VA status challenge - smart marketing

[Scarlett]

I’ve sat on my hands for a couple of days before posting this, because I did want to see if it was more than just me, but no other posts… interesting.

VA have offered me a targeted status challenge to regain WP. I was plat until some point early last year and have dropped to SG now. Have bounced around between those two levels for probably the last ten years, usually based on whether I’d taken a J long haul trip on a VA partner or some other international airline that credited elsewhere. An email appeared out of the blue; I had not requested it.

My challenge is to book and fly 200 SC worth of VA marketed & operated flights in the next four months and jump directly back up. That seems like quite a good deal as this closed thread from 2019 indicates a VA status challenge appears to be a rare beast. VA Status Match/ Challenge

Now, other key points to note here. I currently have zero VA sectors flown; need 4 to requal SG and 8 if I was looking to get back to WP. The challenge makes no mention of needing sectors, just the 200 SC. However, I and my family have 9 VA sectors booked and paid for around Xmas / NY, so they already know I’m going to reach that number before my requal. They can probably also see that with family pooling we’ll get pretty close to 1000 SCs anyway. So maybe VFF have worked out that I’ll likely qualify for a WP upgrade in the future and are attempting to get me to spend more now in the short term.

Has anyone else been a recipient of such VFF graciousness?

More details to come… (about action I’ve taken, and additional thoughts). Probably when I get some time tomorrow.

 

[vmile]

Hi Scarlett, I too received a "exclusive Status challenge to get back to Platinum",
fly 200 SC earn between 9 August and 9 November (3 months). New or existing bookings. No apparent sector credit requirement.
This past year I let my Platinum slide back to Gold, and concentrated on requalifying my wife's status to Gold. Booked a kind of status run last December (3 sectors out 2 back) in J, family pool the SCs, should have enabled my Wife's requalification to Gold (4 Sectors 400 SC).
However the wheels fell of that plan, when on our out flights, two flights were cancelled and we were sent on a direct flight. So missing Status Credits and missing Sector Credits (3 instead of 5, and you need 4 to requalify).
Getting the original Routing Credits has been an ongoing nightmare.That is still not resolved. Emails are basically ignored. You are required to ring. The Manila (I assume) call centre is not good. Platinum line help appears to now be gone in VA 2.0.
And good luck trying to get someone to sort Sector Credits out.
So with the recent Double Status Credit offer I have booked another Status run (September) which would get my wife to Platinum using the 12 month rolling qualification. So one of us would have Platinum, and we usually fly together.
Now this offer pops up out of nowhere.
The already booked status run in September will earn me 85 Status Credits (Bonus points do not count for the Status Challange). 115 Status Credits short. Sydney based, a J return Melbourne trip would only earn me 110 SCs, still 5 short. So an extra flight.
Is Platinum worth it?- access to help when you need it is nothing like it was. Benefits with Overseas partner airlines are diminished.
I am not feeling the love at the moment, and I really do not know what to do.

 

[oz_mark]

I have heard of a few people that received this. Unfortunately, I was not one of them.

 

[Scarlett]

I have heard of a few people that received this. Unfortunately, I was not one of them.

I guess they have been very targeted; likely to those they have identified may already be going to qualify anyway.

 

[oz_mark]

I guess they have been very targeted; likely to those they have identified may already be going to qualify anyway.

I guess it was tragetted, but others I know were'nt on any track to requalify. Just had been platinum pretty much from the beginning of platinum

 

[Scarlett]

In my case at least, this is why I think they’ve been particularly smart. They’ve got me to spend more $ with VA because the status challenge is for a defined period a couple of months before my requalification date. They can already see that I have forward bookings that will likely get me back to WP so what they’ll be giving to me is a status upgrade early which I’m paying for.

So, why did I react quickly to this offer? Mostly because I have a brief window where I can get away from work so I have the opportunity to do something. The other reason is that I had planned to spread the family pooled SCs from forward bookings later in the year to requal both Mrs Scarlett and I as SG. With the offer I’ll now requal WP, AND I can direct all of the future bookings to Mrs S, so she’ll go mighty close / likely achieve getting WP as well.

I consider this not only useful for 2024 where we’ll both likely be WP, but also for 2025 as we’ve now got guaranteed soft landing to SG.

So, well played VFF. I’ve just booked DPS-OOL-SYD-ADL in J to spend a week in SA. That gets me the 200SC to meet the requirements of the status challenge in one hit. During the trip I’ll login and switch around family pooling so the SC from the return leg ADL-SYD-DPS will be sent to Mrs S.

 

[Howie50]

I am a recipient of the Platinum status challenge, but I made the conscious decision to funnel my energy to my Qatar Platinum so I effectively have both QF (currently lifetime Gold) & VA covered. Not flying as much as I did and this strategy seems to work the best. Anyone else doing similar?

 

[cssaus]

I too received the targeted email.

I'm bit confused by one of the requirements that says apart from the flight having to be operated by VA (which is pretty self-explanatory), it requires the flight to be marketed by VA. Does this mean I can only purchase the ticket on the VA website or can I purchase the ticket through a TA or online with say AMEX travel?

 

[BCons]

You're not Robinson Crusoe.. seem to be quite a few of us. Problem for me is a big oseas trip right in the middle of the qualifying 3 month period. We are going with SQ and first/last legs are with VA, so I guess I get these recorded under my velocity number. So thats halfway to 200 SCs.

But I'll hv to think if an extra domestic J return (to get the rest of the SCs) is worth it. As one who flies J much more often than Y, there not a huge amount of upside from gold to plat domestically. Already hv Star alliance gold thanks to SQ status and I'd fly SQ before EY, so that negates Flounge access.

But there's always the vanity factor, a big ticket item that one!

 

[Ade]

can I purchase the ticket through a TA or online with say AMEX travel?

I'd say it won't matter where you purchase the ticket from. As long as your VFF number is in the booking, you will qualify.

 

[oz_mark]

I too received the targeted email.

I'm bit confused by one of the requirements that says apart from the flight having to be operated by VA (which is pretty self-explanatory), it requires the flight to be marketed by VA. Does this mean I can only purchase the ticket on the VA website or can I purchase the ticket through a TA or online with say AMEX travel?

It means you need to be booked on a VA number, not a codeshare number. It needs to be a VA flight number (marketed), on a VA aircraft (operated)

 

[cssaus]

It means you need to be booked on a VA number, not a codeshare number. It needs to be a VA flight number (marketed), on a VA aircraft (operated)

Thanks for the clarification.

I realised it had to be a VA flight number, I just wasn't sure if I could purchase ticket on a platform other than the VA website. I can buy the ticket on the AMEX travel website and use my soon to expire travel credit.

 

[jakeseven7]

I just wish VA2 would do something to make Platinum more worthwhile compared to Gold.

For me personally, the upgrades to J are now more hassle than worth and the rest is just crumbs, I don’t personally care about economy X seating for all the short hops I do enough to bother.

 

[cssaus]

Just by way of an update, I contacted VFF to confirm the details of the offer and to quote the reply I received:

Please be advised that if the Terms and conditions indicated that it needs to book with Virgin Australia Marketed Flight, then you will need to book it with Virgin Airline website or contact the Virgin Australia Guest Contact Centre at 13 67 89 for booking assistance and so that you will be eligible for the exclusive offer and for you to know if the flight is also eligible to earn.

 

[jumpjam]

No offer to me. Came of Platinum in Feb.

 

[Danger]

Just by way of an update, I contacted VFF to confirm the details of the offer and to quote the reply I received:

Please be advised that if the Terms and conditions indicated that it needs to book with Virgin Australia Marketed Flight, then you will need to book it with Virgin Airline website or contact the Virgin Australia Guest Contact Centre at 13 67 89 for booking assistance and so that you will be eligible for the exclusive offer and for you to know if the flight is also eligible to earn.

Sounds like a response you'd get from Qantas in Manila. "Marketed flight" has never meant 'Buy only from us'.

 

[HSB44]

Anyone received any offers to avoid dropping back from Gold to silver...?

 

[dxwell]

Getting the original Routing Credits has been an ongoing nightmare.That is still not resolved.

YEP! This has been me.
Has been absolute hell from DSC offer in Feb.. Four hour long phone calls, 2 emails with exhaustive details. Still only 80% resolved.

I do, however, give myself credit for educating multiple call centre staff on "original routing status credits".

 

[Scarlett]

A week ago I posted about this plat challenge and how it was good marketing from VA. So now, a week later, I’m sitting in the VA lounge* at DPS waiting for check in to open and by this time tomorrow the challenge will be met!

Domestic flight over to DPS was uneventful, although they charged me $6 to move to the exit row on check in. Then boarded and was the only person in the 12 overwing exit seats , so the cabin crew moved 1 person into each of the other rows of three.



* as a mid-to-low cost carrier (MTLCC), VA of course don’t have an international lounge. Instead I’m sitting in The Coffee Club waiting for check in to open. Better selection of food and drink here than any of the lounges in DPS international terminal…

 

[exceladdict]

Anyone received any offers to avoid dropping back from Gold to silver...?

not that I've seen, after all the extensions I have now dropped to silver.