Is it Time to transfer/withdraw points from Velocity?

[Bibendum]

Hi All,

I need some advice from the brains trust on this forum.

I, like many on here, have hundreds of thousands of points sitting with velocity. With the current COVID-19 situation and virgins financial position I’m concerned that if the airline was declare bankruptcy points may disappear..

What’s the likelihood of this happening and should I withdraw my points by purchasing gift cards to get some cash value at what I have..?

am I making a mountain out of a mole hill.. or is there a real threat to my velocity points been wiped out..?

 

[AIRwin]

Now VA's remaining domestic routes are going to suffer even further.

And QF/JQ?

 

[Matt_01]

My personal opinion, the government may have let Ansett fail, but that was a failure due to the fault of the airline. It was unpopular to support a business that can't survive on its own.

This is different. No airline can survive this. The government will keep VA and QF afloat.

My memory may be a bit hazy around the circumstances of the AN collapse but wasn’t AN owned by NZ at the time of the collapse. I had already switched to QF by 2001/02 and only lost AN points and quite a few

 

[hydrabyss]

My personal opinion, the government may have let Ansett fail, but that was a failure due to the fault of the airline. It was unpopular to support a business that can't survive on its own.

This is different. No airline can survive this. The government will keep VA and QF afloat.

I also agree. The fastest way to recover down the track is to have certain businesses ready to go when they need them again. If NSW could spend 3 billion on a tram an airline appears cheap.

 

[Bagpuss]

Well, here's yet another unsettling thread to add to the current turmoil.

I currently hold over 900k in VFF, so transferring to SQ is definitely on the cards for me if things don't improve. 580k Kris vs 0 VFF is a no-brainer.

I won't be panic-transferring any time soon but I do wonder when we will all reach 'The Point of No Return' by holding our points in Velocity.

I expect Velocity to soon put a halt on transfers to KrisFlyer probably as soon as Monday morning. There‘s a chance they could halt redeeming points.
I wouldn’t be surprised if Virgin suspends ALL commercial flights with just charter services. Only to see Qantas running limited flights, when I say limited I expect about 5 daily flights Sydney - Melbourne (with return) IF that.
My Velocity points balance tonight will be about 0 and I discovered I have enough KrisFlyer points to fly to London return in business, I expect others to have heaps more.
I‘m predicting Virgin and Qantas to be nationalised into a Government airline or at least majority government owned which is likely the case in other countries though some will fail. No more a330 luxuries on domestic flights.
Also expect terminal consolidation very soon. IE in Perth Qantas will move to T1 and T2.

 

[Bagpuss]

My personal opinion, the government may have let Ansett fail, but that was a failure due to the fault of the airline. It was unpopular to support a business that can't survive on its own.

This is different. No airline can survive this. The government will keep VA and QF afloat.

I just hope with stimulus packages it will be aimed at company operations to operate when back to “normal”. IE maintaining staff and owned aircraft NOT spending money on aircraft leases ... I expect the a330 leases to be defaulted and returned.
Its all seems getting worse by the hour, especially aviation.
I expect HNA’s shares to be offloaded to the Australian government. If other shareholders want Australian government help in the future, I see them “gifting” their shares to the government in return for air rights etc etc.

 

[jonboixxx]

I expect Velocity to soon put a halt on transfers to KrisFlyer probably as soon as Monday morning. There‘s a chance they could halt redeeming points.
I wouldn’t be surprised if Virgin suspends ALL commercial flights with just charter services. Only to see Qantas running limited flights, when I say limited I expect about 5 daily flights Sydney - Melbourne (with return) IF that.
My Velocity points balance tonight will be about 0 and I discovered I have enough KrisFlyer points to fly to London return in business, I expect others to have heaps more.
I‘m predicting Virgin and Qantas to be nationalised into a Government airline or at least majority government owned which is likely the case in other countries though some will fail. No more a330 luxuries on domestic flights.
Also expect terminal consolidation very soon. IE in Perth Qantas will move to T1 and T2.

The current government doesn't want to own airlines.

 

[Obi-run Kenobi]

And QF/JQ?

Of course QF/JQ as well. Just commenting on the VA predicament in this thread.

I expect Velocity to soon put a halt on transfers to KrisFlyer probably as soon as Monday morning. There‘s a chance they could halt redeeming points.

Can they even do that?

 

[hydrabyss]

I just hope with stimulus packages it will be aimed at company operations to operate when back to “normal”. IE maintaining staff and owned aircraft NOT spending money on aircraft leases ... I expect the a330 leases to be defaulted and returned.
Its all seems getting worse by the hour, especially aviation.
I expect HNA’s shares to be offloaded to the Australian government. If other shareholders want Australian government help in the future, I see them “gifting” their shares to the government in return for air rights etc etc.

I don't know much about leasing but I would guess it would be in their interest to work with airlines as I can't see a lot of demand for airplanes for sometime.

 

[amaroo]

The current government doesn't want to own airlines.

True, it's trying to minimise the impact of a global disaster. So many other things in a very long queue.

 

[jonboixxx]

For those holding points, I share your trepidation. I have mitigated some risk by transferring 1/3 to SQ and hoping that they may extend expiry on same. Like others, I hold HH, Accor, Marriott, QF, CX and the majority in un-transferred credit card points. Any of these could be lost. I value velocity points a little higher than most, at about 2cpp. I had a look at gift cards but couldn't bring myself to part with the points for 0.5cpp. So essentially I am betting $20k against $80k by not buying gift cards that I don't need. I console myself that I have already lost multiples of this in superannuation, so this is a small wager. Everybody will make their own decisions, but just wanted to share my own thoughts, and wish everyone the best in their decisions.

 

[grumio]

Hi all, lurking for a while, first post here.

Currently sitting on around 250k Velocity points. Not as many as some in this thread, but enough to think about.

I typically use them for Business rewards flights, or business upgrades AUS <-> LAX, which I fly for work maybe twice a year, with some flexibility in dates. For this purpose I value them at 4-8c / point.

I looked at cashing them in about 10 days ago, via Coles gift cards. True cash value, if I was to resell the cards, might nett me a little over $1k, so under 0.5c / point.

I note these Coles cards are no longer offered. I would be fairly suspicious about the survival of many of remaining card providers - JB HiFi, DJs, Kathmandu, and would certainly spend or resell any gift cards ASAP.

I don't fly SQ, and anyway would take a 30-40% loss on the transfer to Kris points.

Options as I see it are, do nothing, and either end up with nothing if Virgin folds, or some more LAX business legs if it remains.

Or, cash in the points, and end up with maybe $1k in hand if Virgin folds, but no more upgrades for a while if they do survive.

I'm keeping the points, and gambling on Virgin FF scheme surviving this in some form. I see it as unlikely the Feds would deliberately return to an unrestrained QF monopoly, but I do acknowledge this as a gamble.

Also have some US flights booked for July, for which I can only get travel bank credits, so another reason to hope for survival in some form here.

Lets check back in a few months and see...

 

[Bagpuss]

For those holding points, I share your trepidation. I have mitigated some risk by transferring 1/3 to SQ and hoping that they may extend expiry on same. Like others, I hold HH, Accor, Marriott, QF, CX and the majority in un-transferred credit card points. Any of these could be lost. I value velocity points a little higher than most, at about 2cpp. I had a look at gift cards but couldn't bring myself to part with the points for 0.5cpp. So essentially I am betting $20k against $80k by not buying gift cards that I don't need. I console myself that I have already lost multiples of this in superannuation, so this is a small wager. Everybody will make their own decisions, but just wanted to share my own thoughts, and wish everyone the best in their decisions.

Our new theory is to move points to SQ and if we want business class on VA, being platinums will use free upgrades or just do upgrade bids.
Status is about eligible sectors and status credits. Not what your points balance is.

 

[get me outta here]

Which c c would you use for that? Or are you talking about buying something on the SQ website?

You can easily extend the life of the SQ points by doing a small credit card redemption every 3 years.
Our new theory is to move points to SQ and if we want business class on VA, being platinums will use free upgrades or just do upgrade bids.
Status is about eligible sectors and status credits. Not what your points balance is.

 

[Bagpuss]

Hi all, lurking for a while, first post here.

Options as I see it are, do nothing, and either end up with nothing if Virgin folds, or some more LAX business legs if it remains.

Lets check back in a few months and see...

Welcome.
No one knows what the future holds and no one knows the right solution.
There is the natural speculation that Virgin May never been an international airline again. But who knows.
I think waiting a few months is too long re-address at least daily. Expect grim announcements tomorrow. If all these profitable airlines are already on the brink ... Delta, British Airlines already shows the true cost of aviation.
But who knows, you can only do what you think is right.

 

[Bagpuss]

Which c c would you use for that? Or are you talking about buying something on the SQ website?

I know Citibank, ANZ, Westpac just off the top of my head you can transfer rewards to KrisFlyer.

 

[Obi-run Kenobi]

I know Citibank, ANZ, Westpac just off the top of my head you can transfer rewards to KrisFlyer.

Are you suggesting that a small transfer from a credit card program into Kris will extend your entire Krisflyer balance? I didn't think that's how it worked. Either way, not much use if you're holding a bag of Velocity points.

 

[daft009]

Are you suggesting that a small transfer from a credit card program into Kris will extend your entire Krisflyer balance? I didn't think that's how it worked. Either way, not much use if you're holding a bag of Velocity points.

It doesn't

 

[Bagpuss]

For Mollyjones, SQ KF do also have a use by date for their FF system points.
Theirs is 3 years from accrual to death of your points if not used.

Yup you’re right I misread.
Anyway for me, I will use them easy.
They could be transferred back if the option exists. Transferring to SQ is simply a bit like an insurance policy with risks. SQ could go belly up.

 

[SYD]

My memory may be a bit hazy around the circumstances of the AN collapse but wasn’t AN owned by NZ at the time of the collapse. I had already switched to QF by 2001/02 and only lost AN points and quite a few

Yes, the NZ ownership drove AN into the ground and then 9/11 was the final nail in the coffin... I just got to AN Diamond status (WP) a few months before the collapse after flying in J to the LOTFAP 4x a year. I ended up loosing 200k miles (which at the time was a lot!).

VA (then DJ) was starting up and doing ok and the commercial failure of Compass and Compass MkII was still reasonably fresh, so the pressure to bail out AN was low.

This is a whole different landscape. I’m reasonable comfortable with my 1m+ miles with QF (although can’t use them fast enough) - I am however concerned about my VA stash (650k). I did transfer some to SQ before the deval and still not sure when they’ll be used before they expire!

 

[jonboixxx]

It doesn't

KrisFlyer elites, which I am not, ordinarily have further extension on their miles. I have 36 months + an extra 6 months for $12 per 10,000. I'm hoping for SQ to extend miles, further to the extra that they have already offered elites.