Air New Zealand took its stake in Virgin Blue (owners of V Australia and Virgin Australia) to 19.9% as a result of a fairly low share prices.

The last time they took an interest in an Australian airline, it almost bankrupted Air New Zealand and the end result was that Australia's longest running domestic carrier Ansett ceased to exist.

Image via WikipediaTen years later, Air New Zealand are hopefully wiser and Virgin are a better business. Former chief executive Rod Eddington "described Ansett publicly and internally as a great airline, but a poor business".

It makes huge sense for Air NZ to have a strong relationship with an Australian carrier. The tie ups with V mean passengers can flow into and out of the Australian and New Zealand markets and Air NZ international routes.

It also makes sense for Virgin to join Air NZ in the Star Alliance network just as Ansett was a member. They are clearly out to compete heavily with Qantas domestically.  The question is long term whats the plan for V Australia, their international arm?. They will come in under the Virgin Australia banner in 2012 but what are their plans beyond that. Flights to Phuket and South Africa are halted. Fiji is off the cards and China seems on hold. Qantas is ramping up Asian expansion. Will Virgin focus on middle east  or do the same as Qantas?

In the meantime, an ex Virgin executive has gone to Tiger.

As always, the Australasian airline scene remains interesting.

Love the updated Velocity Rewards Frequent Flyer Program unveiled Thursday by Virgin Australia. Already Qantas has responded with media advertisements promising exciting changes to their program. The competition in Australia is starting a new round.

I am currently a Gold flyer with Qantas and Virgin so my focus is on the Gold benefits. At the end of this post, I will paste a table comparing the two programs. Please let me know what I leave out.

The eight immediate features I like about Velocity Rewards:

1. seemingly generous access to award seats
2. Subject to space availability, Velocity Platinum and Gold members are welcome in the Virgin Australia lounge at any time, and do not require a boarding pass. This is a benefit Qantas took away from its Platinum fliers earlier in the year - and boy were we mad! 
3. A family can pool all of your family member’s Points into one account as well as transferring points between family members
4. If you have a baby, you can pause your membership for up to six months-thats impressive
5. For every 100 status credits, you get a free lounge pass
6. Guaranteed Reward Seats for an annual family trip for up to four return Reward Seats for an annual family trip to any Australian destination, for Gold while Platinum members can also international destinations.
7. Gold and Platinum members can take up to two children under the age of 12 into the lounge with them.  (I wonder how many kids will now be screaming through lounges?)
8. Free access to Sentinel who help you find lost keys etc

Getting and Keeping Gold Status
The first comparison between Gold Qantas and Gold Virgin for me is how easy it is to get and keep Gold status. You gain status based on the number of status credits you earn. Every eligible flight gets you status credits. The longer your flight the more status credits you get. The higher your class you reserved your booking with, the more status credits you get. So a Sydney to London flight in business class will get you way more points than a discount economy seat from Sydney to Melbourne.

GOLD		Qantas	Virgin
Gaining Status-status Credits		700	500
Gaining Status-Sectors flown		4	4
Keeping Status-status Credits		600	400
Keeping Status-Sectors flown		4	4
Number of SYD-MEL Discount Y to keep		60	40
Number of MEL-AKL Discount Y to keep		30	20
Number of MEL-LAX Discount Economy to keep		13.33	10
Number of MEL-LAX Premium to keep		6.67	3.3

To get Gold with Qantas requires 700 status credits whereas Virgin gives it to you with 500 status credits. Of course how many you earn at each airline is different. Still its easier to get and keep Gold at Virgin than it is at Qantas.

For me to keep Gold with Qantas at the lowest earning rate possible (eg the Sydney -Melbourne) flight would mean 60 flights in a year. Virgin will give you gold after 40 Syd-Mel flights.

Likewise flying Melbourne to Los Angeles in Premium Economy would need 7 flights a year with Qantas to keep my Gold whereas I only need  4 with Virgin (or 3 plus a few SYD-Mel trips!)



Comparing Qantas Gold and Virgin Gold

GOLD
Before Travel		Qantas	Virgin
Priority Phone Service		YES	YES
Upgrade Using Points		YES	YES
Advanced Seat Selection		YES	NO?
Seating Preferences		YES	Coming soon
Secure Sentinel membership		NO	YES
At Airport		Qantas	Virgin
Priority Check-in -Domestic		Premium Service Desks	Priority Counters
Priority Check-in -International		Business Counters	Business Counters
Priority Boarding – Domestic		NO	YES
Priority Boarding – Intl		YES	YES
Kerbside Check in		NO	Sydney only
Lounge-Domestic		Qantas Club	Virgin Lounge-anytime access
Lounge-International		One World	Virgin. Etihad, Air NZ, Delta
Priority Screening Lane		Brisbane, Melbourne, Perth and Sydney Domestic Airports	Melbourne and Brisbane Domestic Airports
Fly Ahead		NO	YES
Priority Waitlist		YES	NO
Airport Upgrade		YES	NO
Baggage allowance-Domestic		1 piece (maximum 32kg) Economy; 2 pieces (maximum 32kg each) Business	Allowance of 32kg
Baggage Allowance-USA		3 pieces: (maximum 23kg per piece) Economy/Premium Economy and 32kg per piece) Business/First	3 pieces: (maximum 23kg per piece) Economy and 3 pieces 32kg per piece) Premium Economy/Business
Baggage Allowance-Inernational		32kg (70lb) in Economy/Premium Economy; 64kg (140lb) in Business/First	33kg ) in Economy/ 42kg in Premium Economy/Business/
Priority Waitlist (coming soon)			YES
Arrival		Qantas	Virgin
Priority Baggage		YES	coming soon
Complimentary Elite membership with IHG?s Priority Club® Rewards or Hilton HHonors?		NO	YES
Complimentary Elite membership with Europcar Privileges Program or Hertz #1 Club		NO	YES
International airline partners		Qantas	Virgin
		One World Sapphire	Virgin. Etihad, Air NZ
FAMILY BENEFITS		Qantas	Virgin
Guaranteed Reward Seats for an annual family trip		NO	YES
Family Points and Status Credit Pooling		NO	Coming soon
Membership pause for Parental Leave		NO	Coming soon
Complimentary lounge pass for each 100 Status Credits earned		NO	Coming soon
STATUS BENEFITS		Qantas	Virgin
Points bonus- on Carrier		75.00%	75.00%
Points bonus -Air Partners		?	50% Etihad
Points Bonus- Hotels/Car rental		NO	75.00%
Personalised Baggage Tags		YES	YES
Loyalty Bonus		8,000 points for every 500 Status Credits earned in a single membership year	a free lounge pass for every 100 Status Credits

"Bondi Beach" at Sydney Airport

On May 9th, 2011 I turned up at my gate at Sydney's Kingsford Smith to find the plane that was being for the 1hr 36min DJ 818 servic to Melbourne was one of Virgin Australia's brand new 737s: VH-YFC
called: "Bondi Beach".

The plane had landed in Australia four days before, the day that Virgin Blue became Virgin Australia.

I was seated up front in Seat 1A which is  one of Virgin Australia's brand new business class seats (Virgin Blue started as a one class airline). There are eight such seats on the plane -two on each side.


A very stylish plexiglass screen separates Business class from the Main cabin. It looks similar to the Virgin America layout which I love*. In Main cabin: are 168 Virgin Australia "next generation economy seats".  These seats are made by aircraft interior company B/E Aerospace. The lighting is really well done and makes the plane feel bigger.

The flight was very comfortable - I slept for most of it (even thought it was short). Meals, drinks and water are complimentary upfront on Virgin and the new menus are good. You still pay in economy for meals (unlike Qantas which still gives free domestic and international meals. Some Velocity Gold members have reported being given "freebies" in Economy. Anyone able to confirm or deny this?

"Bondi Beach" at Melbourne Airport

It was a very fun flight with a group of very excited cabin staff flying their first flight on this new plane.  I am not a huge fan of the 737 but this one feels amazing. As two of the staff said "we feel like a proper airline now"

They are right. These new planes are a key part of a strategy to capture more business traffic. I have become a huge fan of V Australia and if Virgin Australia emulate their international offshoot, then I will become their fan too! I am looking forward to my August flight to Perth on their brand new coast to coast A330 service (although puzzled why they have begun mixing aircraft types- Ansetts' big mistake)

Ironic that Qantas continues to go down market as Virgin goes up. One wonders if they should have swapped CEOs? Thats another story.

One final question: Why did Virgin Blue/Pacific Blue choose "Virgin Australia" as their new name and not "Virgin Pacific"? Virgin Pacific would complement Virgin Atlantic and it makes more sense to have a flights operating between Tonga, Fiji and New Zealand with "Pacific" on the tail and not just "Australia". Any comments on this?


*Virgin America and JetBlue are my two favourite US airlines

This is going to be a very busy time. Looking forward to flying with V Australia for the first time (the International arm of Virgin Blue, the Australian affiliate of the Virgin group) and spending a little time in Boise, Idaho.

New Zealand is one of the most stunning countries in the world. It stretches 1,600 kilometres (990 mi) from North to South. It has  an area of 268,021 km²  103,483 sq miles slightly bigger than Britain and slightly smaller than Italy. It is made up two main islands  (North and South Islands) plus several smaller islands including  Stewart Island and the Chatam Islands).   Some of my favourite hikes in the world are found in NZ!

The Tripit (see previous blog) report said it all: TT8033 ON TIME. MEL dep 08:45 term 4. ADL arr 09:35.

TT = Is Tiger Airways, Australia's newest airline.  Established in Sigapore in 2003, they came to Australia in 2007.  Today was my first time flying them (and probably my last time!).


Booking a flight and  paying for it on Tiger is very straightforward except that everything is an extra charge! I have previously expressed my dissatisfaction with this aspect of the company. For example, Tiger passengers pay a fee for every seat which ranges from $8 to $30. They also pay extra for baggage. I chose to take none. My "cheap fare for  Melbourne to Adelaide was only six dollars less than Qantas!

Being baggage less I didn't need to check in at the airport. I usually try to check in on-line anyway but Tiger gives an incentive as they charge $10 for airport check in! Found Tiger's online check-in to be very straight forward.  When I got to the terminal "shed" (literally) for my flight, I was doubly glad I had done on-line as the check in lines were long. I ignored them heading straight to the gate and discovered Tiger has an extra hurdle in that a staff member is waiting to weigh hand luggage as Tiger operates a strict 7kg/15lbs carry on policy. Anything over that has to be checked in for a fee of $55 (prepay for your luggage and its much less). But be warned!

Security at Tiger is one of the most unpleasant airline security set ups I have ever encountered in Australia. One example, att the entrance of the Tiger Terminal is a coffee shop which on today's winter's morning was doing brisk trade. At security, however, the Security Officer was officiously and nastily forcing everyone with a hot coffee to throw it away or drink it before coming through. While the action may be fair enough, the way it was done was appalling.


The  Tiger waiting area in Melbourne is cramped and unattractive. If you were delayed for several hours, you would get very bored of the Boost juice outlet, Coffee shop and newsagency.  There are better shops in the Qantas and old Ansett (now Virgin) terminals.  I did note that many of the waiting passengers were clearly people who did not fly much. In fact many seem to have never flown at all so Tiger are obviously succeeding in getting people to consider flying as an option.

Soon  "Boarding" for the Adelaide flight appeared on the TV monitors (see picture under departures, second flight down). When this appeared, a number of us walked up to Gate 3. When we got there, however, we were told to go back to the waiting area. The boarding announcement came ten minutes later. The boarding line was far from orderly with people cutting in from every direction
Boarding Passes were checked by a very causal looking person who did not appear to be dressed in any sort of uniform! From gate to plane was a very long walk. This has been a consistent complaint with the Tiger arrangements.


 
The airline operates a single-model fleet. All of their planes are Airbus A320s with eating for 180 passengers. They are only one class: Economy.  The seat pitch (distance from the front of the seat in one row to the front of the seat in the next row) is approximately 72.5 cm (28.5 inches) for standard rows and 97.5 cm for the exit row (Qantas and Virgin Blue give an extra 7cm+) so I was very glad I had grabbed a $30 exit row seat  even on this short haul.

Boarding is from the tarmac with passengers directed to one of two doors depending in seating. I boarded at the front door where I got a warm welcome from the Flight attendant checking Boarding passes. Tiger allocates seats- some discount carriers its a free for all.  

We departed ten minutes behind schedule with a fully full flight consisting of many football fans. The Pilots sounded competent and reassuring. Safety briefing was done thoroughly and properly. 


There is of course no meal service on Tiger and any snacks and drinks must be paid for with a debit card.


We landed slightly ahead of schedule in what was one of the most beautiful landings I have ever had. 
Overall I gave them 3.5 out of 5 until the highly professional landing which got them to 4 out of 5! If I had checked in luggage, I suspect this would have made the experience a 3! If anything went wrong, then I would not have had a good time at all.

A friend described a Tiger flight is like a bus-ride.  The trouble is, I generally hate buses! I wont be back. Click here for my list of worst airlines I have flown. Click here for my current top airlines.