I made a trip to Sydney last weekend to attend a festival which was unfortunately postponed. As I had non-refundable tickets with substantial change fees (nearly what I paid for each sector), I went ahead with a holiday in Sydney anyway. My flights between Melbourne and Sydney were on Virgin Australia (VA), who are my preferred airline for domestic flying. VA had a double miles promotion for Velocity members earlier this year, with my trip conveniently falling within the travel period. I was also planning to try out VA’s UpgradeMe, though I was in two minds over whether I really wanted to fork out extra cash for Business Class on such a short domestic hop.
About Virgin Australia
Virgin Australia started life as low-cost Virgin Blue, eventually evolving into essentially a full-service airline today. The current Virgin Australia is a combined re-branding of Virgin Blue, Pacific Blue and V Australia. Today, Virgin Australia has an extensive domestic network; internationally it has flights across the Tasman to New Zealand, Abu Dhabi, Los Angeles, Denpasar-Bali and several Pacific islands. VA also has several codeshare and interline arrangements. Most importantly for Singaporeans, Singapore Airlines owns 23% of VA and has a very good frequent flyer arrangement. This is probably the main reason why I prefer to fly Virgin on my travels within Australia. (Etihad and Air New Zealand hold substantial stakes as well)
In terms of products and service, like most LCCs, initially food and baggage were extras on the cheapest domestic fares. All international flights had meals and baggage included, with the exception of trans-Tasman services. In 2013, VA added complimentary snacks in economy on services between the state capitals (e.g. Sydney-Melbourne). This was in addition to complimentary tea, coffee, water or juice already given. Recently on 15 April this year, this was expanded to all flights, although the buy-on-board menu remains as well. In March, Virgin ditched the only class of fare – Saver Lite – that did not include checked baggage, with one free 23kg bag the minimum standard for all tickets booked after 17 March (I booked my ticket before 17 Mar so missed out on this trip).
In the cabin, VA offers economy and business class on most flights. (777 flights to Los Angeles and Abu Dhabi also get premium economy). Business class is similar to any other full-service carrier. This trip was my first time sampling the business product, albeit on a very short flight.
Zerotwotwenty 