Flying to US and Internal US Flights

[ingy]

Hi All,

In March/April next year me and the missus will be flying to the US. We are hoping to to ADL>JFK>New Orleans>Vegas, road trip from vegas to LA and then home or something similar.

What are peoples opinions on Virgins travel partners? I have found a decent fare with Delta that will be around 1800 pp for the above. I am velocity Gold but have never flown to the states so am keen to find out the best way/airline to do it while taking advantage of my status.

It is worth noting I have around 100k points I can potentially use for some flights and or upgrades.

Thanks in advance

 

[CPMaverick]

Delta is arguably the best of the 'big three' US airlines in terms of service, hard product, etc. They are also a good partner with VA. As a VA Gold you can access DL Skyclubs on any domestic flight, even if flying economy. Even DL Gold can't do that! Just avoid the 'Basic Economy' (E class) ticket, it is usually only a few dollars cheaper but you get no seat assignment, no changes, etc.

If SC are something you are after, consider booking in DL 'Comfort+' (W class) product. It can often be just a bit more than the cheapest coach fare, you are guaranteed a premium seat, but most importantly you earn triple SC (compared to the cheapest coach fare). For that matter, a First Class ticket on DL can be quite reasonable and 4x earnings, if you aren't on too much of a budget.

Delta elites get complimentary upgrades to First Class domestically, when available, but partners do not. Realistically, there is no good way to upgrade to F as a VA flyer except with cash. You are eligible for Comfort + seat upgrades, I think, but you have to request them online. If you are doing this, check the seat map first. As they will process your upgrade even if there are only middle seats left, and you can't go back.

 

[Icy]

I'll be doing a couple of DL flights next month with my wife - YYK to JFK and JFK to YVR. I found that it wasn't much dearer to book first class so we have gone that way. Bear in mind that US domestic first is barely equivalent to our domestic business. Have only ever flown UA domestically in the states before but the common opinion appears to be that DL is the best of the US big three as CPMaverick indicated.

 

[MH_fan]

I can second that opinion as well. DL is definitely the best of the big 3 domestic US airlines and this is coming from someone who has flown all 3 and in recent years, DL as VA WP and AA as OWE.

 

[serfty]

...
If SC are something you are after, consider booking in DL 'Comfort+' (W class) product. It can often be just a bit more than the cheapest coach fare, you are guaranteed a premium seat, but most importantly you earn triple SC (compared to the cheapest coach fare). For that matter, a First Class ticket on DL can be quite reasonable and 4x earnings, if you aren't on too much of a budget.

Delta elites get complimentary upgrades to First Class domestically, when available, but partners do not. Realistically, there is no good way to upgrade to F as a VA flyer except with cash. ...

I have found some quite good offers to upgrade from C+ to First - these can less expensive all up than buying First outright.

Booked in C+ in the first place, sometimes the offer is better if you do not initially put your Velocity number in (do so before you check in though).

 

[Denali]

I did 6 flights with Delta a couple of months ago and have no issue flying with or recommending them. A couple of years ago I flew LAX>JFK in Y and it was comfortable - their PAYG wifi worked well and the pilot pointed out some sights from our window as we flew over them.

Does SG still give you Delta lounge access? Some are a bit bland but they are still better than sitting around the gate area.

Also check the C+ and F prices as a couple of times now Ive scored "F" seats (lets be honest, not really F") for almost the same price as Y.

If you are booking with Delta, dont think you can use your VA points to upgrade.

 

[CPMaverick]

I have found some quite good offers to upgrade from C+ to First - these can less expensive all up than buying First outright.

Booked in C+ in the first place, sometimes the offer is better if you do not initially put your Velocity number in (do so before you check in though).

Indeed these buy-ups can be quite cheap, but no guarantee you get them. Did you receive SC as if you bought F in the first place? I wasn't sure...

 

[ingy]

Hi all thanks for the responses, very helpful! Certainly sounds like Delta is the way to go.

 

[ingy]

Should it matter whether I book directly through delta or via a third party booking site? Also is it worth calling the velocity contact centre to see what they can do?

 

[CPMaverick]

It's generally best to book directly with the operating carrier for a variety of reasons. VA can't sell codeshares as part of a US-only itinerary. They may be able to ticket a Delta flight number, but it shouldn't be a different price than directly through Delta.

 

[Bagpuss]

You buy your Australia to first USA intended destination and return from last USA intended destination to Australia.

Everything domestically in the USA you buy separately from the airline of your choosing.

IE, buy your international ticket from VA and all domestic flights from Delta. With Delta if you want Status Credits go for Delta Comfort+

 

[ingy]

Yea ive just looked into this but the cost is waaay more than through a third party booking site in this instance..? I realise that the third party booking site is just giving me basic economy but I have also tried just basic economy directly through virgin/delta and it is still considerably more..

 

[JK1964]

Just did 6 US domestic legs last month in first class. Because we prefer direct flights we had a mix of VX, UA and Delta. The advantage with Delta was lounge access and points / SC, but the carriers were much of a muchness in terms of service, food etc. I think the US airlines have improved greatly in recent times and thought these 6 flights were all better then VA domestic business (737).

 

[CPMaverick]

Yea ive just looked into this but the cost is waaay more than through a third party booking site in this instance..? I realise that the third party booking site is just giving me basic economy but I have also tried just basic economy directly through virgin/delta and it is still considerably more..

This would be very unusual, but Delta's IT can trip up occasionally. Try kayak.com which will quote prices and you can click through right to the Delta website and book.

 

[ingy]

So i have tried Kayak, Skyscanner and direct through Delta and the cheapest I can get for the flights i specified is around 6k (per person)... through I Want that Flight and fly365.com I can get the same or similar flights with Delta/Virgin for roughly 1700 (this would be base economy I assume). Strange....

 

[CPMaverick]

What on earth are you trying to book? The whole itinerary under one ticket?

 

[ingy]

Well yea, the cheapest itinerary was looking through i want that flight and searching via a multi city search. I have also tried searching for the OS leg individually via Virgin and Delta. Searching through Delta direct for ADL>NYK the cheapest fare is 1350pp.

 

[CPMaverick]

What is your itinerary if you don't mind saying? Don't need dates just cities... As already described the best strategy would be an open jaw from Australia, and the internal US flights on separate tickets.

So if your original post still holds, ADL-JFK, LAX-ADL on one ticket. The others separately. Or ADL-LAX round trip and the internal flights separately might work too.

 

[ingy]

Itinerary is Adelaide to New York then New Orleans, onto Las Vegas then planning on hiring a car and making our way to LA then flying home from there (back to ADL). We are planning to be there for around 4 weeks total.

 

[CPMaverick]

It seems ADL-LAX in that timeframe is around A$1300 round trip (through Delta or VA).

ADL-JFK, LAX-ADL in that timeframe is around A$1450 through Delta and around A$1680 through VA (for some reason).

Seems that booking through Delta might be best here. Don't try to book everything on one ticket, there is no reason to do that. Just book the longhaul and then piece together the rest through DL (or if they are too expensive, someone else). This is exactly what Bagpuss said much earlier in the thread. The reason the third party sites are cheaper is because they are doing this work for you.

If you really want to fly a VA ticket and not a Delta codeshare, then just book the RT to LAX and the rest through DL.