Rewards booking codes for VA?

[wafliron]

It would surprise me if you could - award inventory generally isn't published by an airline to the GDS.

Note I was able to get EF to show me the Q fare class (at least for short-haul international on DJ) by checking the "don't show interline connections" box when doing a search, as per http://www.australianfrequentflyer....-booking-codes-for-dj-35665-3.html#post569476 above.

No idea whether the inventory shown for Q is correct or means anything though, given the weird nature of the results I was seeing when "don't show internline connections" was checked.

(I'm also still very interested to know if anyone has any insight into why I see such different results for the same flight when toggling that checkbox on EF - is there some known quirk of EF I'm missing here? Or is this a truly strange result?)

 

[serfty]

The 'premium' staff seem happy to advise on 'upgrade' availability before booking. There is no 'phone booking fee on a flexi fare.

One was surprised when I indicated I needed to book online anyway to get the 10% fare discount via booking through VirginMobile.com.au but was happy to hold on for 30 seconds anyway while I completed the booking and quoted the reference number so they could apply the upgrade.

 

[serfty]

It would surprise me if you could - award inventory generally isn't published by an airline to the GDS.

Yes, hoever it is interesting that E/F is able to provide this for QF and NZ.

 

[arraitch]

OK, thanks for that. Please permit this bear of little brain to summarise; corrections welcome!

1. There have been no reports on AFF of anyone purchasing a flexi fare where J inventory exists and unsuccessfully requesting a complimentary upgrade, but:

2. Where Jx inventory exists, we have no confirmation of what proportion of x may be available as Q.

 

[Moopere]

OK, thanks for that. Please permit this bear of little brain to summarise; corrections welcome!

1. There have been no reports on AFF of anyone purchasing a flexi fare where J inventory exists and unsuccessfully requesting a complimentary upgrade, but:

2. Where Jx inventory exists, we have no confirmation of what proportion of x may be available as Q.

1. Yes
2. Yes



But all actual travel experience and data gratefully accepted

 

[Moopere]

Anyone taken an Amex Plat Edge flight since May/June 2011? I was thinking about redeeming mine but don't look forward to rummaging through the available flight dates and times on the phone - would much prefer to look at EF and try to nut out what availability might be like.

This thread:

http://www.australianfrequentflyer....ss-rewards/what-class-do-amex-free-36105.html

Seems to indicate that these flights might book into T & R classes. Having a bit of a think about that and something seems a bit odd. The VA classes right here:

Status Earn Fare Class| Velocity Frequent Flyer

reads like T & R are regular earning classes. Looking at partner earn rates as already posted in pages before on this thread would appear to indicate similarly. SQ earns at 50% for T & R whilst DL earns at 100% ... this doesn't seem right - I was led to believe that the Amex "free" annual flight was essentially a rewards style flight and didn't earn anything ... am I wrong in this assumption?

 

[kpc]

One was surprised when I indicated I needed to book online anyway to get the 10% fare discount via booking through VirginMobile.com.au

Can you tell me more about this?
edit: is this it? http://www.virginmobile.com.au/virgin-australia/
Seems you need a Virgin mobile account to receive the 10% credit back...

 

[serfty]

Can you tell me more about this?
edit: is this it? Virgin Australia - Virgin Mobile
Seems you need a Virgin mobile account to receive the 10% credit back...

Correctamonto - also get 3 velocity points per dollar spent on the VM account and a 4K point contract bonus (specific plans only). Velocity Frequent Flyer - Virgin Mobile

They use the Optus network.

 

[medhead]

O = Discount J (or possibly Flex Y ... Medhead, any chance of a scan of your boarding pass?)

Major apologies. Just been through all my flights and I can't find any "O" on DJ. But there are plenty on O on QF adjacent to DJ flights. I must have stuffed up and cross read. Sorry for the confusion.

 

[Moopere]

Major apologies. Just been through all my flights and I can't find any "O" on DJ. But there are plenty on O on QF adjacent to DJ flights. I must have stuffed up and cross read. Sorry for the confusion.

Thanks for going to the trouble of looking.

I feel like we're making progress. Just need more data.

 

[Moopere]

End of March Update:

From Virgins Site:

S, T, A, U, X, R, F = Discount Economy
Y, N, B, M = Full Fare Economy (Flexi)
W = Premium Economy (Possibly Long Haul International PE translates into W for Domestic or Short Haul ... W seems to come from Business Class stock)
J = Business


AFF deduction, certainly open to review:

O = Discount J

H = Velocity rewards J

I = Economy (?? probably) reward or other non earning fare (Really unsure, some sort of Y fare that involves airline goodwill or last minute changes????)

D = Might be Government contract Economy, probably non earning - need more data

L = Economy (?? probably) reward or other non earning fare

P = Discount Economy Flex, most likely rewards or non earning related (or it would be in the discount economy listing from DJ)

C = Listed by DL and SQ as 50% earning Discount Y ... more data required .. if it were standard cash discount Y then it should be in DJ's list of discount Y. If it were straight rewards its unlikely to generate earn via partners.

E = Listed by DL and SQ as 50% earning Discount Y ... more data required .. if it were standard cash discount Y then it should be in DJ's list of discount Y. If it were straight rewards its unlikely to generate earn via partners.

Q = Points Upgrade or Comp (status) upgrade to J

R = Some sort of promotional class. Its listed in Virgins 'earning' classes (see top of post), but there is mounting anecdotal evidence that R class is used for Amex "free" flights.

==============

Saw this: http://www.australianfrequentflyer....mex-free-flight-upgrade-34297.html#post514736

Which should still be valid as its post VA's reorg in June last year. Also, been snooping about a lot in ExpertFlyer and notice that R class on DJ is an extremely rare beast, at least in comparison to the other classes. Really love to hear from someone who has taken a recent Amex free-flight redemption - interested in whether its really an earning class as its appearance in DJ's earning list would seem to imply.

T class has been linked with the Amex free-flight too, though I've not seen much chatter on this. For whatever reason, there seems to usually be plenty of T availability showing on EF even when R is low or nil ... so I don't think they are the same, though one may well feed partially out of the other (or not...)

 

[Shy180]

End of March Update:
AFF deduction, certainly open to review:
H = Velocity rewards J

Does not appear accurate based on random dates in expert flyer which lists it as "Coach"

 

[Moopere]

Does not appear accurate based on random dates in expert flyer which lists it as "Coach"

EF recently updated their DJ classes list when I pointed out to them that F was not first on DJ ... and that there is no First at all on VA or DJ. However, we're obviously not the only ones left guessing what the unlisted codes mean. Once we've collected enough evidence that we're pretty sure of these codes I think we should let EF and KVS know and hopefully, if they agree, they will update their classes list for the benefit of all.

For now, this thread contains the most information I'm aware of anywhere outside of the closed doors behind VA themselves. Which is not at all to say we've got it right and everyone else has it wrong, always looking for more boarding passes and experience.

Of all the 'unknown' codes though, H is probably the highest confidence code we have and based upon reports in this thread and links in the thread, is almost certainly Rewards Business class.

 

[Shy180]

EF recently updated their DJ classes list when I pointed out to them that F was not first on DJ ... and that there is no First at all on VA or DJ. However, we're obviously not the only ones left guessing what the unlisted codes mean. Once we've collected enough evidence that we're pretty sure of these codes I think we should let EF and KVS know and hopefully, if they agree, they will update their classes list for the benefit of all.

For now, this thread contains the most information I'm aware of anywhere outside of the closed doors behind VA themselves. Which is not at all to say we've got it right and everyone else has it wrong, always looking for more boarding passes and experience.

Of all the 'unknown' codes though, H is probably the highest confidence code we have and based upon reports in this thread and links in the thread, is almost certainly Rewards Business class.

Hi Moopere

Really appreciate the effort that is being put into this thread!

Is a reward J seat on VA selling as the same class as points+pay J out of curiosity?

I am still confused though ..... I can see several flights (random dates but near flights I have booked in early June) MEL-BNE-MEL where:
a) there is H class availability listed on EF (either 4+ or 9+ but listed as economy) and
b) VA.com and their call centre confirm they are 'sold out' of J reward tickets

...any thoughts?



a

 

[Moopere]

Is a reward J seat on VA selling as the same class as points+pay J out of curiosity?

Just so we're clear, this thread is for Virgin Australia, DJ flight codes, booking classes. So, domestic and short haul international.

Virgin Australia International Long Haul, VA flight codes, use different booking classes (Status Earn Fare Class| Velocity Frequent Flyer). In long Haul, H is indeed a discount economy bucket.

I am still confused though ..... I can see several flights (random dates but near flights I have booked in early June) MEL-BNE-MEL where:
a) there is H class availability listed on EF (either 4+ or 9+ but listed as economy) and
b) VA.com and their call centre confirm they are 'sold out' of J reward tickets

...any thoughts?

Would be great if you could copy/paste the EF availability list and give dates so we can look at it. So far I've been able to see a direct link between the number of seats VA would sell me (in rewards J) and the number of buckets EF says are available.

By the way, the only time I've seen the DJ H code with 7+ buckets available has been on PER-SYD with the A330. ON the 737 it seems to always be capped at 4 and on the E90 capped at 2

[edit: changed 9+ to 7+ as I realised that DJ never shows more than 7 buckets available]

 

[Moopere]

For example: DJ MEL-BNE, SUN 8th JUL,

DJ 337 is listed on the VA site as sold out.

EF says: J0 W0 O0 H0 Y7 I7 D7 N7 B7 M0 S7 T7 A0 U0 X0 R0 L0 P7 C0 E0 F0

Business looks completely booked to me. No J, no H. W which is PE (interlining with international partners??) has no availability either.

Logically, VA should not be trying to sell business class on this flight. Looking at VA rewards, none available, ASA style business class on this flight? None, full fare business? I just checked... there are none.

However, there are saver (S, T) and flexi (Y, N, B) fares available for sale according to EF, and indeed VA are selling these. They are also selling ASA awards seats in Flexi and Saver.

I and D have been previously identified as probably economy seats, and interestingly, EF shows availability ... but we don't yet have enough data to see what conditions they are sold under.

P seems likely to be the economy version of O, which is, flex but discounted, though not deep discount which is S, T, A, U, X, R, F.

I imagine one of the earning flex and earning discount economy codes signifies exit row or other "leg-room" style seating which comes at a cost. We could probably nut this out using EF and virgins site as the number available will vary depending on aircraft and seatmap but will always be relatively few in number.

 

[serfty]

I can assure all from experience that H class is used for Cash and points award in Business/Premium Economy.

This for flights from MEL to/From CBR loast October and MEL-PER in December.

Also I booked some seats Cash & points MEL-CNS for October next and it went from H2 to H0.

 

[jneufeld]

Got a points + pay J class reward MEL - PER in 2 weeks, will post boarding pass...

 

[Shy180]

Ok so as per my post above these searches are for 8/6/12 MEL - BNE

I have had it confirmed by the contact center that there is no reward J seats on the 5pm flight and that there is 1 J reward left on the 6pm flight.

Can anyone explain the H class sitting at 9+?

Thanks

 

[serfty]

...

Can anyone explain the H class sitting at 9+?

Thanks

Easy - you are searching VA not DJ. VA appear not to return H class to GDS's on their codeshares.Results from ExpertFlyer.com

Flight Availability Search
Departing MEL on 08/06/12 12:00 AM for BNE
Flying DJ  
...
DJ 347        0      MEL                BNE                73H       J7 W7 O7 H1 Y7 I7 D7 N7 B7 M0 S7 T7 A0 U0 X0 R0 L0 P7 C0 E0 F0 
                     08/06/12 6:00 PM   08/06/12 8:10 PM