Accelerate Back to Business discounts - 15% off Economy and Business fares

[deepblerg]

I signed up to Accelerate last year and also received the multiple bewildering emails. The Accelerate portal is straight out of the 90's with horrid UX. I believe its a vanilla corporate/TA portal add-on from Sabre that VA have whitelabelled and bolted a stylesheet onto.

Once you actually figure out you are assigned 3 different login levels (Admin, Arranger, Traveller) it starts to make more sense however the onboarding is really rough/non-existant and the flight booking flow is unintuitive. Like others have said it really doesn't provide a good first impression.

First step would be to at least restyle the existing elements like what the VFF site has just gone through. At least that would be a simpler solution in the interim requiring less effort than a complete overhaul.

Here's a taste of the interface:

 

[kevrosmith]

I signed up to Accelerate last year and also received the multiple bewildering emails. The Accelerate portal is straight out of the 90's with horrid UX. I believe its a vanilla corporate/TA portal add-on from Sabre that VA have whitelabelled and bolted a stylesheet onto.

Once you actually figure out you are assigned 3 different login levels (Admin, Arranger, Traveller) it starts to make more sense however the onboarding is really rough/non-existant and the flight booking flow is unintuitive. Like others have said it really doesn't provide a good first impression.

First step would be to at least restyle the existing elements like what the VFF site has just gone through. At least that would be a simpler solution in the interim requiring less effort than a complete overhaul.

Here's a taste of the interface:

Having just booked a bunch of flights using the Back to Business offer, I eventually got accustomed to the interface. While there seems to be a few more clicks, the pages seem to load a lot quicker than the usual public/retail website. I managed to complete a booking every three minutes.

 

[CPMaverick]

Has anyone used this promotion? When do you see the discount applied?

I am new to the program, but just tried to book a 'V' fare, MEL-LAX round trip for May/June time period. It seems to fit the criteria, but I don't see a discount. Is it applied as a travel credit for future use? That isn't how I read the T&C, but maybe?

BTW the multiple crazy emails are still there as of today, total chaos when joining the program....

 

[CPMaverick]

I tried to call but waited on hold for 45 minutes so I gave up.

Just booking the cheapest fare, I've wasted enough time trying to figure this out.

 

[QF WP]

As in post #1, the promotion was valid for booking made up to 31 March. I'm not aware of any extension. I tried to look at matching a QF Business Direct fare, but similarly gave up

 

[CPMaverick]

Indeed it was but the promotion was extended to 30 April, with large banners on their website still promoting it.

https://www.virginaustralia.com/au/en/experience/corporate-travel/accelerate/

https://img.virginaustralia.com/cs/...ent/~edisp/841x200-delta-offer-accelerate.jpg

 

[QF WP]

Ah, nice to be corrected . Well I ended up making a couple of bookings - can't remember any discount (edit: they were all Elevate fares, thus no discounts).

The most frustrating thing is that although one selects seats as part of the booking, they aren't there when the booking hits my account - and must ring Guest Services only to add the seat allocation again. At least I got the AU centre and a friendly lass who arranged the seating on the 3 flights (2 x Row 7 and 1 x Row 8, so nothing lost as they were the same seats I had chosen in the booking).

 

[CPMaverick]

Ah, nice to be corrected . Well I ended up making a couple of bookings - can't remember any discount (edit: they were all Elevate fares, thus no discounts).

But Elevate fares are part of the promotion. So they should have a discount, but it doesn't appear to be working.

 

[QF WP]

Hmmm, don't remember the fare boxes showing a discount, remember the J seats showing the little red "discount" tag IIRC. Still, if I got some, better in my pocket. Changing bookings is still "refer to Customer Service" is the biggest bugbear of mine. Thank God I'm Gold, wouldn't want to be red or silver..

 

[Vic]

[-]Happy, but not happy, to read this thread. Made a heap of bookings on 3 April. No discount. Now have to contact them to chase.[/-]

No take that back - I wasn't booking to the USA.

 

[kevrosmith]

Yes, these must be the discounts you are referring to:

 

[QF WP]

Email just received. Some more discounts with booking date by 11 April. Might be able to avail myself of some of these, so long as the portal remains friendly.

 

[QF WP]

Was able to make use of this promo as it also piggybacked into the triple points promo. But the Accelerate website is tedious - the first 2 pages were fine (pax and flight details) but then the way they have the sliding (pop ups) on the pages after that (not an IT person so don't know the correct terminology), made me want to pull my hair out - I almost clicked close and was going to the QF site.

KISS principle Virgin. Learn it. Apply it.

 

[QF WP]

Another Accelerate offer on Business Class email received - 30% for most sub-classes of Business. Similar to March 15 post above.

 

[QF WP]

Another offer from Virgin:

 

[QF WP]

Latest offer from Virgin received at 1pm (pity I have all of my known travel booked already):

From now until 10 May 2019, all Virgin Australia accelerate customers will have access to up to 30% off the base fare^ of selected Australian Domestic Business and Economy Class fares booked through the Virgin Australia accelerate program.

Fare Brand Domestic​	Fare Class​	Fare Advantage Year Round Discount*​	Fare Advantage Promotional Discount^​
Business​	J, C​	0%​	30%​
Business​	D​	10%​	30%​
Business Saver​	I​	0%​	15%​
Economy Freedom​	Y, B, H, K, L​	5%​	10%​
Economy Elevate​	E, N, V, Q​	0%​	10%​

Flights must be booked through the Virgin Australia Business Portal, by calling the accelerate team on the number below (and selecting option 2) or by booking through your registered Travel Management Company. During the Promotion Period, the Fare Advantage Promotional Discount^ replaces the Fare Advantage Year Round Discount* for selected Domestic Business and Economy Class fares only. All Trans-Tasman and international fares remain unchanged.

 

[QF WP]

Got the following email from Virgin Accelerate this morning:

Virgin Australia accelerate is delighted to offer accelerate clients a 10% discount^ on all Australian domestic Virgin Australia flights.

This sale starts today and ends on 7 July, so make sure you get in quick!

Flights ticketed prior to 7 July 2019 and for travel up until 31 August 2019 will receive this 10% discount. 5 Day Advance Purchase applies.

Fare Brand Domestic​	Fare Class​	Fare Advantage Promotional Discount^​
Business​	J, C​	10%​
Business​	D​	10%​
Economy Freedom​	Y, B, H, K, L​	10%​
Economy Elevate​	E, N, V, Q​	10%​
Economy Getaway​	T​	10%​

Flights must be booked through the Virgin Australia Business Portal, by calling the accelerate team on the number below (and selecting option 2) or by booking through your registered Travel Management Company. During the Promotion Period, the Fare Advantage Promotional Discount^ replaces the Fare Advantage Year Round Discount* for selected Australian domestic Business and Economy Class fares only. All Trans-Tasman and international fares remain unchanged.

 

[QF WP]

Either it was popular and they want more revenue, or it was a flop and they really need more revenue from their corporate clients ...another email extending the offer I posted above:

Virgin Australia accelerate is delighted to offer accelerate clients a 10% discount^ on all Australian domestic Virgin Australia flights.

This sale has been extended until 14 July 2019, so make sure you get in quick!

Flights ticketed between now and 14 July 2019 and for travel up until 31 August 2019 will receive this 10% discount. 5 Day Advance Purchase applies.

Fare Brand Domestic​	Fare Class​	Fare Advantage Promotional Discount^​
Business​	J, C​	10%​
Business​	D​	10%​
Economy Freedom​	Y, B, H, K, L​	10%​
Economy Elevate​	E, N, V, Q​	10%​
Economy Getaway​	T​	10%​

Flights must be booked through the Virgin Australia Business Portal, by calling the accelerate team on the number below (and selecting option 2) or by booking through your registered Travel Management Company. During the Promotion Period, the Fare Advantage Promotional Discount^ replaces the Fare Advantage Year Round Discount* for selected Australian domestic Business and Economy Class fares only. All Trans-Tasman and international fares remain unchanged.

 

[QF WP]

Latest offer that hit my email account this morning (after booking a BNE/MEL return through them yesterday - damn, could have saved 10%) :

From now until 27 September 2019, all Virgin Australia accelerate customers will have access to up to 15% off the base fare^ of selected Australian Domestic and International Business and Economy Class fares booked through the Virgin Australia accelerate program. Fares are valid for travel between 1 October 2019 and 15 December 2019.

Fare Brand Domestic​	Fare Class​	Fare Advantage Year Round Discount*​	Fare Advantage Promotional Discount^​
Business​	J, C​	0%​	10%​
Business Saver​	I​	0%​	10%​
Economy Freedom​	Y, B, H, K, L​	5%​	10%​
Economy Elevate​	E, N, V, Q​	0%​	10%​
Economy Getaway​	T​	0%​	10%​
Fare Brand International - New Zealand​	Fare Class​	Fare Advantage Year Round Discount*​	Fare Advantage Promotional Discount^​
Business​	J, C​	10%​	15%​
Business Saver​	D​	10%​	15%​
Economy Freedom​	Y, B, H, K​	8%​	15%​
Economy Elevate​	L, E, N, V, Q​	5%​	15%​
Economy Getaway​	T​	5%​	15%​
Fare Brand International - Hong Kong​	Fare Class​	Fare Advantage Year Round Discount*​	Fare Advantage Promotional Discount^​
Business​	J, C​	10%​	15%​
Business​	D​	10%​	15%​
Business Saver​	I​	10%​	15%​
Economy Freedom​	Y, B, H, K​	10%​	15%​
Economy Elevate​	L, E, N, V​	5%​	15%​
Economy Getaway​	Q, T​	5%​	15%​
Fare Brand International - USA​	Fare Class​	Fare Advantage Year Round Discount*​	Fare Advantage Promotional Discount^​
Business​	J, C​	10%​	15%​
Economy Freedom​	Y, B, H, K​	10%​	15%​
Economy Elevate​	L, E, N, V​	5%​	15%​

Flights must be booked through the Virgin Australia Business Portal, by calling the accelerate team on the number below (and selecting option 2) or by booking through your registered Travel Management Company. During the Promotion Period, the Fare Advantage Promotional Discount^ replaces the Fare Advantage Year Round Discount* for selected Domestic Business and Economy Class fares only.
Kind regards
The Virgin Australia accelerate team

 

[Warks]

I've got another one of these 15% off deals. I haven't used Accelerate for so long I couldn't remember my username or password. Of course I can try and retrieve my password but that relies on my knowing my username which I have also forgotten. Not sure how I can check. Is the username something assigned like FF number, email or something you make up yourself?