Unwritten VA Platinum benefits?

[Silvia]

Domestically though I've noticed no difference, however, the phone staff are top notch as I've even booked the wrong date once and they changed and fixed for free after I called them minutes later.

If you do it under 24 hours, any airline would fix it for free. That's not a Platinum perk

 

[henrus]

If you do it under 24 hours, any airline would fix it for free. That's not a Platinum perk

Even with no fare difference. The day I was supposed to book was around $40 more expensive but I wasn't asked to pay that difference.

 

[Silvia]

Even with no fare difference. The day I was supposed to book was around $40 more expensive but I wasn't asked to pay that difference.

I had a similar issue when booking with QF on a DSC promo. It was slightly more expensive but was changed and no extra fee for change or fare difference and I’m gold with them. I’d be hesitant to say it’s a Plat benefit

 

[N860CR]

Back in the Virgin Blue days, I was Gold very early in the piece and then one of the earlier Platinums. Back then, I'd almost always end up seated in the "red seats" (was it called Premium Economy... can't remember) and all drinks/snacks were handed over free of charge. More often than not, the CSM would approach me before takeoff and ask what I wanted. It was a nice perk, but seemed to die off after the rebranding.

 

[Muppet501st]

Back in the Virgin Blue days, I was Gold very early in the piece and then one of the earlier Platinums. Back then, I'd almost always end up seated in the "red seats" (was it called Premium Economy... can't remember) and all drinks/snacks were handed over free of charge. More often than not, the CSM would approach me before takeoff and ask what I wanted. It was a nice perk, but seemed to die off after the rebranding.

i was also a WP after its inception, and i remember i was in row 3A, 2 shadows, rest of the plane was chockers. I overheard 3D ask the FA if they could move to 3C. The FA then asked me if it was ok if 3D moved into 3C ! the good old days

 

[ozstamps]

Domestically though I've noticed no difference, however, the phone staff are top notch as I've even booked the wrong date once and they changed and fixed for free after I called them minutes later.

If you do it under 24 hours, any airline would fix it for free. That's not a Platinum perk

ANY airline woud fix it for FREE??

Boy have you got some very rude shocks ahead of you, in the airline world.

 

[Saab34]

Tiger and Jetstar won’t refund. Family death would be the only reason, even then probably only a credit. What irkes me is when those two cancel a flight and only offer a credit.

Only place where you will find this law is in the US, all carriers must offer refund on non-refundable fares with 24hrs of booking, at least 7 days out. Even the bottom feeders like Spirit.

 

[Silvia]

ANY airline woud fix it for FREE??

Boy have you got some very rude shocks ahead of you, in the airline world.

Dont need to respond so hostile. I probably should have referred about full carriers, most would. Obviously LCC is a different story, but you are missing my point, this is not a Platinum benefit.

 

[Jack_OC]

Well, not an unwritten rule, but this past week I had a flight from CBR. Arriving in to CBR (from another flight) much earlier than anticipated. Checked on the mobile app and there were seats available in an earlier flight, so rocked up to the lounge and asked whether I could 'fly ahead'. Lounge lady said there were no seats! I double-checked the mobile app and went back to the counter about 10 minutes later. Another lady was there and said she could not move my flights and "fly ahead" was only possible by calling Guest Services.

I called guest services and successfully changed the flight to the earlier one, and as it was within one hour of the flight, asked me to go back to the counter to check in (they also emailed me a copy of the updated ticket with the new flight number).

Went back to the counter and told the lady at the counter about the changed flight and asked to check in. She was very upset about the changed and told me they should not have done that (she said because the flight was full!!) and I "must" travel on the original flight. She then proceeded to move me back to the original flight and gave me new boarding passes (this is the same lady who had told me earlier that she could not move my flights). And of course the seat I had booked weeks earlier had now gone...

Just to be clear, are you Platinum? And were you travelling on an Elevate fare? If so, Fly Ahead is a published benefit that you were entitled to, and you most certainly don’t need to phone up to avail of that benefit - the Lounge staff do this all the time. In fact most afternoons there is a queue of people getting this done at any given time!

If you were on a Getaway fare though, you should not have been entitled to Fly Ahead. If that was the case though, they should just have said that - this has happened to me several times when I’ve chanced my arm (or simply not remembered what fare category I had booked). Saying the flight is full when it wasn’t and that you had to call Guest Services is just bizarre!

 

[serfty]

"Fly ahead" has had some changes over the last year or so.

It was originally to any flight with an available seat in the same cabin then changed over a year ago to being both unavailable for "Getaway" fares and the booked fare bucket had to be available in the new flight.

This has been relaxed somewhat recently and it is now non "Getaway" fares with "available seats in the same cabin as originally booked".

 

[ozstamps]

If you do it under 24 hours, any airline would fix it for free. That's not a Platinum perk

Dont need to respond so hostile. I probably should have referred about full carriers, most would. Obviously LCC is a different story, but you are missing my point, this is not a Platinum benefit.

It is not 'hostile' it is the real world.

Ma and Pa Kettle of no status, booking a cheapie sale fare at 10am today and phoning at 9am tomorrow on Virgin or Qantas to demand they can cancel it for full no penalty refund, would like to be a phone call to listen in to. Will NEVER occur is my guess.

 

[Silvia]

Silvia said: ↑
If you do it under 24 hours, any airline would fix it for free. That's not a Platinum perk



It is not 'hostile' it is the real world.

Ma and Pa Kettle of no status, booking a cheapie sale fare at 10am today and phoning at 9am tomorrow on Virgin or Qantas to demand they can cancel it for full no penalty refund, would like to be a phone call to listen in to. Will NEVER occur is my guess.

Do you think your comment of "Boy have you got some very rude shocks ahead of you, in the airline world" was necessary? I don't need to let you know how much I've travelled, but trust me, not my first rodeo. I would appreciate that you avoid sarcastic comments, we are all here to make a point and share knowledge, not to tell people off.

Not sure of VA, but with QF, even some Latin American carriers if you call within 24 hours, regardless of status, they will change it with no fee. And as another member indicated US carriers also do. And again, missing the point of why initially this comment was made. This is a perk that would be offer by several airlines not precisely to their top tier status holders, but more as a ticket issue policy and change.

 

[waratahbay]

Hi all

I’m about to hit VA Platinum for the first time. There’s all the obvious benefits but I was wondering if there are any unwritten benefits. Eg on QF long haul I often notice QF Platinum+ members getting business class amenities when seated in Economy. Is there anything like that with VA? Or anything else I should know about?

Cheers =)

I have been Velocity Platinum for 4 years. Last year I secured a couple of hundred more tier credits than I needed to retain Platinum. VFF gave my domestic partner a fully-functioning Platinum membership for free (which will then scale down to gold and bronze over the years).

 

[Jack_OC]

I have been Velocity Platinum for 4 years. Last year I secured a couple of hundred more tier credits than I needed to retain Platinum. VFF gave my domestic partner a fully-functioning Platinum membership for free (which will then scale down to gold and bronze over the years).

Do you literally mean a couple of hundred more? I.e. you only got 1,000 SCs and they let you gift Platinum status to your partner? If so that's incredible.

I have also been Velocity Platinum for over 4 years, and I have got enough SCs to gift Gold/Platinum to wife a few times, but only based on the written benefit where you get to gift Gold when you get 500 more than you need to retain (i.e. 1,300 in total), and gift Platinum when you get 1,000 more than you need to retain (i.e. 1,800 in total). They have never allowed me to gift Gold or Platinum without meeting the written criteria.

 

[Blinky]

I have been gold on and off for many years but only recently Platinum and likely to maintain it.

There have been times when as a Gold when I unsuccessfully requested entry into the Lounge even though my next flight was with Qantas (but the next leg was Virgin). Earlier this week I tried it again in a non-capital city lounge and showed my Platinum card. I was asked when my Qantas flight departed. It was only an hour away, and I was allowed entry.

I won’t name the lounge and know this is no set practice, but I’m certain my Platinum status did the trick.

 

[Blinky]

Wow I forgot about the gifting of a card to a partner. I’m over 1300 SC, so now I can get my wife a Gold? That will make a huge difference as we are starting to travel together a lot and the points multiplier will be great.

 

[grubbidok]

If you do it under 24 hours, any airline would fix it for free. That's not a Platinum perk

VA don't do it for 24 hours, it's only a 4 hour window (if memory serves). No benefit for being a WP on this either.

The single item that has pissed me off as a WP member more than anything else was when I booked a flight in the late evening, for a flight about 2mo away. I realised in the morning it was the wrong date (i.e. about 12hrs later) and VA charged me substantially to change it. I thought as a WP there may be flexibility, but none to be had. One of the few instances I've made a formal complaint (about the policy), one that has obviously fallen on deaf ears.

No idea why they refuse to budge on this issue. QF have gone to 24 hours. 24 hours is pretty much industry standard (even among many LCCs). Not only would they not budge for a WP, but they seem to want to continue and defend a policy that is definitively one of the worst among all global airlines - it's not even close to being acceptable in the modern airline industry.

 

[Muppet501st]

Wow I forgot about the gifting of a card to a partner. I’m over 1300 SC, so now I can get my wife a Gold? That will make a huge difference as we are starting to travel together a lot and the points multiplier will be great.

Depends- if you maintained WP 800sc, and then made the additional 500scs, then yes you have 12 months from that time, to gift SG to anyone.
If you just made WP- 1000sc, you would then need to achieve an additional 800sc to maintain WP then an additional 500sc to gift SG. ( basically in your first year of WP- you would need to earn 2300sc to gift SG )

 

[QF WP]

Getting back on topic , I don't recall any unpublished benefits as a VA Platinum (I will sometime soon get back there again). Certainly there are plenty of published benefits for Plats, many of us have used them (I particularly used "Fly ahead"with the caveat that seating in Plat rows was not a given).

 

[CPMaverick]

Dont need to respond so hostile. I probably should have referred about full carriers, most would. Obviously LCC is a different story, but you are missing my point, this is not a Platinum benefit.

So you are implying this is a VA benefit? Free cancellations within 24 hours? Please point to the policy. I've not had to cancel anything within 24 hours before. But knowing that I can do it for free would make a difference to how quickly I book sale fares.