In the last year I’ve been trying out both Qantas and Virgin. I simply wondered why so many of my friends were Virgin frequent flyers.

After reaching Virgin Gold thanks to a status challenge from Qantas Platinum, I’m pretty sure I’m going to continue to keep status with Qantas. Before I list the issues with Virgin, a positive note is the extra flights and lounge opening times out of Gold Coast airport. The Qantas GC lounge isn’t open for early morning Jetstar International flights and even only opens one hour before the early morning Qantas flights. But on every other note Virgin is only an average airline. My biggest complaint being the 23kg luggage limit even for Gold frequent flyers (my PA system is 32kg). But other issues are the protein bars they call meals, their inflight entertainment app is buggy, and their iOS app is buggier. Plus, the Sydney Virgin terminal, T2, is a pain compared to Terminal 3 for Qantas in Sydney.

If you’re a Virgin flyer, you might want to know about the Qantas Tier Accelerator