Question on economy X seats

[PERLHR]

VA changed our direct flights and thus we are now on a two sector flight which is with points. We have been allocated 3a and 3b with 3c occupied as we paid for X seats despite using points on the direct. Other X seats seem to be unoccupied yet if I try and move us they want to charge!! What's that all about? I am VA gold as apparently according to VA, even though I used the switcheroo promotion and gathered more than 300 status credits they say BA Gold is Virgin Gold and not Platinum. I'm sure that is not correct....is it?

 

[TMP]

Gold to gold makes sense to me

You can probably call up and get the Economy X seats changed for $0.

 

[PERLHR]

Gold to gold makes sense to me

You can probably call up and get the Economy X seats changed for $0.

I would have thought that could be done on line without yet another on the phone call to VA. Learning that just about everything needs to be done by phone. For info, BA Gold is equiv to Qantas Platinum and one world emerald which effectively means first class lounges even when flying Y class. VA seem to recognise colour rather than status..... I believe the switcheroo promotion was to recognise that but VA agents alas seem to fail to recognise one world tiers.

 

[RooFlyer]

For info, BA Gold is equiv to Qantas Platinum and one world emerald which effectively means first class lounges even when flying Y class. VA seem to recognise colour rather than status..... I believe the switcheroo promotion was to recognise that but VA agents alas seem to fail to recognise one world tiers.

I would call. I don't understand the relevance of the above, though. What's BA Gold got to do with the inability to switch Econ-X seats on-line?

 

[Jack_OC]

I would call. I don't understand the relevance of the above, though. What's BA Gold got to do with the inability to switch Econ-X seats on-line?

I think the point is, if they had been matched to Velocity Platinum, they would be able to choose Economy X seats for free, so this whole situation would be a non-issue.

FWIW, @PERLHR - I wouldn't bother trying to change to another row. Row 3 has much more legroom than other Economy X rows, and you may well find the seat beside you ends up getting filled anyway.

I agree that BA Gold should be equivalent to Velocity Platinum. However, that Switcheroo promotion wasn't a straight status match, so there might be a valid reason why you haven't gone up to Platinum. I believe people who signed up were all given "Discover Gold" status initially, and there were a number of criteria that needed to be met to upgrade to Platinum (e.g. SCs had to be on VA marketed and operated flights). Have you asked VA about this?

 

[Quickstatus]

We have been allocated 3a and 3b with 3c

Sorry, I dont understand what the issue is..
You have 3A/B/C, which are EconX. Why would you want to change? -they are the likely the best EconX seats on the VA737.
Re Elevation to VA WP: Have you done the initial 3 months of , plus the additional fast track criteria?

BA Gold is Virgin Gold

Correct. For at least the first 3 months

BA Gold should be equivalent to Velocity Platinum

After at least 3 months of initial VA SG plus certain additional criteria in order to fast track to VA WP. See below

I believe people who signed up were all given "Discover Gold" status initially, and there were a number of criteria that needed to be met to upgrade to Platinum

Correct. My understanding the upgrade from SG to WP is faster than what a normal VA SG has to do to get to VA WP. I dont know what the necessary criteria are.

 

[Jack_OC]

I dont understand what the issue is
You have 3A/B/C, which are EconX. Why would you want to change? -they are the best EconX seats on the VA737.

They have 3A & 3B, but I gather someone else is in 3C. They want to choose another row to get an empty seat beside them. However, as I posted above, I agree row 3 is much better than any other row, and it's not guaranteed that the empty seat in another row would stay empty anyway. So I agree, they should keep their current seats

Correct. My understanding the upgrade from SG to WP is faster than what a normal VA SG has to do to get to VA WP. I dont know what the necessary criteria are.

It was 200 SCs on VA marketed and operated flights within 3 months, plus 2 eligible sectors. The OP said they got 300 SCs, but not clear whether they were on VA marketed and operated flights and/or within the 3 month timeframe. The other thing is, the upgrades in these promotions are not necessarily instantaneous once the criteria are achieved, so it might simply be that the upgrade to Platinum hasn't been processed yet. Hence I asked if the OP has raised this issue with VA.

 

[Quickstatus]

They have 3A & 3B, but I gather someone else is in 3C

Ah Ok. Understand now.
If the criteria has been attained and period also served, then a phone call would be necessary.
Agree that the promotional elevation of status are not automatic. I remember the Hilton Honours program from VA1.0 in a similar vein requiring several phone calls to activate.

I would not give up 3A/B under any circumstances even if someone has to sit in 14

 

[RooFlyer]

Re Elevation to VA WP: Have you done the initial 3 months of

, plus the additional fast track criteria?

Yes - everyone goes to VA Gold initially, then after 3 months and achieving the VA WP criteria, you are eligible for VA WP. In my case (coming from QF WP) that took a further 3-4 weeks.

The other thing is, the upgrades in these promotions are not necessarily instantaneous once the criteria are achieved, so it might simply be that the upgrade to Platinum hasn't been processed yet.

Likely, I think.

I agree that 3A and 3B with someone in 3C shouldn't be a problem - more legroom than Business!! If, say 3D-F are presently unoccupied and the OP moved into two of them, I think its unlikely the third would remain unoccupied by the time the flight occurred. Best seats on the plane.

 

[AustraliaPoochie]

EcooX on a VA737, is just that space in front of you.
Beside to you, they will still put someone.
EconX is not 2 abrest, its the usual 3.
Sometimes, very rare, I have had that one empty, but most of my VA flights on the 737 where I picked econX, in row 3, it has someone next to me.
I always travel solo.
Row 3 is still the best.
If you go over wing, they want to vet you, as to whether you "can assist" the crew in an "emergency", ie, open the emergency door, which can be up to 25kg, and you have to be able to open it while seated!
Big ask!
Though who knows when an emergency might happen, and they need the door opened by overwing pax.

 

[Quickstatus]

they want to vet you

Not on VA but on JQ they asked me "when was the last time I flew".
Im still trying to figure out the significance of that question.

 

[PERLHR]

They have 3A & 3B, but I gather someone else is in 3C. They want to choose another row to get an empty seat beside them. However, as I posted above, I agree row 3 is much better than any other row, and it's not guaranteed that the empty seat in another row would stay empty anyway. So I agree, they should keep their current seats



It was 200 SCs on VA marketed and operated flights within 3 months, plus 2 eligible sectors. The OP said they got 300 SCs, but not clear whether they were on VA marketed and operated flights and/or within the 3 month timeframe. The other thing is, the upgrades in these promotions are not necessarily instantaneous once the criteria are achieved, so it might simply be that the upgrade to Platinum hasn't been processed yet. Hence I asked if the OP has raised this issue with VA.

Yes my 300 was on VA op flights within the period. When I spoke to VA they did not understand the concept that BA Gold is above VA Gold. Taken onboard the seats and will remain but indeed as others have pointed out the issue is really in the inability to move seats if one desired on line. I'll try VA again.

 

[Jack_OC]

Yes my 300 was on VA op flights within the period. When I spoke to VA they did not understand the concept that BA Gold is above VA Gold. Taken onboard the seats and will remain but indeed as others have pointed out the issue is really in the inability to move seats if one desired on line. I'll try VA again.

To be fair, it is normally possible to change seats online. I think the reason you can't is because your routing was changed, and they probably had to do something behind the scenes to add your Economy X seating in, especially as you said you booked the original flights with points but paid separately for Economy X. It's not really a standard situation at this point.

I would definitely be inclined to argue with them about BA Gold though.

 

[RooFlyer]

When I spoke to VA they did not understand the concept that BA Gold is above VA Gold.

When did you make the status match application (that takes you initially to VA Gold, no matter the status you are coming from) and have you received the e-mail that confirms you have met the requirements for VA plat? As mentioned above, coming from QFF Plat, I waited as VA Gold the required 3 months for the promo period, then it was a further 3 weeks before I got the confirmation of VA Plat status.

Until you get the latter Plat confirmation, you are VA Gold, no matter what your BA status.