+1 for Virgin Australia

I'm a gold and everytime I book a flight, I have automatically been allocated the row 3 seats. Just things like that makes me remain loyal to velocity.

Have to say, I'm not that impressed with Velocity's "treatments" for Platinums. Row 3 with reduced seat width and no easy-reach (under seat) storage has just as many minus's as the one plus of extra legroom.  Middle seats are rarely blocked as well.

My friends who fly Qantas get upgraded frequently, but in the last 100 flights, all at Flexi fares, I've ben op-up'd once.

To be honest, there isn't a single Platinum benefit that is keeping me loyal to Virgin - the staff actually are what keep me there. Have appreciated the changes to date - hoping there is something a bit more coming, though...

"My friends who fly Qantas get upgraded frequently, but in the last 100 flights, all at Flexi fares, I've ben op-up'd once."

Over the last two years, I must have flown on around 200 Qantas flights, all fully flexible Y fares, without a single op-up. These friends of yours must be doing something fairly exceptional.

I think your last paragraph sums up why I stay with Virgin. I can't see too much of a difference between the two airlines except for the service on board. Whilst not always perfect, they are human, it is a lot more agreeable on a greater percentage of the time than Qantas at the moment.

Ah, shame. I'm still waiting for QF or VA to introduce Y+ (in the American sense) onto their transcontinental flights. J is extortionate on these routes, but at the same time they're long enough that I'd be happy to pay $50ish for an extra few inches of legroom (or get it free with status...) I know that there's exit rows and so on, but these seats are very rarely still available when you book less than a week before departure...

Good to hear! Row 3 legroom is fantastic, I would never pay for it, so it's nice Virgin are keeping this as a benefit for their frequent flyers.

Great to know that they arent charging. Thing is, those rows are usually automatically allocated to higher tier frequent flyers so why should they bother charging?

As for the fact that some dont like the platinum privelages, i think VA needs domestic business lounges in the large capital cities.

Good on you, Virgin, while other airlines make a greedy money grab you just keep your frequent flyers and loyal customers happy so they keep coming back. Well done!

I've flown VX Main Cabin Select on a red eye LAX-JFK flight, and it was pretty good. I'm 6'2 so there wasn't a heap of legroom for me, but at least my knees weren't in the back of the seat in front.

The other perk of MCS that I loved was that all food/drink (including alcohol) was included in the price. And with VX's amazing ordering system, where you can order your BOB purchases from the IFE, I'd put my drinks & snacks order in and within 2-3 minutes I was being fed & vodka'd without having to hand over any dosh. This is something that DJ could do to really differentiate Flexi from Saver, and provide better value for money.

The other plus of VX is that you can upgrade from Main Cabin to Main Cabin Select 24 hours prior to flight time, then 6 hours prior from MCS to First. I'd love to see DJ implement this too, from Saver>Flexi>Business/Premium.

I am surprised that Virgin Australia wouldn't charge extra for something like this. I would pay $15 for this on a Sydney to Melbourne flight. Virgin Blue use to charge for this row and Row 15 in their so-called 'Blue Zone.' 

I'm a Platinum and I guess this seat just comes naturally. I have found on some flights that there is a cut-off underneath the purple divider so you can stretch your feet or place your bag underneath row 2 of business. I really like that service.