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

[ferntree]

To get to Platinum, you'll need to earn 1000 SCs with 500 SC on VA. So you would not qualify because 400 < 500.

Thanks, but I'm talking about MAINTAIN platinum, which is only 800.

 

[BrianQQ]

Thanks, but I'm talking about MAINTAIN platinum, which is only 800.

Read that wrong, yes you'll qualify as you only need 400.

 

[kangarooflyer88]

I must admit I'm not a fan of the "enhancements" Virgin Australia has made here. The top level point from their announcement is they are making it considerably more difficult to earn Virgin status whilst at the same time making rewards more expensive. Yes there is the conciliation of earning lifetime status on Virgin (as you can already do on Qantas and other frequent flyer programs) but that's about it. Having to spend $6,000 a year on flights to earn just mid-tier status is laughable when you can earn comparable status on other airlines for much less. Oh and you get more benefits that aren't tied to just the handful of random partners Virgin has. And the cherry on top? Having to earn most of your status credits flying Virgin Australia, which is fine I suppose if you fly a lot domestically, but for those of us whose bread and butter is long haul international flights, it's not gonna make much sense. Now granted this isn't my first rodeo, United pulled this stunt back in 2019, which forced me to leave them for Qantas (which to this day bases on loyalty on BIS). I suspect there will be many refugees from Virgin moving to greener pastures be it status matching over to Qantas or moving to a program that values loyalty over money.

The one saving grace, so far as I can tell is the enhancements to the redemptions on partners hasn't been announced... yet. So I guess that means now is the time to start burning your Virgin Australia points before they become less valuable than an Argentinian Peso on a bad day.

-RooFlyer88

 

[IainF]

Is that the only way you can find out your LT SC count?

Yep. Back in March I requested my "statement of account" which has logged every flight & Status Credit since 2006 ! I did a count and it showed that since Feb 2012 I have 17,635 VA earned status credits. If I run the numbers, I have achieved partner plat + at least 200 more status credits every year since then, my count would be 18,000 so it seems pretty accurate. There was a couple of years I hit 6000 status credits but there was a lot of flights on Singapore for that.
I have made quite a few friends & family platinum members with partner plat & family pooling.

 

[Gold Member]

It may also be the international network announcement?

Regarding todays increase of the QF share price - this is more likely due to the price of oil which has retreated quite a bit since the QR announcement. The overall market is also trending higher due to recent solid NFPs/employment stats and strong market earnings out of the US pointing to a more resilient economy and less chance of a hard landing.

It would be unwise to suggest that today’s VA announcement was solely responsibly for the recent QF share price gains.

 

[CaptJCool]

At one point VA offered govt employees access to the CBR lounge if they bought a “govt fare”

I bought a few of them. Usually travelled there every 8-13 weeks and of course diluted my status earn to the other airline. Imagine that Actually honouring BFOD and doing the right thing would slow down achieving LTG…..

Retrograde.move by Virginia. She can’t see for she’s blind to who actually pays the family fares. Family pooling was The only amazing thing going for the current scheme and now they pull the rug from under the customer
After all Jayne would know wink wink that the lax parents of 5 year olds really do get their own kids to pay for their own airfares ….

 

[aaronm]

It's definitely possible to come out ahead on partner bookings under the new system - MEL-LAX on UA for example, today a return Y airfare on UA would earn 90 SCs, an average ($1500?) airfare earns 125 with the new rules.

J is an even bigger difference, today that same flight gets 320 SCs, in future you'd pick up 750 on a $9000 fare, which is almost enough to retain WP and easily meets the 50% VA marketed quota.

Ultimately it's all about how much cash you have to drop on airfares, sadly for me the days of using SQ PE trips to retain WP have probably come to an end.

 

[Leroy87]

Okay, let's take a look at last year - a pretty average year for me in terms of re-qualifying platinum (800 SC) with really only a minimum amount of flying. All flights were on VA, so that's a start:

SCs flown by me: 450 (310 + 140 from DSC promo)
Family Pooling: 170
All in Campaign Feb 24: 200 (taking out a Velocity co-branded card)

Plus some miscellaneous others (flybuys).

So if I were to repeat that under the new rules, I'd be fine to reach Platinum again.

Problem is, a bunch of my own flown SCs were discounted J (think MEL-SYD for $339 on DSC). These go from earning 55 (x2) to about half as much (28, x2 on promo), meaning I'm going to have to up my spend a lot to get there.

400 SCs flown by me on VA => $4800 of fares or down as low as $2400 if they are all DSC, somewhere in between otherwise. That's plenty more than I spend at the moment - good for Virgin, bad for me.

Probably means I settle for Gold from here on in

 

[kamchatsky]

I had a quick look on the redemption table, I don't like what I am seeing.

Domestic Y can be bought fairly cheaply using cash, so using points is "pointless".

The international VA/Partner reward has increased across the board, plus those carrier surcharges (in USD!) is gonna hurt us.

For anyone thinking to move to QF though, I am sure that QF Loyalty is loving this, and they will now be able to justify the next round of "enhancements".

So I need to evaluate what points I should be focussing on earning on credit cards. I was going to focus on earning VA points but now I may stop doing this and evaluate.

 

[somebol]

as a self funded leisure, I can't justify spending close to $10K on retaining platinum. so adios VFF

 

[nonrev-jez]

Maybe a few less in lounges in future?? Can't be a terrible thing.

Let’s hope they seriously improve the lounge food and beverage offerings if that’s the case

 

[MarkD]

Just doing some calculations and status credit wise, tge coat per sc on my usual flights dont add up to purchase the cheap J tickets. Im usually over on SC each year but essentially i can usually get J for between $350-480 oneway and happy to pay that. Currently earns 55sc. Under new system 29-40SC. Not worth it for a 1 hr flight. Will jot waste extra $$ on short haul J after implementation.
Will still maintain and obviously will cost more to maintain regardless. $180 to earn 15sc which is choice bne-std, these tickets can usually be bought for sub $130 last minute so the rate in real terms has increased substantially. Having said that i have paid over $200 on rare occasions so better off under this new system on that occasion, but its rare that I pay more than 130-150 for choice. Ah well. Stiff cough i guess, it was bound to happen. Lounges are a zoo, priority boarding a joke as everyone has it so hopefully this will reduce the amount of people using these things. While they are at it they can get rid of priority boarding for economy x

 

[BrianQQ]

Horrendous change from VFF, especially as they aren't alliance based.

 

[jase05]

as a self funded leisure, I can't justify spending close to $10K on retaining platinum. so adios VFF

But on the flip side we are spending $10k plus per year each on domestic flights for leisure now already so with only 2 options in Australia we have to spend it with one of them so may aswell be VA I guess

 

[RooFlyer]

But it’s only 800 to maintain Platinum so 400 on VA is fine.

Yes, if you can’t earn 400 VA SCs in a year you’re probably in the wrong program.

Seems to me that the Virgin Velocity FF program is swinging more towards a loyalty program. I’m quite happy if they shed any number of current status holders either because they can’t make it or not satisfied with the changes.

 

[simmomelb]

50% status earn on VA is a big ask when their network doesn't extend further than Bali at the moment.

That part isn't commencing until October 2025 and by then they will be flying to Doha and who knows when by that point.

 

[knagelli]

I’m quite happy if they shed any number of current status holders.

might be good for those who travel a lot but not for someone like me who travels only 2/3 times a year that too for family holidays. I am going to be one of the first few to lose status post this.

 

[henrus]

I really want to know lifetime SCs as it could be beneficial to chase some SCs before the new rates come in. Hopefully they share that info soon!

 

[kangarooflyer88]

Here's what I cannot understand for the life of me on this nuclear bomb they drop. And no, I'm no exaggerating when I say that, they announced tons of enhancements all at once, overwhelming even the most loyal fan with (mostly) bad news. I can count at least 10 announcements made from the email they sent. Whoever is running communications for the program should be fired over this nonsense.

In any event, my point here is they are asking members for more loyalty from them by forcing them to fly half of their status credits on Virgin and basing it now on $$$ instead of miles flown by cabin (the latter being the true meaning of loyalty). But then the question is what do they get in return for that extra loyalty? Well, if we read the announcement, they get considerably less in return:

From 1 October 2025, we’re making the following changes for existing and new Gold and Platinum members:
- Guaranteed Economy Reward Seat (GERS) benefit will be removed from the Gold Status membership.

- We’re making changes to Companion Gold eligibility. If you are a Platinum member, you will need to earn at least 1,300 Status Credits in your 12-month Benefit Period, with a minimum of 650 Status Credits earned on Virgin Australia marketed flights flown by you.

- Companion Platinum Status will be removed as a Platinum membership benefit, and introduced as an exclusive benefit for the Platinum Plus membership only.

The one big unknown here is what will happen to the pricing of award tickets. They have indicated that they will go up in January, so now the question will be will this be a small price hike or a big one? Yes, it is nice that Virgin has reduced the lowest award ticket amount to 5,900 points, no doubt that will make the Virgin Australia points more valuable in some instances. But again, I'm seeing a lot of cactuses and very little olive branches here.

-RooFlyer88

 

[BrianQQ]

Yes, if you can’t earn 400 VA SCs in a year you’re probably in the wrong program.

I'll be surprised to see how many elites are gonna be shed due to this decision.

$4800 on VA out of $9600 on non-Lite fares is gonna be a hard ask, especially when the destinations for VA are going to be uh... Australia and Doha.