Key Details
Flight: VA 694
Date: Jan 19, 2020
From: Perth, Western Australia
To: Melbourne, Victoria
Cabin: Business Class
Rating: 9/10
The Route
Perth to Melbourne pre Covid was one of the busiest flight routes in Australia and indeed the busiest flight out of Perth airport servicing over 1 million passengers a year served by up to nearly 20 flights a day by Qantas, Jetstar, Virgin and the now defunct Tiger Air. These days as the travel industry recovers from Covid 19 services are steadily increasingly towards back to pre-pandemic. With curfew free operation at both airports flights between Perth and Melbourne operate around the clock upwards of a dozen daily flights operated by both Qantas with A330 and 737 whilst Virgin operate the 737 and offering an additional 1-2 daily A320 services.
In January 2020 I had the pleasure of flying Virgin Australia’s Coast to Coast A330 service in Business Class on a Sunday evening service from Perth to Melbourne arriving just before midnight. Unfortunately, after Virgin went into receivership by US capital investor Bein Capital during the Covid 19 pandemic Virgin has disposed of these aircraft and no longer operate widebodies coast to coast leaving Qantas as the sole operator of A330 in Australia.
This review I hope acts a reminder of how good Virgin’s domestic a330 business class was in the past and how the airline should look at reinstating widebody services once travel conditions become more favorable for the airlines.
Cost wise I was lucky enough to redeem this flight with velocity points coming in at exactly 40,000 points with no additional tax supplement to pay. At the time this was little over double the cost of redeeming a seat on the same flight in economy yet the value of the flight in cash ($200 odd compared to $1500+ in business made this redemption a no brainer having the extra points at my disposal. Virgin’s current business class pricing is far more competitive offering coast to coast flights under $1000 and shorter flights from $300 making the difference in value less extreme however.
Check in, Lounge and Boarding
I arrived at Perth approximately 2pm or around 3 hours prior to departure so I could check out the Virgin Lounge for the first time. Check in was a breeze with priority check in and 2 bags allowed. Within no time I was airside and in the lounge which offered snacks and light bites as well as a fully stocked bar offering barista made coffee, wine and several beers on tap and in stubbies. The lounge offers great views of the apron and also has numerous TVs allowing to watch news or all the day’s sporting action. No complaints for the Virgin lounge experience here in Perth.
Seating in Business Class
Virgin used to offer a business class product that was neck and neck with Qantas on coast-to-coast flights offering suite style fully lie flat beds and plenty of storage options. The hard product certainly lived up to expectations and for once perhaps I wished the 3 hour trip across to Melbourne didn’t conclude so quickly. These days Virgin only operate narrow body’s primarily Boeing 737’s so expect leather recliner seats instead but for most flights around Australia the lie-flat beds are an excessive luxury over an necessity.
Inflight Service and Food and Beverage
The service and dining options on the flight certainly worked to match the hard product with a 3-course plated dinner on offer making you forgiven to think this was an international standard business class flight and unlimited bar service – albeit the drinks on offer weren’t overly much better than on offer than in economy. It was disappointing that Pure Blonde was the only available beer in Business Class and none of the spirits were any higher grade than for mixing ! The wine offerings are however of a higher grade if that’s your preferred tipple. Welcome drinks including sparkling wine were also served on boarding adding to the experience in addition to bottled water in each seat. Further snacks such as potato chips or anything of the economy class paid menu were available as a complimentary perk at anytime in the flight however Virgin no longer grant this privilege.
Entertainment:
The business class seat had a very generous seat back IFE in addition to BYO streaming entertainment. The screen was noticeably larger than featured in the economy class A330 and added to what was already a very enjoyable journey – Should you have any time remaining on the 3 hour flight with full course dining. Keep in mind no Virgin aircraft in Australia does have seat back IFE but a BYO streaming service through Wi-Fi should be fine for most for short flights within Australia. In flight Wi-Fi is also available on some Virgin aircraft currently.
Arrival:
The flight touched down in Melbourne around midnight the night before the start of the 2020 Australian Open. The airport and city of Melbourne was relatively busy despite the late hour -being just before the start of grand slam tournament meant Melbourne was buzzing with energy. Unfortunately little was I aware several weeks after this flight the beginning of the Covid 19 pandemic would decimate the Australian and global travel industry and unfortunately the Virgin Australia A330 Business Class experience can be experienced no more
Summary:
This was a great flight and one of the best value frequent flyer redemptions I Have ever made. You would have to have serious money to burn to pay cash for the experience but for parting with 40,000 Velocity points was well worth it. There was little I could complain about with this service and hope Virgin can one day return with a similar business class service in the future although there current business class option still can be a great redemption opportunity and are more affordable with cash.
