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

[odysseus]

And as for the regular whines about Virgin Domestic lounges being 'substandard', I suggest some of those folks fly around the USA for a week and come and report back with a reality check. For goodness sakes.

There is more to the world than the US. And US lounges - which are also not open to US FF program members on domestic flights, which is the main comparison here - are a completely different model to what is here.

 

[jase05]

Though might be cheaper just to pay the $450 for lounge membership.

But for the vast majority of Platinums lounge access is just a by product of flying so much with VA.
I know there would be some who chase VA status and yeah that does seem a bit pointless but if you are a genuine frequent flyer then lounge access is a nice reward.

 

[kpc]

I will inform the board.

You don't have to...a close family member works for Bain and he knows my feelings about the Va lounges ..they are cough!...don't expect the lounge offerings to improve anytime soon! Va aims to fit in between Qf and J*...it is no longer competing for business customers with Qf. The new CEO, already appointed, will be announced when the time is appropriate. They don't want JH to leave on bitter terms....

 

[jase05]

but the question for them is how big this market is that they've dropped.

I would think 80-90% of Plats would barely notice these new changes and the remainder will either choose to stay at Gold level or leave the system completely. Thinning out of status passengers is much needed though

 

[Leroy87]

I'm clearly disadvantaged by the changes.

• Work flights are BFOD golden triangle: I'll earn between 50-75% as many SCs as before.
• Family Pooling currently gets me to retaining Platinum, which won't help as much (it still helps).

But the key question is, do the changes mean I'll pivot away from VA to QF for domestic paid fares? And after doing the maths, the answer still has to be no:

• Work flights are still BFOD. I usually have the option of VA return or one leg each on QF+JQ to stay in policy. I'll take 2x VA flights because I'll still have some status.
• Family Pooling still gets me halfway to re-qualification. On Qantas I wouldn't have a hope of getting past Silver.

In retrospect, am I really a 'Platinum' flyer from the perspective of the business? 5-10 work trips a year plus a family jaunt somewhere was all it took, not much really. Making status a clearly articulated cash position is a pretty obvious move for a business right? In this round, they still keep my business while giving me less... well done guys

I'll just get used to being Gold instead.

 

[RooFlyer]

But for the vast majority of Platinums lounge access is just a by product of flying so much with VA.
I know there would be some who chase VA status and yeah that does seem a bit pointless but if you are a genuine frequent flyer then lounge access is a nice reward.

No VA lounge at HBA hasn't stopped me from getting almost double plat this year

 

[stm1sydney]

You need to be personally flying a reasonable amount for that, the 50% rule is still quite generous compared with Qantas.

No, it's not, QFF status tier qual or re-qual only requires four sectors on QF. And they have an actual, proper international network in Oneworld. I've always said that the best part about being a QFF member is not having to fly Qantas - QFF has suddenly become more attractive.

 

[simmomelb]

No, it's not, QFF status tier qual or re-qual only requires four sectors on QF. And they have an actual, proper international network in Oneworld. I've always said that the best part about being a QFF member is not having to fly Qantas - QFF has suddenly become more attractive.

I was referring to family pooling of status credits (nothing more), which 50% count towards your total needed with VA to retain or step up in status. That is generous compared with other domestic airlines.
You not wanting to fly QF is a completely different matter or unique to your situation.

 

[Captain Halliday]

Keenly awaiting the assessment of @trippin_the_rift

 

[Princess Fiona]

I was referring to family pooling of status credits (nothing more), which 50% count towards your total needed with VA to retain to step up in status. That is generous compared with other domestic airlines.

And the VFF who need to use family pooling won’t be going anywhere near QF and Velocity knows it.

 

[justinbrett]

I’m beginning to see why VA is culling elites.

 

[simmomelb]

I’m beginning to see why VA is culling elites.

Because of the low-hanging fruit?

 

[twinaisle]

I’m beginning to see why VA is culling elites.

They've made it so easy so now it's time to trim

 

[Bagpuss]

It is a VELOCITY PLATINUM top tier FREQUENT FLYER status being obtained here. Not Red, not Silver.

I'm glad you never mentioned Gold because Virgin / Velocity seem to offer that to everyone as trial.

 

[elanshin]

It's all different objectives.

The last few years there was an opportunity to snatch disillusioned QFF flyers and easy status (status match) has greatly helped that. This year they wanted to pump the books as much as possible so we've seen the crazy amounts of extra status.

Now they're trying to set up dor the future in what I can only assume is that they've gotten the books to a point where they want it for any sale of the company (be it private, QR, IPO etc).

I do wish they tried to make it sound better rather than just overall more negatives than positives as that has solid marketing spin but I can also see this approach.

Look how little discussion there is on the points devaluation here compared to the status situation (as well as Forever Gold).

 

[kamchatsky]

For most people who don't have status, they will still fly VA after this program change. The smaller number of SCs does not impact them at all, as long as the VA price is competitive most of the time.

For people with status via family pooling, they will most likely stay VA as QF (and others) doesn't even offer this feature.

For people with Gold without family pooling, they may start thinking about QF but chances are QF Gold is just as difficult if not more to attain.

For people with Platinum without family pooling, they now have Forever Gold to aim for, which previously they did not have. VA hope that those real Platinums will continue to fly VA with this carrot in front of them.

And for anyone on BFOD policy, most of them will end up staying with VA (except for a few people who will go at great lengths to fly QF, but VA won't chase them anyway).

So whilst there are disappointment all round, I don't think many people will leave VA.

The VA lounges will be less busy though with all those Elite status via family pooling and/or partner airlines disappear ......

 

[MooTime]

Well VFF were very recently advertising we have Family Pooling blah blah

The last few years there was an opportunity to snatch disillusioned QFF flyers and easy status (status match) has greatly helped that. This year they wanted to pump the books as much as possible so we've seen the crazy amounts of extra status.

And QF ran a status match for VA status holders.

How I received my QF Gold couple years ago.

 

[knagelli]

Look how little discussion there is on the points devaluation

The reason being that there are many other ways ( credit card offers , flybuys , 7/11 ) to get velocity points at the same rate without having to rely solely on flying. The devaluation will not have a great deal of discussion as it does not having the same impact as culling of status holders.

 

[BrianQQ]

And as for the regular whines about Virgin Domestic lounges being 'substandard', I suggest some of those folks fly around the USA for a week and come and report back with a reality check. For goodness sakes.

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.

 

[am0985]

Look how little discussion there is on the points devaluation here compared to the status situation (as well as Forever Gold).

The points devaluation isn't that bad. Worst hit is the long haul J awards to Europe but even then they're very similar points to Qantas. Some others haven't moved much at all - one would hope there's no further devaluations for at least 2-3 years which would make this a good deal.