I’m not a fan of discount carriers!
There I’ve admitted it – which is why it has taken me so long before I have been willing to fly with Virgin Australia.
Virgin entered the Australian market in 2000 under the brand of Virgin Blue -it was a discount carrier.
However as of May 2011 Virgin have been revamping themselves into becoming a full service carrier re-branded as Virgin Australia, and so I have finally been willing to give them a go.
Well what did I think of Virgin Australia when we recently flew from Perth to Bali for 3 and a half hours?
My Virgin Australia Flight Review
Booking with Virgin Australia
I book out tickets through the Virgin Australia website during a sale.
The system is quite easy to follow, I am even able to choose our seating. As I am in a bit of a rush I leave out filling in all the details expecting to be able to come back later and complete them.
However a couple of weeks before our flight I go back into the Virgin Australia website to add our passports, contact details and book a child’s meal for Lewis, but the system does not allow me to add this information. So I call the Virgin Australia reservations desk.
I speak to a helpful girl who adds in all our contact details, however she advises that there is not a child’s meal option available on this flight, I guess that means no toy either 🙁
Check-in with Virgin Australia
We arrive at the airport nice and early, only Lewis and I will be travelling on this flight – Steve has an ear infection and cannot fly. I have packed one large suitcase weighing 30kg (under the OHS guidelines of 32kg).
When we reach the Virgin Australia check-in agent he asks, do you have a second piece of luggage? I reply no, but we are allowed 46kg (23 kg each) in total. The agent advises you are only allowed maximum of 23kg per bag, you will need to repack.
We shuffle off to the side and I remove 7kg of the heaviest item and place them in my roll along hand luggage to be now checked-in.
We return to the check-in counter, having to wait a few moments before being served and given our boarding passes.
Boarding Virgin Australia
We bid farewell to Steve who will join us in a few days when his ear infection clears, then make our way through customs and security with a minimum fuss. We reach the Virgin Australia boarding gate to discover that the flight has been delayed half an hour – I don’t know why.
In the meantime I refill Lewis’s water bottle from the drinking fountains.
Eventually the pre-boarding is called, Lewis and I board the flight.
On Board the Virgin Australia Flight
We walk down the single aisle of the 737, to find our seats. I am pleasantly surprised that we don’t feel that cramped and we have a comfortable amount of leg room – that’s not often found on 737’s.
We get ourselves settled taking out our old E-Tablet and new iPad Air to watch the in-flight entertainment. I also have Lewis’s water bottle for him to sip during take-off to help ease the air pressure.
I discover that during my repacking ordeal that I have checked in our headphones, seriously can anything else go wrong?
Fortunately the Virgin Australia cabin crew on board this flight are excellent!
We have a very helpful girl who gets us a 2 sets of headphones. She even notices that Lewis is not feeling well (he gets air sick) – in all our family flights not has a cabin crew member ever taken notice of Lewis feeling unwell – I am most impressed with our flight attendant.
In my mind Virgin Australia is finally starting to claw its way back into my good graces.
I notice the cabin crew our so helpful with getting everyone set up on the own electronic devices to watch the in-flight entertainment.
After take-off the very friendly cabin crew are efficiently providing the breakfast service.
Lewis curls up on his seat to have a sleep, I try to watch the in-flight entertainment whilst enjoying a second cup of coffee – others on board have entered holiday mode and are having beers. Sadly my in-flight entertainment keeps freezing, I try Lewis’s new iPad Air but it also has the same problem. During the 3 and a half hour flight I never make it to the end of the movie.
So whilst Virgin Australia is slowly moving into full service mode with luggage, meals and in-flight entertainment included – to me it still hasn’t quite got there to compete against the main full service carriers.
- The luggage has to be under 23kg/ piece (you can’t combine your weight with your travel companion up to the OHS limit of 32kg).
- The are no special meals.
- The in-flight entertainment is a bit intermittent.
However in saying that Virgin Australia probably have the most friendly and helpful cabin crew I have encountered.
Have you or would you fly Virgin Australia?
Tell me about it in the comments.
If you would like to read more travel stories from our family holiday to Bali please click HERE.
Or if you would like to check out some more airline reviews read:
Linking Up With:
- Essentially Jess #IBOT
- Lauren on Location #TravelTuesday
- My Brown Paper Packages #WednesdayWanderlust
- With Some Grace #FYBF
- As We Saw It #TheWeeklyPostcard
- Malaysian Meanders #WkendTravelInspiration
It must be interesting to transition from a low-cost to a full service airline. As you say, it sounds like some teething issues are being ironed out still! Were the prices reasonable still or not so much? Would you choose to fly with them again or would you rather pick someone else?
The prices were reasonable which is why I booked the flights, however they wouldn’t be my first choice to fly with again.
Overall it seems like it went well. I know the US is bad compared to flying non-US airlines but the per person luggage thing makes sense to me (safety and health of the baggage handlers). And you get meals! Only flights over 6 hours get meals 🙁 You are right that good flight attendants sometimes make all the difference- it seems like you got some good ones!
Oh yes Andrea, the US airlines are terrible for inclusions – even the full service ones. PS. The standard for all airlines world wide for health and safety is 32kg per bag, in Perth the luggage belts won’t even move if your bag is heavier.
Virgin are my preferred provider. They always have excellent cabin crew. The last times I’ve flown with Qantas were all regional routes for work the other year so they don’t have the entertainment and other things in those planes anyway.
That’s true Vanessa the regional flights don’t usually have any in-flight entertainment.
We’ve flown with Virgin many times and have never had a problem at all. The same can’t be said for one of the other discount Australian carriers!
I hear you Lyndall – maybe we all just expect too much from airlines, or perhaps they promise too much that they can’t deliver.
I’m happy to fly the budget airlines for short trips, more money to spend on other stuff 🙂 Thanks for linking up to #wednesdaywanderlust xx
So true Malinda, that’s why I booked the flight during their sale 🙂
This is interesting – I mean with discount airlines I know never to expect much. I get a seat and I get to arrive at my destination – hopefully on time. It seems though that since they are rebranding they should be putting much more into it – but it also sound like they are better than low cost carriers, so they are probably on their way 🙂
I’d say Camila it is still a work in progress.
I always fly with Virgin, but that was mainly to save money. The longest flight I’ve ever done was an hr and a half so we didn’t have any meals and the free wifi didn’t seem to work. It was ok for the price I paid though. #teamIBOT
Interesting to note you had issues with the free WiFi as well Toni.
I hateeeee flying budget airlines. That being said, a cheap flight is a cheap flight and I’m not one to discriminate. I would definitely fly Virgin Australia if it was the cheapest option. Unfortunately at this point in my life, I’m not in the position to choose a more expensive flight for comfort purposes. I usually just suck is up and go with the cost-saving choice. Still this one doesn’t seem half bad, and I guess that’s because they’re working on becoming full service. RyanAir and Easy Jet in Europe are just awful!
Look they were OK Lauren for the sale price I got. They just weren’t great when they are trying to be full-service.
I could totally see that!! Transitioning could probably be hard too! I’d be interested to see what it’s like in a few years!
I’ll just have to do another flight in a couple of years Lauren and report back 😉
We are big Virgin fans in this household. For the price you pay with discounted seats we have yet to have complaint about check-in or onboard service. We now have enough points for free flights in the New Year, so that will make it even better.
Oh a free flight to New York – how exciting Nikki!
We flew Virgin Australia to and from Bali a few years ago. We were really happy with the experience. I just wish there was an alternative to red eye flights coming back home from Bali.
Oh red eye from Bali is the worst Grace – it’s not long enough to get any sleep. We are lucky in Perth more airlines and timeslots to Bali than you can poke a stick at.
I’ve never flown Virgin, but for a budget airline, it doesn’t look too bad.
Thanks for linking up wtih Weekend Travel Inspiration!
The thing is Corinne, they are not budget any more (I would be very happy if this is what I got for budget) but they are now wanting to be a full service carrier.
I’ve heard only good things about Virgin, but never used the airline so far. That food looks really delicious and plenty, unlike most of the other airlines who want to starve you. I like the idea of combining weight for the luggage. Isn’t Virgin sort of expensive though? Thank you for joining #TheWeeklyPostcard.
We got a sale deal Anda, which was why we travelled with them, as for the food it as kind of airline standard.
To be honest, I’ve never thought that it was allowed on any flight to combine bags. That breakfast does bring back memories though, I’ve definitely eaten something almost exactly (if not so) like it several times on previous flights.
On many other airline Rhonda you can combine your luggage allowance with your travel companions – but you can’t have more than 32kg for Occupational Health and Safety.
I’ve heard good things about Virgin but never knew that they are no longer budget carriers. Sure do appreciate your review because we likely will be travelling between Bali and Oz sometime in the future. I’m especially happy to hear that you had a decent amount of leg room. Sad that there are no special meals, though, as I don’t eat sausages. Now that you’ve flown them, would you do it again?
Thanks for linking up to us and #TheWeeklyPostcard, too.
Just to let you know Linda I would prefer to flu Garuda if the price is right.
Virgin Australia Airlines is the second largest airline company of Australia. The brand was launched in May 2011 but the Virgin Company entered the Australian aviation market in 2000 with the former brand Virgin Blue.