Travelling from Melbourne to Canberra on Virgin Blue and their Embraer 190 (E190) aircraft is pure delight, right from the time you check-in (online), to the time you disembark at the airport in Canberra.
The E190 has the look and feel of a well cared for brand new aircraft. The E190 is smaller than most aircraft you will travel on between the major hubs within Australia, and the two seat – aisle – two seat configuration provides a feeling of spaciousness not afforded by larger aircraft.
The Virgin Blue trademark leather seats provide a little extra width than the norm (18.1 inches compared to the standard 17 inches), and the 31 inch seat pitch provides a six foot tall passenger at least three inches of room from their knees to the seat in front of them in the upright position.
The flight from Melbourne to Canberra was approximately three quarters full and boarding the aircraft was extremely efficient from both ends of the aircraft.
The Virgin safety presentation has lost some of the spark that use to annoy the more conservative types, and the cabin staff professionalism has improved considerably since the airline broke into the Australian market over a decade ago but importantly, the friendliness of the cabin staff remains firmly intact.
The flight departed right on time and arrived into Canberra five minutes early and the forty five minute flight passed without incident except a little bit of turbulence as we climbed up to cruising level out of Melbourne.
Something very noticeable was no television screens in the back of the seat in front of you, so it was easy to sit back and read a book without having the distraction of mindless entertainment flickering away in your peripheral vision.
If you must, the seat tray provides ample room to place a 13 inch laptop on it to catch up on a bit of work and yes, you can actually open it up at an angle where you could comfortably read the screen and type.
Flying Virgin is different and they seem focused on making travelling an experience. The terminals are busy and have a lively market feel about them where ‘cool’ shops serving good coffee, boost juice or the latest surf wear provide a distraction to travellers awaiting the departure of their flight.
The cabin staff won’t frown upon you if you take your coffee onboard and if you feel a bit peckish during the flight, $6 will get you a 100% free trade organic (instant) coffee and a tasty muffin.
Probably the most eerie thing about flying Virgin is when you arrive at the terminal at the end of the flight.
Bizarrely passengers remain seated until the seat belt sign is turned off, which is well after the engines have shut down. You can pick the non regular Virgin passengers a mile off as they are the ones that spring out of their seats as soon as the engines shut down only to sheepishly sit down again when they look around and notice everyone else has remained in their seat.
I recommend that you check-in online so you can go straight to the gate or avoid the lengthy check-in queues at the airport if you are taking check-in bags with you. If you have bags, make sure you purchase your baggage allowance when you book your ticket or else you will get hit for additional fees at check-in.
I am a big fan of Virgin Blue and once upon a time I was a loyal customer of the other domestic carrier but competition made me look elsewhere.
The fare to Canberra on Virgin cost me $29 and the return fare was $74 making the return trip just over $100 – the competition was over double the price which provides plenty of incentive to try Virgin on your next flight.
Virgin Blue have provided University of Melbourne twenty lounge membership passes to giveaway to staff who travel on Virgin Blue. To receive a pass, simply book your next flight on Virgin Blue using travel portal and send an email to travel-enquiries at unimelb.edu.au and we will send you a free pass so you can access the lounge.
