The itinerary which was the least expensive for me for a one-way trip to Hobart in Tasmania was to fly as my first time as a passenger with Virgin Australia Airlines aboard two airplanes for the outbound flight from Cairns via Brisbane. I had never used Virgin Australia Airlines before; so I was not sure as to what to expect.
My First Time As a Passenger With Virgin Australia Airlines — and The Verdict Is…
As important as the flight experience itself is the process of booking a ticket with Virgin Australia Airlines — and the process starts easily enough, with selecting the origination airport and destination airport. More information will be imparted on the actual flight in a moment.
First, let me demonstrate the process of booking a ticket with Virgin Australia Airlines with a phantom flight. As with my first experience with Jetstar Airways, I randomly chose Wednesday, May 22, 2024 for my flight, as I was going through the process for this article and not actually booking a flight. My flight was one way; so I chose that option instead of return.
For this itinerary, I chose one adult with no children or infants for the flights from Cairns to Hobart.
A scrollable airfare bar allows you to choose the lowest airfare or the most convenient flight options. The least expensive airfare one way was $286.10 in Australian dollars; but I chose the first option for this example, which I actually paid $292.67 in Australian dollars instead of $289.00 for starting out at 6:00 in the morning from Cairns.
In the purple bar at the bottom was the following text in white type:
Calendar pricing may not always display the lowest price available. Please select the date to see all available fares. Flight prices in AUD, per flight, per adult. A payment surcharge applies for debit card (0.53% – 0.61%), credit card (0.98% – 1.75%), Apple Pay (0.53% – 0.98%), PayPal (0.98%) and Zip (1.27%) transactions. Flight times cannot be guaranteed and don’t form part of your contract with us. Prices are provided via third-party platforms and may change for reasons including real-time fare updates and occasional technical difficulties.
For this example, only one last seat was available in business class for $900.24 in Australian dollars.
At this point in the booking process, the time to sell is now: first, which bundle would you like to purchase? Four choices of airfare bundles were offered — each with their own features and benefits: Select Lite, Select Choice, Select Flex, and Select Business. Select Lite is the equivalent to Basic Economy; and that was the one I chose, as I did not want or need most of the options which were offered with the more expensive fares.
Unlike Jetstar Airways, the fares are conveniently listed at the top of each option instead of being forced to scroll to the bottom…
…and unlike Delta Air Lines, passengers can earn points towards their membership accounts on even the least expensive airfares.
At this part of the process, one is reminded that he or she is “travelling lite” with a Select Lite fare as “Your fare will get you there, but it’s a little Lite on extras and benefits.” I was fine with no seat selection in advance; I almost never check baggage; and I do not have elite status in the Velocity membership program. This is technically an upsell tactic; but it is not nearly as obnoxious as some other airlines — especially some ultra-low-cost airlines.
VA 770 and VA 702 — both of which are operated by Virgin Australia Airlines — were the actual flights on my itinerary.
Before continuing on with the process, Virgin Australia Airlines requests the contact information from the person who is booking the ticket — but notice that one optional item of information being requested is “Loyalty program”.
I clicked on the “Loyalty program” option and was surprised to see the list of membership programs of ten other airlines in addition to Virgin Australia Airlines. I chose United Airlines. I wound up earning a total of 494 MileagePlus miles as a result of this trip. That may not be all that much; but it is better than nothing — and more than I expected to earn on this itinerary. Moreover, United Airlines MileagePlus miles do not expire; so earning 494 MileagePlus miles was a nice bonus.
Next to sell by Virgin Australia Airlines is the selection of a seat. In all fairness, the convenient option to “Skip seat selection” was available; but I purposely chose to continue for this sample itinerary even though I did not actually select a seat in advance. For this one segment, selecting a seat can cost between $12.00 and $61.00 — in Australian dollars, of course. Know that the price of selecting a seat depends on the flight and where the seat is located aboard the airplane. You are not required to select a seat — unless you want a guarantee that you will sit next to a traveling partner or you want a specific seat. Otherwise, you can continue and skip this step.
Choosing seats with the Select Lite fare costs extra. As I wrote, I did not choose a seat; so I skipped this step. After checking in for my flight, I was assigned seat 7F for the flight from Cairns to Brisbane; and 12F for the flight from Brisbane to Hobart — both of which were window seats. That would have cost me at least $24.00 extra Australian dollars had I selected those seats at any time prior to checking in for the flights.
The next choice was carry-on baggage, of which passengers could carry aboard both a bag and a personal item for no extra charge — but the total weight permitted between both items was seven kilograms, which is equivalent to almost 15.5 pounds. I rarely pay extra for weight, which I did with Jetstar Airways. I took a risk and did not pay extra for carry-on baggage, as no option existed to pay more for extra weight to carry items aboard the airplane — which I might have considered.
Next comes selling you a baggage allowance. You can choose options for checked baggage. Because I almost never check baggage, I ignored the recommended option — especially as it would have cost me an extra $65.00 in Australian dollars. Additionally, I did not want to check my laptop computer and camera equipment for obvious reasons; so I took a chance to carry them aboard the airplane. Thankfully, no tactics of trying to sell me an adding baggage allowance or warning me that the option will cost more at the airport were used.
No attempts to sell meals or snacks for purchase, rooms at hotel or resort properties, flexible options with the airline ticket itself, or requests for donations to charitable causes were offered during the process of booking the ticket — but one could purchase travel insurance or “Offset your carbon” to help to reduce emissions.
Finally, Virgin Australia Airlines offers a variety of ways to pay for the ticket. The percentage of fees that are applied to each method is useful information about which to know.
One thing about flying as a passenger with Virgin Australia Airlines is that the upselling process is not nearly as frenetic as that of Frontier Airlines, which uses almost every possible way to upsell on almost anything it can upsell: during the ticket booking process, on placards, and on signage as only three of numerous conveyances to sell baggage allowances, seat assignments, food, snacks, and beverages — among other items and services. The experience of booking a ticket with Virgin Australia Airlines was far more pleasant than that of Frontier Airlines and — to a lesser extent — that of Jetstar Airways.
The Flight Experience: First Flight From Cairns to Brisbane
Because I had already checked in for my flight before arriving at Cairns Airport, I had no need to arrive at the ticket counter, which did not seem to have long lines. I went through the security checkpoint and headed straight to the gate. I watched the airplane taxi to the gate.
I was pleasantly surprised at the cleanliness of the interior of the airplane once I boarded the airplane. As the Boeing 737-800 aircraft was manufactured almost 23 years ago in May of 2001, it seems like the airplane was somewhat newer than that.
The amount of pitch between rows of seats — which is the distance between the back of your seat and the back of the seat in front of you — is 75 centimeters or up to 31 inches. The width of each seat is 43 centimeters or up to 17 inches. The colorful head rests of the leather seats were separate and adjustable.
I had no complaints about the leg room. It was not restricting or confining to me. The seats were reasonably comfortable.
Passengers can recline when seated in these seats. The Channel button, Volume button, and Brightness button on the armrest were all useless, as the aircraft was not equipped with any physical in-flight entertainment units.
The tray table was of a typical size that is similar to those offered by other airlines. Keep in mind that airplanes which are operated by Virgin Australia Airlines are not equipped with ports or electrical outlets of any kind.
The air flow from the overhead control unit above provided ample cool air. Also in the unit are overhead lights — a passenger must reach up to push the button to activate the light, as the button is not down by the seat — and a call button to summon a flight attendant. This unit can be potentially inconvenient to passengers who are — shall we say — challenged in terms of height.
Plenty of room was available in the overhead storage bins — especially due to the aforementioned restrictions on bringing baggage and belongings aboard the airplane — and the capacity of the airplane was not completely full, as it had a moderate load of passengers.
Inside the seat pocket was both a safety information card for the airplane and a menu. All prices are in Australian dollars.
Several “Air-Menities” which cover a range of “comfort needs” were also for sale which ranged from five dollars to twelve dollars. “The Relax Pack” was on sale for $25.00, which includes an eye mask, ear plugs, pen, neck pillow, and a blanket — but this option is only available for sale on international flights. While these items can likely be less expensive if just shopping for them at a store, almost $7.85 in United States dollars for “The Captain’s Comfort Kit” of an eye mask, ear plugs, socks, tissues, moisturizer, lip balm, toothbrush, toothpaste, and a pen is really not a bad price to pay to feel like you are traveling in the premium class cabin — especially when compared to the actual cost of a ticket for a seat in the premium class cabin aboard the airplanes of many other airlines. Just close your eyes — or use the included eye mask — to virtually transport yourself to the premium class cabin for the duration of the flight, as you will not need to be concerned about missing a meal service or other services.
Standard tea, coffee, or water is complimentary on all flights which are operated by Virgin Australia Airlines. All passengers need to do is ask for one. Otherwise, the price of all beverages which contain no alcohol was four dollars for each serving — with the exception of hot chocolate, which cost five dollars for each cup. A variety of beer, wine, and other alcoholic beverages were on sale for between $11.00 and $15.00.
Bundles of drinks and snacks — as well as a choice of Miso Vegetable Noodles, Chicken & Vegetable Noodles, Chicken Salad Sandwich, Roasted Vegetable with Spiced Tomato Wrap, Ham & Cheese Toasted Sandwich, and Cheese & Tomato Relish Toasted Sandwich — ranged in cost from eight dollars to $20.00 each. Hot meals are only available on select international flights with a duration of a minimum of four hours.
Passengers can also order sweet or savory snacks for five dollars each; or a choice of a cup of instant noodles for eight dollars. I did not purchase any snacks or drinks with either flight.
Complimentary in-flight entertainment is available via your own portable electronic device, with greater than 400 hours of movies, television programs, and audio programs. Wi-Fi was also available aboard the airplane, as passengers can connect to high-speed Internet — for a fee, of course. I did not use either in-flight entertainment or Wi-Fi aboard the airplanes on either flight.
The Flight Experience: Second Flight From Brisbane to Hobart
Flight 702 operated by Virgin Australia Airlines from Brisbane to Hobart was on time. Although the walk was a little long in duration and the airport was rather crowded, the transfer between airplanes was easy and left me with plenty of time to grab a snack…
…of a package of eleven original Tim Tam biscuits. I suppose eleven is the reverse baker’s dozen in Australia?
Anyway, they were good — I have had them before — but they are somewhat too sweet for me.
The seats about this Boeing 737-800 aircraft were almost identical to those aboard the airplane for the first flight; and the leg room was similar as well — except that no Channel button, Volume button, and Brightness button were on the armrest…
…and the top of the back of the seat was a different color.
A closer look at the seat reveals a hook on which one can hang a coat or other garment or item. Simply pull it out to use it.
This airplane had more passengers aboard it than the first airplane.
The design of the overhead control unit was markedly different than that of the one aboard the airplane during the flight from Cairns to Brisbane; but it functioned essentially in the same manner.
Similar to the first flight, plenty of room was available in the overhead storage bins — especially due to the aforementioned restrictions on bringing baggage and belongings aboard the airplane.
I never needed to use the lavatory on either flight; so I did not take photographs of them. I cannot imagine that it was anything special or different than the lavatories aboard most other airplanes.
I also was a passenger on an airplane which was operated by Virgin Australia Airlines for a flight from Hobart back to Sydney a couple of days later. As with the other two flights, the leg room aboard that airplane was rather ample. That flight cost $126.59 in Australian dollars or $82.84 in United States dollars.
Final Boarding Call
All three flights were a pleasant experience, as virtually everything pertaining to these flights went well.
I did miss the days when Qantas Airways offered flights that were not expensive and included seat assignments and a meal with a beverage at no extra cost — but that eventually became unsustainable. Qantas Airways really did not have much of a choice in launching Jetstar Airways greater than 20 years ago due to the competitive threat that was then posed by Virgin Blue — which is now known as Virgin Australia and is an ultra-low-cost airline.
Interestingly enough — as with my experience with Jetstar Airways — I did not see any employee of Virgin Australia Airlines checking the weight of any of the belongings that passengers brought aboard the airplanes. My experience suggests to me that the gate agents are not all that restrictive about the baggage allowance. I was able to avoid the extra charge for checking any baggage with extra weight; but that still does not mean that I was guaranteed 100 percent that checking the weight of my baggage would not happen.
Similar to Jetstar Airways, Virgin Australia Airlines is a viable alternative to other airlines, in my opinion — and the experience felt even more like a hybrid between an ultra-low-cost airline and a limited full service airline than Jetstar Airways. Based on this experience, I recommend Virgin Australia Airlines as a choice of airline to consider for basic transportation with few frills. I had nothing about which to complain pertaining to Virgin Australia Airlines; and I would certainly consider flying as a passenger on this airline in the future.
The only question is what happens when things go wrong, which thankfully did not occur with any of my flights…
All photographs ©2024 by Brian Cohen.
