Redeeming Velocity on Emirates First/Business

[GoldenWinger]

Hi...

Can Velocity points be used to redeem First/Business Class on Emirates? It doesn't explicitly state this on the velocity site - also tried calling and did not get a definite answer...

Thanks

 

[Danger UXB]

I would also be interested in the response. I think I read on a previoud thread that no emirates seats were ever released for velocity redemptions??

 

[NSWhere]

I am also keen for an answer to this question - there is only a little while to go before I will be looking to make a similar redemption if possible.

 

[crazydave98]

I would also be interested in the response. I think I read on a previoud thread that no emirates seats were ever released for velocity redemptions??

I think there are two separate questions on this thread. One is about redeeming economy seats on EK (Danger UXB) and the other is about redeeming business/first class seats. I will check with Phil to get definitive answers on the latter - I fear not. However as far as redeeming economy seats goes, my understanding is that Emirates controls the number of seats available for redemption to Skywards members and Velocity has access to the same inventory. The problem of late has been that because EK's loads have been so high no reward seats have been available to anyone. I will confirm this.

However, with Velocity (unlike Skywards) you can use your points to "buy" any unsold economy seat. So you will always be able to get an economy seat on Emirates using Velocity points (albeit more of them) even if you cannot get a seat using Skywards points. See
Velocity - Emirates

I would think it would be relatively easy to apply the same processes to "buy" regular business/first seats using Velocity points (lots of 'em) but not sure this is offered yet. Will have a chat to Phil on this.

cheers

CrazyDave98

 

[crazydave98]

Phil (the GM of Velocity) writes:

We do have reward seat access on EK in all 3 classes, but availability is limited - especially in business and first. The process for finding flights is currently very laborious which may be why the Velocity agent was vague (may have not been able to find seats but knew they should have been be available). We are working with EK on a better process but I do not have an ETA right now.

But Velocity points can be used to purchase any unsold seat in any class on any partner airline - points required for business & first tend to be very high but the option is there.​

 

[ArseneV]

They mentioned to me once ( month or two ago) that you can only get award flights that will depart or arrive in Australia. I was calling in regards to a Malaysian airlines flight between India and Malaysia.

Seems that is not correct now?

 

[crazydave98]

They mentioned to me once ( month or two ago) that you can only get award flights that will depart or arrive in Australia. I was calling in regards to a Malaysian airlines flight between India and Malaysia.

Seems that is not correct now?

Are you talking "classic" reward seats or purchasing any seat with points?

 

[ArseneV]

I didn't put it to them like that at all.
I just asked about simple redeeming.

 

[crazydave98]

I didn't put it to them like that at all.
I just asked about simple redeeming.

There is a difference.

• With the "classic" reward seats Malaysian (and other airlines) control not only the amount of seats available but to whom they are made available. They may well restrict redemptions from Velocity members to Australia to try to drive membership towards Enrich, to avoid the situation you have here with AA vs QF (where people in the know they get a better deal through AA).
• When redeeming any seat Velocity is effectively acting as a travel agent buying the seat with a calculated cash value of your points. It could be that they may be restricted to dealing in fares that are available priced in Australian dollars, which is effectively fares to/from Australia. If this is the case it should be made clear on the Ts&Cs.

I realise that does not actually answer your question and will check - just wanted to point out that the answer may not be the same for both types of redemption.

cheers

CrazyDave98

 

[ArseneV]

All good.
The operator I had the conversation with was pretty blunt about his answers so it made me think he hadn't read up on the T&C's.

 

[NSWhere]

Thanks heaps for sharing your wealth of knowledge with us, I really appreciate it.

 

[crazydave98]

They mentioned to me once ( month or two ago) that you can only get award flights that will depart or arrive in Australia. I was calling in regards to a Malaysian airlines flight between India and Malaysia.

Seems that is not correct now?

OK, this from a Velocity manager. Please PM me if you want me to pass on your details as suggested.

Anyseat is not restricted to fares ex Australia. We simply translate the best fare available to us (sometimes this is just a straight forward published fare) from any destination into points and sell under the "anyseat" offering.

Reward fare seats are for selected routes with each airline as per what we advertise on the web, we do however have access to some other fares from time to time, in this case we do have reward fares on MH from Kuala Lumpur to Mumbai (45,000 points) and Bangalore (35,000 points) so really not sure why this member would have been told he couldn't do what he wanted. Even if these reward fares where not available for his specific itinerary we can simply quote a published fare and translate it into points (it just becomes quite expensive)

If you send me the members details I would be happy to follow up with the member and clarify what we can offer.​

 

[comint]

Congratulations to Virgin Blue, on its Internet communications. (Even though the news delivered isn’t so good for classic reward flights on EK & MH.)

This is particularly relevant this week, when Qantas has announced (http://www.qantas.com.au/regions/dyn/au/publicaffairs/details?ArticleID=2008/nov08/3846) that it is seeking to control & own discussion, whereas Virgin Blue prefers to respond & develop.

One wonders how long, though, before Internet chatter outscopes the facility of the staff hobbyist and needs to become a permanent position?

 

[ArseneV]

crazydave98 - Thanks very much for clearing that up for me! I really appreciate it. The operator must've been down right lazy or didn't know what to do....anyway it's cleared up.

 

[Danger UXB]

cheers crazy dave
you may have just stopped my direct sweep to quaintars
much to ponder
Danger UXB