Announcing our New Velocity Frequent Flyer Program

[TimB]

I'd like to be perfectly clear on getting the status match at the lounge.

As previously alluded to, I'm the Velocity team rep at the MEL lounge and am here to assist with the Status Match Promotion and Relaunch activities. I'll be here all of this week and possibly all of next week. Won't be here weekends I'm afraid but our lovely Lounge Angels will be more than happy to assist if you're here over a weekend. I'm situated at the service desk. Feel free to pop by and be status matched if you're passing through MEL, and i'll also be happy to answer any questions you may have about the exciting new Velocity Frequent Flyer!

For the actual card, yes, it will take up to four weeks.
But you will receive personal service and speak directly to someone very familiar with the Velocity program!

Also note that we still have our invitation open until Aug 31st for QF Platinum, Gold and Chairmans Lounge members to view our Lounges.
No need to be flying with us, just present your card and the Lounge experience (plus one guest) is yours.

I'm planning on visiting MEL later today for the purpose of getting the status match - I'm currently QF Platinum. So I should be able to:

• Enter the lounge with one guest by presenting my QF Platinum card.
• Visit Keith009 (prior to 7pm, I think he wrote in another post) at the service desk with my QF card and printout of my last QFF statement to get my status match.
• Receive a temporary Velocity Platinum card (on paper).
• As a newly-minted Velocity Platinum, take advantage of the anytime access to experience the lounge, and maybe have a quiet drink and bite to eat.

Please let me know if I've misunderstood in some way.

Thanks Virgin Australia/Velocity Frequent Flyer!

 

[JohnPhelan]

Anyway my point was more about the fact that some people will abuse a privilege and if they do that, said privilege may be revoked. So many airlines have revoked it that there must be some element of abuse going on.

The classic example was those people who were flying ex SYD to SIN/LHR with SQ, but were choosing to use the QF F Lounge at SYD international rather than the SQ lounge. So choosing to fly SQ when they could have flown QF, but still wanting to use the QF facilities because they thought the F Lounge was better. That was certainly an abuse of the privilege and is no longer possible.

(Then there's the WPs who book $39 JQ fares between SYD and MEL (domestic legs from the international terminal) and who spend hours in the F Lounge - all quite legal under the rules, but also an abuse of the privilege, IMHO).

 

[QF WP]

TimB, you've got it right. That was exactly what awilcockson did yesterday at BNE and here is a picture of his newly minted Plat card on one of these topics.

Regarding the last dot point, you also get a once-off look at The Lounge by flashing your QG Gold or QF Plat card anyway.

 

[777]

So last night I could not sleep.Got up and did my research-after sending in our status match emails.After all why look a gift horse in the mouth?
So looked at BNE-LAX J award in february 2012.
VFF-834800 points or 67070 points+$5941(insert shock smiley)
QFF-96000+$378.Had to go via SYD or MEL.
AA-62500+ <$100.
...
So at this stage I will stick to AA and mrsdrron to QFF.

Are you being deliberately very selective with your dates there?



Sorry, issues with the pic apparently. It shows 8th, 12th, 13th of Feb all offering VA J redemptions BNE-LAX at 94,100 + $348 and 25th, 27th, 29th as offering the return leg for 94,100 + $298. Sure, if you chose to do a comparison on the basis of the days when there weren't any reward seats on offer you would come up with drron's numbers but that would be comparing apples and oranges.

 

[Oneworldplus2]

The classic example was those people who were flying ex SYD to SIN/LHR with SQ, but were choosing to use the QF F Lounge at SYD international rather than the SQ lounge. So choosing to fly SQ when they could have flown QF, but still wanting to use the QF facilities because they thought the F Lounge was better. That was certainly an abuse of the privilege and is no longer possible.

I think that the F Lounge rules got changed many, many years ago. Serfty knows the dates, well before the WP ATA rules got changed.

(Then there's the WPs who book $39 JQ fares between SYD and MEL (domestic legs from the international terminal) and who spend hours in the F Lounge - all quite legal under the rules, but also an abuse of the privilege, IMHO).

Abuse of the privilege......???? And what about when you go into a regional QP an there is hardly anything to eat/drink/snack on? It's called getting even!

 

[Alanslegal]

(Then there's the WPs who book $39 JQ fares between SYD and MEL (domestic legs from the international terminal) and who spend hours in the F Lounge - all quite legal under the rules, but also an abuse of the privilege, IMHO).

$39 SYD-MEL vv is still too expensive in my books. I always look out for Tiger's sale fares and rely on Jetstar's Price Beat Guarantee

 

[TimB]

TimB, you've got it right. That was exactly what awilcockson did yesterday at BNE and here is a picture of his newly minted Plat card on one of these topics.

Regarding the last dot point, you also get a once-off look at The Lounge by flashing your QG Gold or QF Plat card anyway.

Thanks Lindsay Wilson, that's exactly the confirmation I was looking for.

Anyone else here going to be in the MEL lounge around 6:30pm tonight?

 

[drron]

Are you being deliberately very selective with your dates there?

No I wasn't i just went 6 months from todays date.however I have just finished going out further and indeed I get 94100 + $346 for VA on 27/7/12
QF JASA for the same date 96000 + $452.
Both available for many of the surrounding days.But of course on the JASA I would get SCs(180) and miles.Still better to QF.
And if a JASA available at that price the Aaward would definitely be available at 62500 miles.
OW still wins.
And just to be certain I checked with AA and I could get SYD-NRT-LAX-SYD(had to do it that way because of AAs 330 day rule) with F NRT-LAX-SYD for 180000 miles.
So still not going to swap from Aadvantage.

PS these were SYD-LAX so i could check out the F availability.

 

[nlagalle]

I think that the F Lounge rules got changed many, many years ago. Serfty knows the dates, well before the WP ATA rules got changed.

There were about 3-4 years ago when the new lounges were opened..

 

[pshepvic]

Bugger!

Imagine the surprise if that came off. The AFF Five would be history and the AFF Eighteen would have been demigods!

I'll enjoy my fame for a few more minutes then! I'm at about 14 and a half minutes by now though I think!

 

[777]

So still not going to swap from Aadvantage.

Not telling you you need to change, just that getting it wrong by a factor of about ten is a little bit wrong. It may not help the several others in this thread who are using your numbers to make their own comparisons.

Actually, i can't find 800,000+ redemptions anywhere. Where did you find them?

 

[pshepvic]

Just a thought but with all the changes today I think we are going to need a priority queue for the toaster/sandwich press for AFF members in each lounge :mrgreen:

Not today - I grabbed a beer and headed straight for the toastie machine, no queue! Being distracted with my phone I did stand there for 3 minutes wondering why it wasn't toasting, when I realised the temperature had been set to "0"...

 

[FC-]

Yes. Hopefully the Lounge Manager Annette will be on shift and be able to help you.[/

 

[QF WP]

Thanks Lindsay Wilson, that's exactly the confirmation I was looking for.

Anyone else here going to be in the MEL lounge around 6:30pm tonight?

Let us know how you get on in The Lounge!

 

[pshepvic]

As I said above, of course they have to expand. You can't have a MEL lounge with 5 people in it. I'm just a bit upset that VA are handing out Status Matches to every man and his dog from Qantas, devaluating current status held by people who earned t.

Understand this point, and to be honest I felt somewhat guilty taking the status match last year when they were being handed out. However, I was committed to flying DJ through work due to the commercial arrangements, and so whilst at that point in time I wasn't keen on flying DJ, it was going to be a necessary evil so I figured the match might make things somewhat more bearable.

Well wasn't I in for a shock - new lounges, new benefits, new FF program, new planes, new business class, should I go on? I'm now directing a significant part of my personal travel spend towards DJ, and a year ago I wouldn't have considered it. I'm almost at the point of ditching QF for my domestic travel, and will probably go through with that once DJ have a proper J class across all their aircraft. I can still make WP through OW flights , YUPPS, and worst case a NAN run if I really need to, each year without doing any more than 4 segments with QF (which would be covered by the NAN run).

I'm now sitting on 967 SCs with Velocity, earned in less than 10 months. I now pay for myself to upgrade to PE from Flexi fares for all my work flights (the value of the extra points & tax deduction means it a cheap way to get a meal and nicer seat as far as I'm concerned, not to mention the SCs). I'd say the status match certainly has paid off for Virgin, and now that I've genuinely re-qualified for Gold, and will hit Platinum on Monday via "bum on seat", I don't feel guilty at all for the status match anymore. Hopefully those who do take up this round of status make a go of it, as I think they'll be pleasantly surprised.

 

[serfty]

The classic example was those people who were flying ex SYD to SIN/LHR with SQ, but were choosing to use the QF F Lounge at SYD international rather than the SQ lounge. So choosing to fly SQ when they could have flown QF, but still wanting to use the QF facilities because they thought the F Lounge was better. That was certainly an abuse of the privilege and is no longer possible. ...

If you are referring to the Marc Newson designed First Class lounges in MEL and SYD, that is Incorrect. No any time access was available for Qantas First Class lounges by the time they opened.

I think that the F Lounge rules got changed many, many years ago. Serfty knows the dates, well before the WP ATA rules got changed. ...

LOL!

April 1 2007. The 'anytime access' rules were altered to exclude International First Class Lounges and Domestic Business Lounges from that date.¹ Notification was sent some months before.

The Marc Newson designed MEL first class lounge opened in late May 2007; SYD was a little earlier or later. The J lounges opened after April that year as well.

¹ Although I have the say the Dom J lounge enforcement was erratic.

 

[Deleted member 29185]

I can't help but feel that since Platinum and status matching was introduced. Being a gold who earned it by flying, has been a bit devalued.

YOU feel gypped?? Imagine us lot in the Gold, Gold, Gold thread, who've only just made gold (I didn't even get a single flight in as DJ top dog before being trumped by all these free-loading Plat matches)! :shock: :evil:........

said in jest of course really, I'm only gold because of the changes in SC awarding from a few months ago, so I guess I could say I'm an imposter as well (despite plenty of BIS zoo-class flying with DJ to get there). You and all the other golds/plats are only gold/plat because DJ introduced a FF program some years ago, which set it apart from TT and JQ so I guess we are all products of an evolving airline and I'm pretty bloody happy, but I share your concerns with overcrowded lounges.

If you search back to the whole changes to the way status is calculated threads of a few months ago, you'll find I was warning of that possibility back then (in fact, even as a resiged-to-the-fact silver FFer, I raised reservations that gold was made too easy to get. Now I'm a product of that "ease" of attainment, and I'm still worried. We're seeing DJ lounges becoming busy and seats fully booked. Let's hope DJ return to profit quickly and stop the SC matches to put us all back on a level playing field. (PS, like you Liam, I'll be watching the QPs. If they start emptying out, well.......who knows ........)

 

[pshepvic]

¹ Although I have the say the Dom J lounge enforcement was erratic.

I'd have to say it still is! I still haven't had anyone check if I'm actually on a flight for the day since ATA was completely removed, in either the QP or J lounges!

 

[samh004]

I can answer this for QF CL's - no they don't.

CL lounge dragons (although I wouldn't call them dragons in a nasty way) won't even let you in the door without handing over a BP.

When it's time for your flight, they come and find you and say "Afternoon Mr Simsy's Boss and Mr Simsy, here is your BP, your flight is just about fully boarded"

Interesting, I've heard differently from a former member here.

I do believe CX used to offer anytime access to Diamonds, though not sure if they still do.




 

[Deleted member 29185]

The financial reality is that VA need to bring on more flyers. The numbers are very clear, and this will help that.

For the past year or so, I personally have noticed DJ flights go from half full planes consistantly to consistantly chockers. If they aren't making money flying full, doesn't that mean price rises? J is obviously where they're placing their bets, which means a need for top tier flyers and high end corp. accounts.....hence status matches. I hope it works.

I know someone quite high up in VA and she said there is a difference between "earned" status and "gifted". Hopefully that will flow through the entire system.

I hope so too! What about life time status earned only??