DJ527 SYD-OOL Economy 24th May 2009

This was my first ever Virgin Blue flight, as I have previously used Qantas within Australia. The only options between Sydney and the Gold Coast were either Virgin Blue or Jetstar, so we opted for Virgin Blue. The ticket was cheap, although there were lots of add ons - luggage, credit card and then 'blue zone' seats (extra 7 inches of leg room) or premium economy (free drinks/snacks, front seats with extra room, free lounge etc). We opted for standard seats as it was only an hour or so flight.

Checked in on line - had been allocated 6E/6F - unable to see seat map for rows 5-8 in economy, but looked fairly full elsewhere on the plane so left the seats. Didn't print the boarding cards as thought we could pick those up at the airport. Made our way out to Sydney airport on the train service and then a few escalators up to check-in. Unable to use the self-service check-in kiosks to print boarding cards, so headed off to bag drop. At desk got our boarding cards (which look like a Sainsbury's till receipt!) and the nice lady said that she would block 6D for us (which she did - surprising as the flight turned out to be full!!).

As this was my birthday, we thought that we would splash out and pay for the Virgin Blue 'The Lounge'. This is AUD30 if you join Velocity and pay in advance, AUD35 on the day OR it is the Priority Pass lounge for those of you who are members. The lounge is very spacious and lots of glass so very light. There was a selection of 2 red/2 white wines and a sparkling one for self-service, beers in a fridge that were served to you, soft drinks on tap and coffee/tea made to order. Food options included 2 soups, and then a cold buffet of meats, cheese and salad items with plenty of bread. We spent nearly 2 hours in there and it was well worth the AUD35 each that we paid (although after we had got in, we realised we could have got it a lot cheaper by using Priority Pass). There is also free internet and showers available. If you are Gold Flying Club or travelling in Upper Class and have arrived that morning, then entry is free!! Managed to just get a sight of VS201 departing for Hong Kong from our lounge.

All too soon it was time to head off to the gate and board our flight to the Gold Coast. Boarding was fairly well conducted - free headphones to pick up en route. They run the live TV on the ground and then in the air for the first 10 minutes (after which it was AUD4.99 for the remainder of the flight until you reach the gate). The inflight magazine was ok to flick through and it was cool having live TV to watch (although the satellite link is lost when the plane banks). It is a pay for service in economy - not that expensive although the spirit drinks come in pre-mixed cans. Settled for a diet coke, which was enough for this flight. Premium economy is the first three rows which are red and have a table in the middle seat. There is no dividing curtain between them and economy, and they only got one free round of drinks/snacks (suppose it was a short flight though). Leg room in economy was pretty good considering I am over 6 foot tall!

All too soon we were arriving at Coolangata Airport - very small compared to Sydney! It is currently being re-built, so will probably be very nice in the next year or so. Short walk to the terminal (no airbridges here) and then off to Virgin Blue baggage reclaim.

All in all a very good flight indeed. My comments / recommendations would be:

1. Premium economy isn't worth the extra AUD300-350 for a short flight such as this
2. Make sure you use the Virgin Blue Lounge - worth getting a Priority Pass membership for!!
3. That I would use them over Qantas in the future!!

Interesting TR, we have a few internal flights to be arranged when we next visit so very useful info.

We used the lounge when arriving on the VS200 and making our way with DJ to Cairns.We'd travelled UC and the concierge did check our VS boarding card stubs(luckily I'd kept them)and did ring someone before granting entry. It was a welcome respite and great to have a shower. It's no CH but adequate enough.
DJ as an airline are excellent.
DL

I have flown this route on JetStar twice, against my better judgement, but I wasn't in charge then. It certainly sounds like DJ are a better option.

Cheers, Howard

And I got 105 flying club miles for the flight (no tier points though) - was X class ticket, so 25% of distance flown. Won't get me very far, but better than nothing I suppose!