on, invite visitors to sit on when chatting to you or put your feet on.

The seat has a 12″ TV screen which could be moved into multiple angles, life jacket and a very small storage pocket. I felt both Qantas and V Australia have a little more stowage room around the seat. I like the way QF has a slot available for a bottle of water while Air NZ’s supplied bottle of water didn’t seem to quite fit anywhere.

Headphones were noise cancelling.

Next inspection was the all important amenities kit. Coming in a big box, the kit consisted of a very colourful pair of socks, and La Prairie brand moisturiser etc. Air NZ didn’t provide an actual toiletries kit – unlike V Australia. I would love an airline to give me a quality clear sturdy plastic kit I can take through security anywhere in the world.

Auckland Newspapers and international  magazines were distributed. There was some disquiet from some passengers that there were no Wellington or international newspapers.

Safety: 10 out of 10
The safety briefing video was the humorous Air NZ rugby one. I always feel that Air NZ take safety seriously without officiousness and try to engage their passengers in the safety process. I did wonder what non-Kiwis would make of some of the “in-jokes” in the video briefing.

Takeoff: 9 out of 10
2130 (930pm) Takeoff out of Auckland was pretty with the city lights  spread out below. There were a few minor bumps out of Auckland but nothing dramatic. The seat-belt sign soon went off but came back on very quickly, however as we hit some turbulence. This  seemed to be the pattern for the first half of the flight. The sensation of sitting at an angle to the direction of takeoff and landing is one I have not got used to. It does feel quite odd.

Dinner: 10 out of 10

There were three choices with Business Premier for dinner:

1.  Express option which gets a meal out very quickly
2.  Full meal option at the Crew’s timing
3. Meals when you wanted them

Sorry folks, I am not sitting up front to have an express soup and sandwich and I went for the works and must admit I was probably a little piggy.

• Entree (starter for the Americans) was a cold mixed seafood dish with a choice of breads. Superb. I combined it with a Bird Sauvignon Blanc from Marlborough.

• I chose a streak for the main course. This was accompanied by a Syrah wine which was a little drier than I wanted.

• For dessert, I chose an ice cream sundae which was delicious if not unusual. Vanilla ice-cream with popcorn and a yummy sauce. This was followed by a cheese platter. I accompanied these dishes with a lovely dessert wine which I forgot to note down.

The Bed: 8.5 out of 10

The team turned my seat into my bed with a nice thick mattress, duvet and two pillows- duck feather and hypo allergenic. Air NZ do not appear to provide pyjamas so I wore my Qantas Pjs on this Air NZ flight!

Sleep came quickly and I reckon I got about seven hours.

The bed is a little more comfortable than Qantas business class bed and about the same as V Australia’s bed. Air NZ mattress is probably a little more comfortable than V Australia.  I did feel a little strange sleeping at an angle. I must have overcome that because I slept for almost seven hours-soundly.

Lavatories

I must tell you about the lavatories on board (I ended up inspecting almost all of them!). Two of the three business class ones have real windows in them so you can look out at the clouds while using the facilities. The lavatory for people with a disability has a mural of a bookcase in it. All were clean and sparkling when I saw them

Breakfast
I was more restrained with Breakfast having fruit, muesli and yogurt and a croissant  This is where the 777 fun really started. The crew really went out of their way to celebrate the fact it was my 777th flight.Using ingredients on board they had made Little decorative plaques celebrating with me. Thank you.

Landing

We were right on time into a smoggy lax. We left at 930pm NZ time and landed into lax at 240pm the same day because of crossing the dateline.

The amazing Air NZ team

My Overall Rating: 98%

(9.8 out of 10, 4.9 out of 5)

My average rating for all Air New Zealand flights is 4.9 over twenty years-so brilliant as usual. It was hard to fault this flight. It confirmed to me that on this sector V Australia (5.0) and Air NZ lead business class with Qantas (4.7) narrowly behind. Way at the bottom on this sector is the woeful United offering (2.8 out of 5) . I haven’t tried Delta’s Business Class on this sector yet. That’s for 2012! Positives:  Where do I start? Negatives: the seat’s angle Would I fly them again? Absolutely. Thank you to the Captain and the whole crew of NZ2 for a superb flight.

Next big flights?

I was hoping for 787 for my 787th but that’s not going to happen because the plane will start flying the week after that milestone. Instead I have A380 flights with three of the carriers I have not sampled the A380 with yet: Korean, Lufthansa and Air France.

Below is a summary of my 777 flights and a world map showing where they have taken me. Some other Flightmemoryfacts: I have flown Air New Zealand 39 times travelling twice around the world. I have only flown the 777 17 times including this flight.

So my new friends are V Australia, the international arm of Virgin Australia the “second” mainline Aussie carrier (Qantas being the first). I have now flown in all three V Australia classes between Australia and Los Angeles on their beautiful Boeing 777-300ERs (I really do like V Australia!). Check out my trip report about International Premium Economy Class .

I have now flown with V Australia to LA out of all three of their Australian ports: Brisbane, Sydney and Melbourne. They have been consistently excellent at all of them.

Today’s Trip was actually several months ago. Like this blog post, the flight was significantly delayed! The flight ended up leaving seven hours late. This was due to a V Australia 777 shredding an engine while taking off in LA. The knock on effect of one aircraft out of action had a significant effect on their operations. V made up for the delay by arranging a hotel room, meal vouchers and transportation. Their communication about the delay and options was very good unlike the first time I ever flew out of Brisbane with Virgin Blue in 2000 when the plane was delayed ten hours! (check out post)

	17:10 15:53	BNE	Brisbane Australia International	LAX	Los Angeles USA International	11,546  km 15:43  h	V Australia VA 7	Boeing 777	5D/Aisle Business Passenger Business

Check in at the business line was fast, friendly and fun. A great start to a great trip. Security line and immigration using express line was very zippy.

V uses Air New Zealand’s Koru Lounge at Brisbane. Air New Zealand have some of the best lounges in the world so its always great to get inside them!

On arrival at the gate, I found they had already started boarding. A flash of my Boarding pass and the V Australia staff halted the economy line and pushed me up front. Kind of embarrassing and kind of fun. My friend Andy says the best bit about flying in business is enjoying the envious look of economy passengers! (seeing I spend more of my time down the back than the front I know what that envy feels and looks like!). If he is in business he likes to get there early so that people can see him sitting up front!

On boarding the aircraft, I was invited to turn right which surprised me. I thought I would be going left. I then discovered that V Australia has five rows in Business class. The cabin is split between four rows in front of the main door and one row between that door and the Premium Economy Bar. This Row 5 was where I was spending my flight.  And it has to be the best place on the whole plane. After take off the area is screened off so that you are effectively in your own 7 passenger cabin!

V Australia’s International Business class has a 2-3-2 configuration with fully horizontal flat beds that are 188 cm (6’2″) long and seat pitch of 77″.  This is more than double that of their economy cabin.

The welcome aboard was the best I have ever had on any business class on any airline. The welcome was thorough with a good explanation about the cabin, the seat, bed, entertainment, meals and lavatories.  Business Class have access to three lavatories – one of which is a women’s only lavatory (although I was shown inside it when I got a cabin tour!). There are also the two Premium Economy toilets close to hand. Compare that to the seven available in Economy!

There is a personal workstation with laptop power, USB slot and reading light. Business Class In-Flight entertainment has a 30.7cm (12.1 inches)  touchscreen Personal TV with a Panasonic Audio and Video on demand (AVOD)  system called RED. I have discussed V’s system before.

The 777 has groovy mood lighting that changes from purple to pink to orange over the trip. I love the lighting. In the middle of the night, they even have little stars twinkling overhead! The only disadvantage of it is that every picture of me was too dark so I can’t show you me in my snug seat! I have seen the same lighting on Virgin America. I think Etihad have it. Anyone else?

Now dinner! One word: yum. You can order and eat at any time you want or enjoy meals at the airline’s timing. I chose the airline’s timing.

The serving of the meals was of the same standard as Air New Zealand and Qantas who do this superbly. One of the cute features is that the salt and pepper shakers are in the shape of the Sydney Opera House’s sails!

Ice cream biscuity dessert– very yum

After dessert, determined to switch to US time as soon as possible (one of my tricks for avoiding jetlag), I asked the staff to make my bed up while I changed into the V Australia pyjamas. Unlike Qantas, you  cannot keep the PJs and V take them back to be washed for a future flight. One friend thought the idea of sharing pyjamas was a bit gross! The amenity kit was very nice and came in an amazing mini suitcase I used to carry my laptop into a few meetings! Sleep came quickly and I slept through the night.

Breakfast was magnificent with a good range of fresh choices.

Unlike my first V Australia flight which pulled up in the middle of nowhere at LAX, this flight rolled into a gate.

We were farewelled by the amazing crew and I was genuinely sorry to leave their friendly company and the comfortable plane- even after 15hours!

My rating: 100% Yes even with the delay – 100%. They nudged ahead of Qantas and Air New Zealand*

Got an opportunity to fly V Australia? Do it! They stack up in every class! Tomorrow I compare the business class offerrings on the Pacific sector.

Love the updated Velocity Rewards Frequent Flyer Program unveiled Thursday by Virgin Australia. Already Qantas has responded with media advertisements promising exciting changes to their program. The competition in Australia is starting a new round.

I am currently a Gold flyer with Qantas and Virgin so my focus is on the Gold benefits. At the end of this post, I will paste a table comparing the two programs. Please let me know what I leave out.

The eight immediate features I like about Velocity Rewards:

1. seemingly generous access to award seats
2. Subject to space availability, Velocity Platinum and Gold members are welcome in the Virgin Australia lounge at any time, and do not require a boarding pass. This is a benefit Qantas took away from its Platinum fliers earlier in the year – and boy were we mad! 
3. A family can pool all of your family member’s Points into one account as well as transferring points between family members
4. If you have a baby, you can pause your membership for up to six months-thats impressive
5. For every 100 status credits, you get a free lounge pass
6. Guaranteed Reward Seats for an annual family trip for up to four return Reward Seats for an annual family trip to any Australian destination, for Gold while Platinum members can also international destinations.
7. Gold and Platinum members can take up to two children under the age of 12 into the lounge with them.  (I wonder how many kids will now be screaming through lounges?)
8. Free access to Sentinel who help you find lost keys etc

Getting and Keeping Gold Status
The first comparison between Gold Qantas and Gold Virgin for me is how easy it is to get and keep Gold status. You gain status based on the number of status credits you earn. Every eligible flight gets you status credits. The longer your flight the more status credits you get. The higher your class you reserved your booking with, the more status credits you get. So a Sydney to London flight in business class will get you way more points than a discount economy seat from Sydney to Melbourne.

To get Gold with Qantas requires 700 status credits whereas Virgin gives it to you with 500 status credits. Of course how many you earn at each airline is different. Still its easier to get and keep Gold at Virgin than it is at Qantas.

For me to keep Gold with Qantas at the lowest earning rate possible (eg the Sydney -Melbourne) flight would mean 60 flights in a year. Virgin will give you gold after 40 Syd-Mel flights.

Likewise flying Melbourne to Los Angeles in Premium Economy would need 7 flights a year with Qantas to keep my Gold whereas I only need  4 with Virgin (or 3 plus a few SYD-Mel trips!)

Comparing Qantas Gold and Virgin Gold

I was bemused by the following Tweet:

30 minutes late into #Canberra with @virginaustralia. Hope the service is more efficient on the return flight this afternoon #epicfail

Epic fail?
30 minute delay?
It turns out that the Twitterer had been late for a very important meeting.


I wish I could be more sympathetic but an aeroplane flight is a very complex juggling act: 

• weather
• airport traffic
• mechanics of the plane
• crew 

Any of those things can go wrong. I leave a minimum margin of four hours. For example, I do everything I can not to fly into a city for a morning meeting but fly in the day before.