Which Virgin Australia Seat is Right For You?

February 9, 2009 at 12:43 PM | by juliana | Comments (3)

Actually that's sort of a silly question because we're guessing on long-haul flights like this most of you are going to take the least expensive option which is economy unless you just happen to be a movie star, recording artist, successful business person or are checking off the last few bullet points on your bucket list.

Yet just in case your budget has some wiggle room, we've summarized each class on the brand-new V Australia 777 planes, the first of which makes its maiden trip from LAX to Sydney on Feb. 27th.

Since the flight is almost 15 hours long, seat pitch and booze are what we're interested in the most. But there are a few other perks, namely the in-flight entertainment system RED which we love so much on Virgin America. Additionally, CEO Brett Godfrey told us about the Aeromobile plans for the plane in which people would be able to use their PDAs and cellphones to send emails and text messages. "But not phone," he said. "I don't want all these voices in the cabins."

Since the plane is not going to have in-flight WiFi (at least not at the start), this Aeromobile plan sounds pretty good. Except we aren't quite sure what the data charges will be like on our cellphone bill and the service is not actually guaranteed to be working come Feb. 27.

Overall, we were in love with the business class seats especially since they lie totally flat. The premium economy seats were nice, certainly better than coach but still lacking any "wow" factor.

Economy, however, made us cry on the inside a little. We've flown to Sydney from LAX in coach on Qantas (in a middle seat no less) and we were kind of hoping that Virgin Australia would use the same type of leather coach seats as the Virgin America planes. Instead, they went with cloth seats and strange color combos. Here's to hoping that Richard Gere is sitting up in biz class all alone and wants our company. But we'll settle for a cheap prescription of sleeping meds instead.

International Business Class
Set-up: 2-2-2.
Legroom: 77 inches.
Recline: A fully horizontal lie-flat bed stretches out to a little over six feet.
Staying Connected: Personal workstation with laptop power, USB Port and reading light. Also, in-seat entertainment is available with RED. Email, PDA and mobile SMS connectivity is promised but not sure if it will be working on inaugural flight.
Perks: Duvets, pillows and pajamas. Access to the V Australia lounge. Noise-canceling headsets. Food served on Narumi china. And according to Cranky Flier, padded toilet seats.
The Bar: The business-class only bar really can seat about four people so there isn't going to be much congregating here.
Best Seat: Seats in row 5 are in their own little cabin. It's the last row of business right before premium economy but it's also behind the biz class bar. They do have curtains that close around the seats which makes you feel almost as if you are flying private. However, that noise from the bar could be very distracting.
Price: Flights on Feb. 27th were at $7,730 one-way.

Video of Premium Economy Class

Premium Economy Class
Set-up: 2-4-2.
Legroom: 38 inches.
Recline: Seats recline about 9 inches.
Staying Connected: RED is in the seatbacks and seats here come with laptop power and USB ports. Email, PDA and mobile SMS connectivity is promised but not sure if it will be working on inaugural flight.
Perks: A welcome drink when you arrive onboard and a comfort pack for during the flight. (Think socks, toothbrushes and the like.) Noise-canceling headsets. Meal service, wines and an after dinner liqueur.
The Bar: Much smaller than the biz class bar. No stools, just simply a rack for alcohol.
Best Seat: We say any seat that is by the window meaning you only have one person sitting next to you instead of sitting in a row of four.
Price: Flights on Feb. 27th were at $2,480 one-way.

Economy Class
Set-up: 3-3-3.
Legroom: 32 inches.
Recline: The seat reclines 6 inches.
Staying Connected: RED is in the seatbacks but no laptop power or USB ports here. Email, PDA and mobile SMS connectivity is promised but not sure if it will be working on inaugural flight.
Perks: A comfort pack and a self-service drink station. (We did not see this on our tour unless they are talking about the water fountain here.)
The Bar: Your seat.
Best Seat: Any row that is closest to the front.
Price: Flights on Feb. 27th were at $834 one-way.

OTHER NOTES

The entire plane has mood lighting and in the bathroom, kangaroos and koala bears are subtly featured in the wallpaper.

Comments (3)

Return to » Which Virgin Australia Seat is Right For You?

First, when will we know if Aeromobile will be available @ launch? Next, I went to the Aeromobile site and it sounds like 3G is available, so guessing an iPhone can be used but what rates will apply? A flat rate that VAustralia charges? Regular gouging international roaming rates on the AT&T plan? A toxic combination of both? Obviously I am hoping it is a flat fee and something reasonable. Then one could get web access on the flight without WiFi -- granted on an mobile screen.

this is what Brett Godfrey could not really tell us. which led me to believe that it will def. not be ready on the maiden voyage. he said he wasn't sure if charges were based on the australia network that your cellphone will hook up to or if it's your own provider that will be doing the billing. to be safe, i would assume it's a deadly combination of data roaming charges from your cellphone network and from an Aussie network.

i'll work on getting more on Aermobile on V Australia and keep you updated.

I just booked a round trip LAX-SYD for March 16-29. The cost? $772 for economy. WOOHOOO!

Jaunted

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