Background:
Merry Christmas everyone! This post is long overdue, one full year late. Last year, I booked a Virgin Australia flight to connect from Auckland to Sydney on Christmas Eve. I was excited to try Virgin Australia as I have flown on Virgin Atlantic and Virgin America.
Check-In:
The line at Auckland Airport to check bags for Virgin Australia was really long. Thankfully, with my Delta Silver Medallion status, I got priority lane access and so it only took about 5 minutes. I heard people in the normal lane complaining about waiting over 30 minutes.
After check in and clearing security, I took a nice visit to the Strata Lounge, which is part of Priority Pass.
Flight Details:
Virgin Australia Flight 146
Auckland (AKL) to Sydney (SYD)
Monday, December 24th 2018
Departure: 4:00 PM
Arrival: 5:40 PM
Duration: 3 hours and 40 minutes
Aircraft: Boeing 737
Cabin: Economy
Seat: 19ABC (empty row!)
Virgin Australia Economy Flight:
Boarding the 737 was nice, and the plane looked very sleek and modern. The first two rows were First Class (like how it was on Virgin America, but less legroom).
In economy, the seat pitch is 30, and width is 17 inches, which on paper seems to be a bit on the tight side. But, it didn’t seem too restritive in reality.
My orignal seat was in row 10, but the plane was so empty that after reaching crusing altitude the flight attendants told us we could take empty rows! I would say the plane was about 1/3 full. Not sure how good that is for business.
I settled on row 19ABC for myself 🙂
Since some other plane stole our tug away, we ended up leaving the gate about half an hour late. Thankfully, we took off short after.
On this flight, we had a full meal service! I ended up choosing the malaysian curry with rice. The other option was a tomato basil pasta and salad.
The curry was pretty good, and it also came with a small veggie platter. Not bad for a 3 hour flight!
Later in the flight, the flight attendants handed out a nice Christmas cookie.
With the in flight wifi, you could stream movies to your device via the Virgin Australia App. They gave 15 minutes of free wifi (which was nice), and the prices in general weren’t too bad. 7 AUD for an hour or 13 AUD for the full flight.
The Verdict:
Overall, I had a pretty good experience on my Virgin Australia economy flight from Auckland to Sydney. It probably helped that the flight was empty, but I think even on a full flight, I would still enjoy the modern cabin and meal service for a three hour flight.
What are your thoughts? Have you flown on the Auckland to Syndey route on Virgin Australia? Comment below!
Happy travels,
Ty
Have any questions? Comment below or email me at takeofftotravel@gmail.com. You can also view all my other posts here! Thanks for stopping by!
MY 2019 CHRISTMAS/NEW YEARS TRIP REPORT:
Check out the rest of my Asia + South Pacific 2019 Winter Trip here!
Hotel Reviews:
Renaissance Hong Kong Harbor View
AVANI Metropolis Residences Auckland
Hilton Sydney Executive Level
New Years’ at the Grand Hyatt Taipei
Lounge Reviews:
Qantas First Lounge at LAX
Oneworld Los Angeles Business Class Lounge
Plaza Premium Lounge Taipei Terminal 2
Strata Lounge Auckland Airport
Cathay Pacific Business Lounge: The Pier
Cathay Pacific Business Lounge: The Wing
Airline Reviews:
How I Scored Cathay Pacific Business and First Using Alaska Miles
Cathay Pacific 777 Business Class: Los Angeles to Hong Kong
Cathay Pacific A350 Business Class: Hong Kong to Auckland
Virgin Australia Economy: Auckland to Sydney
China Airlines A350 Premium Economy: Sydney to Taipei
China Airlines 777 Premium Economy: Taipei to Los Angeles
