Virgin Australia Syd-Bali (Business Class) Hi, Planning a trip to Bali next month.

Virgin Australia Syd-Bali (Business Class)

Hi, Planning a trip to Bali next month. its my 1st time and im looking at virgin aust for me and my sister... just have a quick question;

1) Has any1 flown this route with virgin and how did they find the business class product? ei; food/meals overall service?

2) Is business class normally fully booked or almost empty?

I prefer a bigger aircraft and i think garuda use a larger aircraft on this route however i would like to give virgin a go. Any info would be great,

cheers!

As much as I'm a VA supporter, frankly I'd take the widebody option with Garuda. There's a review around here somewhere with the new A330 product. The VA bird is domestic J, so no footrest if you want to lean back and get some sleep, no IFE etc (tablets don't count), and possibly a noisy cabin due to various factors. 

Agree with tronixstuff. I tried VA to Bali a while ago and it was one of the worst experiences... even Jetstar is better and that is saying something! I would definitely go with Garuda especially if the fares are comparable.

Virgin Australia's flights to Bali are Boeing 737s. The catch is that the new Business Class product on the domestic network aren't all on Virgin Australia's international short haul product.

If your itinerary says that your flight is operated by Virgin Australia SE Asia or Virgin Samoa then you won't like it so much because the majority of their aircraft still have the old Pacific Blue Premium Economy seats that are basically covered in leather. These aircraft are currently being refurbished or phased out so that might be good news if you choose to travel with Virgin Australia in the future.

If your itinerary says that your flight is operated by Virgin Australia NZ, your flight will most likely have the new Business Class seats, which Australian Business Traveller crowned as the Best Domestic Business Class last year, so can't be that bad as most airlines use aircraft from their domestic fleet on their international short haul network as well.

Apart from the difference in seats and operating carriers, the food is the same on all planes, regardless, on the domestic or international short haul network. Remember, Virgin Australia was awarded Best Airline and Best Staff Service in the Australia Pacific region at the World Airline Awards by Skytrax.

I'm a VA Velocity Gold, but I would definitely go with GA. I got a J class ex Sydney - Bali return ticket last November which was less than VA (or DJ as it was then). Having never flown GA before, my expectations were set low. But it was a true international style business class cabin on their wide-body A330, unlike VA which was a domestic style offering on a B737.

GA seats are fully flat and fabric covered - much better than VA's or even SQ's leather covering which make your back feel all clammy after a while. Seat-back mounted IFE was a good sized screen with an adequate offering of movies (mostly Hollywood blockbusters and local content) and TV shows. Its alright for a few hours but long-haul might be a problem if you do nothing but watch TV onboard.

Catering was excellent and as good as I've had on SQ with a starter and about four mains on offer, finishing off with dessert, tea/coffee and a fruit platter and four cheese types. Service was by course; instead of everything being brought out at once on a tray. Just before landing we were served a warm sandwich with more drinks. There were of course nibbles and drinks available throughout the flight. All in all, a much superior food and service experience than what I've had on VA's international 737 J class. Sadly I don't drink so I can't comment on the wine, but there was a selection of reds and whites.

The cabin crew were a mix of younger and senior personnel and were very friendly and proactive. For a relatively short daytime flight we were still given amenity kits with the usual goodies. I noted that cabin crew cleaned up the lavatory after each use, which was impressive - who wouldn't appreciate that??

Another point of difference is GA's visa on board service which means you get processed onboard and thereby skip the horrendous queues at Ngurah Rai airport - but you have to pay straight after check-in at Sydney.

All in all, I would gladly forgo velocity points and fly with GA to Indonesia again if I had to.

Benjo, when you return from yoru trip in Bali, make sure you post something on this page about your experience with Virgin Australia. We would all like to hear about it!