My son just did a flight from BNE-LAX with VA in Business Class. He has been a very loyal VA flyer for years now but was very disappointed with this flight. Said food was " crappy " and service poor. Had bed made up and tried to sleep but cabin was quite hot , eventually getting some sleep.After he woke up cabin crew did not remove his bedding so he did it himself and had to place it on the floor and some was sticking out into the aisle. He said the crew simply stepped over it and did not remove it. He had to take it to the galley himself.
Overall impression was very poor throughout the flight. He is returning soon so let's hope the return flight is better. In his words " VA International has lost it " No doubt VA will hear from him on his return particularly if the flight home is as bad . Sad to hear as I always fly VA.
I'm a VA plat and have done SYD - LAX return once in business and was the after completion of the final B777 refit with "the business". (So it had been running for some time.)
On both sectors they crew did not do anything in regards to bedding, I simply lied on top of the seat without any bedding.
I actually think the a330 experience is far better than the b777. (Though I've flown business on the a330 heaps)
Though subject to a decent fare coming up for business class next year I'll give them another shot then.
Since your post I have read several reviews of VA B777 Business Class and in ALL of them a turn down service was offered . In fact on April 12 2017 a report in Aust Business Traveller confirms this so I don't know why you did not get this service!!
I don’t think one flight experience = “VA international has lost it”. I have flown with them on this route, and they have been excellent (BNE-LAX) and worth every $$$ spent on them. “The business” is awesome, so are their cabin crew. I recently flew SYD-DFW-SYD, the crew were exemplary with QF too. I have heard bad reviews on both airlines, but to be honest, i think this could be an one-off or just bad luck or the recipient’s expectations.
I don’t think one flight experience = “VA international has lost it”. I have flown with them on this route, and they have been excellent (BNE-LAX) and worth every $$$ spent on them. “The business” is awesome, so are their cabin crew. I recently flew SYD-DFW-SYD, the crew were exemplary with QF too. I have heard bad reviews on both airlines, but to be honest, i think this could be an one-off or just bad luck or the recipient’s expectations.
completely agree with you. Having flown VA ‘The Business’ to LAX a number of times, I have always been offered the turn down service. Even when getting up to go to the bathroom, I come back to find my bed has been refreshed and straightened up.
Not sure why you would expect them to clear the bedding for you midway through the flight. I’m sure had your son asked, they certainly would have done so, but expecting them to preempt this seems odd.
Disappointing to hear about the service though. I think, without a doubt, VA has the best service of any airline across the Pacific. QF is hit and miss and the the US airlines are what you would expect from US airlines, however VA is consistently above average in my experience.
My son has done many VA International flights and yes , this was the first bad one. One should not have to ask Cabin Crew to remove bedding that's on the floor and partly sticking out in the aisle , surely commonsense would show Cabin Crew it needed removing and perhaps they should have asked and it was in the latter stage of flight as well. His comment was valid in that after all the good flights to get one that was particularly bad , not just ordinary but quite bad , .was very disappointing and concerning for future travel.
He did just tell me that the flight back was very good so it does seem like it was a once of but the one over was so bad that it was very memorable for all of the wrong reasons. It just seemed that there were quite a few things wrong all on the one flight , bit unusual ! Anyway he and I will stick with VA that's for sure.
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Not a good start
Rod H
Rod H
Virgin Australia - Velocity Rewards
Member since 06 Mar 2015
Total posts 271
My son just did a flight from BNE-LAX with VA in Business Class. He has been a very loyal VA flyer for years now but was very disappointed with this flight. Said food was " crappy " and service poor. Had bed made up and tried to sleep but cabin was quite hot , eventually getting some sleep.After he woke up cabin crew did not remove his bedding so he did it himself and had to place it on the floor and some was sticking out into the aisle. He said the crew simply stepped over it and did not remove it. He had to take it to the galley himself.
bagpuss
bagpuss
Member since 18 Jan 2017
Total posts 28
I'm a VA plat and have done SYD - LAX return once in business and was the after completion of the final B777 refit with "the business". (So it had been running for some time.)
Rod H
Rod H
Virgin Australia - Velocity Rewards
Member since 06 Mar 2015
Total posts 271
bagpuss
mspcooper
mspcooper
Qantas - Qantas Frequent Flyer
Member since 09 May 2013
Total posts 442
I don’t think one flight experience = “VA international has lost it”. I have flown with them on this route, and they have been excellent (BNE-LAX) and worth every $$$ spent on them. “The business” is awesome, so are their cabin crew. I recently flew SYD-DFW-SYD, the crew were exemplary with QF too. I have heard bad reviews on both airlines, but to be honest, i think this could be an one-off or just bad luck or the recipient’s expectations.
rj
rj
Member since 11 Nov 2013
Total posts 26
completely agree with you. Having flown VA ‘The Business’ to LAX a number of times, I have always been offered the turn down service. Even when getting up to go to the bathroom, I come back to find my bed has been refreshed and straightened up.
Rod H
Rod H
Virgin Australia - Velocity Rewards
Member since 06 Mar 2015
Total posts 271
My son has done many VA International flights and yes , this was the first bad one. One should not have to ask Cabin Crew to remove bedding that's on the floor and partly sticking out in the aisle , surely commonsense would show Cabin Crew it needed removing and perhaps they should have asked and it was in the latter stage of flight as well. His comment was valid in that after all the good flights to get one that was particularly bad , not just ordinary but quite bad , .was very disappointing and concerning for future travel.