Review: Virgin Australia inflight WiFi
With WiFi now rolling out across Virgin’s fleet, here’s how it works and why some travellers enjoy it for free.
Needing to stay connected above the clouds? Virgin Australia’s inflight WiFi is now available on the majority of its Boeing 737 domestic and international flights, with more to lift off in the near future.
However, while the airline’s main rival Qantas offers WiFi free to every passenger, Virgin’s inflight Internet is only complimentary for business class passengers, Velocity Platinum frequent flyers and members of the invite-only Beyond program.
For everyone else, it’s offered in two “high-speed” packages:
- a 30 Minute Pass, priced at $9.75, is obviously good for 30 minutes
- a Flight Pass, costing $19.95, lets you stay connected for the flight duration
Payments can be made by Visa, Mastercard and JCB credit and debit cards or American Express. Cash, EFTPOS, Maestro or pre-paid travel cards are not accepted.
How fast is Virgin Australia WiFi?
Executive Traveller tested Virgin Australia WiFi on a recent Virgin Australia flight between Perth and Sydney.
Connecting to Virgin’s inflight Internet was as easy as hooking up to any cafe or airport lounge – you can directly join Virgin Australia’s onboard WiFi at wifi.virginaustralia.com from any laptop, smartphone or tablet, and there’s no need to open the Virgin Australia app.
As a Platinum, business class or Beyond passenger, you simply need to enter your surname and seat number to enjoy WiFi free of charge.
Download speeds clocked in at an impressive 54Mbps download, with an upload rate of 3Mbps.
In practical terms, the connection was stable and well ahead of the 10-15Mbps on Qantas WiFi – sufficient for light streaming, general Web browsing and social media.
However, it’s worth noting that you can connect only one device at a time.
How many Virgin Australia aircraft have WiFi?
At the time of writing, Virgin Australia is in the process of retrofitting WiFi to its Boeing 737-800/MAX fleet, using Intelsat’s 2Ku tech – the same found on Japan Airlines.
A spokesperson for Virgin Australia says “The majority of Virgin Australia aircraft are WiFi enabled and we are in the middle of a WiFi enablement program across our fleet. Our new MAX aircraft on order and being delivered all have Inflight Connectivity.”
The rollout does not include Fokker 100, Airbus A320 or Boeing 737-700 aircraft.
24 Aug 2011
Total posts 1205
It is surprising that the 737-700 fleet is being excluded. Many of these planes are new to the VA fleet and are younger than the VO* and VU* parts of the 737-800 fleet.
I understand why the FIFO dedicated parts of the fleet (A320s and F100s) would not be included for now.
QF
11 Jul 2014
Total posts 997
Be cautious about what content comes up on your device is my advice, I've had some really weird stuff come up that I wasn't searching for while using inflight wi-fi, definitely not kid-friendly.
Virgin Australia - Velocity Rewards
24 Jan 2018
Total posts 755
Absolutely. God forbid, but I'd curl into a fetal position if you accidentally opened up to ABC News (SKY News on the other hand, I'd buy you a drink!!). :-)
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