Key Details

Date: 5th September 2022

Flight No:VA567

Route: Sydney to Perth

Aircraft: Boeing 737

Cabin: Business

The Route

The route between Sydney and Perth is the second busiest transcontinental route in Australia after that between Melbourne and Perth. Nonetheless the route pairing is the second busiest out of Perth Airport with over 1.7 million passengers flying the route annually before Covid. Nonetheless, since the reopening of the WA border back in March demand on the route has returned strongly and their is typically 10-13 daily return services on the route. Consumers on the route are spoilt with choice and options with services been operated by Virgin with their Boeing 737’s, Jetstar with Airbus A320 and A321 and of course Qantas with a mixture of Boeing 737 and the Airbus A330 widebody. The flight has a scheduled flight time of around 5 hours which is almost an hour slower than the in-bound flight from Perth due to effects of strong tail winds in the other direction. Even despite increasing prices across the aviation industry, pricing on the route remains relatively competitive. Expect some sub $200 sale fares on Jetstar and sale fares from around $250 on Virgin whilst Qantas Red- e Deal fares generally start at around $300.

Virgin and Qantas both offer a good range of points redemptions on this route particularly outside of peak periods. On Virgin Economy Reward seats can be had for 17,800 Pts in economy or 35,500Pts in business plus $30.75 tax. On Qantas expect to part way with 18,000pts in economy or 41,500 pts in business. Both redemptions here offer great value considering the length of the flight although Qantas is generally the best redemption for Business Class especially if on one of the widebody flights where you will enjoy a far superior lie flat seat in the roomier business cabin.

Checking in at Sydney

I arrived at Sydney Airport very early for this flight – in fact over 4 hours early. Having secured late check out at my accommodation to 1pm I saw it a great opportunity to spend the afternoon in the Virgin Australia Lounge and get on top of some outstanding work whilst I was at it. Sydney Airport was very busy this afternoon so priority bag drop came in handy meaning that my bags were tagged and off to my destination within minutes all whilst the economy lines were substantial. Security was busy but the wait times were certainly not as bad as published in the media of late and i was through airside within about 10 minutes. There was no priority screening for Virgin Australia Business Class passengers in Sydney however.

Virgin Australia Lounge at Sydney

Virgin Australia’s Lounge in Sydney very much conforms to the uniform design and service standards that one has come to expect of Virgin’s lounges. As Virgin only operate one type of lounge at its major city airports it means they have to cater to a larger pool of travelers ranging from Lounge members, passengers with Gold status and above, those with partner airline status and of course those flying Business. This means Virgin have very much found a sweet spot for their lounges with the standard of service and comfort coming in between that of the Qantas Club which cater primarily to economy passengers at airports where they have a business lounge and that of Qantas’s domestic business lounges themselves. 

Virgin’s lounge is unsurprisingly very large in Sydney and arriving around 4pm it was clear the lounge was busy with most tables and chairs occupied although the crowds did drop off however as the late afternoon went by. Virgin have very much the usual assortment of seating arrangements at this lounge as per there other lounges and generally cater well to those both working or relaxing in the lounge although don’t expect to many private spaces in this lounge. Unfortunately at this lounge there is no direct views of the tarmac which are obscured by the roof of some of the terminal buildings Infront although there is still some natural light coming in with views partly obscured views of taxiway and runway in the distance which reveals just how busy Sydney Airport is!

As with other Virgin Lounges food and beverage is a strong point especially for a lounge catering to big crowds. Expect a semi-self serve buffet with several pre-plated dishes on offer depending on the time of the day in addition to an all day spread including cold meat, cheeses, soup and breads and snacks such as Red Rock chips and cheese and crackers. Virgin’s famous fried chicken was also on offer which always appears to be a crowd pleaser. The lounge also has a well stocked bar on offer that opens at noon and offers several white and red wines and selection of local beers notably including the likes of Four Pines. The bar is tendered and not self service. 

The lounge also has reasonably good amenities including showers, various charging points and of course reasonably fast free wifi and ticked all the right boxes in this regard.

Seating in Business Class

Today’s flight was on a typical Boeing 737, the same workhorse behind most of Virgin’s jet services between Australia’s capital cities. Unfortunately after Virgin went into receivership and came under control of new owners, the airline no longer operates any of its widebody Airbus A330 aircraft which offered far superior lie flat seating in business although this plane was never used on this route anyway. 

Virgin’s Boeing 737 has a 3-3 economy layout with a small 2 row 2-2 Business Cabin at the pointy end of the plane which is one less row or 4 seats less than Qantas’s offering on the Boeing 737. Today I was seated in a 2A which was one of the few remaining seats left that I selected online free of charge prior to checking in. The seat also has a small cocktail bench between the two seats offering a convenient way to enjoy a drink without happening to use the tray table. The seat also offers generous recline, albeit be mindful that it may slightly intrude on the space of the passenger seated behind.

Inflight Service and Food and Beverage

Unlike some recent flights especially with Qantas today’s flight was operating far from capacity which naturally meant the crew had far more time to focus on providing excellent service to each passenger. Today’s business class cabin was only around half full meaning i also had the seat next to me free which was a great bonus. 

After being amongst the first to board the plane with priority boarding the pre departure service started shortly after taking my seat. Pre departure drinks were offered with a choice of either sparkling water or sparkling wine which was a stark improvement on a recent Qantas Business Class flight between Perth and Sydney where noting was offered!

Service began approximately 20 minutes after take-off with the crew coming around to personally take post departure drink orders. I asked for a beer of which Green Beacon Tropical Pale Ale or Pure Blonde were on offer. For me the former choice was a no brainer. For dinner I was offered two selections of which i selected the Chicken parmigiana On the side i also got cheese and crackers and a lemon cake. All in all a tasty and substantially portioned meal for the 5 hour cross country trek to Perth this evening . After dinner the crew did a good job of remembering my drink preference and offering several more rounds which I gladly accepted. All in all, the crew on this flight were very professional and attentive and helped make a great experience on such a short flight. Unfortunately Virgin do not have seatback IFE or publicly accessible wifi on their flights. They do however offer streaming to your own device where you can watch a reasonable but not overly extensive range of tv shows and movies and al so view the inflight map. For me though there was no need to access the streaming aside from the map as I had already pre-loaded my IPad with content to watch for the flight.

Arriving in Perth

After just over 4 hours after taking off we started our descent into a wintry and wet evening in Perth which meant there was limited views coming in as to opposed to a clear night. The plane landed slightly ahead of schedule and bags were at the carousel within around 15 minutes of arriving with my bag one of the first to arrive. It seems on this Virgin flight my bag properly had priority attention given to it so well done to Virgin on this one!

Summing Up

Overall the merits and advantages of flying Business Class on any Australian domestic sector must be weighed up against a variety of factors – most notably cost, flight duration and possibly most importantly aircraft type. In most cases when flying on a narrow body aircraft such as in this case on a Virgin Boeing 737, passengers should expect something more accustomed to premium economy on an international flag carrier which is certainly a comfortable step up from economy but neither comparable to long haul international business class operated by widebody aircraft. This expectation turned out to very much in line with the experience on this flight.

For us this flight offered the benefit of premium lounge access, more personalized service and improved dining and drinks selection than economy and a more comfortable seat with greater leg room. Considering I redeemed this flight for 40,800 Velocity points all inclusive the night before due to the cancellation of my Jetstar flight I regarded this a great value redemption. If i had paid the $1600 cash cost that had been quoted at time of booking then probably not so!