Dummies guide to virgins velocity program?

[unfunkable]

Hi All
I tried going through some of the stickies in the old thread at the top, but some are 404 error.
I am trying to make heads or tails of the tables on this page

https://www.velocityfrequentflyer.com/content/ProgramBenefits/LatestNews/program-updates-022016/

Take table 1 for example:
[TABLE="width: 100%, align: center"]
[TR="bgcolor: transparent"]
[TD="bgcolor: transparent"][TABLE="width: 100%, align: center"]
[TR="bgcolor: transparent"]
[TH="width: 10%"]Zone[/TH]
[TH="width: 18%"]One-Way Miles[/TH]
[TH="width: 18%"]Economy[/TH]
[TH="width: 18%"]Premium Economy[/TH]
[TH="width: 18%"]Business[/TH]
[TH="width: 18%"]First[/TH]
[/TR]
[TR="bgcolor: transparent"]
[TD="bgcolor: transparent"]1[/TD]
[TD="bgcolor: transparent"]1-600[/TD]
[TD="bgcolor: transparent"]6,900[/TD]
[TD="bgcolor: transparent"]10,400[/TD]
[TD="bgcolor: transparent"]13,800[/TD]
[TD="bgcolor: transparent"]20,700[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR="bgcolor: transparent"]
[/TR]
[/TABLE]

Does that mean I need 6,900 points to redeem to get an economy ticket to fly 1-600 miles or???

Also the very first line on the 1st table on this page: Reminder: Velocity tweaking Etihad and other partner redemption pricing from June 1st. Plan your redemptions! - Point Hacks
[TABLE="class: tablepress tablepress-id-Velocitychanges201602-Table1 large, width: 636"]
[TR="class: row-2"]
[TD="class: column-1"]Australia East Coast to London or New York[/TD]
[TD="class: column-2"]Economy: 62,000 points
Business: 125,000 points
First Class: 187,500 points[/TD]
[/TR]
[/TABLE]
Do I only need 62,000 velocity points to fly economy one way to NY from Sydney? Because when I go to the virgin air website, its all 100,000+ points!

Is there a dummies guide somewhere in laymans terms?

Thanks in advance[/TD]
[TD="bgcolor: transparent"]
[/TD]
[TD="bgcolor: transparent"]
[/TD]
[TD="bgcolor: transparent"]
[/TD]
[TD="bgcolor: transparent"]
[/TD]
[TD="bgcolor: transparent"]
[/TD]
[/TR]
[/TABLE]

 

[AustraliaPoochie]

Yes, that is all you will pay, 6,900 points eg ADL - MEL which falls in zone 1.

 

[unfunkable]

Hmmm i just booked Canberra to gold coast and the cheapest tickets were 11,000 points . What did I do wrong ?

 

[Mattg]

Hmmm i just booked Canberra to gold coast and the cheapest tickets were 11,000 points . What did I do wrong ?

Did that include the taxes (which had been converted to points)?

 

[unfunkable]

hmm that's a good question
i did pay taxes with points
jiggling the settings around it does look like it is 6,900 points! I guess it is just a matter of working out the $ vs points when paying for the taxes to see how much CPP it cost's me vs, how much it cost me to earn those points?

From what I have read, there are limited 'awards' seats for flights, and it is just a matter of finding them. Is it easier to call virgin and get them to look?
If i buy an economy seat with cash, can I upgrade with points to business?

cheers

 

[HeavyElectricity]

From what I have read, there are limited 'awards' seats for flights, and it is just a matter of finding them. Is it easier to call virgin and get them to look?

Probably not, plus if you call they'll charge you an extra service fee.

If i buy an economy seat with cash, can I upgrade with points to business?

Yes, although the upgrades come from the same reward seat availability. So if there are no business reward seats, there are no immediate "UpgradeMe Points" upgrades available. Upgrades are only available for certain routes (e.g. long-haul international upgrade is only available to gold and platinum status members). Usually upgrading from the base economy fare almost costs the same (in points) as the business reward seat itself, so some consider it only worth going through the upgrade process from a "flexi" fare.

The details are on the Velocity website:
https://www.velocityfrequentflyer.com/content/Redeem/FlightUpgrades/upgrademe-points/

 

[unfunkable]

Great!
That's he kind of information i was looking for. I must of missed it last night.
I'll give it a read .
cheers!

 

[Mattg]

hmm that's a good question
i did pay taxes with points
jiggling the settings around it does look like it is 6,900 points! I guess it is just a matter of working out the $ vs points when paying for the taxes to see how much CPP it cost's me vs, how much it cost me to earn those points?

When the taxes are converted to points, from memory it's at a rate of around 0.65 cents per point. That's fairly poor value and I would never use points to cover the taxes personally.

 

[andye]

When the taxes are converted to points, from memory it's at a rate of around 0.65 cents per point. That's fairly poor value and I would never use points to cover the taxes personally.

It can sometimes make sense to pay or part pay with points to avoid the booking & service fee