Status Benefits not being met.

[evilcatdog]

HI guys,

First up, let me establish I am grateful for all the benefits I get for finally obtaining Gold membership status.
But I seem to be in a perpetual habit of Virgin falling short on what it promises.
I have had this complaint with my partner a few times now, and he says I shouldn't be unhappy as these are loyalty rewards not rights.

My feeling on the matter is that I have earn't the supposed rewards by doing the following:

• 1. Always and only booking with Virgin rather than searching for the cheapest tickets, which is what I normally did.
• 2. Specifically paying more for flexi-fares when possible to garner more status credits.
• 3. Opting for connecting flights, to earn more credits/
• 4. Only flying with Virgin travel partners when overseas.
• 5. Using all hotels and car rentals that are partnered with Virgin.

I have been gold for about 1 month, and have flown 8 times since.
On all but one flight, there has been some sort of a let down to the much anticipated status benefits.

The following has occurred:

• Priority Check In Lines, waiting.... waiting.... waiting.... meanwhile the normal queue goes through about 5-6 people before I am called to the one or 2 desks in operation. (Not really priority is it. Why not call the priority line first to any counter, when there is no one waiting, then call the regular line?)
• Staff at Priority Desk have twice not put "priority" tags on my bags before sending them down the conveyors...leading my bag to come out as per normal on other end.
• Priority Boarding: It is similar story to check in. There were 2 lines of people, regular and priority - then they both began boarding simultaneously. The lady operating my line came across a problem and the entire line of "priority" guests had to wait while about 20 people boarded from regular tickets. (i'm not this petty normally, we all leave together, i think priority boarding is dumb anyway, but the point is, it makes me feel special and i like that, but then it is stolen from me and I think why am I bothering being loyal.)
• Another case was when all guest were boarded in the right sequence, priority first and so on... when we got to the opening of the plane, the pilot came out and told the flight crew not to let anyone board as it was too hot on the plane. We had to delay the take off for 30 mins while the plane cooled down. I would have rather left on time and been a little hot. I know this so far has nothing to do with my rant topic, so bear with me. As we waited for 20 mins in the REAL hot temperature outside (in the bridge), they somehow decided to open the rear doors and thought it would be a good idea to split the boarding process. So all the priority guests had to walk back through the bridge and out onto tarmac and to the rear of the plane, then board there??????? How the hell does this make any sense? But it gets worse. While we were on our trek, they decided to let everyone else board through the front....? So all the business guests and myself had to walk against the torrent of people coming at us from the front of the plane while we tried to get forward. Most ridiculous thing I have ever seen. The entire plane was freezing cold, and quite nice I must say after the long wait in the heat. But the entire cabin smelled of diesel. It gave me a headache by the time we landed. But the entire debacle reason soon became clear when after everyone finally was seated and the flight attendants were waiting for instructions to begin in-flight demonstrations, I saw the pilot leave the toilet after taking a 20 MINUTE ****. The real reason we were delayed. WTF virgin.
• Baggage - Only once has my baggage come out as advertised - before the main cabin's. I used to travel with only carry on as it was a huge pain to collect it. With my new benefits, I thought stupidly, it might not be a pain after all if mine comes out in the first batch. In fact it is worse when others get their baggage before you, because you were expecting it, being guaranteed it, and then feeling sour as i could have just not brought it in the first place.

There are goods points too don't get me wrong!
Lounge is fantastic, when priority works it is great, point earning and status match is great. FLY AHEAD is awesome.

I actually used to enjoy the air travel more before i began to expect these things.
Is it just me or are others finding these same issues?
Am I wrong to expect what was promised?


James

 

[VRC]

You should expect the advertised benefits are in place and do work.
But it is air travel and things don't always pan out perfectly.
My priority baggage experience has been excellent of late although I still wait at the desk to see the priority tags go on and if not I provide a friendly reminder. It has been well over a year since i gave a reminder.
I assume most of your bad experience with Priority Check-in has been at your home base of Melb? At peak times I am sure the two desks would not cope. Generally I have found priority check in works very well for me.
There have been instances of late, where priority boarding has failed, when they concurrently start boarding from the other line as well. Has happenned twice out of say the last 15 flights. Where I have had problems I submit feedback. Your worst experienced detailed above sounds like an absolute "Shemozzle" and well worth some severe feedback to VA.
At the end of the day I take the attitude don't get too stressed or excited when things don't go completely to plan, always be polite when dealing with staff, provide positive and negative feedback contstructively and with enough detail to enable VA to follow up.
Airports - "The only place in the world, where thousands of people rush around to wait"

 

[mannej]

I much rather have the pilot use the facilities on the ground rather than during the vital take off stages of the flight! At least he would be much more relaxed ;-)

 

[PaulC83]

Status benefits are fairly soft in delivery, and I don't think its really that different between any airlines, I have had really good experiences and really bad experiences, I would say on average the good outweigh the bad, but if you asked for my honest opinion status is a bonus for the flying you do, and hence I wouldn't chase it for the sake of it.

 

[samas]

Am I wrong to expect what was promised?

I don't think so, my partner would say I'm being a snob or precious when making comments like these to him, that was until through family pooling I made him gold. Subsequently I see him equally as frustrated when he has either travelled with me or without and seen the same failures.

 

[Burrito]

I had trouble reading the post. Sounds a lot like your glass is half empty rather than half full

 

[aupirate]

Hi evilcatdog, sounds like you had a less than satisfactory boarding and departure when the pilot was "caught short" Whilst I enjoy the privileges of status with VA I also try to take it with a grain of salt when it all unravels. By in large I find VA staff excellent, they work hard and always try to do it with a smile. I find it amusing at airports and whilst onboard watching and hearing pax become stressed and agitated about what is really quite often a small inconvenience, much better to go with the flow me thinks.

 

[evilcatdog]

Thanks for the replies guys.

It's good to know it isn't just me.
Don't get me wrong, I absolutely see the glass as more than half full.
I just get upset when you go and take a sip of the wine, but it is water.

Perhaps its because I have been travelling on average every 4 or 5 days all around the country and overseas.
Maybe it is getting to me more than normal.

I just found my expectations were 'stupidly' set higher than they should have been.
I should know better, I never set high expectations as I don't do well with disappointment.

Virgin flight attendants have been excellent, every time I have flown.
Even the pilot... I just think causing a delay to take a **** is going too far...
Why didn't he **** at home or before getting on the plane?

The funniest thing was watching the flight attendant have to wait outside for him the whole time.
They started giggling once he got back into the coughpit.
I don't know procedure or policy but in my opinion this would be unacceptable or borderline.

cheers guys...

 

[Hvr]

As a former shift worker I can attest to the fact that if you have to go you go. You cannot maintain a regular time such as a day shift worker does. Your body is stuffed up enough anyway and delaying the expulsion can hurt.

So whilst humorous, defecating is an essential bodily function.

I guess the worst thing is that he would have to do some more paperwork to explain the delay.

 

[mannej]

Virgin flight attendants have been excellent, every time I have flown.
Even the pilot... I just think causing a delay to take a **** is going too far...
Why didn't he **** at home or before getting on the plane?

The funniest thing was watching the flight attendant have to wait outside for him the whole time.
They started giggling once he got back into the coughpit.
I don't know procedure or policy but in my opinion this would be unacceptable or borderline.

cheers guys...

Honestly, Get a grip - you don't know where exactly the pilot may or may not have come from. Wouldn't you rather get it out if his system before the flight and not during a critical phase of the flight.

 

[erkpod]

As a former shift worker I can attest to the fact that if you have to go you go. You cannot maintain a regular time such as a day shift worker does. Your body is stuffed up enough anyway and delaying the expulsion can hurt.

So whilst humorous, defecating is an essential bodily function.

I guess the worst thing is that he would have to do some more paperwork to explain the delay.

As a current shiftworker, I agree with hvr. I didn't see the original comment by the OP but quoted by others.

I make sure that I go just before I leave on my commute (30-45 minutes). I go when I get a chance, even if I don't have the feeling I need to go. It prevents trouble later.

One of my colleagues told me that he never uses the toilets at work. There is no way I could do that.

Just because you don't see the pilot just before the flight doesn't mean that your flight is his first flight of the day.

 

[evilcatdog]

While I appreciate your opinions, I respectfully disagree with the ones who support the pilots toilet break.
OK it might not be a critical situation and when you have to go you have to go.

But the original problem in my thread is that because of this, not only were we delayed, but we had a discombobulated boarding procedure, causing chaos = this topic.
Unless he had diarrhea, in which case he shouldn't be flying the plane, he would have known he had to go beforehand.
The point I am trying to make is if a grown man cant contain or control his bowels, then this would happen more than once in a lifetime of travel that i am aware of.
The fact it happened this once, and it isn't normal, is why it is being discussed.

Lets not keep piling on this aspect. It was a small part of the original topic, but the discussion was interesting.
If you want to keep going with it, that's cool - but I am more interested in whether other people have experienced instances of their status not being met.

Cheers

 

[ash.1111]

A sh**ty subject to bring up, but I agree. It sometimes can be hard, especially with minimum overnight rest where you barely have enough time to eat and sleep, let alone tell your body to "go now".

Not saying this was the issue here... Sorry to butt in.

As a former shift worker I can attest to the fact that if you have to go you go. You cannot maintain a regular time such as a day shift worker does. Your body is stuffed up enough anyway and delaying the expulsion can hurt.

So whilst humorous, defecating is an essential bodily function.

I guess the worst thing is that he would have to do some more paperwork to explain the delay.

 

[MarkD]

Just curious OP. Did the **** stink? I think if you smelt diesel you had problems, as these things run on a different fuel, the captain can **** where and when the captain wants, it's his plane. I don't believe you do the amount of flying you claim. I'm calling **** myself on this story

 

[Deleted member 29185]

I guess the worst thing is that he would have to do some more paperwork to explain the delay.

C'mon Hvr, you know all too well he was doing his paperwork at the same time.......it's the only reason it took him 20min :shock:

 

[Deleted member 29185]

A sh**ty subject to bring up, but I agree. It sometimes can be hard,

Ahh, constipated! Now we're getting to the bottom of it!

 

[evilcatdog]

Just curious OP. Did the **** stink? I think if you smelt diesel you had problems, as these things run on a different fuel, the captain can **** where and when the captain wants, it's his plane. I don't believe you do the amount of flying you claim. I'm calling **** myself on this story

No mate it didn't stink.
All I could smell was the fuel - i don't know what it is... i don't put aviation fuel in my car, so the only smell I recognise was diesel.
Actually it isn't his plane at all.
You can assume what you like, but I am not making anything up.

Besides, you would agree with him anyway. LOL Look at where your username location is set to?

So does anyone else care to move on from the toilet humor and actually contribute to the topic?

James

 

[Deleted member 29185]

So does anyone else care to move on from the toilet humor and actually contribute to the topic?

Hear, hear!!

All this toilet humour is getting me down in the dumps......ah, what the heck, I don't give a cough!

 

[Aussie_flyer]

Wow a complaint about a pilot taking a ****. This is aff at its finest.