Benefits of virgin Platinum when travelling on Delta

[Sarah K]

So I wanted to share some information and possibly gather some more.
Yesterday I booked a flight for 4 people travelling from HNL - SEA and SEA - ANC on Delta. I know Delta and Virgin are partners. I have platinum status and 200,000 miles with velocity. So the booking came through and it didn't include baggage. It says we need to pay $30 USD per checked bag. I know Platinum status comes with free checked bags. So I called Delta and they said we can show our Platinum card on check in and receive 2 free checked bags up to 32kg each.

I also asked Delta if I could use my Velocity Points for an upgrade to Business but they said I can't use Velocity points on their airline. I can earn them but not use them. From what I read I thought I could use velocity points to upgrade on Delta, does anyone have experience with this?

So I asked about Delta's complimentary upgrade for Medallion/Platinum members from Main cabin to Comfort + they said that they could honour that for Velocity Platinum members but not the entire travelling party. Just the one person.

Anyway I thought I'd share my experience.
Cheers
Sarah

 

[Matt_01]

Your experience is no different from mine when using DL. I cannot answer/ respond to all your questions however when travelling within the US as a family we choose to fly DL J so we do not have to deal with luggage, seating or lounge access issues. Also all the points and SCs pools into my VA account.

 

[jasecao]

Only the person that is platinum will get the upgrade to comfort +, you will need to ask them to separate you out to get it, though i'm not sure that is a wise thing to do

The cost to go from standard economy to comfort+ isn't that great anyway...plus more SC

Delta frequent flyers don't automatically get access to their lounges like Virgin WP, however you can only guest 1 person in. Some places will try not to honour it, I remember in San Fran, I had to give 2 goes at getting entry.

 

[Ausbt]

Yes recognition can be patchy. The baggage issue can be a pain - there I was at LAX with a ski bag on a DL Basic fare and they wanted to gave a go at me. Took a supervisor to sort it out. What was particularly annoying about that one was that I'd missed my W-class connection the night before, which was always looking tight, so I'd pre-booked a Basic for the next day as I "really, really had to get there". So DL had the choice - rebook my W for the next day or simply let me fly on the Basic I'd bought seperately. No surprise what they chose, and how about we charge you some more for luggage too. No thanks. Hey but I got there, in Coach Minus.

 

[jakeseven7]

I've had issues in LAX getting Delta to 'compute' my baggage allowance courtesy of my Velocity membership... This is what happens when you have a patchwork alliance though, its not seamless.

I HIGHLY suggest you print out the relevant pages from the VA and Delta websites and have them on hand to battle with any personnel who don't understand or aren't aware of the partnership.

I've even been told by a Delta employee that 'Virgin doesn't exist anymore sir' - mistakenly thinking I was a Virgin America FF which of course is dead and buried now!

 

[newmarket]

In my experience the VA relationship with DL is pretty seamless.

Never a problem with bags. Only very occasionally, I have to remind the sky club check in to use the ‘other’ (non-Visa) side of my card.

 

[sometime_flyer]

You can certainly use your Velocity points to book an Economy or Business Reward seat on Delta - or most of their partners - but you cant use Points to UPGRADE a revenue ticket. That's pretty normal across alliance networks.

No surprise that Delta wont upgrade the whole family to Comfort+ either. The ability for VFF Plats to bring others travellers in their booking into Economy X on Domestic and Short Haul flights is pretty unique.

 

[Oneworldplus2]

I used Delta last month - LAX - SEA

Had to pay for baggage, weird for a full service carrier...but that's the USA for you.

Flight was fine.
Staff were great.

I put my VA FF into Delta when the booking was made but nothing showed up in my Virgin account.
Lost my boarding pass somehow, trying to claim missing points with Virgin is so hard - even with flight itinerary receipt and ticket number, baggage receipt, wifes BP (who was on the booking with me)....l've given up.

 

[Harthagan]

Last time I flew with delta was a complete shambles. It was in such stark contrast to my previous experiences that I thought there had been an unofficial change in the partnership. Turns out I was just unlucky and got agents who had no idea what they were talking about lol

 

[McLarin]

Anyone have experience with complimentary luggage allowance? the delta website states this "The benefit extends on the Medallion Member’s reservation to a total of 8 travel companions, when traveling on a Delta-operated flight" Considering how as Velocity Elite members it states " Receive the same allowance as Delta Gold Medallion Members" Does this benefit then extend to Velocity members. Looking forward to hearing people's thoughts

 

[ja1]

My experience was a little different. I was WP and travelling with wife who was silver at best. Delta had no problems in giving us both Comfort+. They also managed the extra luggage allowance with no issues and much better than QAN ever have (still out a couple of hundred dollars thanks to AA/QAN insisting on one trip - one reason we've almost never flown QAN since)

I did hit an interesting discussion in the lounge as they noted as WP I could get in with no issues but there would normally be a charge for a guest (which they waived). I thought you could bring a guest in without a charge so.. no idea.

Wife recently travelled (as a gold) and was able to bring her daughter in and both (under 6) grandkids and no mention of any additional charges.

 

[jsm2090]

My experience was a little different. I was WP and travelling with wife who was silver at best. Delta had no problems in giving us both Comfort+. They also managed the extra luggage allowance with no issues and much better than QAN ever have (still out a couple of hundred dollars thanks to AA/QAN insisting on one trip - one reason we've almost never flown QAN since)

I did hit an interesting discussion in the lounge as they noted as WP I could get in with no issues but there would normally be a charge for a guest (which they waived). I thought you could bring a guest in without a charge so.. no idea.

Wife recently travelled (as a gold) and was able to bring her daughter in and both (under 6) grandkids and no mention of any additional charges.

Generally had great experiences with Delta and WP membership. Never been able to snag a comfort plus upgrade, but the benefits of priority check in at airports like LAX/LGA/ORD and lounge access are hugely valued. Never had any issue at the above airports bringing in wife who is Velocity Red, so maybe it just depends on the agent. Final bonus is the premium economy-equivalent status credits for comfort+ seats; a few cheap domestic Comfort+ upgrades can net you a heap of VA status credits!

 

[Ross B]

I took a bunch of Delta flights in July/Aug this year as WP with wife ( silver ) and 2 yr old son and had no issues with luggage. All 3 of us got the allocated 2 bags each for free plus baby items and had no problems getting in to any of the lounges - just needed to show my physical card as they take down your number since the whole number is not printed on BP.

 

[TAK]

As you are international you may have a better experience? Upgrades are awarded to US premium members first and as PL you will be just up the bottom of a long list. If you are lucky enough to fly Delta internally you will experience the future of mass flight, be prepared. You should have no problem with lounges, enjoy

 

[Ausbt]

What about boarding groups? From recollection, Delta have eight. So which should a VA Plat be assigned to, I seem to recall group 3 being printed on the BP. Does Gold get 4?

 

[Muppet501st]

What about boarding groups? From recollection, Delta have eight. So which should a VA Plat be assigned to, I seem to recall group 3 being printed on the BP. Does Gold get 4?

VA plats get "Sky Priority" printed or on the top of your electronic BP. No group # on electronic BP ( just looking at my old BP's in my wallet now. From memory, its the third group to be called for boarding.

Ive had pretty good experiences with DL. Never received complimentry upgrades to W as im usually traveling with the family with no status.
Though my son and i were upgraded to F, on a LAS-LAX flight last year.

 

[Cryptarcadian]

I put my VA number on my DL-ticketed booking, which is a mix of international and domestic segments, with my partner who is also VA platinum. It was recognised as Sky Priority eligible, and in fact says "Platinum Medallion" above my name when it shows me the booking in the app.

I checked in today via the app for my DL flight tomorrow, and got offered the extra baggage (3 pieces free) as part of check-in for free.

I'm already booked in Comfort+ for some of the domestic US sectors and "Not Complimentary Upgrade Eligible" is specifically called out on those sectors. Wasn't sure if that's the right thing to expect, but hey, I'm prepared to fly in the cabin I booked.

The official rules for Comfort+ upgrades are here: https://www.velocityfrequentflyer.com/content/Info/delta-comfort-upgrade/

I feel like that's much better recognition already than on any other VA partner airline!

Will report back how lounge access goes…

 

[Vic]

My recent delta bookings in First show class of service baggage allowance on the booking, with a note that additional baggage allowance (from status) will be added at check in.

On those recent flights Delta service was terrific, they let our friends, no status on Y- fares, to check in in the priority line with us. They let me add their luggage to my allowance (we had 3 VA golds). They let them use priority security, and of course they could use the lounge within guest allowance.

 

[gilldo]

All the responses are similar to our experiences.

Flew DCA-SLC last September on a Y reward as Velocity Gold member.

Checkin experience was nigh on a disaster, not for my membership, but for the fact that all of my name details didn't come across from Virgin to Delta and differed from my passport. I think I was lucky to get aboard.

Got free bags for the two of us courtesy of the Velocity Gold allowance, but looked a bit shaky once we got to the SkyLounge reception. They look the card and boarding pass up and down for a while, as though it was from some far off galaxy, and eventually let us through without any discussion.

When it came to boarding, this was our first US domestic flight, and we had no idea what group we were in when we arrived at the gate. We happened to have struck up a chat with another lounge visitor onbthe way down, and I asked him which group we were in. He asked for my boarding pass, and when he saw it just told me to follow him. We boarded in what seemed to be the first group.

We hope to be flying ANC-SEA-YYC with DL sometime late next year, so we will probably have to go through all of this again then. Anyone got any idea what the DL lounges are like in ANC and SEA?

 

[CPMaverick]

When it came to boarding, this was our first US domestic flight, and we had no idea what group we were in when we arrived at the gate. We happened to have struck up a chat with another lounge visitor on the way down, and I asked him which group we were in. He asked for my boarding pass, and when he saw it just told me to follow him. We boarded in what seemed to be the first group.

Unfortunately Delta doesn't number all their groups. There are a few pre-boarding groups (children, active military, those with special needs, etc). Then the first 'normal' group is 'Premium', which shows as 'PREM' on your BP. This is First/Business Class and Delta Diamond members. Then there is 'Sky Priority' which is notated as 'SKY' on your BP. Then Group 3.

So if you look at a BP and see no group number, it can be a bit confusing, but also look for 'PREM' or 'SKY' to see if you are in those groups.

As a VA Gold or Plat, you can board with Sky Priority, but sometimes IME the BP only says Group 3.