Family Pooling update

[leemin]

Thanks very much jlm, I was thinking this could be the case. If I can't fit in a status run, I will change one of the fares on the 23rd Feb to a flexi, which will get me another 10 SC and get my over the line by 1 SC before the return Business leg. It will cost me a little more than a Status run but it will get me there all the same.

Not to mention even more points on your J class spend by reaching Plat beforehand!

 

[QF WP]

Some great assistance going on here in this thread. I understand the high level, but the mechanics/detail is starting to do my head in. I'm glad that I only fly enough to re-qual Gold with my flying + family pooling + ocassional double SC's. My head would hurt if I flew more and had to work through a situation like danoleary

 

[Meggsy]

Thanks for your input Bolthead. I have a review date of 14 Dec 12 on my Gold and my partner has a review date of 21 June 12 on her Silver. The 15 Apr 12 date is when our first lot of SC start to expire if we do not reach the next level of membership, which is Platinum for me with 39 SC to go and Gold for her with 261 SC to go.

I did consider the strategy of getting her to Gold as we will have flights to Brisbane in March and OOL and MEL in April but thought it might be possibly better to work on gaining the 800 points for me to maintain the Platinum membership as we fly together. I thought giving up the 261 SC to her might affect me getting the Platinum 800 re-qualify and the Platinum would be more beneficial to us.

I suppose getting into the technicalities of it. The return Business flight on 26FEB will move me into Platinum, however the question is will the 160SC I get for this flight count towards the Platinum re-qualify or will 151 of them be in limbo and I will have to earn another 800 for Platinum re-qualify. Hope I explained that part clearly enough.

There are a number of paths you could follow but importabtly you need to work out your current Vs expected flying patterns. It appears you will get to Platinum relatively easily but has this occurred due to double SC's, or just lots of BIS time. Do you expect this flying pattern to continue and if so then the 800 sc requal should be a breeze. Your partner shares your platinum benefits when travelling with you and if this is the usual way you travel (together) then direct the SC's to yourself. If your partner ever flies solo then I would look to get her to gold simply for the lounge access and seat selection. Just be aware that all SC's earnt beyong 1000 on your qualifying flight disappear when you are reset to zero so if you are on 990 sc and have a business class OOL-SYD double SC for 80 SC you effectively lose 70 of them when you get upgraded. They do stay on your rolling total but will not be included in your requal figure.

 

[burmans]

Somewhat annoyed with VA today. Family pooled flights on Xmas Eve so that my wife could reach silver (yes I do realise not quite in the realms of some here but still a bonus for her) so she would have >200 before the threshold raised (224 in fact).

But it was a code share flight and for whatever reason flights did not post, spent the whole of Jan chasing individually the points (we all had the complain they wouldn't just fix the whole booking). But Silver never arrived, complained again and essentially said if you'd posted when you should would have met the threshold.

All we got in reply was threshold is 250 and link to latest T&C's. Not happy, how do you escalate a complaint at VA!

 

[QF WP]

I've alerted VFF to your post burmans...they'll be able to advise

 

[dandandan]

There are a number of paths you could follow but importabtly you need to work out your current Vs expected flying patterns. It appears you will get to Platinum relatively easily but has this occurred due to double SC's, or just lots of BIS time. Do you expect this flying pattern to continue and if so then the 800 sc requal should be a breeze. Your partner shares your platinum benefits when travelling with you and if this is the usual way you travel (together) then direct the SC's to yourself. If your partner ever flies solo then I would look to get her to gold simply for the lounge access and seat selection. Just be aware that all SC's earnt beyong 1000 on your qualifying flight disappear when you are reset to zero so if you are on 990 sc and have a business class OOL-SYD double SC for 80 SC you effectively lose 70 of them when you get upgraded. They do stay on your rolling total but will not be included in your requal figure.

Excellent info thanks Meggsy. We have had the benefit of double status credits twic now, both in the lowest miles category, so 40 SC each time doubled to 80. This has given us a quick jump towards Platinum with 320 SC in total. I think we will have a good chance at Platinum re-qualify if I can utilise the 160 SC in a few weeks. I think the best stategy for us is to upgrade one fare to flexi for our first flight in a couple of weeks and maintain all points pooling to my account.

 

[Bolthead]

Thanks for your input Bolthead. I have a review date of 14 Dec 12 on my Gold and my partner has a review date of 21 June 12 on her Silver. The 15 Apr 12 date is when our first lot of SC start to expire if we do not reach the next level of membership, which is Platinum for me with 39 SC to go and Gold for her with 261 SC to go.

I did consider the strategy of getting her to Gold as we will have flights to Brisbane in March and OOL and MEL in April but thought it might be possibly better to work on gaining the 800 points for me to maintain the Platinum membership as we fly together. I thought giving up the 261 SC to her might affect me getting the Platinum 800 re-qualify and the Platinum would be more beneficial to us.

I suppose getting into the technicalities of it. The return Business flight on 26FEB will move me into Platinum, however the question is will the 160SC I get for this flight count towards the Platinum re-qualify or will 151 of them be in limbo and I will have to earn another 800 for Platinum re-qualify. Hope I explained that part clearly enough.

Sorry danoleary55 I should have been a little more diligent in reading your post. Ignore what I said....... unless somebody else has a better idea I think your original plan sounds OK. All the best.

 

[dandandan]

Sorry danoleary55 I should have been a little more diligent in reading your post. Ignore what I said....... unless somebody else has a better idea I think your original plan sounds OK. All the best.

No problems Bolthead, I believe this is what this discussion forum is all about, the sharing of information and knowledge etc amongst other things, so there was nothing wrong with your input.

 

[burmans]

I've alerted VFF to your post burmans...they'll be able to advise

And thanks to VFF for quick resolution, AFF to the rescue again.

 

[QF WP]

Excellent to hear burmans

 

[Bolthead]

I know this thread is getting a bit long in the tooth however a question?

In our family (as I have previously mentioned before in this thread) we have 5 x adults in the family under one roof. Parents x 2 & Adult children x 3.

Now currently my wife is family pooling her points to my daughter. (this is to help my daughter get Gold)

Can I also family pool my sons points to me. In the terms it's a bit ambiguous. Maybe it says 1 beneficiary with max. 5 contributors. If I set up my son to give me points then in the family we would have 2 x beneficiary 2 x contributors.

Clear as mud???:?:

Am I stretching the rules?

 

[serfty]

It's actually very clear in the T&Cs: [-]Up to 2 Adults and 3 under the age of 18 can pool the points/SC's to the one account.[/-] (I think they have changed recently)

Each pool can have up to 5 members with no more than two over 18 years old and four 18 years or under.

That's basically it for pooling, so you should have no issue doing what you are thinking.

http://www.velocityrewards.com.au/content/ProgramBenefits/TermsConditions/index.htm#29

 

[QF WP]

Stretching to beyond their breaking strain. Those two linkages shouldn't be able to be accepted, but depends on how robust their system have been set to match transferee ages to the set maximum (18).

 

[Jude Starr]

Argh! This is doing my head in. Trying to chase up points and SCs from husband's account that should be pooled to me - they have been up as pending on his account since the flights were taken (end January)...husband has phoned them 3 times (they won't talk to me because it is his account) but they have not been altogether helpful...the first couple of times they just said, "oh yeah, we'll do something to the account, and it will be another 7 days", but at the end of the 7 days nothing has happened. Today he phoned again and they wanted to do the same thing but he expressed his extreme displeasure and got the called bumped up to the next level....they are supposed to be looking into it. :evil:

We are flying again at the weekend - I just hope we don't end up having the same problems again with the points/SCs from this lot of flights. *sigh*

 

[QF WP]

Have pointed VFF to your post Jude Starr, expect some meaningful contact soon (tomorrow)

 

[Jude Starr]

Have pointed VFF to your post, expect done meaningful contact soon

Thank you! :mrgreen:

 

[QF WP]

The trappings of being a Moderator , knowing people in the (right) high places

Edit: 7.15pm BNE time: Already had contact with VFF. He's reading it now

VFF's comment: "Ok will look into it first thing tomorrow. Someone will take the bull by the horns!"

 

[Bolthead]

I know this thread is getting a bit long in the tooth however a question? In our family (as I have previously mentioned before in this thread) we have 5 x adults in the family under one roof. Parents x 2 & Adult children x 3.Now currently my wife is family pooling her points to my daughter. (this is to help my daughter get Gold)Can I also family pool my sons points to me. In the terms it's a bit ambiguous. Maybe it says 1 beneficiary with max. 5 contributors. If I set up my son to give me points then in the family we would have 2 x beneficiary 2 x contributors.Clear as mud???:?:Am I stretching the rules?

Daughter just hit Gold thanks to family pooling....... now to focus on me re-qualifying for Plat and then deciding whether we should work on my daughter getting to Plat or seeing if my wife can hit Gold.Decisions.... decisions??:?:

 

[burmans]

Have pointed VFF to your post Jude Starr, expect some meaningful contact soon (tomorrow)

Highly recommend this approach, worked for me in about 3 hours after being ignored for weeks and rediculous emails. Not complaining about VA though my expereince has been very similar on more than one airline!

 

[rockplat]

Family pooling has worked out great for my family. Now got a gold husband and a gold 12 year old, and miss 10 turns gold after my flight today. Then to change the pool around again and requal platinum. Loving it!