Amex “refreshing” Velocity Platinum Card

[Happy Dude]

Except it's not full lounge access
Max two hours before flight.
No guests.
No arrival access.
Not for additional card holders

Ah ok, so not full access relative to others. To be fair though, other than no guest, not huge points of difference for many. Still better than limited to the 2 x one-time passes.

A possible issue could be a >2 hr connection. Wonder how they'd handle that? We may see a "VA lounge allowed/denied me entry" type thread.

 

[blackcat20]

Hmmmm. Finally received the email. They refer to my year ticking over in Feb which is definitely not the case (it's actually June). They'd better not be charging me a full fee after just seven months.

 

[ols]

Hmmmm. Finally received the email. They refer to my year ticking over in Feb which is definitely not the case (it's actually June). They'd better not be charging me a full fee after just seven months.

"As part of these new and updated benefits, your annual Card fee is increasing to $440 on your next Card membership anniversary, after 2 February 2025."

So it looks like if your renewal is before 2nd Feb next year it will be $375.

 

[Ozymandias]

"As part of these new and updated benefits, your annual Card fee is increasing to $440 on your next Card membership anniversary, after 2 February 2025."

So it looks like if your renewal is before 2nd Feb next year it will be $375.

Damn, mine's on the 5th. Rough.

 

[GSP]

I've been a holder of this card for a few years and also received the email. My 5c

- The $375 to $440 increase I'm not happy about.
- The tiered SC bonus was irrelevant as I already received the 100SC due to my spend. SC aren't also that important as now not flying as much.
- I've been Platinum/Gold for 10 years, but have just dropped back to Silver (as mentioned not flying much), so previously the 2 lounge passes were not worth much, but now Silver a lounge pass is a good thing (as others have mentioned, not sure how they would police the restrictions). BUT, only me going in is not great when I have family members in tow.
- The 2 Amex Centurion Lounge passes I used always (with bringing family along) that are going is not good at all. Virgin don't have anyway to use a lounge for international travel, so now this is gone, I have to rely on my Dragon Pass entries from another credit card.
- The points earn is quite good, but I thought they could have been a bit more generous given the fee increase.
- The "free" flight is OK, but as others have mentioned, it has to be a rewards flight so highly restrictive.

In short, it has come down to $65 extra for permanent domestic lounge pass vs losing the 2 International lounge passes. Given I already had 2 domestic lounge passes from this card (plus the 2 from now being Silver), I don't think I'll frequent the lounge too often so I'll be worse off as I valued the International lounge access.

p.s I did have to laugh when they said in their spiel about the lounge access "With this new benefit you can step away from the airport crowds to enjoy all the Virgin Australia lounge experiences like barista coffee, healthy snacks, and more".............what to step into an even more crowded area like the Virgin Lounge.

 

[MooTime]

Current holder of this plat Amex.

Not happy with the refresh.

Have status with VA for now which'll lapse in 2 years.
The annual VA lounge perk useless as have family. It only includes card holder, no guests.
The loss of Centurion lounge for our annual o/s trip is a kick in the guts & all but assured the card in the cancel prior to next AF category.
A supposed premium AMEX card without a single entry into the AMEX own lounge.... Really!


So I'm paying $440 for a return flight.

No thanks.

 

[ols]

Been waiting for the card enhancement as have a couple of friends and family wanting to play the points game and have held them off till the "enhancements"
For the time I have spent educating them they were more than happy to use my referral to get the card.
Only able to refer to an Explorer card on the website.
I hope this is not a permanent thing.