Anytime Lounge Access Finishing? [Yes, from 15Aug12]

[markis10]

Cannot help feeling the leg up DJ got when QF let ATA go has just been reversed!

 

[AaronBradford]

I will also freely admit that I have dropped in for some plane watching and a few glasses of wine after work on a Friday when the weather has been particularly nice - but that's only been a handful of times (~4 in the past year). Living in an inner-city suburb with some great small bars as close as 200m from my house means that there's many other places I'd rather spend my non-flying time

Same for me, and a few times to see off/meet with family and friends. I'm also planning on moving much closer to the airport ... maybe they caught wind of that hehe.

Honestly, I'm not going to complain about it too much, as it's been a pretty awesome perk over the last year (one that most others don't offer), but it sure is a wee bit disappointing. So ... anyone up for a SYD wake?

 

[anat0l]

Exactly one year huh!
Just found this old thread http://www.australianfrequentflyer....in-australia-anytime-lounge-access-31693.html
Planned right from the start, that thread was started 22 July 2011, when was it released we are bludging freeloaders and no longer welcome, 22 July 2012. Coincidence, dont think so.

There were a lot of likes on the OP of that thread which simply stated, "QF had taketh; VA had giveth." Oh well, if anything lounge-wise a VA Gold is still doing a bit better than a QF Gold.

Still pretty cool heads here. When QF withdrew ATA there were metal (or plastic, whatever was available at the time) knives drawn out and we didn't hear of the end of it for about a year or more. This will simply disappear into the ether without much of a bitter taste.


So just to confirm: is it arrivals access or same day travel access? That is, if I fly BNE-SYD, I can use the lounge in BNE prior to my flight, then the one in SYD after I touch down. However, if I then go to a meeting, come back some hours later and fly SYD-ADL on JQ, do I get access (if I am a Gold or Platinum)?


An active QF Platinum can confirm or deny this, but the way I read the current QF access rules, as long as a WP has flown or will be flying QF, JQ or oneworld on that day, they can access the domestic lounges (either type). (Saying that, there appears to be a conflict between the Qantas Club access rules page (Eligibility and Access to The Qantas Club lounges) and the Platinum benefits page (Frequent Flyer - About the Program - Platinum Benefits - Platinum)). I can't tell whether the new VA Gold and Platinum access rules are a mirror of this privilege, or it specifically only applies to arrival off a flight (viz. reasonable time after arriving off an eligible flight).

 

[Ewing]

Same for me, and a few times to see off/meet with family and friends. I'm also planning on moving much closer to the airport ... maybe they caught wind of that hehe.

Honestly, I'm not going to complain about it too much, as it's been a pretty awesome perk over the last year (one that most others don't offer), but it sure is a wee bit disappointing. So ... anyone up for a SYD wake?

Well I'll be working out of Macquarie Park from next week so it would have evened itself out

I could be persuaded to take part in one last ATA visit to the SYD lounge! (heck, if it wasn't raining I'd be tempted to go after work today)

 

[trippin_the_rift]

In this video: Interview: Virgin Australia chief executive John Borghetti

JB talks about the 'halo effect'. VA having perceived benefits like ATA is exactly an example of this in action, adding millions$ of goodwill to the bottom line.

Business undergrads take note: customer perception is 100% of your goodwill.

 

[Justinf]

So just to confirm: is it arrivals access or same day travel access? That is, if I fly BNE-SYD, I can use the lounge in BNE prior to my flight, then the one in SYD after I finish. However, if I then go to a meeting, come back some hours later and fly SYD-ADL on JQ, do I get access (if I am a Gold or Platinum)?

Bloody good question. Technically, the answer would be yes, as you would hold a BP for same-day travel.
It would be good to have this confirmed though.
Technically the same could apply in reverse. If I am flying JQ fromMEL-SYD but returning on VA on the same day and I do online checkin and print out my VA BP the night before, tecnically (well, not technically, I do) I have a BP that is for travel with VA on that day. Do I get to access the Lounge before my JQ flight in MEL?

 

[kamchatsky]

Well I did the poll at AUSBT and looks like majority agrees with shutting out ATA:

Should Virgin Australia axe unlimited lounge access?

Yes: the lounge is there for Virgin flyers, not freeloaders 58.39% (94 votes)


No: it's an appealing and useful perk that should remain 41.61% (67 votes)


Total Votes: 161​

 

[dajop]

Minor, thing, but I was just thinking this could still be an OK arrival lounge access perk (for shower) after some long haul flights, but unfortunately there's only a couple of flights that meet the "same day" BP criteria, and that excludes all LAX and AUH flights, and cooincdentally excludes overnight flights on SQ from SIN into the two lounge locations where international/domestic under the one roof (MEL,ADL)! However could be used on certain overnights from SIN to SYD, PER & BNE (as some leave just after midnight).

I can see the reason for this, but I thought a logical step would be to restrict to Platinums only. and really that would not have caused too much bad feeling, if any. I guess take the hit all at once, and the bad news out of the way and move on.

 

[trippin_the_rift]

Well I did the poll at AUSBT and looks like majority agrees with shutting out ATA:

Yes: the lounge is there for Virgin flyers, not freeloaders 58.39% (94 votes)


No: it's an appealing and useful perk that should remain 41.61% (67 votes)


Total Votes: 161​

Poorly worded question which is clearly weighted towards the 'Yes' response. Nobody wants to be associated with being a 'freeloader', and people don't tend to think deeply about their true thoughts when responding to a quick poll like that.

"Should airlines give any time access to their top frequent flyers?" is a fairer question.

 

[medhead]

Still pretty cool heads here. When QF withdrew ATA there were metal (or plastic, whatever was available at the time) knives drawn out and we didn't hear of the end of it for about a year or more. This will simply disappear into the ether without much of a bitter taste.

As I might have already mentioned up thread QF removal was a very different situation with different dynamics. Those QFF people who flew enough to have QFATA, and also have to use it on the rare occasion they were flying with other airlines, faced the prospect of starting again with Velocity. (fortunately DJ were willing to offer personal status matches at that stage) [The length of that previous thread also wasn't helped by a number of people deciding their best contribution was to call those affected a selfish, arrogant mob of whinging, freeloaders.]

This time around I'd suggest that a large number of those people previously affected have now got dual lounge access along with dual status. They've protected themselves against the removal of DJATA. I hardly think such people are going to drift back to QF, having got into a dual situation, over ATA.


Sent from the Throne

 

[kamchatsky]

Poorly worded question which is clearly weighted towards the 'Yes' response. Nobody wants to be associated with being a 'freeloader', and people don't tend to think deeply about their true thoughts when responding to a quick poll like that.

"Should airlines give any time access to their top frequent flyers?" is a fairer question.

Just for the record I have added the question from AUSBT:

Should Virgin Australia axe unlimited lounge access?​

 

[anat0l]

As I might have already mentioned up thread QF removal was a very different situation with different dynamics. Those QFF people who flew enough to have QFATA, and also have to use it on the rare occasion they were flying with other airlines, faced the prospect of starting again with Velocity. (fortunately DJ were willing to offer personal status matches at that stage) [The length of that previous thread also wasn't helped by a number of people deciding their best contribution was to call those affected a selfish, arrogant mob of whinging, freeloaders.]

This time around I'd suggest that a large number of those people previously affected have now got dual lounge access along with dual status. They've protected themselves against the removal of DJATA. I hardly think such people are going to drift back to QF, having got into a dual situation, over ATA.


Sent from the Throne

You're right - they won't drift back to QF. It is different circumstances, and it may be impossible to "scale" or "allow for" the circumstances to judge objectively whether there is a comparable significant difference in the "backlash", but... there we have it.

 

[simongr]

I think everything that could be said about the removal of ATA was said in the prior thread so I don't expect the same debates to happen again.

I still can't believe people used it enough to be a differentiator.

 

[trippin_the_rift]

I still can't believe people used it enough to be a differentiator.

I still can't believe VA didn't learn from the ~171 pages of negatively towards QF.
Obviously it *is* an important factor.

As Virgin are the latest to kick the boot in, it will make it a slightly more level playing field again.

I think Virgin are awesome domestically, and far superior to QF - it won't stop that. What it will stop is me recommending friends & family to fly Virgin over QF. Now it's a moot point as Ewing mentioned.

This is the value which is being destroyed with a change like this. Not in the individual FF.

 

[medhead]

I think everything that could be said about the removal of ATA was said in the prior thread so I don't expect the same debates to happen again.

I still can't believe people used it enough to be a differentiator.

I can only speak for myself to say the symbolism of its removal, rather than amount of usage, was enough to reconsider my relationship with QFF. The proverbial straw. I can't get excited about DJ ATA because I don't need it. (thanks in part to QF removing their ATA)


Sent from the Throne

 

[jpk]

Someone pointed out the timing of this being cancelled exactly one year after introducing it. To me it appears the thinking on this is not fully joined up at Virgin... Like one group is rigidly following the plan laid out a year ago, and others are assessing how their plans went and adjusting.

They want/need more business travellers, the sort that earn Gold/Plat. They did the status match to entice people over and give them a taste. Not as many are actually flying DJ as they'd like, so they made offers to keep that free status in return for some revenue. People are mulling over whether to take up those offers and commit to DJ for another year - those that do take up an offer are likely to actually fly Virgin as well in the next year to get some use out of the membership. (I think someone who spends $600-$1000 to retain status will do it because they fly DJ, not just for ATA). Now that ATA is going, this does reduce the incentive to retain status (and more importantly it feels like the shine is disappearing, it feels like a QF-type enhancement), the offer will not be taken up, and that flyer will definitely return to QF. For the sake of a few coffees/beers/hotdogs, they totally lose the business flyer they were after.

Like others, I seriously doubt ATA is being abused all that much. I use it when waiting/dropping off others flying Virgin, that I have usually recommended or paid for, simply because I could wait in the lounge. If I can't visit the lounge, I will stop being an advocate for Virgin. Another loss of revenue and passengers to them.

I don't understand their thinking. This is not like the QF problem where lounges were overcrowded. If it's a financial decision, well it is short sighted, as explained above. What should have happened in my opinion:
- remove ATA for Golds, with decent notice period. This provides a point of differentiation to Plat, which there needs to be more of. Golds do get arrival lounge privileges though.
- ATA remains for Plats. No guest access though, which stops the alleged freeloading.

By doing this, plats could see a clear difference between DJ and QF (which DJ still needs to attract people, they have improved so much, but need to be seen as better than QF, not the same or equivalent), and it's an incentive to retain status on DJ. Win/win for both flyer and Virgin.

Cutting it out for everyone with little notice just makes all the new people Virgin was courting feel a lot less loved all of a sudden. And it feels a lot like how QF enhance things - exactly what we wanted to get away from. Why stay with the hot chick if she is going to be unpredictable and make you feel like cough/unloved?

 

[drewbles]

As a 2400 SC Frequent Flyer per annum with Virgin (who only tried Virgin again because of the Platinum status match) I can assure you that this is NOT improving my travel experience.

Ditto. It was actually one of the things that impressed me the most about DJ, daring to offer a benefit that QF pulled and then rubbed in our face (the 'you can't have it but we'll flog QP access on the cheap even though we told you it was due to overcrowding (even though they admitted it was about giving DJ a 'free kick')).

The beer or two I had using ATA (which was all of 4 or so times all year) was definitely not costing them anything (considering the amount of times I was forced to endure the worse-than-the-terminal T3 'lounge' in LAX).

How about you fix up that before 'enhancing our travel' by removing ATA?

I know we won't be getting it back, but it's a bitter pill to swallow after DJ have been trying to 'put the magic back into flying'. I call this 'falling in to line' personally. Just my 2c

</ rant >

 

[drewbles]

I agree with you there.

On AUSBT : Virgin Australia axes unlimited 'anytime access' to airport lounges - Flights | hotels | frequent flyer | business class - Australian Business Traveller

There's a Poll at the bottom.

Interesting poll results:



(as of around 12:50pm today).

Obviously it's people who don't have ATA that are saying yes. I doubt very much that 116 people from here would say yes

(either that, or they've asked all their staff to go vote heh)

 

[virginconvert]

Just used ATA at Sydney this morning - dropping off mum for a flight to Mel. Although she was in J, it was nice for me to be able to join her!

Do Virgin have a similar policy to Qantas that allows those travelling in J to bring a guest?

 

[pauly7]

As I might have already mentioned up thread QF removal was a very different situation with different dynamics. Those QFF people who flew enough to have QFATA, and also have to use it on the rare occasion they were flying with other airlines, faced the prospect of starting again with Velocity. (fortunately DJ were willing to offer personal status matches at that stage) [The length of that previous thread also wasn't helped by a number of people deciding their best contribution was to call those affected a selfish, arrogant mob of whinging, freeloaders.]

This time around I'd suggest that a large number of those people previously affected have now got dual lounge access along with dual status. They've protected themselves against the removal of DJATA. I hardly think such people are going to drift back to QF, having got into a dual situation, over ATA.


Sent from the Throne

The timing is interesting as all the gifted status match people on DJ are coming up for renewal over the next few months....

Would have thought DJ would have held this announcement until they lapped that to try and hold onto the QFF matched people...