V Australia inaugural SYD-LAX flight in economy

[Fifa]

Welcome to my very first AFF trip report on the inaugural V Australia SYD to LAX flight.
Price: $889 plus $15 credit card fee (with no option to pay by BPay).

Date: Friday 27 February 2009
Flight: VA001 SYD-LAX
Departure: 1500 (Scheduled), 1519 (Pushback)
Aircraft: (VH-VOZ) Boeing 777-300ER “Didgeree Blue”
Class: Economy
Seat: 39J

This trip came about when I happened to see crazydave98’s post giving AFFers a “tip off” about a special fare available on V Australia’s inaugural flight. A friend, “C”, and I booked exactly one week before the flight! With no time to spare we also arranged accommodation, booked travel to/from Sydney, obtained visas on-line, wrapped up stuff at work and hastily researched our plans for LA.

As there was no option to select seats online I phoned as soon as I had purchased the tickets and we were given 21A & 21B (second economy row).

After leaving home at 4.50am we finally arrived at SYD at 11.15am so we didn’t miss a thing and parked ourselves outside the V Australia check-in where the California Travel and Tourism Commission were setting up. They were ready just after midday and had rolled out a red carpet, set up displays highlighting the attractions of California surrounded by blue, yellow and white helium balloons and roped in a couple of baseball player lookalikes from “The Dodgers” and a bunch of rollerbladers not to mention the maddening bongo drummers!

Check in
This was really slow but to be expected considering it was V Australia’s very first flight. The check-in agent was very friendly and I enquired about seats in exit Row 26 but these had already been nabbed so I asked about another exit row and luckily we were given Seats 39J & K. What a bonanza!

Celebrations at the airport
Celebrations? What celebrations? When we were finally allowed in the lounge area at gate 60, the only things happening were media outside taking photos of the aircraft then Richard Branson joined them with Catriona Rowntree for photos in front of the plane. I (and lots of other people) were a little disappointed nothing “special” was arranged.

Boarding called at just after 2.30pm.

Boarding
Virgin big-wigs, V Australia cabin crew and Richard personally welcomed the passengers on board with lots of kisses and handshaking. We departed only 19 minutes late with much clapping and cheering.

Passengers
Passengers in economy appeared to be mainly the non-paying variety as we were asked for a show of hands if we had purchased our tickets and all others were asked to show their appreciation to us for supporting V Australia. We were told there were approximately 260 passengers on board across all three classes. Economy class passengers were unfortunately not allowed to view the premium economy or business class cabins except for when we walked through while boarding and departing the aircraft.

Safety video
Very cute and kept all the passengers captivated (wonder how long that will last?) with a caricature of Richard Branson featured.

Amenity kit contained eye shades (aqua in colour which was a theme throughout the cabin and trimming the crew’s uniform) and ear plugs.

Pillow/blanket
The pillow (also aqua) was a big fluffy one and the blanket was made of a nice soft fleece.

Seat
Seats were pretty standard with folding headrest “wings” and as it was an exit row, the arm rest contained a folding table and the IFE was folded down under the armrest. I imagine the fabric will get dirty fairly quickly as all the economy seats are quite light colours.

IFE
This was one of the highlights of the flight. Each seat contained a copy of “View - your V Australia inside guide to inflight entertainment” which introduces you to Red, the easy to use Panasonic touch screen system. With movies, TV releases, music & music video and a great selection of games (both single and multi-players) there is alot to keep even the fussiest passenger entertained. You can also “talk” to other passengers either seat to seat or via a chatroom using the keyboard on the handset control. There’s also and in-seat USB port but unfortunately the computer power available in every seat advertised on V Australia’s website is incorrect as it is only for premium economy and business class passengers.

Celebrations on board
Apart from the glass of champagne we were “entertained” by two comedians posing as Qantas, Jetstar and United flight attendants. Richard floated around the economy cabin a couple of times but we did not get the chance to have a chat or get a photo with him. Oh, and I forgot, each passenger was given a t-shirt! No special boarding pass, commemorative memento or certificate - just a t-shirt, and ours don’t even fit!

Meals
The dinner service was extremely slow and disorganised (but hey, it’s a new airline and they had to iron out the glitches!) Service commenced before 6pm and we were finally served at 6.40pm. I don’t know when the last passengers ate. By the time we were served they had run out of the vegetarian option and the corned beef seemed the least popular

Dinner was surprisingly good with the menu listed on the IFE screen (as below). The plastic cutlery was of good quality and easy to use.

MENU – Sydney to Los Angeles

-- STARTER --
Seasonal salad with Italian dressing

-- MAIN COURSE --
Home style corned silverside of beef
with mustard seed sauce , steamed chat potattoes and mixed vegetables OR

Country chicken and leek casserole
served with a rice pilaf, green beans and roasted pumpkin OR

Roasted vegetable lasagne
with tomaato basil sauce (V)

Damper roll
Cracker barrel cheese and crackers

-- DESSERT --
“Aussie” Lamington with raspberry coulis

-- BREAKFAST --
Orange juice
Croissant served with strawberry preserve
Yoghurt
Fruit
Muesli bar

Spinach frittata
served with hash brown, roasted tomato and a chicken chipolata OR

Belguim waffles
served with vanilla peaches and kibbled walnuts (V)


MENU – Los Angeles to Sydney

-- STARTER --
Seasonal salad with an olive oil vinaigrette

-- MAIN COURSE --
Braised chicken
with whole grain mustard sauce served with fresh mashed potatoes and mxed vegetables OR

Fragrant Thai beef
on a bed of egg fried rice and steamed choi sum OR

Pesto and ricotta lasagne rolls
with a fresh tomato sauce (V)

Kaiser roll
Cracker barrel cheese and crackers

-- DESSERT --
An American favourite, chocolate and pecan brownie

-- BREAKFAST --
Orange juice
Croissant served with strawberry preserve
Yoghurt
Fruit
Muesli bar

Mushroom frittata served with a potato rosti, veal sausage, tomato and spinach OR

Pancakes filled with a cinnamon apple compote (V)

(V) = Vegetarian
__________________________________________________ ________

Snack Bar
“If your tummy is grumbling between meals, we will be offering a small selection of complimentary snacks at the self service area outside the middle galley”. This was a disappointing affair which featured four varieties of Smiths crisps and twin packs of Arnott’s biscuits!!!

Drinks
Bottled water was handed out as soon as the seat belt signs went off then champagne was distributed in plastic tumblers and passengers all toasted the new V Australia. Alcoholic and non-alcoholic drinks were offered during the meal service but when we asked for another bottle of water were told they had run out and we could fill it up at the water fountain. One alcoholic drink was served with dinner. You can purchase more.
“Water fountains can be found in the centre of the aircraft adjacent to the toilets”.

Unfortunately the “wrong coffee” had been loaded in Sydney so we had to make do with tea.

Cabin crew
I spoke to a couple of cabin crew who said about 75% of the crew had come from other airlines, mainly Virgin Blue, Qantas and Emirates. They were all cheerful, very well presented and helpful and obviously really excited to be on the first flight.

Toilets
Always clean and well stocked.

Lighting
The mood lighting was really good but the “stars” in the ceiling must have been reserved for the premium cabins!

Weather during flight
On several occasions we hit turbulence and the seat belt signs were illuminated. It amazes me how passengers just have to get up to retrieve something so the cabin crew then had to leave their seats to remind the passengers to sit back down

Arrival time
We arrived at LAX ahead of time to a welcome by an airport fire engine spraying water over the aircraft, cleared immigration at the same time as an A380 which had just landed from Asia, retrieved our luggage and were out of the airport by 10.45am.

As this was a last minute trip planned on a budget we caught the Flyaway bus to Union Station then the red metro line to Hollywood.

To minimise the total cost of this unexpected holiday we are using Priority Club points to stay in LA which is excellent value considering the cost of accommodation in relation to our dollar. When we arrive back in Oz I will post a report on our hotel and the return flight. Once I manage to reduce the size of my photos I will include them as well!

Would I fly with V Australia again???
Most definitely (if the price is right)!!!

[phat-dave]

a sensational and honest review, i really appreciate you taking the time!

[Globetrotter]

Excellent review. I look forward to the second one

[Sunstar320]

fifa=legend

[Alanslegal]

good review fifa

well enjoy Hollywood and the rest of LA and looking forward to the rest of your trip report.

[Standby]

"One alcoholic drink was served with dinner. You can purchase more"
they have lost me straight away...is this JQ with a free meal??

[mattm199]

Thanks for the TR, hopefully the first of many for VA!

[Fifa]

Thanks for everyone's encouragement!

I forgot to mention that there was no fruit on the breakfast tray - it appears no-one received any.

Off to Santa Monica and the Getty Museum today...

[heleno]

Originally Posted by Fifa

Welcome to my very first AFF trip report on the inaugural V Australia SYD to LAX flight.
Price: $889 plus $15 credit card fee (with no option to pay by BPay).

Great trip report! Hey, Fifa, we were neighbors, on the flight! I was in 21D (the woman with the long dark hair and big digital camera). Were you sitting next to the blond gal?

I posted my TR in the US version of the FF site. Sadly, I can't post a link to it here because I haven't yet made 10 posts to the site and there's a site rule about that, but if you look for it, you'll find it.

I, too, will *absolutely* be flying VA again. It rocked.

[Bundy Bear]

Originally Posted by heleno

Great trip report! Hey, Fifa, we were neighbors, on the flight! I was in 21D (the woman with the long dark hair and big digital camera). Were you sitting next to the blond gal?

I posted my TR in the US version of the FF site. Sadly, I can't post a link to it here because I haven't yet made 10 posts to the site and there's a site rule about that, but if you look for it, you'll find it.

I, too, will *absolutely* be flying VA again. It rocked.

Trip report can be found here. SYD->LAX on V Australia's first flight! Review (long) - FlyerTalk Forums