Agoda woes already

[jad01]

Just spotted a problem with the Agoda Hotel booking links

If you book via virginaustralia.com home page it takes you to the Agoda site and allows you to add Velocity membership.
However, if you follow the link from the Hotels earn page of the Velocity website it doesn't allow membership to be added.

I have sent an online feedback form reporting this however I know that I will get some pep talk of how maybe I was a retard and did something wrong.
I followed the Velocity link and despite it being their error I know they wont honor the 6,000 points down the drain.
:-(
JASON

 

[notzac]

I just had this exact issue. Apparently you only get to enter your Velocity number for pre-paid rates -- if the rate you select is marked as "Free Cancellation" (a.k.a., pay at the hotel), you don't get to enter your Velocity number. I'm still trying to work out how you can then claim the points..

 

[erkpod]

I booked 7 days for Vegas on the weekend. I went into it via the VA site with no problem putting my VFF number in. The room had free cancellation, also.

 

[jad01]

Well I received a response from the Platinum support service which basically implied I am an idiot and used the wrong link and blah blah about terms and conditions.

They need to explore the link on their website rather than give me a lecture, if you follow these links and tell me there's no option to add velocity details on the personal info page.

Go to the Velocity website > Earn > Hotels > Book Now (under the Agoda banner) and randomly pick any hotel you'll see no option to add Velocity details

However I have since discovered that if you go to the Virgin Australia website and click on HOTELS, it does allow Velocity details to be entered.

So yes Velocity I was a dope for booking a Velocity hotel partner via the Velocity website and expecting it to award me Velocity points.

JASON

 

[erkpod]

Hopefully they'll sort out the problem so you can go in via both the VA & VFF sites.

I now have their app which will be good for looking at prices on my phone. Am I expecting too much to book via the app & put my VFF number in? Let's see!

 

[kyle]

I made a booking a few weeks ago by clicking via Velocity Rewards >> Earn >> Hotels and I got the box asking for my Velocity number.

 

[ChrisFlyer]

I checked the link just then as you described (Velocity website > Earn > Hotels > Book Now (under the Agoda banner)), and it does indeed go to the Velocity booking page (with the option to enter a Velocity number during the booking process):

If this was an issue, it seems to have been fixed.

 

[notzac]

Nope, still don't get asked for my Velocity number. At what stage of the booking process do you get asked for it -- before or after you enter CC details?

 

[jad01]

It should ask for Velocity details when you enter personal details such as name, email etc.
However that only works via the Virgin Australia site but not via the Velocity links.
So if you get to the personal info step of your booking and there is no Velocity box, then if you proceed they wont honor points as I was informed today.

I have taken screen caps of each step and going to send that back to Velocity and rub their nose in it after they suggested I made the mistake.

JASON

 

[Blackswan]

Well I received a response from the Platinum support service which basically implied I am an idiot and used the wrong link and blah blah about terms and conditions.



JASON

You got a response that quickly from VA!?!?!

 

[notzac]

How *very* curious.

When I search for hotels in Dublin from the link on the Velocity website, it gives me 219 hotels for the dates I'm searching - with no option to enter a Velocity number during the booking process.

When I search for hotels in Dublin from the link on the Virgin Australia website, I only get 16 hotels, but I do get the option to include a Velocity number. Of course, the property I want to stay at isn't in the list of 16 hotels

From the posts above and from my own communication with Agoda, neither VA nor Agoda seem to have any idea what's going on. I suspect I shouldn't be surprised..

 

[ChrisFlyer]

Hmm... this is interesting!

I just used the Velocity link again, and again the Velocity box appeared (so no issues on my end).

When I first made a VA/Agoda booking, I'll admit to missing the Velocity box - and didn't realise until after I'd made the reservation. Fortunately, it was a free cancellation, so I cancelled and repurchased (to add the Velocity number).

I'm not saying that I doubt your issues, but to perhaps help others find the Velocity box (to prevent the same mistake that I made), it is at the VERY bottom - sneakily below the 'Continue' button:

 

[bass_ke]

Aye, I went through the velocity website and was able to enter my VFF number at the personal details stage.

No stays have credited yet, although the first qualifying stay was only last night!

 

[grubbidok]

My major Agoda woe is that I have never found it to be competitive on prices when I've tried to make bookings, not once ever and not even close. It may be the specifics of my requirements but it does mean I'm not even bothering to look through Virgin for hotels anymore.

 

[clarkkent]

My major Agoda woe is that I have never found it to be competitive on prices when I've tried to make bookings, not once ever and not even close. It may be the specifics of my requirements but it does mean I'm not even bothering to look through Virgin for hotels anymore.

Interesting, in my experience Agoda has tended to be consistently the best for mid-range rooms in Asia (if only by a few cents - seemed to me they were gaming the comparison sites), but I've not tried since the Velocity tie up. Are the rates higher through the Virgin portal? I remember the old HotelClub portal was not competitive against the proper HotelClub site during sales.

As another possible wrinkle, I know for many of the free-cancellation rooms in Europe, Agoda actually acts as a front for booking.com - perhaps these rooms are not part of the Velocity tie up? Might explain the Dublin discrepancy above.

 

[bcworld]

Just another couple of comments on this.

I used the link from Velocity and sure enough got the option to enter a Velocity number - this is on a prepaid but free cancellation rate by the way.

I then used the link at the end of the booking process to book another hotel and this time around no field to enter VFF number...so I would say the token drops out somewhere along the way. I killed that session and went back in via the Velocity link. It might be easy to overlook this so beware.

Another thing I noticed is that, having previously used agoda it adds my account number to the confirmations based on using the same email address. Does anyone have any experience whether the addition of a Velocity number will automatically override the standard Agoda rewards earning? The T&Cs suggest that is what should happen but I just wonder if it does in practice?

 

[kyle]

My only complaint with Agoda is that it is not a classified as a travel agent, so I don't get 2x points on my Amex Reserve.

 

[samas]

The other day I submitted a missing points claim for a stay on July 19-21 (booked in the first week of July).
MY velocity number did show up when I clicked through the VA website when booking.

Hopefully the retro claim is processed painlessly!

 

[bcworld]

Another thing I noticed is that, having previously used agoda it adds my account number to the confirmations based on using the same email address. Does anyone have any experience whether the addition of a Velocity number will automatically override the standard Agoda rewards earning? The T&Cs suggest that is what should happen but I just wonder if it does in practice?

Just adding to this. Those bookings which I made with the Velocity number added are showing with pending Agoda rewards points when logging in to Agoda rewards...so I am very skeptical that this will pan out with the points posting to Velocity.

 

[erkpod]

When are Agoda points added to your VFF account? Monthly or after a stay?