Almost had enough. Is VA flight service sliding?

[grubbidok]

The earn's not that great on VA I agree, but I've had much better success in actually finding rewards on VA, especially closer to the time. A QF reward is all well and good, but only if you can find one.

I've also found the 1 QF point = 1 VA point a bit misleading. Half the time the fees on QF cost nearly as much as the fare would have anyway. Not exactly value, as the real cost is much higher. I've found VA are far more 'open' with what rewards will cost. On balance even though it's much easier to rack up QF points, the 'redeeming power' of both programs is probably quite equal. I'm always gob-smacked people value QF points so high and VA so low, and seem to forget about taxes, fees and charges in the equation.

FWIW though, I've always used Y rewards so, so that may skew my view, as I realise most AFFers focus on J rewards. I do that I can take Mrs Grubbidok to exotic places to reward her for me being away so much for work, and we can do that more often in Y than in J. We don't care if the Y seat is cough, it's a holiday or time together away we'd not have had otherwise, and we get to spend the money on more enjoyable things at the other end.

But even as a non-regular VA flyer, I'd amassed enough points to get 5 return BNE-SYD flights in a row (including all taxes) at a time my consulting business was in a rough patch last year but I still had to regularly meet clients. I was glad to be able to spend the cash elsewhere where it was needed *cough* massive tax bill and fine cos my (former) accountant was an idiot *cough*.

We were able to book BNE-SYD-EZE-SYD-BNE flights for our honeymoon on QF as well (though I suspect they were discounted and only available as QF had announced closure of the route, and we still paid over $1k in 'charges'). We've also been to Vanuatu and KL on VA on points. And countless domestic destinations on both. Sometimes even just a weekend away is nice. VA's have also been particularly useful for finding decent-priced rewards for last minute emergencies to fly up to relatives (or fly them to us), QF not so useful.

None of these we could have done without either QF or VA being the way they were. I always think of them as bonuses. Malleable bonuses yes, but when you start to think of them as expectations they get a little less enjoyable.

Personally though I do have to admit that a big factor in my decision to come to VA were the large fees QF now places on reward redemptions, which meant I had to fork more of my *actual* money (i.e. not my bonus imaginary FF money) on flights, which made our getaways less affordable and therefore less enjoyable. I think people forget that when they place the QF program on such a high pedestal.

 

[anat0l]

Personally though I do have to admit that a big factor in my decision to come to VA were the large fees QF now places on reward redemptions, which meant I had to fork more of my *actual* money (i.e. not my bonus imaginary FF money) on flights, which made our getaways less affordable and therefore less enjoyable. I think people forget that when they place the QF program on such a high pedestal.

I wonder if they do forget it, because we often complain about it.

That is mainly why QF Y awards are not where it is at, especially long haul due to the fuel surcharges. Sometimes in those cases it's better just to pay the cash fare right up. Or have one award and one cash fare. When you have two of you travelling, the value of the somewhat inferior redemption goes up due to the absolute amount of cash you are saving.

VA long haul international rewards only make sense on EY, because VA charge fuel surcharges. I'm not sure about short haul international (e.g. New Zealand, Pacific Islands) - perhaps they don't collect fuel surcharges on these, with the resulting smaller "fees". But when VA charge fuel surcharges just like QF, then we're back on an even playing field, save for a handful of points.

There are also fees for telephone, credit card etc. but the credit card differential is only $5 per passenger, and in many cases you do not need assistance on the phone to book awards.

Certainly VA needs less points for most awards, although some are more expensive, e.g. SQ, HA, NZ on long haul.

I'm hoping that when QF open up awards on EK operated flights, they will not impose fuel surcharges on them (as EK does not impose such surcharges), which will make some redemptions even in Y attractive.


I have to say we've dragged this topic off the original track, which was about someone who was fed up with VA's current service standard. Suffice to say the OP seems to imply there was a bad track record (recently, anyway) which is making them reconsider carriers. Either that or the bumps associated with the Sabre transition have exacerbated the stuff ups...