Pre-cruise flights We flew V Australia from Sydney to Los Angeles. After tossing up for days about whether to book premium economy, we decided to go with regular economy and I'm glad we did. After seeing the premium economy seats, there doesn't seem to be much between those and the ones in economy. I certainly dispute V Australia's claim that its premium economy is the same as other airline's business class, not least because almost all airline's business class seats now have flatbed seats and V Australia's premium economy does not (although it does have in business class).

However, that is my only criticism of V Australia because otherwise, the flight was excellent. I chose seats as far forward as I possibly could, so we were in the front cabin of economy. There was another cabin behind with row after row of seats, but ours was quite intimate. However, it also seemed to be the cabin where those travelling with infants and children were seated so if this annoys you (or helps you!) keep this in mind. Food was great, in-flight entertainment was awesome and there wasn't one snooty flight attendant in sight. All were polite, cheerful and willing to assist (service is something QANTAS doesn't do so well).

Once in LA, we changed over to Virgin America for our flight to San Francisco. This was uneventful. Read more