Virgin Australia

[socreader]

We have just booked with Choice Air for our February 2015 Top - Bottom Cruise on the Radiance. I am not familiar with Virgin Australia but they gave us a great premium economy rate for one way MCO to Syd through LAX . Any input or experience with Virgin Australia from LAX ? We have flown Virgin to London and had a good experience. Thanks for your info.

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[gowentgone]

We have just booked with Choice Air for our February 2015 Top - Bottom Cruise on the Radiance. I am not familiar with Virgin Australia but they gave us a great premium economy rate for one way MCO to Syd through LAX . Any input or experience with Virgin Australia from LAX ? We have flown Virgin to London and had a good experience. Thanks for your info.

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We flew on VA and loved it...very comfy and good movies and food. We flew from MCO also through LAX and spent night in LA enroute and were glad we did as the flight is very long. Enjoy your trip.

[3littlepigs]

We have done Premium Economy on Virgin from LAX to SYD.

It us an incredibly long overnight flight. They basically give you dinner when you board then turn the lights off until a couple of hours before you land then serve breakfast. Good luck finding a flight attendant in between! They have a little passageway in front of the PE cabin where they leave a self serve bar and very basic snacks (packets of peanuts, chips etc)

The planes are all fairly new. Seats are what we have as business class on domestic flights in Australia. There is adequate room between rows until the person in front of you reclines their seat fully ( and in my case reclined his seat fully then sat up straight all night working on his laptop...what that was about I don't know!) then it's a bit squeeze to get in and out as the seats recline a long way...good for sleeping!

 

Would we choose to fly that way again...definitely. It would be my second choice on that route, only the Qantas A380 Premium economy would be ahead for me.

 

Did I mention it's a horribly long flight ;)

[Royalty X]

I love Virgin Australia and won't fly with anyone else! Enjoy! :)

[OzKiwiJJ]

It us an incredibly long overnight flight. They basically give you dinner when you board then turn the lights off until a couple of hours before you land then serve breakfast. Good luck finding a flight attendant in between! They have a little passageway in front of the PE cabin where they leave a self serve bar and very basic snacks (packets of peanuts, chips etc)

 

Every airline does this on long flights, no matter what class you are travelling in, although I'm surprised you had problems finding a flight attendant during this time. Most airlines do regular walk-throughs of the cabins.

[The_Big_M]

We have just booked with Choice Air for our February 2015 Top - Bottom Cruise on the Radiance. I am not familiar with Virgin Australia but they gave us a great premium economy rate for one way MCO to Syd through LAX . Any input or experience with Virgin Australia from LAX ? We have flown Virgin to London and had a good experience. Thanks for your info.

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I'm not sure where MCO is, but suspect its inland US.

 

Virgin only operate to LAX as far as I know, so you'll likely be on their code share partner Delta to LAX. If so, the standard will be quite different for the two legs.

[cruisine21]

 

Virgin only operate to LAX as far as I know, so you'll likely be on their code share partner Delta to LAX. If so, the standard will be quite different for the two legs.

We just returned from the US and booked a Delta flight. The return was code share with Virgin.

 

There was very little difference between the flights except the Virgin flight had USB ports in economy. The food on both flights was very similar. Though were were only two of the three choices of meals left when dinner was served on the Virgin flight. The Delta flight also served a midnight snack.

Edited April 8, 2014 by cruisine21

[AussieVisi2r]

Did I mention it's a horribly long flight ;)

 

Only a long flight until you fly to Europe. Then US is a quick trip. :D

 

Raina

[yatchet]

I have flown VA whenever possible for the last six years, no complaints at all.

 

Flew BNE/LAX and LAX/MEL business class with lie flat beds, slept 8 hours each way.

 

VA aircraft to US are Boeing 777-300, 3 to 5 yrs old.

[kuldalai]

Best airline flying the US / Canada Australia route by a country mile is Air New Zealand . Daily flights from Vancouver, Los Angeles or San Francisco via Auckland to either Sydney or Melbourne. Good fares, modern aircraft and excellent service throughout .

[3littlepigs]

Only a long flight until you fly to Europe. Then US is a quick trip. :D

 

Raina

 

I'd do the Europe flight any day in presence to the Flight across the Pacific, there is something ugly about that flight, maybe it's the timing.

 

The partners we flew with VA were Virgin America who have main cabin select which is the front row of economy with extra space and all the food and drink you want, and Alaska Airlines who offered an upgrade to first class (our domestic business class) for $80 which was an absolute bargain to go all the way from LAX to DC.

[The_Big_M]

We just returned from the US and booked a Delta flight. The return was code share with Virgin.

 

There was very little difference between the flights except the Virgin flight had USB ports in economy. The food on both flights was very similar. Though were were only two of the three choices of meals left when dinner was served on the Virgin flight. The Delta flight also served a midnight snack.

 

You mean you were on a domestic Delta flight as well?

 

It sounds like you are talking about the international Delta flight. The standards between their international and domestic are usually quite different.

[The_Big_M]

Best airline flying the US / Canada Australia route by a country mile is Air New Zealand . Daily flights from Vancouver, Los Angeles or San Francisco via Auckland to either Sydney or Melbourne. Good fares, modern aircraft and excellent service throughout .

 

Except for having the smallest seats, space between seat rows, and aisles on that route.

 

Avoid.

Edited April 8, 2014 by The_Big_M

[AuzzieCruiser]

Except for having the smallest seats, space between seat rows, and aisles on that route.

 

Avoid.

 

I found Air New Zealand's 747's a great ride! Their 777-200 was average in comparison. Top notch service as always!

 

I flew Virgin Australia in 2011 flying Economy to LA and Premium Economy LA to Sydney.

 

In my opinion, it was worth the extra $$ coming home! I didn't see the point Sydney to LA as the flight left at 11am and would be awake virtually the whole flight.

I slept like a baby coming home in Premium economy. I got about 10 hours of solid sleep.

 

I'm flying Air China in August to London and home from Vancouver. I'm dreading it in a way lol.

Edited April 8, 2014 by AuzzieCruiser

[The_Big_M]

I found Air New Zealand's 747's a great ride! Their 777-200 was average in comparison. Top notch service as always!

 

They only fly the 777 on the (Syd-)Auckland-LA route in question now. That is where the tight, budget airline-like, seating conditions are used.

 

You're right about the 747, which gives a different experience, but they don't fly it on this route any more.

[Blue Elephant]

I have flown Virgin Australia Premium Economy Sydney to Abu Dhabi and return twice now. Very happy with them.

 

There is enough distance between the rows for my husband to get out of his window seat without waking me up. food was fine, but I do not really expect fine dining on planes anyway.

 

Virgin Australia have quite a good safety rating and the passengers are ordinary and unpretentious.

[socreader]

I'm not sure where MCO is, but suspect its inland US.

 

Virgin only operate to LAX as far as I know, so you'll likely be on their code share partner Delta to LAX. If so, the standard will be quite different for the two legs.

 

Orlando

[Royalty X]

You can sometimes find codeshare flights with Virgin America from Orlando to LAX. Try to get yourself on one of those instead of Delta, if you can. When I was looking at VA to Orlando, I was looking at flights like that (with great connection times as well).

[MicCanberra]

Any flight for 14 hours is going to be tough unless you are in Business class.

My advice is to drink lots of water, this not only helps with hydration and jet lag issues but it also ensures you need to get up a lot which helps with DVT issues. Also have noise cancelling head phones for a more pleasant entertainment experience and/or doze. :D