Phew! No lines to check in at either the check in kiosks or counter and no lines for the bag drop. Ok I was early, I’d checked out of my apartment at around 11am and with the clouds opening up and it pouring rain yet again during my stay in Surfers Paradise on the Gold Coast, I decided to get to the airport early, where it was dry (and I could take pictures of planes! 😉 ).
I checked in via the user friendly check-in kiosk which after a scan of my e-ticket, gave me to option to change seat and asked me the normal safety questions, like was I carrying explosives…
With not many people here this early, I was called over to the priority check-in counter to drop my bag off. (no freakyflier doesn’t, as yet, get priority…sigh) The check-in attendant was lovely, very personable, friendly and a delight to chat with.
I made my way through security and found a spot to sit where the views of the tarmac were fantastic. My aircraft, a Boeing 737-800 pictured above, was still painted in the older livery red of Virgin Blue, the previous incarnation of Virgin Australia.
The interior of the aircraft was seemingly newish and all seats had seatback tv screens featuring Virgin’s live2air inflight entertainment service which streams 24 channels of Foxtel and Austar sport, news and tv shows. The service is free except for recently released movies which are pay per view and available on flights over 2 hours. Being live and not Virgin’s own programming does mean they cannot censor the programs or entertainment and I was fascinated when an advertisement for Jetstar kept popping up on my screen!
The menu, for which Virgin Australia the product can be quite confusing, is dependent on what ticket, air fare and/or destination you are flying to. For those wishing or finding they need to purchase inflight meals, snacks or drinks they can be found in the airlines ‘Voyeur’ inflight magazine. For me, on this particular flight, I needed to pay and it was a white wine at AUD8 that I consumed (it was after 5pm mum) and quite a nice drop I must say 😉
Overall it was a comfortable flight, it arrived on time and having the most convenient flight times between the Gold Coast and Sydney I may find myself flying Virgin Australia again.
Matty Somewhere 
We were recently on a Qantas flight from Melbourne to Sydney and they gave us all a hot meal and an iPad loaded up with movies and tv shows etc. None of us could believe it! 😮
Just as well it was after 5. LOL