Is Silver worth it and what's the best way to get it?

[lobo76]

Hey all,

I'm a semi-frequent flyer (1-2 domestic per quaterter and 1 international per year). I have an Amex Plat Edge and I've got about 200,000 FF points. I've been reading this forum with interest now (or trying to, you seasoned AFFers sure do you a lot of TLA's )

I'm wondering for someone who travels as infrequently as me, is it worth striving for Silver? If so what tips can you give me to get there with the best efficiency?

Cheers!

 

[casanovawa]

Myself, I don't particularly think that silver is worth it for the benefits you get from it, i certainly wouldn't go much out of my way in terms of incurring extra costs i'd have to pay for to achieve it, but then everyone is different and so it may be of more value to you than others, you just need to look at the benefits and work out how much you value them...

Obviously the best way to get silver is to have someone else (ie work) like lots of people here pay for you to achieve it... Are you flying with your own money I am assuming? The next way after that is to work out how much you need (is it 300 or 350 SCs) and then work out how to achieve it.. Having achieved it one year the requalification amounts will be less in future years...

On Qantas's website they have calculators to work out how many SCs a particular flight will earn you so you can plan your flights that way or at least work out how much short you will be from your existing planned flights... The other way to earn SCs obviously is either booking one or more ASA flights instead of just plain award seats with those 200k QFF points you have or else buy higher class seats that attract more SCs per your existing flights or upgrade yourself with those QFF points to the next class up...

Probably helps people here suggest routes to earn maximum SCs if they know where your flying from...

 

[Lawlass]

If you're sure you're not going to reach Gold, I wouldn't spend any extra on trying to obtain Silver.

 

[lobo76]

Myself, I don't particularly think that silver is worth it for the benefits you get from it, i certainly wouldn't go much out of my way in terms of incurring extra costs i'd have to pay for to achieve it, but then everyone is different and so it may be of more value to you than others, you just need to look at the benefits and work out how much you value them...

Obviously the best way to get silver is to have someone else (ie work) like lots of people here pay for you to achieve it... Are you flying with your own money I am assuming? The next way after that is to work out how much you need (is it 300 or 350 SCs) and then work out how to achieve it.. Having achieved it one year the requalification amounts will be less in future years...

On Qantas's website they have calculators to work out how many SCs a particular flight will earn you so you can plan your flights that way or at least work out how much short you will be from your existing planned flights... The other way to earn SCs obviously is either booking one or more ASA flights instead of just plain award seats with those 200k QFF points you have or else buy higher class seats that attract more SCs per your existing flights or upgrade yourself with those QFF points to the next class up...

Probably helps people here suggest routes to earn maximum SCs if they know where your flying from...

Forgive my ignorance but what's an ASA flight? :/
Also, I thought I didn't get SCs for flights or upgrades purchased with points... if I do then it really makes it a lot easier to attain!

Thanks for the replies guys

EDIT:
I may have been unclear.. my 200k Points are with Velocity not Qantas...

 

[casanovawa]

No need to forgive, I knew none of this stuff when i joined but after a few weeks/months you'll pick it up...

ASA is an Any Seat Award, and you can get them in Y (economy), J (business) or F (first)... Basically instead of booking an award seat for a fixed amount of points based on mileage that doesn't get FF points or SCs you can buy an any seat award and you will get the points/SCs... Its just another option on the Qantas website.. You pay points for your YASA which will be higher than just the basic award price in points, and they can be substantially higher, there is no fixed level so an economy ASA on a different flight on the same day can cost different amount of points...

I haven't booked one as SCs don't really mean much for me as i am not chasing status, but the people here can tell you the best way to find the cheapest ASA's... Maybe a sticky around here as well detailing it all...

And you could be right, about not earning the higher class points/SCs on upgrade with points, I have never done that either...

All the above relates to Qantas, I have only ever taken one Virgin flight years ago before i found this site and have never worked out the comparable system for Velocity etc so sorry there...

 

[Noob]

Hey all,

I'm a semi-frequent flyer (1-2 domestic per quaterter and 1 international per year). I have an Amex Plat Edge and I've got about 200,000 FF points. I've been reading this forum with interest now (or trying to, you seasoned AFFers sure do you a lot of TLA's )

I'm wondering for someone who travels as infrequently as me, is it worth striving for Silver? If so what tips can you give me to get there with the best efficiency?

Cheers!

Hey!

In my opinion, if you don't think you will need to fly any more than what you are doing now in the near future I wouldn't bother. If you needed to fly more, I would only ever strive for Gold like Lawlass said.

If your amount of flights remains like it is, and you want to have a bit more "fun" when flying, I would recommend buying a Virgin Australia Lounge membership.

Welcome to AFF (what are some more? CL IFE AVOD FL WP VA QF DJ SQ SIA SG LSG)

 

[Jeffrey O'Neill]

Depending on who's paying for your domestic flights silver status can save you a bit of money in terms of the free baggage allowance.

I got silver from basically a return SYD LAX PE flight plus a domestic trip.

It's saved me from buying luggage around 5 times.

It's also nice to see a long queue and wizz past everyone in the priority lane.

Velocity silver is easier to maintain and gain than QF, but the earn rate for the cheap economy flights with Virgin suck when compared to QF.

 

[Deleted member 29185]

All the above relates to Qantas, I have only ever taken one Virgin flight years ago before i found this site and have never worked out the comparable system for Velocity etc so sorry there...

Actually, in this regard, as the OP has posted to the Virgin Australia Velocity forum board, it may be wise to leave Qantas out of it as they are very different schemes. ASAs with Virgin do not earn status credits. Markis10 recently did up a "best of" status earning and OOL runs seem to be some of the better ones per $. Of course these won't help if you live in PER. Perhaps give us a bit of an idea where you live and common flight routes??

As for the benefit of silver, with DJ I found it worthwhile. You get 2 lounge passes and priority check-in (which is great when you get to the airport and see the queue stretch out the door). You also get the priority phone service with Australian call centre, advance seat selection, better seat options (toward the front of the plane), 23kg of checked luggage, luggage tag and 50% status points bonus. So I guess only you can decide if it's worth it to you. It may also pay to mention the discount lounge membership, which you may or may not see as value depending upon where you fly to/from. For example, if you live on the Gold Coast and fly mainly to Sydney, you'll soon be able to use the lounge in OOL and SYD. A breakfast at the airport probably costs around $15 to $20 with a cup of coffee, which you'd not need with a lounge membership and a bite to eat and a couple of drinks in the afternoon probably sets you back around $20 to $30 which you'd save with a lounge membership. If you did 2 trips (is that return or single sectors??) a quarter, then you might save $200 a year. If you fly with a partner, then you can guest him/her in and then it's really worthwhile and if you have kids, they can be guested in also!

There are also now some reciprocal international lounges available to Virgin Lounge members (I think NZ allow Lounge members). With 200 000 points, you can do some fun points+pay flights where lounge access may really come in handy! It's all in the eye of the beholder.......in this case your eye

 

[stomplad]

Hey all,

I'm a semi-frequent flyer (1-2 domestic per quaterter and 1 international per year). I have an Amex Plat Edge and I've got about 200,000 FF points. I've been reading this forum with interest now (or trying to, you seasoned AFFers sure do you a lot of TLA's )

I'm wondering for someone who travels as infrequently as me, is it worth striving for Silver? If so what tips can you give me to get there with the best efficiency?

When I traveled infrequently, I found Silver a real bonus. With the level of travel you are doing it might be easy to attain it especially with a JASA (Business any seat award) its a good ay to use your points.

See all benefits here Frequent Flyer - About the Program - Silver Benefits
Benefits I liked:
Passing long queues at busy times with priority boarding
Extra baggage
Advanced seating and Preferred seating options (Ability to reserve better seating when booking)
Preferred treatment with other One World Airlines - Like priority boarding with AA.
Priority phone number

If you give a more detailed outline of your travel I am sure the AFF members can show you how to get to silver then you can assess if its worth it

 

[serfty]

...
When I traveled infrequently, I found Silver a real bonus. With the level of travel you are doing it might be easy to attain it especially with a JASA (Business any seat award) its a good ay to use your points.

See all benefits here Frequent Flyer - About the Program - Silver Benefits
...
If you give a more detailed outline of your travel I am sure the AFF members can show you how to get to silver then you can assess if its worth it

Note this thread is in the Velocity forum and related to status with Virgin Australia.