Virgin to ditch free meals, snacks, drinks in economy?

The airline is betting that travellers are willing to trade a snack and a drink for a cheaper airfare.

By David Flynn, October 22 2020
Virgin to ditch free meals, snacks, drinks in economy?
Executive Traveller exclusive

Vrgin Australia is expected to remove free food and drinks from economy class and potentially adopt a 'buy on board' model when new owners Bain Capital reveals its plans for the rescued and rebooted airline next month

The move is part of a sweeping push to lower Virgin's cost base and reduce ticket prices – framed around the airline's new 'value' proposition – while also ensuring a solid margin for the company.

Sources inside the airline with knowledge of the plans tell Executive Traveller that "more unbundling and add-ons" would follow as Bain works to "reset" Virgin from aping Qantas towards a more flexible mid-market position.

"There's clearly a low-cost carrier element in all of this," they said, "with Bain stripping out previous inclusions and moving them to the add-on column."

"But a lot of this is what we have to do to stand a chance in the market and be successful in 'lowest fare of the day' contests," they said, referring to common company travel policies which direct bookings towards the cheapest fare.

However, they said that business class would be "largely firewalled" from this practise to protect its more premium positioning.

No more noodles

Virgin bore the brunt of public ridicule after the cessation of its long-standing catering contract with Gate Gourmet lead to two-minute cup noodles being served in business class, although the airline is rolling out new snack boxes in the short term and moving to a new catering supplier to provide more premium-appropriate meals "without the celebrity chef overhead."

"Since we entered voluntary administration in April, all contracts and agreements across the Group have been reviewed, renegotiated or repudiated in order to exit administration with a competitive cost base," a Virgin Australia spokesman told Executive Traveller.

The spokesman added that the airline was "re-imagining what our onboard catering offer will be longer-term, and are looking forward to developing a new experience to suit customer needs."

Bring on board vs buy on board

Virgin Australia has previously considered removing complimentary meals and snacks from economy class, and in mid-2017 developed plans to partner with an airport food and beverage outlet such as Sumo Salad to offer packaged 'grab and go' meals purchased from catering carts at the departure gate.

Focus groups held in July 2017 including many of the airline's Velocity Frequent Flyers also floated higher-grade 'buy on board' meals priced at $10-$12 as an alternative to the 'bring on board' boxes.

"The grab-and-go boxes were well received in the focus group," one attendee told Executive Traveller. "As long as they were of a reasonable quality without needing to be over the top, there was in-principle support."

"The idea of picking up pre-ordered boxes at the gate was interesting however, concerns surrounding gate crowding was an issue, hence why we preferred the lounge option."

"One thing was that everyone was pragmatic about what could be done. We were all businesspeople and understood the commercial demands. We recognised that this is economy and that the offering should be comparable to other airlines doing a good job at the moment; Delta's name was mentioned a lot."

"Also a lot of the time in peak flying hours we would have eaten at work or in the lounge, however the grab and go gave extra flexibility."

 

David

David Flynn is the Editor-in-Chief of Executive Traveller and a bit of a travel tragic with a weakness for good coffee, shopping and lychee martinis.

20 Oct 2015

Total posts 241

For all the complaining that some people will do about Bain turning Virgin Australia 2.0 into Virgin Blue 2.0, going down the LCC path etc, this is an example of something that makes plenty of sense. You don't need a meal or even a snack on a 90 minute SYD-MEL or SYD-BNE flight, there's always the lounge and there's no shortage of options at the airport either. As long as the airfares do actually come down to reflect the 'service reduction' then I'm good with that. While we're at it Bain should bring back Virgin's old basic economy fare without any checked luggage. Just give me the seat as cheap as it can be, no meal or bag, as a frequent flyer I'm okay with that.

Qantas - Qantas Frequent Flyer

25 Sep 2013

Total posts 1244

That's a big "as long as". Time will tell if airfares actually come down by an appreciable amount.

gold4life

re checked baggage

flying to USA on Qantas & allowed 2 x 23kgs in economy, we would pack 2 suitcases full of stuff, we'd never ever need, but we did pack it, as we had paid for it (or "free"). Then flew another airline where only 23kgs total permitted. We managed fine.

Then we decided to take skis, boots & poles. The limit was 23kgs total & we just managed to scrap in at 23kgs each (don't know the average weight of skis, boots & poles, but it must be in the range of say 12kgs(kids) to 17kgs(adults) or more.

Point I'm trying to make is, many of us pack up to our limit. Out come the bathroom scales.

We have at time, had to unpack stuff, to wear onto the aircraft to avoid paying excess baggage fees.

If we all learn to pack less, then airlines can carry more freight.

In another life, was travelling subload(standby) on very cheap industry tickets & was told by airline check in staff, we would get on, then, they told up the captain had decided to take more freight instead. Shit happens.

Airlines CAN offset fares with freight revenue.

One World

31 Mar 2020

Total posts 18

Because i fly to 3rd world countries, i take the bare minimum for me

and pack the rest with donated children's clothing that i donate to

orphanages, flying to Tahiti, i take fishing tackle that i trade for

fresh fish, its not always about me. I never give money to any

charity, i'll buy rice and give it to the monks in South East Asia.

then i know exactly where the charity has gone to.

18 Sep 2015

Total posts 129

What lounge?

QFP

22 Jan 2013

Total posts 96

Isn’t that called Jetstar?

Qantas - Qantas Frequent Flyer

12 Jun 2011

Total posts 148

Lets be honest. the fact they considered a Lindt ball or bite sized protein ball 'food included' was laughable. Cookies for a dinnertime flight at Christmas? The buy on board never really went away.

Virgin Australia - Velocity Rewards

06 Mar 2015

Total posts 233

At last It's really good to see some sort of positive response from Bain and VA management and that the snack boxes are an interim measure until new caterers are appointed.

This is all we have been asking for , some sort of assurance as to what we should get in J Class and before anyone mentions " what about poor old Y Class ' this forum is mainly for Executive Travellers " which I would assume to be largely J Class.

I do have a bit more confidence that things whilst not as " celebrity Chef style " ( which I did not like anyway ) will still be quite adequate in J Class.  Time will tell.

Does anyone know what date the takeover will actually occur in November?

Qantas

19 Apr 2012

Total posts 1424

Rod you would be surprised at how many suits are in economy.

Qantas - Qantas Frequent Flyer

31 Mar 2016

Total posts 24

My organisation (with more than 5000 staff) has execs on $500K+ who, like me, can only book in Y for domestic...

29 Jan 2015

Total posts 41

Yrs but generally with the ability for the suit's business to sponsor them a snack if they had no time to eat.

If this means a new model of really cheap fares in the Y part of the aircraft combined with those in Business on the same getting decent food and drinks then I think this will be a very.successful model.

Virgin Australia - Velocity Rewards

06 Aug 2017

Total posts 83

Some years ago I had a conversation about travel with the CEO of a huge publicly-listed Australian company employing many thousands of workers. He told me that travelling business class for domestic flights was a self-indulgent waste of money and that he, and all his employees, always flew in economy.

24 Aug 2011

Total posts 1205

Providing it is reflected in the fare, I have no issue with a change such as this.  In a previous life, I would fly to Sydney with Virgin Blue every week and never fussed too much about having to pay for snacks.  

I used to grab a coffee and toasted sandwich from Hudsons before the early flight up and buy a cup of tea on the plane and at the end of the day I'd buy a beer and cheese'n'crackers for about $9 on the flight home.  The in-flight snacks offered by both VA and QF have never been particularly amazing and, in recent years, have sometimes been downright weird.

09 Apr 2020

Total posts 11

This whole food on board short domestic flights is a very Australian thing, given basic fares with all leading us carriers and European carriers come with basically zip - are they all LCC's now?

24 Oct 2010

Total posts 2558

I've done a few quick low-cost economy hops from London into Europe and back, even just day trips, and I've never once wanted a meal on board. The morning flight from say London to Paris or Nice, I'll have had breakfast at the lounge or if there's no lounge or I'm running a bit short on time, I've grabbed a go-to baguette and drink from Pret. On the return flight I've already had dinner in whatever city I'm at, and if timezones meant this was a tad earlier dinner than usual and I'm feeling peckish before the flight, again, lounge or Pret. 

29 Jan 2015

Total posts 41

Yup. Pret.  I think I've seen you there :-)

Look at British Airways.  The LCC's own Europe short haul pretty much.  BA has had to look and charge more and more like an LCC in Y.  

BA hasnt quite mastered it yet but nearly there on any route where there's LCC competition especially.

In J and F BA still does have a premium offering but that's now pretty much longhaul only.  And that offering is carefully middle pitched - they are not going head to head against Asia/Middle East carriers.

FWIW it sounds like Virgin Australia is picking the battles they can win.

Singapore Airlines - KrisFlyer

28 Jun 2019

Total posts 78

I agree that it's not really necessary and we can live with it, of course. However, as a European transplant to Australia, I do appreciate the gesture. Having previously been based in Amsterdam, I always looked forward to the free beer or wine and simple cheese sandwich or panini on KLM flights (of at least 2 hours). Simple, but still a full sandwich and filling enough. Given there's no real distinction between KLM's short-haul fleet and any other European airline, it was noticed and a nice way to kill part of the flight.

As I said, we can live without it of course, but I do worry that without real competition to Qantas, Qantas will be able to cut its own costs and the race to the bottom shall commence, just as in Europe. 

Virgin Australia - Velocity Rewards

06 Mar 2015

Total posts 233

I agree with the sentiments that short sectors of less than 2hrs. do not warrant anything substantial maybe a small snack or just drinks.

It's the 2hr+ and trans continental that need a fairly good and substantial meal service and maybe VA will do just this.

Let's hope it gets sorted out satisfactorily for all classes of travel.

Qantas

19 Apr 2012

Total posts 1424

Rod in the US they AA don’t offer anything substantial to buy until it gets to three hours which misses most of the country.

Singapore Airlines - KrisFlyer

28 Jun 2019

Total posts 78

And it's only been in the last few years that meals on some of its flights to Hawaii were re-introduced and even then, only from the East Coast. Just a few years ago I found myself on a 9-hour flight from Honolulu to Minneapolis without so much as a packet of pretzels and, worse, not even buy-on-board to go around to purchase something even if you were willing to pay.

QF

11 Jul 2014

Total posts 962

I’ve done business class in VA and QF and the hostesses have been shocked when I don’t want a meal (I’m fat enough without eating extra), only when I’ve missed a meal I take up the offer.

Qantas - Qantas Frequent Flyer

06 Nov 2014

Total posts 360

I personally have no problem of VA going LCC again. But Velocity's award chart has to change. Currently it is about 10% cheaper than QF's but higher than JQ flights. The award chart has to reflect the service of provides if velocity wants to remain successful. 

Virgin Australia - Velocity Rewards

06 Aug 2017

Total posts 83

Or, Velocity reward tickets need to be "full-service" or close to it. For example, an award seat on a Jetstar flight includes a 20kg baggage allowance, and award seats on Air NZ are in "The Works" category which includes a baggage allowance and a hot meal. If Virgin de-bundles its services, then either the award charts need to change or the award tickets need to include extras.

Qantas - Qantas Frequent Flyer

09 Feb 2015

Total posts 377

I don't think VA frequent flyers will have an issue with this. As long as Bain do not gouge the passengers in economy for the food and beverage offering and keep prices reasonable, most will be happy with this outcome.    

16 Oct 2012

Total posts 43

While there are arguments for getting rid of the so-called “meals” in economy class (especially on short flights) I don’t think chasing ‘the lowest figure of the day‘ is imaginative business thinking.

Marketing 101 says you need a point of difference. If you say “I’m cheap”, then sure as eggs your low cost competitor will say “I’m cheaper”. And make no mistake, Jetstar will inevitably do that. The Qantas group have a form when it comes to tolerating losses to kill off the competition.

Rather, you need to give the customer a reason for paying a premium, even a small one. Virgin need to offer the customer something they can’t get on either Qantas or Jetstar.

Granted, that may not be a meal in economy class and it’ll require some imaginative thinking, but the unique selling point will need to be more sustainable than the “I’m cheap” business model. 

Qantas - Qantas Frequent Flyer

12 Jun 2011

Total posts 148

Agree, something in the style of a JetBlue would be ideal. Its good value and a well run business. They don't have the cost to compete with Jetstar nor the contracts and money to compete with Qantas. the middle man is able to draw from someone who wants more than the bare bones but doesn't want to pay the top prices.

am sure many of the products "given away" on flights are provided free by manufacturers because they are new in the market, a sample, or on some sort of contra deal.

Say you have a new beer in the market. Wouldn't you ask an airline if they wanted some free to give to their passengers & then maybe at a hugely reduced price & eventually at a higher price.

Good way for people to try a new beer.

Qantas - Qantas Frequent Flyer

12 Jun 2011

Total posts 148

You probs shouldn't be basing your business on the fact suppliers are going to be giving it to you for free... Just a thought.

KW72 Banned
KW72 Banned

17 Jun 2020

Total posts 238

This approach makes sense, and if done well could even make people choose VA.

There is nothing premium about a lukewarm pie or dehydrated chickpeas. 

If I could buy a decent snack box when I feel like it, and the airfare is lower then this is a win. 

Just hope they don’t charge for wifi when QF and NZ have it onboard for free.

14 Oct 2016

Total posts 105

I do feel they should still offer drinks, like other overseas airlines. A few large bottles of soft drink, juice and water and the paper cups won't cost that much and will at least give a bit of a point of difference to Jetstar. 

Going full 'Buy on Board'  will be a step backwards to the customers and could very well backfire with Qantas and the new Rex gaining market share if the customers don't see the value.

30 Aug 2019

Total posts 25

VA should look at the Air NZ model of Seat / Seat + Bag / Works / Works Deluxe model for economy travelers. Probably the best way to appeal to the masses and lets the passenger decide what they want/need.

A meal isn't really required on the triangle, so that's not a major issue. They should atleast keep the complimentary tea/coffee/juice/water for all passengers though.

catch with free tea, coffee, juice water, is if 150 people in economy & 1/2 pay $5 for drink that almost costs nothing, then that $375 per sector. Mulitply this by every sector every day by 365 days & you're talking large sums. If an airline only did 100 sectors a day, that's over $13.5m per year, with very limited costs. You don't have to pay the flight attendants anymore, in fact some airlines, give flight attendants a bonus for selling heaps. (would you like fries with that).

Surely, a per person spend could be increased from $5 to $15 without much hard selling. Ok food items might cost a little bit, but margins are still huge, with no extra labour costs on board.

How many sectors a day were the old virgin doing ? No idea. Was it 100, 200, 300, 400 or 500 ?

Air NZ's model is excellent, and Bain could do a lot worse than to follow that. It's a very simple structure, and the 'tiers' are easy to understand and easy to sell.

Count me in for this, if I had to fly Virgin I would rather pay less for the seat and have the choice to buy a decent meal either at the airport or on board, or to not. Something else that is worth pointing out is that the cost of the 'free' meal is a lot more than the meal, the meal itself is pretty inexpensive but there are extra costs from the handling involved, in getting it from the caterer or their truck onto the plane, plus wastage. Sure, not everybody will buy from the trolley either but a lot of that food can be sold onto the return leg of the flight or other flights.

QF

11 Jul 2014

Total posts 962

Stuff the meals in economy I just want to see Platinum 1 and  Life Time Gold, and those Platinum 1 having access to The Club.

24 Aug 2011

Total posts 1205

The Club, providing it even continues to exist, is not designed for frequent flyers.  It is for senior influencers be they executives who decide on travel spend or politicians who influence government policy.  Some Club and Chairman Lounge members don't even travel particularly often  but they value their privacy and the exclusivity of the lounge and won't want an invasion of plebs regardless of how often they may fly.

QF

11 Jul 2014

Total posts 962

You must be thinking of the Chairman Lounge, I know heaps of Club members that aren't influencers and fly often.

XWu
XWu

09 May 2020

Total posts 564

Not going to worry about any further speculation until Bain announce in print what their plans for VA is

Mind you I think due to some local expectation to reduce economy class syndrome (blood clots) I think they are sort of expected to offer at least plain water during each flight although it is not an actual regulatory requirement (rather a risk mitigation from being sued). Hence even Jetstar and Virgin blue do/did offer cups of water.

XWu
XWu

09 May 2020

Total posts 564

Regarding the reference in the article about Gate Gourmet as supplier of meals, since the crisis there had been retail discount sale of the frozen meals (presumably ex-economy class) at $2. to 3.50 per meal (as recently as September). So assuming Gate Gourmet were trying to get rid of products at cost price, but also accounting for bulk discount purchases by airlines, this should more or less be the price of supplying meals to economy class. 

09 Mar 2015

Total posts 33

If Virgin goes down this path then I think it should also offer a complimentary selection for Velocity Platinum members. Maybe this could be done through some sort of vouchers stored on the Virgin app, Golds get two or three per year and Platinums get five or six per year, so when you use them on a flight the attendant scans them and they get marked as 'used'. Maybe that won't work but I think this is one way Virgin could recognise and reward its frequent flyers in a very practical way.

Qantas

19 Apr 2012

Total posts 1424

Anna AA does/did something similar. If I ordered a wrap or some such on the longer flight they knew from my booking what to charge me and being the equivalent of platinum plus these were free. I am sure the vouchers could be stored in the system so they knew when you had ran out.

prtick

that's relying on tech in the air, which will often fail & can't be easily fixed in the air.

A hard print out of your ticket might work ?

25 Feb 2013

Total posts 62

This would be a nice differentiation. But TBH a better way to do this might be to have grab and go in the lounge. I really enjoyed the coffee and pastry grab and go, and it would save the headaches of tracking down random WPs in the air. Decent but not substantial packs would be good for when you want them (and wouldn't be wasted if you don't)

Although given the Velocity membership cards have debit technology, vouchers could easily be stored on there.

Virgin Australia - Velocity Rewards

01 Mar 2012

Total posts 177

Virgin  are modelling all eventualities internally. It would make sense to land on a simpler Economy offering to offer cheaper fares and a more sustainable business. In surveys I’ve said that I’d prefer them to offer nothing and if they do and I’m hungry, offer good food packs. Easy. 

11 Jul 2020

Total posts 75

When I travel domestically it's usually for 3 nights minimum stay away from home, so I appreciate having 23kg of checked luggage included in the fare price. I'm quite happy with just a cup of water or a cup of coffee.

Traveling Internationally, I take advantage of the 2 bags x 23kg, usually hauling quite a few packets of Tim Tams and Mint slices over to the USA for my friends and returning with purchases I made on Amazon.com that still work out cheaper than here back home, even with the difference in the dollar.

I guess we will just have to wait and see what Bain does, some people will be fine with their decision others won't I guess and this will make people decide if going with a different carrier is financially a better option that meets their needs at a particular price point.

ozpeke777

fair enough, but for many 23kgs is way too much, if for example going to gold or sunshine coast or FNQ for a holiday.

Not many get very dressed up in those situations.

Jetstar from memory, offers all different checked bag weighs, at different prices.

Many people are learning that, if they travel lighter it can be cheaper.

For families a few dollars saved, can influence their decision to fly or not.

Spoke to someone at yield management at Tiger re sale fares once & they said, you'd be amazed how much difference $1 in fares makes to number of bookings recd.

know that having worked in retail, $99 is a much much lower than $100, much more than $1 (of course it's all in the mind)

26 Jul 2015

Total posts 75

Wow, no muffin or funny fruit bar thing, yep, disappointment here.

Etihad - Etihad Guest

19 Mar 2018

Total posts 68

Ok, I am  now genuinely confused. 

And I think this largely reflects the confusion over the brand positioning and reality.... You mean... Virgin Australia served free meals, snacks and drinks in Economy now? 

I genuinely believe Virgin Australia loyalty members are delusional. Whatever has posssessed them to believe that they have anything to begin withn? It's laughable how they've hung on to an elite status that's worth so little actual flying? 

Like, 4 flights is Velocity Gold? 8 flights gets you Platinum with Velocity? It's laughable. That makes Velocity the Happy Meal, kids version of the real thing. Everyone here in Asia knows that Gold status is $15,000 spend and at least 14 return flights.

This isn't about accepting Virgin Australia willl be less. That's missing the point. The point is to understand what you really have now, is nothing, and now is unsustainable. That's the sacrifice of non-alignment and non-choice. Choosing to stay non-aligned, or choosing to not choose, created a situation where varying expectations ultimately ruined Virgin Australia.  SkyTeam and Star Alliance members expecting benefit of status recognition in Australia do not receive it while oneworld customers think they possess something elitist and places them in a position where they are the noble, understanding, civilized passengers... except that they too, are equally delusional and believe their entitlements are theirs to claim.

XWu
XWu

09 May 2020

Total posts 564

Don’t think you can even get halfway to KrisFlyer Elite gold with just 15k spent......

XWu
XWu

09 May 2020

Total posts 564

And you are right that QFF are delusional if they think the current entitlement will stay the same

11 Jul 2020

Total posts 75

@Regular flyer 

Just because 23kg is allowed as checked luggage does not mean you have to cart 23kg with you or travel with checked luggage at all if you dont want to. A lot of people going to the Queensland states just have carry on and that's enough for them. Perhaps Bain might allow you to up your carry on weight allowance from 7kg to 10kg or more for those who travel light and don't like waiting at the baggage carousel for their checked luggage. Perhaps Bain will have a cost scale seat only with no checked luggage, seat + bag for more bucks etc just like Air NZ have. We all will just have to wait for an official announcement from Bain. Before that happens we are all just speculating.

but many do carry right up to their limit, cos they can.

If eg. qantas reduced international economy checked bags to 23kgs from 46kgs, doubt would be many complaints, but huge amount of extra freight could be carried.

I'll have to see how this pans out. I agree a snack in flight isn't essential from a nutrition point of view but it does break up the tedium of the journey. As a SQ frequent flyer I don't get much benefit from using VA (VA flights don't count towards status on SQ) - only fly them for lounge access and priority boarding, perhaps now is a good time to make the change to Qantas. As noted above, most legacy European carriers have dropped the free in-flight catering (thus making EasyJet much more competitive).

11 Jul 2020

Total posts 75

@regular flyer.   I guess it depends on the individual flyer what works for me doesn't necessarily work for you or others and the other way around. I think Qantas will keep their luggage allowances or might change their international  allowances in the future to 1 x 23kg piece. If price is the real deciding factor people will airline shop for the lowest price and deal that suits their needs.

I have found with Jetstar for example on domestic flights by the time I add on my seat selection and luggage allowance there was not much difference with Virgin's price and chose to fly Virgin instead knowing if the flight was delayed or cancelled, Virgin would do their best to get me to my destination. With Jetstar if they cancel your flight you are virtually on you own with trying to reach your destination.

Virgin Australia - Velocity Rewards

24 Jan 2018

Total posts 697

Carry-on food won't work, here's why. All too often, other pax enter the cabin, fully loaded with both arm's full, barely able to haul themselves down the aisle. Sadly, luggage limitations at the gate aren't  enforced. (THAT MUST CHANGE).  Carry-on food packages will get dropped on the floor and spill, slowing up things while its cleaned.  And then there's the need to clean the plane before landing and more cleaning between flights. No food will keep the aisle clearer during flight with fewer interruptions by cabin crew.

Geesus, its only 90 minutes, get organised and eat something before boarding. 

ONLY water, tea and coffee should be served. On 'evening' flights (i.e. any after 3:59pm) that should include alcohol (in moderation). A smart Bain (don't laugh, they may get there) could on evening flight use time saved from food service to have cabin crew offer a mixed drink bar service from a decent drinks cart, with ladies only offered a glass of decent bubbles (toughen up guys). Scotch by Chivas, Bourbon by Jack Daniels,  Gin, Tequila, etc. 

RSA means limited drinks, but of a higher quality than QF Economy. Now that would be a relaxing flight. Glad to help, Bain, you're welcome. Chop-chop.

24 Oct 2020

Total posts 1

Having worked there as crew back in the Virgin Blue days, and having worked at QF - their biggest problem has always been the fact they have their own ‘legacy’ in the form of the people originally recruited in 2000 and the couple of years following - when it launched. Many of them are now quite senior. They still have a low cost mentality - they are the Branson-fans, loyal to a huge fault. 

This will end in tears sadly - as there are many good crew there. But with 9 of the board resigning, Paul gone, Jane in, and a bunch of millennials (of which I am one) thinking they have more pull than they do with the unions giving false promises - they’ll be a boutique low cost at best in 12 months. 

If you want proof, check out their facebook advertisement from a day or two ago about their 20th anniversary sale. It was largely populated by complaints about credits being unusable, and in one case was responded to by VA social media with a sarcastic meme “apology not accepted” (which is still up at the time of posting this), and speaks volumes about the maturity of those in important roles. It’s really sad to watch. 

Emirates Airlines - Skywards

19 Jul 2014

Total posts 29

BA's J class offering LHR/FCO early morning Cold croissant pat of butter and marmalade, Luke warm coffee with a stretch out 31inch pitch. I heard from an associate that asking for a cup of hot water will cost you. Let’s hope Pain/Bain have some thoughts on such a low offering in J.

on virgins flights to NZ which are now going ahead, most are 3 & a bit hours.

Would like some options onboard to purchase, as long as not $15 a beer & $20 for a sandwich.

Seeing have to pay slightly more than $10 a cup of beer(300 ml ?)  at Suncorp, I'd probably want to pay no more than that.


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