It's confirmed - 'Fly Ahead' benefit is now useless...

[ChrisFlyer]

Before it was publicised, the (now-named) 'Fly Ahead' benefit used to permit Gold members (and their guests) to switch to an earlier (or later) flight, even with checked baggage. I was able to do this in the MEL lounge once (and they were happy to locate my bags and change the flight tags), and also at the SYD priority check-in desk before checking in luggage... Additionally, staff in BNE have been able to move me to a later flight for the return leg that evening with travelling with carry-on only.

This was a great benefit, and seriously influenced my choice of airline... though it now seems that this benefit is ONLY for those with carry-on luggage, and ONLY for switching to an earlier flight... As I frequently do overnight trips (with checked baggage), this has now removed what was one of the BEST benefits of the program... While it will still be useful for those who have no checked baggage, to me, the benefit is useless, and is an extremely disappointing change from a company that is trying to attract new business, as well as encourage further spending from existing customers.

It also seems that it is not available when travelling on redemption tickets... Our first "enhancement" of the Velocity program - very QFF-like!

Email from Velocity below:

Thank you for your recent correspondence and for taking the time for providing us with your feedback.

As it stands at the moment as this offer is subject to availability and is only available for guest with carryon luggage only. If you do have any requests for this offer you will need to check with the staff at Virgin Australia. Below we have placed the terms and conditions for you.

Gold Membership | Velocity Frequent Flyer


BENEFITS FOR GOLD AND PLATINUM MEMBERS


Fly Ahead

13.1 In the event that a Gold or Platinum Member, who has been ticketed for a domestic Virgin Australia flight, arrives at the Virgin Australia lounge in time to be carried on an earlier Virgin Australia domestic flight with available seating to the same destination, you are entitled to make a request that you and an accompanying guest be carried on that earlier flight (Fly Ahead).


13.2 The request for Fly Ahead must be made to a Virgin Australia staff member at the Virgin Australia lounge. Fulfilment of your request is not guaranteed and is subject to the following conditions:


13.2.1 the accompanying guest must hold a fully paid reserved seat to the same domestic destination;


13.2.2 the Fly Ahead flight selection is made at least 30 minutes before departure while the flight is still open for check-in and the member and guest only carry hand luggage and agree no meal is guaranteed; and


13.2.3 there are available seats on the eligible Fly Ahead flight and no guests are displaced.

 

[777]

ChrisCh,

I am confused about what you are on about. Are you suggesting that you have had a problem with this in practice OR are you saying that the published guidelines aren't as generous as you've found the staff to be in the past?

There's a difference between a guranteed published benefit and how far people will go to help you if you ask and always has been.

 

[lazybones1987]

It also seems that it is not available when traveling on redemption tickets

If you read section 13.2, it talks about 'guests' who are traveling with you.

and ONLY for switching to an earlier flight

I'm sure there have been quite a few people here (including myself) who have managed to fly on a later flight (thanks to the lounge angels).

 

[mja]

I haven't seen any errosion of the benefit here.

Twice last week I was moved forward on non-flexi tickets and with checked baggage. I didn't have to ask, they just offered at the check in desks in Syd and Mel.

Fair enough for them not to move people after check-in.........would be a nightmare getting handlers to hunt for the bags and re-tag them.

 

[Justchecking]

I don't think it's an enhancement per SE, more a formalization of the official process. You must have been the beneficiary of some extremely customer driven individuals in the past. I always understood being moved to an earlier flight was subject to carry-on, as I can imagine it would be a logistical nightmare to go chasing after bags once they've gone own the chute. Conversations like....'so what colour is your bag?', 'black' come to mind. Not to mention the risk of pulling the wrong bag at the other end.

This I what happens sadly when people, doing a great job, go out of their way. They create an expectationwith the customer that it's normal procedure and to be expected. :shock: In fact you've just been fortunate enough to meet people who go above and beyond. While it may work for the odd one-off, it's probably not practical once a certain volume of people request the same thing, hence the rules. DJ has traditionally been quite good at getting their staff to take initiatives like this, but going forward they are going to have to standardize certain elements to keep the operations efficient. They probably can't afford to pull a baggage handler off another job and go bag hunting every time a Plat wants to move to an earlier flight.

 

[ChrisFlyer]

My message to Virgin was to ask if they still had discretion with moving at the check-in desk etc etc - to which they specifically confirmed that now only lounge angels had that authority (perhaps with the exception of when they need to free up seats on a later flight to accommodate delayed connections etc)... I also asked if the option for a later flight was still at the discretion of lounge angels, of if the rule specifically states earlier departures only. Their reply seemed to indicate that any free changes with checked baggage were no longer permitted, and that the benefit was restricted to earlier flights.

If other members are still reporting being able to change when checking-in bags, or moving to later flights, then that's great - and I'll be happy again! ... but the reply from Virgin (which took almost a week, so I presume they checked with the appropriate managers), seemed to indicate otherwise.

 

[ChrisFlyer]

They probably can't afford to pull a baggage handler off another job and go bag hunting every time a Plat wants to move to an earlier flight.

I understand that completely - which is why I suggested that the benefit still be available at priority check-in: BEFORE a bag has been tagged and checked.

 

[777]

So you have run this whole thing to them via email but not yet had any experience of it at the airport?

 

[ChrisFlyer]

So you have run this whole thing to them via email but not yet had any experience of it at the airport?

As I mentioned, I had experienced the then-unnamed benefit before the Velocity re-launch - where it was not an official benefit but available by word-of-mouth. Once the program had been relaunched to include this as a published benefit, I decided to email Velocity to confirm if the benefit had been changed. As some seem confused, it may be easier to post my original email to Velocity in regards to the benefit:

Hi there. This message is regarding your published 'Fly Ahead' benefit for Velocity Gold guests. Before this benefit was publicly announced, staff at the airport were already happy to switch flights for gold status guests in the lounge when travelling with carry-on only, and staff at the priority check-in desk were able to do the same if travelling with checked bags, provided that the bags have not already been checked-in. Your website now states that the 'Fly Ahead' benefit applies when in the lounge and only for those who are travelling with carry-on (presumably so that you don't have to find checked bags and re-tag them). Is the benefit still available when using the priority check-in desk when travelling with checked baggage, or is it now *only* available for those with no baggage? Also, I have been successful in the past when requesting to be moved to a later flight, so that I may have dinner before departure (eg. a 6pm flight was changed to an 8:30pm flight for free as a Gold)... is it still possible to switch to a later departure, or is the 'Fly Ahead' benefit now specifically restricted to earlier flights only?

Many thanks!

Their direct response to this email was posted at the top of this thread - thus my original frustration in Velocity confirming the new rules did in fact limit the benefit to guests with carry-on only, and only when moving to earlier flights (not later departures).

Again, if other members are still experiencing the unpublished perks of the original unnamed benefit (or kindness of the VA staff), then that is fantastic! But not having needed to request a flight change since the program's relaunch, my message was based on information received directly from management at Velocity. Hope that clears a few things up!

 

[777]

Their direct response to this email was posted at the top of this thread - thus my original frustration in Velocity confirming the new rules did in fact limit the benefit to guests with carry-on only, and only when moving to earlier flights (not later departures).

Again, if other members are still experiencing the unpublished perks of the original unnamed benefit (or kindness of the VA staff), then that is fantastic! But not having needed to request a flight change since the program's relaunch, my message was based on information received directly from management at Velocity. Hope that clears a few things up!

Seriously, what are they going to say? "We have published guidelines but front line staff might totally ignore them and go the extra mile".

Out of curiosity, how do you know you received it from "management" at Velocity as opposed to the poor sod who just has to answer 30 such emails a day and simply cut and pasted the guidelines? In any case, the email basically says "here are the guidelines but check with the staff."

If there is a change of practice then report back til then i am not really sure what the news is or why it warrants such a strong reaction?

PS, in any case it's hardly "useless" it's actually still very useful for a lot of people.

 

[ChrisFlyer]

They could have very easily said something like "we can only guarantee to move you if your request is made in the lounge with carry-on only and where seats are available on the new flight, but if you do have checked baggage, priority check-in staff may be able to move you subject to expected weight and fuel loads/at their discretion" etc etc etc... their flat refusal seemed to state that the benefit is no longer permissible, again, thus my comment.

I made the reasonable assumption that due to the contents of my message, the reply would have at least been influenced by a manager, as I cited previous travel experience that may be unknown to a general email support staff, and requested an official clarification - something that a standard member of support staff would most likely not be able to provide.

Re: strong reaction - again, my reaction was based on being told from a Velocity rep that the benefits I had been previously experiencing were no longer available.

Re: "useless" - I did state in my first email: "While it will still be useful for those who have no checked baggage, to me, the (published) benefit is useless [...] as I frequently do overnight trips (with checked baggage)"

... other than repeating myself again, there's not really much more I can say in response to your comments - you seem very defensive of the program and feel strongly that the goodwill of VA staff will always result in them ignoring the new published restrictions, while I am objecting to the refined published restrictions to begin with... shall we agree to disagree on this issue? (after all, we both really want the same thing - flight changes completed with ease and minimal fuss)

 

[777]

shall we agree to disagree on this issue?

How about we agree to revisit based on evidence in practice? Based on what you've heard i think there's an interesting question about whether it had been downgraded but i wouldn't assume that - indeed i'd assume the reverse until proven otherwise. Either way, neither of us can be sure until we see what they do not what they say.

 

[an*g-bne]

I can report that there is still evidence of greater flexibility than the strictly published rules. Flying back ROK-BNE, I asked to be moved from the 1445 departure to the 1025 departure, with a checked bag. No problems at all, on a cheap $79 saver fare. Load in Y on the earlier flight (prior to my move) was 95/96, so check-in angel had to get clearance from supervisor to release the last seat for me. Even got 3F. Then, about 10 minutes before boarding, I (and 3 other passengers) was paged to come up to the desk. We all arrived almost simultaneously. A plat & myself were told we had to be re-seated, and were given 2A and 2C , and the other two passengers were told that they would be able to fly today, and presumably were given our seats (I noticed them in 3D and 3F on the plane).

No questions raised at all about the checked bag.

Earlier in the week, flying BNE-MKY on the 0845 departure, again on a saver fare (but carry-on only), I was caught up in the go-slow traffic snarl (cleaning services strike action, I think) on Airport Drive, and by the time I'd got into the car park it was already 0835 (I would normally have expected to arrive at the car park by 0800). A quick check on the web from the phone showed that the flight was on time. By the time I found a park and walked in to the terminal, it was already 0847. Went up to priority check-in, and told them I was late due to the traffic. Only response was a smile and a "let's see what we can do", and 30 seconds later, I had a BP for the next BNE-MKY flight, and an apology that 5F was the best she could do. Although it meant the whole morning in the DJ lounge, I couldn't complain .

So, the staff are still empowered to go beyond the published benefit, it would appear.

 

[Deleted member 29185]

So, the staff are still empowered to go beyond the published benefit, it would appear.

That's great news to hear. My thoughts are that DJ do have to be very careful about what they state as a written benefit (including in personal emails that just may happen to find their way onto certain FF fora) as we all will naturally expect that benefit. But it's good to see discretion being left with the ground crew/checkin staff.

I asked on a different thread, about the flexibility of gold/plat status holders on cheap fares and did indeed get examples there as to the practice (over benefit) of moving to later flights. I had read here on AFF some posts that seemed at the time, to suggest this was a guaranteed benefit for gold/plat.....basically full flexibility as seen for PE fares, but on Saver/Sale fare buckets. It appears this is no such thing, just something that has been know (possibly frequently) to occur. If anyone can say otherwise, I'd love to hear it (as that would be a MAJOR DJ benefit for many of us........but most importantly, me! )

May I ask an*g-bne, were you checked in before missing the flight by way of OLCI? Even PE states that changes won't apply to "no shows", but I've personally experienced the opposite (although I viewed that at the time as exceptional service, as opposed to God given right ).

Also a question to all, have you found the call centre can alter your flight? My personal experience (as silver) was the call centre would never do it, but the lounge angels/checkin staff did occasionally, but certainly not all the time.

 

[N860CR]

That's good to know. I'd booked a ROK-BNE on the last flight out (which has now been retimed to depart 10 minutes later... although I haven't been told about this yet :-|) and had hoped to try to get on the late arvo flight. Guess my chances are a little better now! Although for two Golds plus two Reds it might be pushing it.

 

[lazybones1987]

Also a question to all, have you found the call centre can alter your flight? My personal experience (as silver) was the call centre would never do it, but the lounge angels/checkin staff did occasionally, but certainly not all the time.

The "normal" call center cannot move you to a different flight once the flight is closed or if you have checked in (reason being that they have to re-open that closed flight, un-check you from that flight, move you to a different flight and then close that flight again) and I'm guessing that the "normal" call center staff don't have access to do that.

 

[an*g-bne]

May I ask an*g-bne, were you checked in before missing the flight by way of OLCI? Even PE states that changes won't apply to "no shows", but I've personally experienced the opposite (although I viewed that at the time as exceptional service, as opposed to God given right ).

Also a question to all, have you found the call centre can alter your flight? My personal experience (as silver) was the call centre would never do it, but the lounge angels/checkin staff did occasionally, but certainly not all the time.

Yes, I had been checked in to the flight I missed (checked in at T-24). Didn't seem to be any problems them offloading me, and then rebooking me.

I did try to get the call centre to change by ROK-BNE flight to the one earlier, but I was advised that it would cost the change fee and the fare difference, and just to go to the airport immediately (there were 3 seats available at the time I rang - about 90 mins before departure). So I headed over to the airport immediately, and got there about 65 minutes before departure, and got the last seat.

The call centre agent did say though that they would have to go over to a different system to uncheck me first before they could change my flight.if I wanted them to do it.

 

[ozbeachbabe]

Streamlining the process of moving flights is governed by how user friendly an airline's checkin system is. It's the same process with JQ as they also use Navitaire for checkin. In ports that have departures in the early hours of the morning you'll always get people turning up 24 hours late for their flight so staff would have to open up the flight from the previous day before they could move pax across to the new one which is quite labour intensive.

QF's checkin system Altea interfaces with the Amadeus res system it means that where a pax may already have done OLCI for a flight they can arrive at the airport & retrieve the booking at the kiosk & have the option of changing to an earlier/later flight after which time they would then checkin any checked luggage if applicable. If you were to look in the Amadeus pnr after the change you would see the old flight with a "UN" status (unable) & the new flight with "TK" (now confirmed as).

The bug bear with some QF changeable fares is for the kiosk (or checkin agent) to permit that flight change the flight has to show available in that sub-class eg V class fare needs V class seats whereas there may only be Y,H or B left. Generally speaking the City Flyer staff (service desk) staff mostly have the view a "a seat's a seat" for changeable fares (not red-e-deals etc) so will more often than not change pax.

If you have carry on this is easy as you just head through security then head off to the desk. With baggage you'd have to first ask a staff member if they could call City Flyer to change your booking then once changed, tag your bags & send them off. I've heard some staff say to pax "if it's available the kiosk will offer an earlier flight" which it will, only if that same sub-class is available.

Obviously The Lounge Angels have a higher priority code to be able to amend/override certain fare bookings that normal checkin agents can't which is great for Velocity Plat & Gold, however why can't supervisors perform this function for these pax when they also want to checkin bags?

Say there's two pax travelling, what's to stop one going to The Lounge to make the change while the other minds the bags then once booking is changed & new boarding passes in hand, coming back to checkin to get the bags tagged & sent off? Obviously you would need to have paid the fee to be able to check bags in.

 

[MarkD]

Dont see how any benefit that allows a totally inflexible ticket to become a flexible ticket in any respect without incurring any cost, could be classed as useless. Personally, I think any flexibilty is very useful, especially when it is given to me without charge

 

[Martin J Cowling]

I love this feature and really appreciate it when lounge staff offer it to me