I’m always curious about airlines I’ve never flown before. So in my typical neurotic fashion, I always Google around to find reviews of new airlines before I fly them. And in the interest of helping anyone else that’s like me out there, this is my experience flying Virgin Australia for the first time.
However, I have flown Virgin Atlantic before. I flew Business Class to London for a weekend before I discovered travel hacking (unfortunately you read that right).
Anyway, I was pleasantly surprised to discover that my experience with Virgin Australia Business Class was even better than that lovely trip on Virgin Atlantic. So let’s get into it!
Booking
As background, this trip to Australia was a mother/daughter trip and my fancy Mom has a rule that she doesn’t fly economy on flights over 3 hours because it takes a toll on her body. So this 3 hour and 8 minute flight fit the bill π . This entire trip was originally going to take place in 2020, but you can guess how that turned out.
After everything was canceled, we were given a credit by Virgin Australia for the amount we paid and that’s what we used to book this trip in 2023. I’ve recorded the original cost we paid in 2020 below.
Flights Details
- When: September 2023
- Where: Sydney to Cairns, Australia
- Flight: VA 1419
- Flight Time: 3 hr, 8 min
- Seat: 2A
- Distance: 1,512 miles
- Cost: $394 USD
Sydney (SYD) Airport
Check In
One thing I found interesting about outside-US travel is that baggage requirements are often smaller. I guess we Americans have too much stuff π . The night before my flight, I received an email with baggage restrictions, which was also shown when I booked the ticket and is available on the Virgin Australia website. Here are the baggage allowances for Business Class:
- 1 Carry-On: 7 kg (15lbs)
- 1 Personal Item: 7kg (e.g. a laptop computer or small handbag)
Everything else has to be checked. Luckily, Business Class tickets include two 32kg (70lbs) checked bags in the price of the ticket so my one 40L backpack made the cut just fine π .
Interestingly, Virgin Australia claimed that if you are checking more baggage, that it’s cheaper to do so online before you get to the airport. Good to know. The email also mentioned that once we arrived at the airport, we needed to use a kiosk to print our bag tags. So that’s what we did!
After an Uber dropped my Mom and I off, we found a Virgin Australia kiosk, printed our bag tags and then joined the Priority Check-In Line.
The regular check in line was super long so I was happy for the shorter line. Interestingly, there were also Priority Bag Drop lines, but they were closed at the time.
We stood in line for a few minutes, but the line moved quickly and the check in employee took our bags and directed us to walk behind the counter when we were done, which confused me for a second. Apparently that’s how you get to security. Alrighty then!
Security
The strange route we had been directed to was apparently a priority security line that feeds right into the front of the line. There wasn’t anyone extra to check passports or boarding passes again since the check in employee had just done that. How efficient!Β
In the security line, I was asked to take out my electronics (e.g. Laptop and Kindle) and put those and my bag in a bin that went through the machine like usual. After that, we were through security in under a minute and on to the lounge!
The Lounge
Helpfully, the Virgin Australia Lounge is right next to security and has prominent signage.
We approached the desk right inside the lounge and they asked for our boarding passes before welcoming us in. There was also a sign at the desk with lots of complicated stuff you have to do to get on the Wifi, but when I tried, I just had to put in my full name and email and it worked.
While in the lounge, my beloved free app TripCase updated me that my flight time changed – multiple times. It went from 12:40pm to 1pm to 12:55pm. I appreciate the specificity π .
While that was happening, I settled into a comfy chair and enjoyed the lounge’s free Wifi and power outlets. There were lots of different seating areas, some of which are more secluded (my preference) like this one:
After settling in, my Mom and I got up to explore and found that they had a barista making coffee orders, some hot food, a salad bar, and wine and beer after 12pm. Pro Tip: The pasta was shockingly good. There were also desserts slightly hidden to the far left of the buffet in case you have a sweet tooth like my Mom π .
THE JOURNEY
Boarding
After chilling for a bit in the lounge, we headed to the gate. The lounge employees at reception had let us know that it was a 5 minute walk, so we left with plenty of time before they made a boarding announcement within the lounge.
When we got to the gate, there were General Boarding and Priority Boarding lines. Then something weird happened π . We just waited at the gate without an update until basically our take off time. I couldn’t remember if I had ever had a late flight where they don’t tell us it’s late or tell us a reason for the delay. And since we hadn’t received an update, we were standing this whole time, which wasn’t ideal.
When boarding did begin (after the plane should have left) it was chaotic. It wasn’t clear who they were boarding, where they were boarding, (the two lanes weren’t being used), and people were cutting to the front of the line (heathens). So nothing was clear, but we boarded eventually.
Once they checked our boarding passes, we saw there were two boarding ramps. One for Rows 15 and below, and another for Rows 15 and “beyond.” When we got to the plane, an attendant looked at our boarding passes to direct us to our seats – that’s a nice touch. I haven’t really seen that on domestic flights.
Then we were finally seated and offered sparkling wine (aka champagne that’s not from Champagne, France) or still water. I chose the bubbly. Cheers!
The Flight
After we took off, I looked around to decide how I wanted to spend my flight. It turns out that Virgin Australia has free Wifi for Business Class, which was working even before we took off (in my experience it usually doesn’t work until you’re above cruising altitude).
After the seatbelt sign was turned off, we were offered lunch choices of a Chicken Curry or Pan-Seared Gnocchi with Mushroom Sauce. I chose the latter and it was pretty good! They also offered us beverage options of water, juices, wine or spirits.
Then I messed around online for a bit and had the urge to watch a movie. Virgin Australia apparently has an app you can use to watch things, but I hadn’t downloaded it because I have too many apps as it is π . Well it turns out that you can watch movies on your phone browser.
I liked their phone browser set up for films because while watching one, it shows you how much longer you have left in the flight so you know if you have time to finish it. Handy! But then my troubles began π .
The movie kept stuttering like it didn’t have fast enough internet to buffer or something. I hadn’t seen that before on other planes. Unfortunately after 30 minutes of stuttering, this became too annoying to continue so I switched to reading a book.
Interestingly I also experienced the Wifi dropping a few times, which I haven’t experienced on a plane outside of Singapore Air when they entered a new territory and had warned us about it in advance. However, the Wifi came back on quickly each time – it was just annoying if I was in the middle of something. That might explain the movie buffering issues though π .
Cairns (CNS) Airport
So I sat back and enjoyed my book and before I knew it, we were landing…and it looked like Jurassic Park π .
We then got off the jet bridge quickly and when I looked around, I realized that this wasn’t the norm. Other planes were having people walk across the tarmac. Good to know. So then Mom and I headed to Baggage Claim. Our bags came out relatively quickly and then we called an Uber to pick us up.
We then discovered that the designated pick up area is outside baggage claim and across the street so we hustled over.
Then we hopped in the car and were off to the Great Barrier Reef π .
THE REVIEW
So that’s what happened, but now let’s get into the actual review portion and what I thought of the experience.
Customer Service
Despite the boarding debacle where the gate agents were not clear with instructions for boarding or explaining our apparent delay, the gate agents were very kind and helpful when we figured out it was our time to board. So I’ll give them a pass this once π .
However, the flight attendants were phenomenal. They anticipated my needs and as a result, I never had to ask for anything – this isn’t something I’m used to on US domestic flights, even US Business Class flights so I was very impressed. I think I’m going to be spoiled when flying around the US after this π .
Seat
There were 8 Business Class seats on this plane and they were roomy and comfy.
There was a giant arm rest in the middle of the two seats, which was nice. There was also an indent in the seat by my hips that provided some extra space in that area, which my wide hips appreciated π . Above the seat was reserved Business Class luggage storage, which was smaller than on a similar plane in the US and might explain Virgin Australia’s smaller weight requirements.
However, making the luggage bins smaller made the cabin have more free space, which made it feel taller and airier which was nice. Under the seat in front of me, there were 3 sections, which I assume is a holdover from the same amount of space in Economy occupying 3 seats, but it was cool to have multiple compartments at my disposal since my Mom was sitting next to me and wouldn’t mind sharing π .
Despite all the storage, there was also a bunch of leg room, more than I could touch with my long legs. There were also two electric outlets in the front of the armrest, which was convenient.
One thing I didn’t notice until the flight was almost done was that there was a rope blocking off the Business Class section – I’ve never seen that before.
Food
As I mentioned, our food was good. I hadn’t realized we would get a full meal for a relatively short flight, but was happy we did. I did notice that one person mentioned they were too full for a meal, so the FA brought them a cheese and cracker spread – so adaptable and nice!
In-Flight Entertainment
As I mentioned, it was cool we had free Wifi, but it wasn’t awesome that it kept dropping. I felt similarly about the movie stuttering too much for me to watch it in my browser. I’m curious if using their app would help with the latter issue.
The former wasn’t a big deal to me since I wasn’t expecting to have Wifi in the first place, but it’s good to note. I always travel with a million books on my Kindle, so it wasn’t a big deal, but if you were expecting to pass the time on the internet or in movieland, you might be out of luck.
CONCLUSION
And that was my first experience flying Virgin Australia! Their luggage requirements were different than what I was used to, but I did enjoy the extra space it afforded us in the plane. The check in and security process was top notch and the lounge was a lovely space to relax before the confusion of boarding this flight π .
Once I was on the flight, despite the entertainment issues, I didn’t have any real complaints. I had a lovely time and the flight attendants were phenomenal. So was the extra cost of Business Class over Economy worth food, drinks and faster lines while traveling with my fancy Mom who would have been up there by herself otherwise? Definitely π .
What’s your favorite flight experience?
This sounds like a really relaxing and enjoyable trip, and those aren’t the words I usually associate with airlines. π
I haven’t flown anywhere in a couple of years, but my wife had to fly this month to go to a wedding, and she said it was an absolutely terrible experience. Air travel just keeps getting worse and worse.
I’ve never flown business class. It seemed like too much of an indulgence. But it sounds like airlines are trying to make standard seating worse so people pay up to avoid it!
Haha fair. I’m sorry your wife had a terrible experience. That sucks.
I’m a Gold FF with virgin & have done several return trips to Asia in business . What it lacks as far as a lie flat bed or screens, it well & truly compensates for with fantastic, food, service excellent cabin crew & great domestic lounges . I’ve been flying with VA for about 16yrs domestically & internationally & can’t fault the airline in any way. Even when covid hit, international flights that I’d booked had to be cancelled, but I had all of my points & any extras paid for refunded within a couple of wks. So yep . I’m one very happy very loyal Virgin Aust Frequent Flyer
That’s awesome! It’s also great to know that the good experience I had is consistent across their flights.
Agree- although I’ve never travelled business with Virgin Australia domestic- their economy is pretty good too! So glad you had a great trip.
I’m happy to hear that! I’ll definitely be flying Economy the next time I visit π . And thank you!