Last time we checked in with the happenings of Aussie aviation, Virgin Australia was opening up new lounges all over their network, repainting planes and re-branding airports. It seems, however, that they may have saved that best for last. This week was the official launch of Virgin's business class cabin across their entire fleet of Boeing 737s and Airbus 330s.

Rewind to April 2011, when Virgin Australia was still Virgin Blue, and very busy refreshing itself to become a new airline capable of going head-to-head with rival, Qantas. Since the collapse of Ansett in 2001, Qantas has been the sole player in the domestic business class market. Fast forward to now, where Virgin Australia is sparkly and shiny, and has eliminated their low-cost model to become a premium airline contender. ]]> jetflyboy 2012-01-18T11:40:34-05:00 http://www.jaunted.com/story/2012/1/10/55017/7521

The whole of Australia is consumed with the Summer tennis circuit currently touring around the country, and the pinnacle of the tennis season down under is marked by the Australian Open played in Melbourne. As the only grand slam tennis tournament held in the Southern Hemisphere, the city is showcased not only as a sport capital, but the cultural capital of Australia.

Melbourne is located on the southeastern Aussie coast and it boasts a vibrant cafe society and an avant garde fashion scene. Originally established during the Australian gold rush, Melbourne's rich history and causes it to be called the "Paris of Down Under." If your plans bring you to the city for tennis, plan to soak up more experiences than just seeing top seeded Novak Djokovic or Caroline Wozniacki. ]]> jetflyboy 2012-01-11T12:18:34-05:00 http://www.jaunted.com/story/2011/12/15/62050/825

Two huge bits of in-flight entertainment news dropped this week. Let's sum 'em up:

· Emirates A380s join the In-Flight WiFi bandwagon

Guess the airline with the largest amount of orders for Airbus A380. It's Emirates. Guess the airline with the largest amount of the superjumbo already flying the skies. Again, it's Emirates. Guess the airline that's already got in-flight WiFi on most those babies. Duh, Emirates. Still, the news that passengers may pay up and log on during A380 Emirates flights came in 2010 with the projected log-in date June 2012. They've arrived at their goal a whole seven months early!

The service is OnAir, the same long-haul WiFi provider for Oman Air, TAM, Singapore and more. Pricing begins at $7.50 and is arranged in service bundles of MB. And yes, even First Class will have to pay.]]> JetSetCD 2011-12-15T11:11:17-05:00 http://www.jaunted.com/story/2011/12/14/54831/389

From repainting planes to overhauling terminals, Virgin Australia has had their plates full trying rebrand their entire operation, while changing the image from an all-economy service to a full-service airline. From the looks of things, the livery is flying all over Australia with more planes to come and re-Virgin-ized airport spaces. This goes for new airport lounges in major cities.

We took advantage of the fact that Virgin allows lounge access to Gold and Platinum Velocity Rewards members without actually flying, and checked out the Brisbane lounge for lunch. Yea, we went to the airport just for lunch. On first impression, the design is slick and the check-in fast and friendly, as expected from the brand.

One thing worth mentioning are the new staff uniforms, done up in a sultry, yet professional, red with Virgin-purple color pops in the form of neck scarves. So super glam. ]]> jetflyboy 2011-12-15T09:36:03-05:00 http://www.jaunted.com/story/2011/12/5/4432/65647

From time to time, we come across airline offers that truly intrigue and shock, and last week Virgin Australia's announcement was no different. Not 6 months from a complete company re-brand, Sir Richard Branson's Australian brainchild is now offering customers lifetime access to any of their lounges.

What do you need to do to have this distinction? Only $9,750 AUD! If you are over 60 years old, no worries, an obvious discount is in order and the price drops to $6,750 AUD.

For those willing to part with this type of cash, access is granted to all Virgin Australia Lounges across the country and reciprocal access to Air New Zealand Koru Lounges. When in Sydney, the prestigious membership allows curb-side check-in and a specially dedicated entrance to the terminal and lounge. Virgin will also throw in some culinary products from their celebrity chef, Luke Mangan, and skin care products from Grown. ]]> jetflyboy 2011-12-05T09:45:01-05:00 http://www.jaunted.com/story/2011/11/2/143614/653

As the airline industry settles in for a winter of labor turmoil, we here at Jaunted are becoming resigned to what will be an endless series of airline strike stories. And while we could just update you with lines like "were you thinking of going to [destination X that's totally hosed] some time soon? If so, don't"—that seems just a little bit flippant. Although if you were thinking of going to Canada, France, Australia, or India some time soon, there's a good chance you're going to want to consider travelers' insurance.

A few days ago we told you that the Qantas and Air France strikes were winding down, which was technically true. As of yesterday Qantas had resumed all flights and Air France was operating at 90%. But—because this is how things are going to go now, apparently—none of the issues have been resolved. So everything could kick up again before the month is over.]]> Omri 2011-11-02T17:57:01-05:00 http://www.jaunted.com/story/2011/10/16/20377/580
One of the old Virgin Blue Velocity Gold cards

Virgin Australia, the airline formerly known as Virgin Blue, not only changed their name back in May, but flipped the flying game in Australia.

More recently, the Aussie airline upped the ante competing with Qantas by offering a Velocity Frequent Flyer status match for other airline's frequent flyer programs. With a simple email and proof of your current status with a competing program, Virgin bellied up to the bar and automatically (not to mention quickly) upgraded any member to the corresponding status in Velocity. ]]> jetflyboy 2011-10-18T16:13:16-05:00 Search Jaunted string http://www.jaunted.com/search/