Major changes to Velocity Frequent Flyer announced 17/10/24

[Seat0B]

I wrote to Velocity this afternoon via the Contact Us page on their website. I pointed out that despite their claim about the new system being “an inherently simpler way to track and earn status”, it's actually self-evidently more complicated because customers have no idea how many SC's they’ll earn until the moment they pay for a flight and the price is locked in. It's impossible to plan flights to ensure that I maintain Gold under the new system, so I can't see myself making any effort to do so (having previously been Platinum for 9 or 10 years).

Their response was:

Thank you for sharing your concerns about the changes to how Status Credits are earned. I completely understand your frustration with the new fare-based system and how it affects your ability to plan your flights and maintain your Gold status. On behalf of Velocity, we apologise for the frustration and inconvenience it has caused you. Please know your dissatisfaction was never our intended purpose. We strive to assist our members and guests as best as we can but there may be instances where we’ll need improvement which is why we appreciate the time you’ve taken to let us know how you feel. Your feedback about the previous system is important, and I’ll make sure it gets passed along to the team. We genuinely want to create a rewarding experience for our members, and your input helps us get there.

On that basis, I strongly encourage people to get in touch with Velocity to complain - the more, the merrier from our perspective, and if they see how much pain and dissatisfaction they're causing, a review of the changes is an outside possibility........

Sounds like an AI generated response to me…. No actual humans were involved in considering your issues. Though of course, I may be wrong .

 

[drron]

Done this with both Alaska and American and I can vouch that Admiral, Flagship and Alaska Lounges are miles ahead of Qantas and Virgin lounges.

but not Admirals club.

 

[SYD]

but not Admirals club.

Also, AS lounges are hit and miss - some are decent (ie SEA) but LAX is a broom cupboard. Stay in the QF F/J or AA Flagship if you can - unless you have a thing for pancakes.

 

[kileskus]

I don't think these changes were made to attract/retain avid AFF goers. It seems to me that VA is mainly Australia- and Pacific-oriented for the average Australian middle-class single person/family and these changes at best consolidate targeted consumer group or at worst irritate them without irritating enough to make them want to take JQ.

Perhaps being overly optimistic here but by making the frequent flyer program more selective, this makes Virgin somewhat more attractive for a potential accepting alliance. Having half its members seemingly silver+ status would be a glaring liability to any alliance and these changes (I hope) after a couple of years along with (I hope) upgrades in network and service would increase the possibility of them joining an alliance. I see VA as having the potential to be like what S7 was in Oneworld.

That said VA v1 was kind of before my time so I don't remember well the old Velocity

Personally I do fortnightly self-funded leisure trips and the routings via BNE to places in QLD or NT or VQI ZLN etc. are actually pretty similar in status credit earn in the new system and sometimes better earn in direct flights, and being ok on money but short on time it works out. Everyone's situation is different. But I'm sure the boffins in VA did market research and modelling and have figured the upsides for them outweigh the losses.