So how much are points worth?

[Nobby]

Looking through the Velocity website, I can see that points have an exact $$ value... 1 point = x cents, and you use those points to pay for the fare based on current ticket prices, rather than there being a fixed point cost for a fare.

The question is, what is "x" in that equation??

I can't seem to find it on the website anywhere, and yet it's probably the single most important thing to know about the program. The "points calculator" gives a range of point costs, but it doesn't tell you what $$ value that's based on.

Am I missing something? Has anyone else here picked it up?

 

[Mal]

This is where things get weird.

Take a random routing of Bne-Syd tomorrow. The figures look something like:

$145=14600 + $39
$185=20200 + $39
$199=22100 + $39
$219=24800 + $39
$249=29000 + $39
$269=31700 + $39

~$0.007... / point (or about 7/10ths of a cent).


Take another random routing (Adl-Broome) 10/12
$345=19200 + $39
$615=36200 + $39
$645=38000 + $39
$665=39300 + $39

For this example, the points are worth about 1.5c each.

How it gets worked out, I have no clue! Maybe it's a bit of a bug in the software or something. Would expect the points to have a fairly constant value of around .2/3rds of a cent each. Would also expect the "taxes" figure to change depending on the airports used.

 

[Nobby]

Thanks a lot Mal... it is pretty hairy.

Crazy Dave & the others from Virgin Blue: Please try to make Velocity as transparent as possible. With the info we have now, it's tough for me to really understand the program -- and I'd imagine it's next to impossible for the average bloke.

I can understand not having a fixed number of points required for a given route, tying it to ticket value instead. It's an innovative approach, that has the potential to be much simplier for the customer than distance-based redemptions. But something needs to be fixed in that equation... if it's not the total point cost, it should be the $-value of a point. Otherwise it's much more complicated than traditional mileage programs.

As it stands, people can't really set milestones to aim for / hope for. That may make people much less likely to get engaged with the program.

 

[Sheriff]

Based on the figures that Mal has provided us with for Bne-Syd the points are approximately worth 1.38 cents and for Adl- Broome 0.63 cents.

Regards,
Sheriff

 

[QF WP]

It would seem that they have a "fixed points price" for each fare bucket on each sector plus a fixed fee which covers taxes.

I haven't checked other sectors, but it may be possible that they change the "one fixed cost for all flights" to a different rate for each sector.

I also wonder if they will make it even more simple and have no fixed fee? An all-in-one points redemption to cover all costs (including taxes, surcharges, etc) would make it even more simple...

Kudos to Brett and crazydave98, I'm sure that the launch was only of version 1 of the program and there will be further changes down the track

 

[Nobby]

Thanks Lindsay

Looking at just Sydney-Cairns and Sydney-Perth, it looks like the value of a point varies by sector, but within a given sector there's no difference between fare classes.

I'm looking forward to what Velocity V2 looks like! The fact that they're actively monitoring AFF is definitely a good sign!