Quick Review: Virgin Australia Economy Brisbane-Sydney
- Konrad Tillman
- Jun 26
- 6 min read
Intro
For reference, I have previously reviewed this exact same aircraft in my installation of Nadi-Brisbane. With that being said, I thought I would provide a quick review for those looking at flying this route specifically. If you are interested in an in-depth review of the 737, you can check it out here.
Following a decent nights sleep at the Voco, the hotel which Virgin Australia put me up in, the (sad) day had come to return to the United States. Ugh, how much better it is to be down under, and in Fiji.
With no margin of error for delays on today's flight, with my inbound supposed to land into Sydney at 7:40 am, and my flight to Los Angeles boarding at 8:30 am, would I make it?
Route- Brisbane-Sydney
Flight Number- VA908
Seat- 26D
Aircraft- Boeing 737-800
Date- September 3rd, 2024
Flight Time- 1 Hours 35 Minutes
Price Paid- 85K UA Miles + 150 USD
How I Booked
Figuring out award space down to Fiji on Fiji Airways, I was looking for a way to get back to Los Angeles when I came across something interesting.
For those unaware, United charges 100K miles from AUS/NZ to the USA on a saver business class award, but only charges 85K when departing from Eastern Oceania (such as Tahiti). As it would happen, United's chart has it so this ticket only came out to 85K United Miles. Don't ask me why, it makes no sense...
Virgin Australia: Nadi-Brisbane (Economy)
Virgin Australia: Brisbane-Sydney (Economy)
United: Sydney-Los Angeles (Business Class)
In my opinion, this was a fantastic deal. If only I could have gotten the two Virgin Australia awards in business, it would have been the same cost! If you are looking to book this flight alone, the cost starts at about 63 USD one-way, and 230$ in Business (One-Way as well).
Check-In/A Tantalizing Grilled Cheese
Hearing the alarm go off at 3 am to head back to California isn't for the faint of heart. Sure, California is all dreamy and lovely in the movies, but it's also filled with certain elements that do my brain in (sorry) such as prices...
However, I suppose the one good thing is that the Uber to the airport took under 20 minutes, and by 4 am, I had arrived at check-in.
Virgin Australia operates a seamless experience in Australia for domestic flights at Terminal D. Check-in doesn't take too long, immigration is efficient, and it flows more smoothly than a US process (or most places in the world, honestly).
Clearing security, within about 10 minutes of arriving at the airport, I was through to the airside part of the terminal.
Considering I didn't have access to the lounge (United does not partner with VS for status), I found a cheeky spot to grab a coffee and a grilled cheese sandwich. Over the years, I have been called many things, ranging from a "frying pan to a helmet to Jack Sparrow, and even a grilled cheese connoisseur".
So when I say this grilled cheese (about 6 USD) was good, it was excellent. Combine that with a delicious coffee with skim milk (not 18 pumps of fat-free machiatto swirled in a wind turbine that came from someone posting on instagram saying save trees), it was the perfect way to start the day.
By this point, it was already 5 pm, and I made my way over to the gate, passing by the Virgin Australia Lounge (status+business class will get you in), feeling like the peasant I am.
Boarding
Brisbane Airport is relatively small, so when I saw that my gate had been assigned as 44A, I knew that it was a short walk away (about 7 minutes, I would say). However, that 7-minute walk quickly turned into some plane spotting since how many times do you get to see "Fokkers" lying around outside of Australia??
You know what: I fokking hope I am not delayed...
Lounging around and getting some work done (believe it or not, I do stuff with my life), boarding was called at 5:30 am for our scheduled departure of 6:05 am.
It was a relatively efficient boarding process, thanks to this flight being domestic, and by 5:55 am, boarding had been wrapped up. Gosh, we could learn a thing or two over here in the States...
The Flight
A quick overview of the cabin, but settling into 26D, I was pleased to find the standard 31 inches of pitch across the 168 seats (exit rows and bulkheads have more). The seat is comfortable enough, and no complaints from me here...
Just before 6 am, the captain came on to announce our flight time of 1 hour and 15 minutes and that we would be pushing back shortly.
By 6:01 am, we had pushed back, and we were wheels up to Sydney by 6:12 am on a fine Tuesday morning. What's the joke: "your unemployed friend on a Tuesday".
No more than 15 minutes after takeoff, the cabin crew came around offering the standard "free water and coffee" with the opportunity to buy something from the menu. Seeing as I was watching Tom and Jerry, I figured some cheese would be the perfect way to complement my TV show choice 😅. For about 6 USD, I purchased some cheese and crackers...
With service being wrapped up in an efficient manner, there is that word again. I checked out the IFE offerings for today's flight. While there are no seatback screens, wifi was available for purchase (free if you have status), and TV shows and movies were included.
Now, here is the philosophy from this post (as per usual): Sometimes you just have to let your inner child come out and play, even if it is embarrassing. If you find children's shows, or playing football, or whatever, embarrassing, the only one that really cares is you. So yeah, it might be embarrassing that I spent the flight watching Tom and Jerry, but it's such a dumb show that it made me laugh.
By 7:10 am local time, the captain announced that we would be "beginning our initial descent" into Sydney and to fasten our seatbelts shortly. I quickly made a beeline for the restroom, as once I landed in Sydney, it was going to be time to leg it...
We ended up touching down ahead of schedule (you fokking beauty), and pulled into the domestic terminal at 7:36 am.
Only issue... It was a turtle's race to get off the plane; it really was the take your time express as if no one had anywhere to be. 10 minutes later, I had finally made it off, and it was time to engage my running pattern, "hip, pocket, eye, socket".
Now, making it outside, I had two different options to get to the International Terminal, located about a 12-minute drive from Domestic. Ordinarily, I would have taken the bus, which runs every 5-10 minutes, but I decided to take a taxi for about 25 AUD to be on the safe side...
With fast track and some British Charm, I was having a barista-made coffee in the Singapore Airlines Lounge by 8:05 am Sydney time.
Final Thoughts
Flying Virgin Australia was actually pretty decent overall, apart from the overnight delay, which was out of the airline's control. I was fully impressed by how streamlined and efficient everything was. The route is clearly tailored to people in the business sector, and it gets you from Point A to Point B on time. Based on this experience, I would be more than happy to fly Virgin Australia on this route again, especially with the fares that they offer.
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