Virgin's cheap business class fares are no longer that cheap

[Mattg]

Is it just me, or has Virgin Australia recently increased its domestic business class fares?

They're now up at around $1,500 one-way on trans-continental to/from Perth, for example. And the cheapest CBR-MEL I can now see (booking well in advance) is $349, not $259 as it was a few months ago...

 

[Cruiser Elite]

International fares are high - what about Domestic?

J MEL-PER/PER-MEL Jan 29/Feb 02 - VA $3,500 / QF $6,200 - FFS - CX J MEL-PVG/PVG-MEL same dates $5,800 - now tell me QF don't have a serious grip of their pogo sticks?

(Mods yep I know wrong spot for this but you also know I am an important busy many with zero time to waste searching for correct thread so please at your leisure )

 

[JohnK]

Correct not just international.

Flying out to Thailand via Sydney in March. Have 2 x $50 Qantas 2020 vouchers that maybe expire next month. BNE-SYD on 25 March is $181 one way. Seriously?

 

[p--and--t]

Correct not just international.

Flying out to Thailand via Sydney in March. Have 2 x $50 Qantas 2020 vouchers that maybe expire next month. BNE-SYD on 25 March is $181 one way. Seriously?

BNE-MEL is $96 on that date (JQ). Prices are all over the shop at the moment and seem to be coming down on selected routes . BNE-CNS is $84 on that date, a couple months ago it was north of $400

 

[serfty]

Correct not just international.

Flying out to Thailand via Sydney in March. Have 2 x $50 Qantas 2020 vouchers that maybe expire next month. BNE-SYD on 25 March is $181 one way. Seriously?

MEL- BNE & vv on that day on VA can be had on many for $119

You may like to look deeper at those QF vouchers as many such expiries were extended last year

 

[tdimdad]

MEL- BNE & vv on that day on VA can be had on many for $119

You may like to look deeper at those QF vouchers as many such expiries were extended last year

If they are the standard gift vouchers, they come with a 3 year expiry as standard. Would they also have gotten some sort an extension?

 

[JohnK]

MEL- BNE & vv on that day on VA can be had on many for $119

You may like to look deeper at those QF vouchers as many such expiries were extended last year

They are the standard gift vouchers I bought for double SCs in Feb 2020 before covid hit.

But both you and @p--and--t have quoted cheaper airfares for longer trips on same day. The airfares are all over the place because Qantas have a captive market.

 

[Michenny]

International fares are high - what about Domestic?

J MEL-PER/PER-MEL Jan 29/Feb 02 - VA $3,500 / QF $6,200 - FFS - CX J MEL-PVG/PVG-MEL same dates $5,800 - now tell me QF don't have a serious grip of their pogo sticks?

(Mods yep I know wrong spot for this but you also know I am an important busy many with zero time to waste searching for correct thread so please at your leisure )

Thats bonkers considering i flew J Syd=FRA return on SIA August 28th 22 return Oct 26th for 6200 and that same trip in 23 is like 18k at least for 2ppl

 

[OZDUCK]

Thats bonkers considering i flew J Syd=FRA return on SIA August 28th 22 return Oct 26th for 6200 and that same trip in 23 is like 18k at least for 2ppl

Last year we flew SQ Perth to Frankfurt on Aug. 10 returning from Munich on 11 Sept. That cost $12,808 for the two of us in J. Currently the best SQ price around the same dates this year is $19, 832

 

[clifford]

Is it just me, or has Virgin Australia recently increased its domestic business class fares?

They're now up at around $1,500 one-way on trans-continental to/from Perth, for example. And the cheapest CBR-MEL I can now see (booking well in advance) is $349, not $259 as it was a few months ago...

No it's not just you. They have increased quite substantially, and as a result I will not be doing anything to retain my Plat membership.

In fact I won't be buying any VA tickets at all, just letting my Velocity membership fall to Gold.

I guess that won't worry them, as their business seats are still cheaper than ripoff Qantas.

 

[oz_mark]

I noticed a bump up early in the year (Rex has also bumped up its fares as well)

 

[Notyourbag]

I've noticed business fares for the east coast triangle are 10-20% more expensive in J than 2022 prices.

 

[Ade]

Looking at CBR-ADL return (with stopovers, ofcourse) in VA ... nothing less than $1000 return. Used to be $700-ish return. Can confirm that some of the fares are still in the $700 return mark with promo codes (which, the latest one, is valid until 31/03 only)

 

[justinbrett]

The curious thing is why people expected this to be ongoing.

 

[serfty]

The curious thing is why people expected this to be ongoing.

I didn't - still have 4 upgrades to allocate in the next 6 weeks.

 

[MEL_Traveller]

The curious thing is why people expected this to be ongoing.

Because they aren’t filling their business class cabins!

qantas seems to fill them with connecting pax, and upgrades. And probably politicians and C-suiters.

VA I assume is actually selling some of its seats at $349 each way on major truck routes (eg MEL-SYD and SYD-BNE). But even then I’ve only had a couple of flights that were full. The others I’ve enjoyed a spare seat beside me. And the flights that have been full have generally been after a cancellation… and flights before and after being used to accommodate displaced pax.

Rex is filling its cabins either for free, or with very cheap bids to upgrade. No spare seats there, but they’ve always filled their business cabins, even if ‘free’.

 

[PERLHR]

International fares are high - what about Domestic?

J MEL-PER/PER-MEL Jan 29/Feb 02 - VA $3,500 / QF $6,200 - FFS - CX J MEL-PVG/PVG-MEL same dates $5,800 - now tell me QF don't have a serious grip of their pogo sticks?

(Mods yep I know wrong spot for this but you also know I am an important busy many with zero time to waste searching for correct thread so please at your leisure )

I just would not give them the money ..nor QF. Blimey I am going BKK-HEL-PRG then BUD-HEL-HKG-SIN in August for 3,500 AUD all in biz using AY and CX, and for good measure, PRG-LHR-GLA-LHR-BUD in the mix for around 550 UKP all in biz.

 

[odysseus]

Well, they gave them another hike a few days back. All the $350 'cheapies' have now been removed from Fri-Sun, and now only apply Mon-Thu.

Fri-Sun prices are bumped up to $559.

These changes were also applied to business class points rewards on those days - all savers removed Fri-Sun. Now all fares are minimum 80,500 points, so 5x the cost of Qantas. Even Mon-Thu were bumped up to 48,600 points, so still 3x Qantas price now. No idea what they're thinking. Is this "wonderful?"

 

[MEL_Traveller]

When I need to travel Fri-Sun I fly Rex

 

[Ade]

When I need to travel Fri-Sun I fly Rex

I do Murray's if no QF/VA reward seats on Fri-Sun