DJ841 MEL-SYD 29 DEC 06 - Photo Report
Posted: 30 Dec 2006, 12:41As you enter the Virgin Blue/Rex terminal at Melbourne you are greeted by Virgin Blue ground agents who quickly usher you to the Blue check self service kiosks.
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The machines are user friendly indeed, they follow a touch screen format. You can change your seats and select the number of bags you wish to check before printing your boarding cards.
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Once you have completed your self service blue check you have to make your way through to bag drop. Join the queue.....[n]
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The lines were long, the photo doesn't do them justice. The queuing soon takes away any point of using the self service option. Virgin Blue ground agents werent assessing the queue lengths at both the bag drop and normal check-in and splitting the passengers to both. They were hell bent on ensuring everyone used the Blue check self service which completely takes away the whole point of this time saving tool.... [B)]
They need to be used in moderation as the don't have enough bag drop agents to keep up currently. The machines do need to be used. I don't know why the don't do away with the standard check-in and free those agents up to process bag drop.
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Very minimal queues at conventional check-in.
After check-in you need to make your way down a set of esclators towards the airside area of the terminal. Just down the escalators on the left is the new Virgin Blue lounge. There must have been a spark of genius from someone somewhere, its named The Lounge...[:?]
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I enquired on the entering as a VS Au card holder. As previously posted by Honeylamb, you can only enter the SYD lounge if you have connected off the VS200 from HKG. The MEL and BNE lounges can only be accessed if you are flying to SYD to catch the VS201.
Strange policy as Virgin Blue will let any member of flying club in (Red, Silver, Gold) providing they make either of the aformentioned criteria. Nothing specific for Au card holders.
To access the lounge, they charge $30AUD to all passengers to admittance. Needless to say the money soon changed hands and I was in!!![:I][:D]
Other than paying on the day for entrance, the other option is to buy annual membership which costs $349AUD. No free entrance for the highest ranks of Virgin Blues velocity program even which seems a little strange.
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The lounge is airy, modern, professional and certainly a lot better than I was expecting. The Lounge hasnt been around for long so all furnishings are still like new, it has a pool table and a Sony Wega cinema at the far end with some really comfy sofa's.
Sony Vaios are available and WiFi access is also present. As you walk in, a buffet service is available on the left hand side and also the opportunity to order off food via a menu....[y]
I was shocked by the lack of people inside at a reasonable busy time, only 3 other passengers were present.....[:0] It soon left me questioning where it this facility fits into Virgin Blues business model. The lounge could easily accommodate 100 passengers comfortably but looked spookily empty...
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Virgin Blue offer the opportunity to use a self service machine to check in while inside the lounge itself. You make you way straight to the lounge upon entering the terminal, this service is only available to passengers who have carry on baggage only.
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A quick dash through security took us to into the main area of the terminal which was absolutely jammed with far too many passengers awaiting departure.
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Gate area wasnt much better, they are designed for Fokker sized aircraft at best let alone a 737. Not Virgin Blue's fault but again impacts on their service.
Boarding started with mass chaos. No opportunity to pre-board for any passengers who required a bit of extra time....[n] Best man wins sums it up unfortunately, Aussies are competetive at the best of times and the race was trully on...[:0]
Upon entering the aircraft a little note from SRB greets you
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Seat pitch was very average on this aircraft. I estimated the seat pitch to be 29-30 at best. Any length of time over a couple of hours would be very, very uncomfortable for anyone gangly like myself....[:p]
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Pushback and take-off were very prompt and we were away just after schedule.
In-flight service started very quickly because of the lack of time available. The service can only be described as basic at best. 2 options of sandwich are available, 7-8 options of drink, a couple of chocolate bars and Pringles. 5-6 gift options such as SRB's autobiography, Virgin Blue hats and pens.
Virgin Blue do offer a very good in-flight magazine. The magazine is called Voyeur and contains a number of very good articles. It covers current affairs, travel in general and city guides. The magazine is the best part of 200 pages long and contains minimal adverts for inflight mags. The presentation was very impressive except the big man from Stoke on the cover....[}:)][8D]
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Our route took us just south of Canberra and into Sydney from the South West. We approached Coogee, Bondi and Watsons Bay before making a left turn to land in a northern direction.
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Bondi looked pretty appealing!!
Our approach path to Sydney gave us distant views of the CBD, Harbour bridge and the Opera house.
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Touch-down was very smooth, and we completed a very fast taxi to our nominated gate. Im not aware of what the maximum speed that can be use on an airfield, this particular captain must have on a promise or after a lap record as he was seriously in a rush.... [}:)][:p]
As soon as the aircraft come to a halt the ground crew got stuck into the cargo hold, they were halted by something that I can only think they werent expecting...
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We disembarked the aircraft promptly into what a terminal should be like Calm, full of space and hassle free!!
Our baggage appeared quickly and we made our way off to the centre of Sydney via the airport link train service.
To summarize, Virgin Blue have the right idea for check-in. They have great self-service machines in place, but just need to modify their service according to passenger numbers at peak times.
The Lounge facility is great and a massive relief away from the main terminal which resembles a disaster zone. The gate areas and onboard service need a lot of work though.
I suspect they don't really have a grasp on the type of customer they are looking to attract. The Lounge isnt backed up by any other services that would attract a high number of business passengers. Qantas are going to continue to clean up the market unless onboard service is improved and a second class of travel is considered.
Having spent a great deal of money on their lounges at Sydney, Melbourne and Brisbane Why do this if you are going to remain as a single class, low cost service with potential for a small number of trans-pacific services in the future....[:?] Your average passenger booking a low cost service isn't going to shell out $30 a time to visit a lounge. It would also be interesting to find out how many of the annual $349 passes they have sold, I suspect not many....[:D]
Hope you have enjoyed this, the next leg is coming soon....[:0]