My day started with an early wakeup call and a 05.30 shuttle bus from my hotel near the airport. The shuttle dropped me off at Terminal 2 one of 3 terminals at Sydney Airport, 2 of which (T2 and T3) are dedicated to domestic flights. Security was quick and easy and surprisingly didn’t require scanning my boarding pass. Once through security you descend into the main concourse area where there are lots of food options. Some brands I assume are local but there were other familiar brands like McDonalds and further on as I headed to my gate Relay.
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View media item 19731My flight was at 08.15 (with hindsight I think I could’ve got a later shuttle) and began boarding at 07.45. JetStar are a LCC carrier like Ryanair, Wizz and EasyJet but owned by the Qantas group. 3 things I noticed that was different with them. Firstly, there was no priority boarding/speedy boarding just general boarding in 2 lines and secondly the carry-on baggage allowance was small, 7kg which included your small bag in that weight allowance. Quite a few people got stung with fines. Thirdly that they do long haul operations using 787s to Southeast Asia and Japan. Boarding was done by an airbridge at the front and steps at the rear door. I used the rear steps but unfortunately wasn’t allowed to take any photos as using devices on the apron isn’t allowed. The aircraft that was to take me to Melbourne was VH-VFI a 13-year-old A320, JetStar have an all-Airbus fleet. The cabin was in good condition, service was buy onboard but I didn’t purchase anything and the legroom was ok for what turned out to be 1 hour 8-minute flight. Our route took us over the ocean and then back inland over New South Wales, Canberra and then down to Melbourne, Victoria. The flight had some stunning views on the way down and was smooth. Only negative was that it did depart late from Sydney, well over 30 minutes and arrive late in Melbourne around 15 minutes late (10.05) which for me wasn’t too much of a problem. I do have give credit to the crew especially the head cabin crew that did the announcements and added a bit of humour to them. Overall, it was a very good flight.
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View media item 19734My return flight wasn’t until 16.30 so I had some time to kill so went plane spotting. I used the multi storey car park outside Terminal 4 which is where I’d arrived with JetStar and is part of Melbourne Airport dedicated to their domestic operations. I’d recommend using level 6 as it keeps you out of the sun. I was wary of security moving me on but one drove past and didn’t say anything. I spent well over an hour catching the movements and then headed back into the terminal.
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View media item 19738I was flying Virgin Australia back to Sydney and they depart from Terminal 3 at Melbourne Airport. Security was quick and I walked out into a food concourse which is shared with Terminal 4, got a meal deal from WH Smith and went to the gate area where I chilled out and watched the aircraft movements. There was a view of the apron down the end of the pier, and you could see part of the international terminal as well. Melbourne has a good array of international carriers to view from Asia and the Middle East as well as being served by Air New Zealand 777 and LATAM 787. Virgin Australia is more like a mainline airline than an LCC and operates an all Boeing 737 fleet. Boarding was done in 2 groups Business class and Economy X and then Economy. Front door was via a jet bridge, rear door via steps which is how I boarded the aircraft which was VH-8IG a near 2-year-old 737 MAX 8. Again, no devices were allowed to be used on the apron. I picked same seat as for my JetStar flight 22F and there was noticeably better legroom as well as in seat power in a USB port, Wi-Fi was available as well. The service was hybrid. Tea, coffee and water was available for free. Any other drinks and food were available through buy on board. We pushed back and departed Melbourne back to Sydney, our flight path this time was entirely inland and passed over Canberra and we came over Sydney at night which was a spectacular sight to see landing after 1 hour and 15 minutes of flying and landing nearly on time back at Terminal 2 where I’d left nearly 10 hours ago.
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View media item 19737Overall, I enjoyed both flights and flying with both airlines who both had friendly crews and would recommend both. Price wise JetStar was considerably cheaper than Virgin Australia about half the price at the time of booking. I’d recommend either airline to anyone and hopefully one day I'll get to fly with them again.
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View media item 19731My flight was at 08.15 (with hindsight I think I could’ve got a later shuttle) and began boarding at 07.45. JetStar are a LCC carrier like Ryanair, Wizz and EasyJet but owned by the Qantas group. 3 things I noticed that was different with them. Firstly, there was no priority boarding/speedy boarding just general boarding in 2 lines and secondly the carry-on baggage allowance was small, 7kg which included your small bag in that weight allowance. Quite a few people got stung with fines. Thirdly that they do long haul operations using 787s to Southeast Asia and Japan. Boarding was done by an airbridge at the front and steps at the rear door. I used the rear steps but unfortunately wasn’t allowed to take any photos as using devices on the apron isn’t allowed. The aircraft that was to take me to Melbourne was VH-VFI a 13-year-old A320, JetStar have an all-Airbus fleet. The cabin was in good condition, service was buy onboard but I didn’t purchase anything and the legroom was ok for what turned out to be 1 hour 8-minute flight. Our route took us over the ocean and then back inland over New South Wales, Canberra and then down to Melbourne, Victoria. The flight had some stunning views on the way down and was smooth. Only negative was that it did depart late from Sydney, well over 30 minutes and arrive late in Melbourne around 15 minutes late (10.05) which for me wasn’t too much of a problem. I do have give credit to the crew especially the head cabin crew that did the announcements and added a bit of humour to them. Overall, it was a very good flight.
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View media item 19734My return flight wasn’t until 16.30 so I had some time to kill so went plane spotting. I used the multi storey car park outside Terminal 4 which is where I’d arrived with JetStar and is part of Melbourne Airport dedicated to their domestic operations. I’d recommend using level 6 as it keeps you out of the sun. I was wary of security moving me on but one drove past and didn’t say anything. I spent well over an hour catching the movements and then headed back into the terminal.
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View media item 19738I was flying Virgin Australia back to Sydney and they depart from Terminal 3 at Melbourne Airport. Security was quick and I walked out into a food concourse which is shared with Terminal 4, got a meal deal from WH Smith and went to the gate area where I chilled out and watched the aircraft movements. There was a view of the apron down the end of the pier, and you could see part of the international terminal as well. Melbourne has a good array of international carriers to view from Asia and the Middle East as well as being served by Air New Zealand 777 and LATAM 787. Virgin Australia is more like a mainline airline than an LCC and operates an all Boeing 737 fleet. Boarding was done in 2 groups Business class and Economy X and then Economy. Front door was via a jet bridge, rear door via steps which is how I boarded the aircraft which was VH-8IG a near 2-year-old 737 MAX 8. Again, no devices were allowed to be used on the apron. I picked same seat as for my JetStar flight 22F and there was noticeably better legroom as well as in seat power in a USB port, Wi-Fi was available as well. The service was hybrid. Tea, coffee and water was available for free. Any other drinks and food were available through buy on board. We pushed back and departed Melbourne back to Sydney, our flight path this time was entirely inland and passed over Canberra and we came over Sydney at night which was a spectacular sight to see landing after 1 hour and 15 minutes of flying and landing nearly on time back at Terminal 2 where I’d left nearly 10 hours ago.
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View media item 19737Overall, I enjoyed both flights and flying with both airlines who both had friendly crews and would recommend both. Price wise JetStar was considerably cheaper than Virgin Australia about half the price at the time of booking. I’d recommend either airline to anyone and hopefully one day I'll get to fly with them again.
