Our family was flying to Brisbane where we would take a connecting flight on to Singapore to meet up with my parents for a holiday together.  We chose this flight as it was cheaper than the direct flight with Singapore Airlines and also avoided flying through the night which isn’t my favourite.

Airline and Flight #

Virgin Australia| VA 1695

Aircraft

Boeing 737-800

Airport and Terminal

Departure: Canberra Airport | Domestic Terminal

Scheduled Departure Date and Time

Saturday 28th December | 12:20pm.  Departed 3 minutes early.

Scheduled Arrival Date and Time

Saturday 28th December | 1:00pm.  Arrived on time.

Scheduled Flying Time

1hr 30mins

Luggage Allowance

Checked Luggage

For passengers with no Velocity membership or just the basic Velocity membership (Red), one piece of luggage weighing no more than 23kg is allowed free of charge.  Measurements must not exceed a total linear dimension (length + width + height) of 140cm (55 inches).

Carry on

All passengers flying domestic are permitted 7kg of carry-on luggage plus one personal item.  Carry-on luggage can be two pieces (48cm long x 34cm wide x 23cm deep) with total linear dimensions of 105cm.  Or it can be one small bag plus a suit pack or garment bag.  Personal items include those items such as slim laptops, handbags, umbrellas, overcoats etc.

Fun Facts

• Virgin Australia was awarded Best Airline and Best Airline Staff in Australia/Pacific at the 2017 Skytrax World Airline Awards and 13th in the World Top Airline list.
• VA are the only airline to offer WiFi for all Trans-Tasman flights
• The airline is based in Bowen Hills, Brisbane Queensland
• Virgin Australia was known as Virgin Blue and started off as a low-cost carrier
• Registered VH-YFE, this aircraft completed its first revenue service on 12 May 2011 from Brisbane to Sydney.
• VA is not part of either of the three airline alliances but has it’s own frequent flyer program called Velocity.

Website

Virgin Australia’s website can be found at VirginAustralia.com.  I actually didn’t book flights through the website as I found cheaper ones on Skyscanner.  This led me to Bestjet.com.

Check-in 

Check-in for domestic flights can be done in either of the two following ways:

Online

• via desktop, tablet or mobile devices using VA’s online check-in portal
• check-in opens 48 hours prior to scheduled flight departure and closes 45 minutes prior to departure

At the Airport

• by using the self check-in kiosk (located at airports in Brisbane, Sydney, Melbourne, Perth and Gold Coast).  Just enter your 6 letter boarding reference and your flight details will be brought up.  You can select your seats if you haven’t done so already as well as print off your boarding passes and bag tags.
• If you are connecting to an international flight, travelling in a large group or requiring additional assistance then check-in should be completed no less than 60 minutes prior to your scheduled departure time.

Seating

I thought the seats looked quite attractive with their dark grey leather and the alternating light grey, maroon and purple head rests.  However as we were seated in Economy X, our seats were all navy with a red stripe through the middle of the headrest.  There are 176 seats in a 3-3 configuration with 138 Economy seats, 30 Economy X or Premium Economy seats and 8 Business class seats.  We were seated in exit rows 13 and 14 of 30.

Seat pitch in Economy X is 76 cm (30 inches) whilst seat width is 43 cm (17 inches). There is 10 cm (4 inches) of recline. This is the same as Economy however you have a lot more leg room (40 percent more) in Economy X.  The other benefits of flying Economy X is priority boarding (where available) and preferred overhead locker. The seats are fairly narrow whilst the head rests feel like they stick out too far making it feel slightly uncomfortable.  There were no footrests on this plane and no pillows, headphones or blankets although these could be purchased on longer flights.  There were adjustable headrests and armrests.

Cabin Comfort

The extra leg room made this flight quite comfortable as did the fact we had no-one sitting next to us.  Individual fans were also nice to have to direct air flow on yourself if you’re feeling hot, or shut it off if it’s too cold.

 

 

In-flight Entertainment

Electronic Devices

Mobile phones can be used when embarking and disembarking using the aerobridge and whilst on the plane until the last door is closed.  Then mobile devices must be switched to flight mode.

Power

There were no power outlets on board this flight.

Reading Material

Virgin Australia’s magazine can be found in the seat pocket in front and can also be downloaded and viewed from your device.  There is also a copy of the menu, the safety card and some information about the WiFi.

WiFi

Virgin Australia offers complimentary WiFi onboard its domestic flights.  This will allow you to message friends or browse the web.  There is also the option to purchase a high speed package to browse and stream entertainment.  To connect, turn you device on Flight Mode, Connect to Virgin Australia WiFi network and type wifi.virginaustralia.com into the browser and follow the prompts.

Entertainment System

Complimentary in-flight entertainment is provided on board the flight for you to download on your own device prior to the flight.  It allows access to hundreds of hours of movies, TV shows and music.  There are no screens on board the flight.

Catering

Menus

The menus on board Virgin Australia are always attractive looking.  This one contained a range of mostly healthy items to eat and drink in addition to alcoholic beverages and items like blankets and ear buds.  All items in the menu you had to pay for although there was a complimentary snack and drink handed out too.

Food/Drinks

At 12:36, a light snack of either crackers and hommus or a granola bar were handed out.  I went with the crackers and hommus  made by Do – Good – Labs containing no artificial colours or flavours.  It was ok but I expected something a bit more substantial on a lunch time flight.

Restrooms

There are two restrooms located at the rear of the plane and one at the front for Business class passengers.  The restrooms were typically small and apart from hand soap there were no other amenities aside from the usual toilet paper, tissues, paper towel etc.

Service

The service on board this flight was friendly and professional.

Pros

• Free WiFi was available on this flight
• A complimentary snack and non-alcoholic drinks were served
• In-flight entertainment was available to watch on your own device
• We were upgraded to Economy X which gave us lots of legroom
• Both my husband and I and are daughters had a spare seat beside us
• The flight left on time

Cons

• Food options were not very substantial given this was a lunch time flight
• No screens for watching movies or TV
• Small windows on this aircraft

Conclusion

The free upgrade to Economy X definitely made this flight a more comfortable one with plenty of legroom.  We were also lucky enough to have no-one sitting next to us, giving us even more room.  I would have liked to have Entertainment screens and seen a more substantial meal handed out over lunch.  So a comfortable flight but with insufficient food.