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

[justinbrett]

Well for government staff mostly flies QF due to those QF golden handcuffs anyway.

No that’s not a true statement. For MPs probably, but for departmental staff, military, contractors etc, IME probably more leaning towards VA as it’s easier to get lounge access.

Maybe since VA2 that’s gone back a bit, with no meals etc.

 

[p--and--t]

If your company still have BFOD policy, most people will still fly VA as QF is simply more expensive than VA most of the time. They simply do not have a choice.

Depends on the size of the entity and the corporate discount on published fares they get and if luggage is required. VA is not always cheapest.

Even for the average punter (like me) QF was cheaper than VA on trips ADL-MEL and MEL-BNE when taking into account apples for apples when i travelled last week.

 

[oz_mark]

What difference does it make? It would be one thing if they told us how much partner awards increased now so we had time to prepare, but that’s not the case. We won’t find out till late January at which time it’s too late.

Again I just wish someone thought through this announcement carefully.

-RooFlyer88

WHat do you mean?

 

[antycbr]

WHat do you mean?

View attachment 412289

Surprised that VA didn’t take the opportunity to clean house and terminate the EY partnership at the same time

 

[oz_mark]

Presumably they were informed of the enhancements ahead of time. But again we really just don’t know how much award rates will go. Will it be a 10% rise in award redemptions on UA or 50%? We just don’t know and won’t know for some time.

Easy enough to work out. Here's the new Rewards chart for UA

 

[andye]

IMO one of the problems of a revenue SC strategy (and revenue points for that matter) for FF programmes is that it doesn't shift behaviour as much. Many people with expensive fares are being paid for by their employer and if it's a corporate scheme, the flyer may not have much choice of airline.

However, the self-funded are usually looking for value and the chance to acquire status might very well influence their choice of airline

This is less of an issue in Aus as there are few low-cost competitors domestically but say in the UK where you can fly BA or Easyjet/Ryanair, the loyalty programme can shift behaviour. It still exists though. I have certainly chosen VA (and partners) over QF due to the ability to get useful status especially with family pooling

 

[kangarooflyer88]

Found a silver lining in the new award chart: the maximum permitted mileage (MPM) of trips has gone from 15,000 miles to 20,000 miles. This will make some itineraries previously unbookable with Virgin points bookable like Sydney to São Paulo on Etihad or Qatar.

 

[WilsonM]

So having built up my velocity balance I’m now thinking I need to burn it before the changes.

Anyone done the sums, are you better off transferring to SQ for redemptions with SQ?

Except for niche cases where SQ's region-based award chart provides a loophole that VA's distance-based chart is logical about, you're not better off transferring to SQ if your goal is to get the best value for your points. Of course, carrier charges are higher (both before and worse now) and availability is much better through SQ.

For the route, if Velocity is less than 55% higher in pricing, using your Velocity points is better off.

One thing to note though - if you make speculative bookings prior to the changes and then want to change after the changes go live, you can't - you can only cancel and rebook, and if you've booked a partner award then you're not guaranteed to get that seat released into inventory for you if the points take some time getting back to your account.

 

[33kft]

Some might even say it's simpler and farer

 

[andye]

Wonder what Coles, 7-11 and Shell Reddy think of this.
Velocity is a loyalty program, not just flying.
If people go Qantas it's just as easy to shop at Woolworths and get petrol at BP and not only abandon Virgin but it's partners as well

Agreed that the loyaly programme can affect partners.
Points Club (and Everyday Extra to be fair) moved my shop from 80% Coles to 90% WW.
One of the pros of Coles is that you can strategise the shop and get a fair few VA SCs with family pooling. PC made the mental effort less worthwhile. No pooling makes it less attractive again

 

[MooTime]

So now you need to work it out yourself. Total fare cost by 12.
Previously you see the SC earn when booking, it's there when booking. And if you missed it or want to recheck, there's a table to refer to.

I wouldn't call it simpler and certainly not fairer unless fair stipulates less SCs per booking.

Not good different & not Wonderful.

 

[RooFlyer]

This pretty much says VA isn’t in an alliance and if you want that, go elsewhere. This very much makes Velocity a program for domestic pax or the occasional straightforward international trip. Forget about RTW or foreign domestic flying.

That’s exactly my attitude and situation. Virgin is a domestic airline with a good domestic frequent flyer program. Revenue flights are relatively cheap and it’s relatively easy to get domestic redemptions.

If I want to fly Int’l, I’ll book direct with the international airline question - either their miles or $$$, or if it’s SQ then I can swap velocity points over but I’d still book direct with SQ.

i’m perfectly content with the Velocity program changes as announced.

 

[justinbrett]

That’s exactly my attitude and situation. Virgin is a domestic airline with a good domestic frequent flyer program. Revenue flights are relatively cheap and it’s relatively easy to get domestic redemptions.

If I want to fly Int’l, I’ll book direct with the international airline question - either their miles or $$$, or if it’s SQ then I can swap velocity points over but I’d still book direct with SQ.

i’m perfectly content with the Velocity program changes as announced.

There’s definitely a school of thought that if you only fly J, status is irrelevant (except in oneworld that has OWE, thus first class lounges alliance wide).

But if your flying could only support having elite status in one program, and you wanted to do a bit of international flying (especially in Y) I’d question whether Velocity is for you.

It certainly doesn’t fit my travel patterns, and if QF implemented the same policy I’d be switching, or just accepting my LTG and forgo the Flounge.

 

[Muppet501st]

If you’ve benefited from family pooling, and the SCs don’t count towards forever gold,but what about the SCs that you’ve pooled to another family member? Will they then count towards your FG ?
I know when I was VA only, and had passed gifting WP, I would then pool to another family member.

I honestly think, QF will have no need to offer a status swap, ( they already have their status challenge) as by reading the posts here, where else will VFFs go

 

[antycbr]

If you’ve benefited from family pooling, and the SCs don’t count towards forever gold,but what about the SCs that you’ve pooled to another family member? Will they then count towards your FG ?
I know when I was VA only, and had passed gifting WP, I would then pool to another family member.

I honestly think, QF will have no need to offer a status swap, ( they already have their status challenge) as by reading the posts here, where else will VFFs go

Yes I hope that they don’t get vaporised as my parter and I would routinely flip family pooling between us depending on where we were in status years…

VA also need to either allow us to go back to 2013 online, or provide us with the forever gold progress calculator ASAP.

 

[Stone]

Wonder what Coles, 7-11 and Shell Reddy think of this.
Velocity is a loyalty program, not just flying.
If people go Qantas it's just as easy to shop at Woolworths and get petrol at BP and not only abandon Virgin but it's partners as well

I think the Coles and FlyBuys relationship are significantly impacted by the changes.

I know that I changed my shop from Woolworths to Coles predominantly for the 10 SC a month - given it's a cost neutral shift (other than being a 5 minute longer drive from my house). It got me safely to the line for Platinum renewal, and was cheaper (and more family friendly) than a status run.

 

[RooFlyer]

But if your flying could only support having elite status in one program, and you wanted to do a bit of international flying (especially in Y) I’d question whether Velocity is for you.

I guess you mean flying a bit internationally to prop up your VA status? Yes, I think you are right.

But if you can achieve VA gold or plat on domestic flying, then downgrading the link to international partners could be liberating. We know that 'loyalty' acts as handcuffs, not always to the flyer's advantage. Take international revenue business elsewhere and if you are relying on Velocity points for international travel, VA is sending you a message. Apologies to those that will impact negatively.

 

[SYD]

You have to request your lifetime activity statement from velocity, email them.

Fortunately I download activity statements etc…

I requested it back in 2022, mine dates back to 2013.

Oh, FFS! Surely that’s not the basis of “Feb 2913” starting point for FG…? Someone in IT lost the pre-Feb 2013 backup?

I have records going back further when loyalty was based on points earn. That was then converted to SCs. Not in front of me at the moment but I have an additional bunch of SCs from circa 2009 thru Feb 2013 (onwards)….

 

[justinbrett]

I guess you mean flying a bit internationally to prop up your VA status? Yes, I think you are right.

But if you can achieve VA gold or plat on domestic flying, then downgrading the link to international partners could be liberating. We know that 'loyalty' acts as handcuffs, not always to the flyer's advantage. Take international revenue business elsewhere and if you are relying on Velocity points for international travel, VA is sending you a message. Apologies to those that will impact negatively.

Not quite. If I earn status in Australia, I want to benefit from that when on holidays overseas, including flying domestic in the US, or trans Atlantic etc. I don’t always fly J.

I’m speaking hypothetically, as I don’t fly domestic much these days since moving to the Gold Coast (I have all my family within driving distance) and I don’t fly for work anymore, so almost all of my flying is international. VA would be a terrible program for me! (Although I have a stash of points I now need to burn)

 

[antycbr]

Fortunately I download activity statements etc…

Oh, FFS! Surely that’s not the basis of “Feb 2913” starting point for FG…? Someone in IT lost the pre-Feb 2013 backup?

I have records going back further when loyalty was based on points earn. That was then converted to SCs. Not in front of me at the moment but I have an additional bunch of SCs from circa 2009 thru Feb 2013 (onwards)….

It’s when they converted to Sabre from Navitaire.