Virgin's telephone service was fantastic. I rang the day before to confirm the flight. Their recorded voice was insanely happy and helpful. My call was answered instantly by an equally happy person who asked for my details and informed me of everything I needed to know, even offering to email it to me (which I have to admit, never happened).
Jetstar's telephone recorded voice sounded like a bank. I had to wait half a minute (ok, that isn't very long I admit) and when answered I think it was either Bill or Ted who answered and I might have interupted him from his bong. He gave me what I needed though.
Virgin have designated seating. They prefer you check in at least half an hour before the plane takes off but officially you have up to five minutes before take off. The flight was smooth and the seats comfortable. The flight attendants and pilot were very friendly.
Jetstar is first in first served with seating. Check in closes half an hour before the flight takes off. They prefer you check in at least an hour before "to get a good seat". The first 65 to check in were let on first (that included us) and the rest after. Those with children, disabilities or "those that consider themselves elderly" are allowed to board before anyone. We got a seat half way down the plane just behind the wing doors. The Jetstar crew was less polite although not exactly rude. During the safety instructions the hostess laughed the whole way through. She lent over to us (we were right next to her) and said "I know it's a bit weird when I'm right here, you have to pretend to pay attention". Oh yay. This person is going to help me when the plane crashes? Not likely...
Both had similar refreshments at similar prices. $2.50 for a cup of tea or a can of pepsi (Jetstar) or coke (Virgin).
I have to admit that the Jetstar plane was smaller and seemed to be older than the Virgin plane. I think the Virgin plane was 3x3 although it may have been 2x3. The Jetstar was 2x3.
The Jetstar flight was extremely uncomfortable. The Virgin flight was a dream. I'd hate to base my entire experience on one "semi-regional" flight. Particularly when the Virgin flight was on the way there when we were excited, and during the day when you could stare out the window at the wonderful view, and in a bigger plane. And Jetstar was a smaller, or at least older, plane, in the dark, very late at night at the end of the holiday when we were exhausted.
But even just on service, Virgin has Jetstar beat hands down.
That said I'd rather have flown Qantas but they don't flight direct to Gold Coast anymore.
A frequently flying friend indicated that compared to Qantas they hated Virgin with a passion... We'd have flow Qantas if they're flown direct to the Gold Coast but they've handed over all of those flights to Jetstar.
We would really hate to see how busy these places would be during xmas.
However much to our surprise there were still a large number of parents with children. After a little snooping and listening in on conversations we discovered that a large number of the families seemed to be Western Australians (all of the "worlds" required you to inform the ticketer of your postcode. Those in front of us were almost always in the 6000s). WA still had school holidays. The car parks were full of QLD and NSW number plates. The were a few rare VIC number plates.
Many of the adults appeared to be New Zealanders. Lots of French too. And of course Japanese.
I suspect leaving it another couple of weeks would have reduced the children factor greatly. Not that the children were all that bad. Interestingly the crowds weren't too bad (we both hate crowds). I guess happy crowds are better than unhappying shopping crowds.
Also, watching very young children watching their very first 3D movie is extremely amusing, although the constant screams and crying got a little annoying.