I have flown Virgin Blue about 10 times over the last few years. I think that when they first started, their service was exemplary. Now, however, I have been finding that their standards have been dropping.

We reside in Perth, so most of our filghts are of the 4-5 hour duration. Some things I would be able to overlook if it was a 90 minute jaunt up the Eastern Seaboard.

Our last flight was Perth-Melbourne-Gold Coast. Virgin don't fly direct to the GC from Perth, so we had to get a connector in Melbourne.

We booked well in advance so we knew what our schedules would be and how much time we would have to wait in Melbourne for the connector (90 mins).

The Perth flight was a "Midnight Special" or the "Red Eye". We were travelling with our 2 year old son, so we had planned his rest periods accordingly. I know that it may affect airfare prices, but it would have been nice if we could have booked reserved seats way ahead of time. Trying to get online and picking 3 seats out of the way of other passengers in consideration of having a Terrible Two with us, just hours prior to departure was a little taxing. Having said this, the staff were considerate when we were about to board by asking any special needs passengers or parents with children to assemble to one side and we would be boarded first.

While waiting in Perth, we were delayed for 90 minutes. Looking up at the departures monitor, the departing time was continually pushed back in 10 minute increments. I consider that comparing something that takes 10 minutes and something that takes 90 minutes to be pretty cut-and-dry when it comes to estimating how long it is going to take, so I was not pleased with having to keep rousing a dozy child every time we thought we were going to board. Having picked up the Flu myself didn't make my mood any better.

The delay had the potential to affect our connecting flight from Melbourne to Gold Coast, so I took my concerns to the flight attendants in Perth. They assured me that we would make good time once in the air and that we should still make it. They also told me that they would notify the attendants on the connecting flight of our imminent arrival.

We finally got onboard. I informed the flight crew that we had a toddler that was tired and a father (me) that was feeling decidely under the weather. I made a request to perhaps get a drink of water once the flight had levelled out (and yes I did bring my own drinks but ran out while were waiting to board). The flight levelled out and I made my request. They told me that they were starting to serve the hot meals and that they might be a little while... huh? A drink of water, please! I finally got cranky and asked another attendant and they begrudgingly got me some water.

Being with a child, we were seated in the very last row of seats on the plane. They started serving the hot meals from the middle of the aircraft down/up-wards. The smell of hot food made me feel a little better, and I anticipated that a good bit of sustanence would help me greatly.

I have no problems with having to pay for a meal, but I just wish they could limit the transactions to cash only. It seemed as though every person on the plane was paying via credit card. The delay caused by this process was extremely frustrating for me, and I was gradually feeling worse and worse. After (no exxageration) 1 hour and ten minutes they finally got to us and guess what? No more hot food! They ran out about 6 rows before us actually.

No more sandwiches, no more muffins, the only thing they had by the time they got to us was a packet of Salt and Vinegar Pringles. I needed something in my gut so I purchased them, only to discover that Pringles, minimal water and copius amounts of plegm to not make a good mix. Good thing we were so close to the toilets!

We arrived in Melbourne with 5 minutes until our connecting flight was leaving. I asked a flight attendant at the gate if she knew where we had to go and if we would have enough time to make it, if the flight crew had been notified of our arrival. She glanced down at a sheet of paper to make herself look officious and mumble, "Sure you'll make it"...... and as we were scurrying away to a gate literally on the other side of the airport "... I think."

As we were scurrying along the walkway with a cranky child, we saw a plane leave from the gate we were attempting to arrive at and sure enough it was ours. We didn't make it. We got to the gate and I went to a desk to make arrangements to get on the next flight. A clerk printed us out new tickets and luckily the new flight was leaving from the gate we had hurried to.

About 10 minutes later, an announcement came over the loudspeakers requesting all three of us to go to the desk of the gate we had disembarked from the earlier flight. We woke up our child again and trudged all the way back. We presented ourselves to the desk and they said that they needed to issue us with new tickets for the replacement flight. Would that have been the ones that I was issued ten minutes earlier?? "Yes, that's them, Sir". No apologies, by the way.

A final trudge back to the gate, a final flight to the Gold Coast, and a final goodbye to Virgin Blue. We rebooked with Qantas for the return flight.

I know that circumstances can conspire to make some occasions truly awful, but this was enough to sour my previous experiences with Virgin Blue.

Please make up your own mind about which airline you fly with, but keep in mind that no matter how cheap your flight is, there are certain standards you should expect.

Approximate cost: $250.00