It’s not usually my habit to evaluate flight experience. However, my first long haul international flight from Sydney to Hong Kong on Virgin Australia had attracted a lot of interests from my friends. So, I thought I will just give it a go.
Before I start, I need to make it clear that this is the first time I flew economy in a few years (I usually fly premium economy) and also this is my experience in one single flight, so it is by no mean representative if it differs from your experience.
Booking
First of all, about my booking experience. I have been a Velocity member for many years as I used to fly Virgin Australia to Christchurch for many years. Adding my Velocity membership to the booking was quite straightforward. I also managed to select my seat at the time of my booking without additional cost, which is extremely reasonable (yes, I am looking at you Qantas on your unreasonable fees for selecting seats at the time of booking). However, I received two emails since then advertising the possibility of bidding for at least $1,000 each way to upgrade my flight to business, which means if I succeeded it will be at least another $2,000 overhead on top of my $750 that I already paid. Considering business class is just over $3,000 I personally felt that it is a bit of trick marketing into paying more for something you don’t need and not that much of a saving. The fact that I only booked it a week out from my flying date, it is a bit over the top to get two such emails in a week.
Check in
Checking in online was quite painless. I managed the process quite easily in between my last-minute packing. I even managed to get my confirmation to be sent to my email address. So, it will just be a simple bag drop the next morning.
When I arrived at the airport the next morning, I found out the usual indicators for airlines at the airport at the drop off area were all gone. So, to save money (on a cab) I picked the closest available spot to get out. Turned out the Virgin area was in the farthest end of the departing hall. Luckily, I managed to find an orphaned trolley so I picked it up quickly to wheel it to the other end of the building.
When I got there, I informed one of the ground staff that I already performed online check in, but just to find out I still need to queue up to check in at the desk. This was not what I expected as with other airlines, I could just proceed to print boarding pass and baggage drop. That added unnecessary waiting for me and I could have not bothered to do online check in. For me that was a disappointment.
Boarding and the Flight
Boarding was quite painless and the ground crew were extremely friendly and patient.
When I was on board of the flight, to my surprise my seat (38D) was not a standalone seat as it was indicated on the flight floor plan when I selected my seat at the time of booking. In fact, there were two other seats next to me. One of them was occupied by another passenger (although he moved somewhere later). This was extremely puzzling for me as I was expecting to be sitting by myself without anyone to my right. I ended up still having the whole row to me but I felt cheated when the seat I chose was not what it seemed to be. Nonetheless the seats were of good size for my miniature frame.
The crew was courteous and friendly. Most of them were pretty attentive and sincere, although one of them seemed to be a bit more stressed than others. During his conversation with his colleague during food service, I understood that his regularly route was Sydney to LA, so probably the Hong Kong shift is not as interesting as he wished.
The selection of movie and TV entertainment was sufficient but not spectacular. There weren’t a lot of interesting options for me. I watched ‘The House with a Clock in its Walls’ at the beginning and then just spent the rest of the flight playing games on my PSVita and 3DS. Probably on the way back would be different as I would be spending more time resting.
Meal services were prompt and friendly, although I personally feel the servings are way too small as I felt hungry most of the time during the flight. I wish there were more items per meal and also bigger serving. Though when I asked for another cup of tea, it was served promptly.
The flight arrived on time and overall it was not too bad although the mainland Chinese tour group caused quite a bit of issues when they started to get up as soon as the plane touched the ground, even though it is still moving at quite some speed and the crew kept on telling them to sit down. But none of them seemed to care.
My luggage was already waiting for me after I passed through customs so I was quite pleased with it.
Overall
All in all, I think the flight was not bad at all. Despite a few hiccups or ‘surprises’ it was still value for money. However, as I said after years on premium economy, my expectations could be unrealistic. I might not be comparing apples with apples on this. I probably will fly them again in the future, but save up some money for premium economy next time 😊.
