The "official" Velocity partnership announcement thread

[oz_mark]

No plat card, but we did ask!

....and no complimentary Velocity status with any of the Amex cards! (we did ask!)

 

[Travel Guru]

I can't believe it's just taken me 3 hours to read this post from top to bottom (whilst doing some real work in the background).

Sorry I wasnt online participating in the conversation yesterday, i'm still stuck in the age of the blackberry so have no mobile AFF access (that is until iPhone5 comes out!), would have been on last night but was in bed 15 mins after landing at OOL...its exhausting work being flown PE to Sydney and being met by a very nice black Audi to transport me to lunch at Darling Harbour and then flying home again, but someones got to do it! :mrgreen::mrgreen:

Had a fantastic time meeting the rest of the "AFF5" yesterday, not to mention Phil and Melissa from DJ, Austin and Jane from AMEX and Frank from creditcardfinder.com.au - was a brilliant opportunity and although I was suspecting a far bigger announcement (I must confess *A crossed my mind), the new Platinum card looks to be great value for those wanting to switch from the old and stale QF to DJ who continue to impress me not only with their revamped onboard service, but with the way they engage the flying public through this forum and social media.

I can't fault the service I received in PE yesterday, was brilliant and am very happy and content with my decision to hand in my Qantas Club membership after 9 years and switch my business to DJ.

If any of you have any specific questions about yesterday feel free to DM me.

TG

 

[david-au-2000]

I'm curious about DJ's idea of getting your feedback on this announcement, what sort of feedback did the AFF Five offer? And also, don't take this the wrong way, but as if any feedback on the Amex card could have had any impact at that stage anyway, it does seem to be to be a little bit of 'lip service'. I'm all for DJ working with AFF, its great to see but I do wonder how much of this was just 'PR' for them?

 

[connieguy]

I'm curious about DJ's idea of getting your feedback on this announcement, what sort of feedback did the AFF Five offer? And also, don't take this the wrong way, but as if any feedback on the Amex card could have had any impact at that stage anyway, it does seem to be to be a little bit of 'lip service'. I'm all for DJ working with AFF, its great to see but I do wonder how much of this was just 'PR' for them?

It is called "Working the Crowd". Gotta be seen to be listening to, engaging with and valuing customer input.

To me, this event was more about offering a fully flex ~A$7,100 Syd/Lax/Syd fare per pax when buying 2 J seats than launching a new credit card. We now have a new low water mark for fully flex J travel that QF will now need to match or lose top end J business to DJ.

So I see this as the 2nd serious event (1st was DJ's J seats Syd/Per) in the battle between DJ and QF for the domestic and international long haul business traveler.

Also note DJ offers Y+ domestically while QF only offers Y+ internationally. From what I have seen domestic DJ Y+ is a better product and lower priced than domestic QF J, which has not changed in YEARS.

Good to have a new dog on the block.

 

[yogi]

....and no complimentary Velocity status with any of the Amex cards! (we did ask!)

I have been thinking about this last night and now.

So there is now a Platinum and Gold (and greyishy Business) Credit Card, branded with VR.

There must surely be some future confusion with someone at some airport somewhere that is like, "Hey, here is my Platinum Card, let me into the lounge." Someone will do it. Or a similar thing for earlier boarding with the Gold Credit Card or whatever.

We have been told there is going to be a new Platinum level in a revamped ffp. Assuming the just launched cards aren't changing names, do you think it's logical that the revamped ffp is going to have different level names?

 

[AaronBradford]

I'm curious about DJ's idea of getting your feedback on this announcement, what sort of feedback did the AFF Five offer? And also, don't take this the wrong way, but as if any feedback on the Amex card could have had any impact at that stage anyway, it does seem to be to be a little bit of 'lip service'. I'm all for DJ working with AFF, its great to see but I do wonder how much of this was just 'PR' for them?

Perhaps they were looking to kill two birds with one stone - to generate some hype for the CC's among the most frequent flyers as well as to get their feedback on another area (Velocity revamp?).

 

[oz_mark]

We have been told there is going to be a new Platinum level in a revamped ffp. Assuming the just launched cards aren't changing names, do you think it's logical that the revamped ffp is going to have different level names?

I suspect the level names are locked in. The reason that the 'platinum' level is appearing on signage around the place now was apparently due to the expense of changing signage later to add it. So given that they gave that as the reason for having the Platinum listed now, I can't see them changing them!

 

[david-au-2000]

Thats why I am curious what other feedback was asked of and offered by the AFF Five.

 

[oz_mark]

I'm curious about DJ's idea of getting your feedback on this announcement, what sort of feedback did the AFF Five offer?

Well, they were certainly taking note of our reactions as they were going through the benefits of the cards. For example, the acquisition bonus of 30,000 points for the plat card was well received

 

[pshepvic]

There were a whole range of topics that were discussed.

We talked about everything from in flight service, partner airlines, Velocity (and QFF as well), credit cards and so on.

It was an education process as much for the Velocity, Amex and Credit Card Finder guys as much as for us.

The questions weren't just around the Amex cards - obviously with it launching today, there were going to be no product changes to the card! But they did get feedback on what we thought about credit cards overall, how they can add value, and what we look for in a card. We discussed in detail the issue (more with the big banks) of offering great deals to new customers, but not rewarding existing customers.

Frank from Credit Card Finder also quizzed us a lot about what we saw as value in cards - obviously what they do is based on assumptions, averages, and mathematical formulas. That can't always show the best value for everyone, so he was really keen to ask a few frequent flyers what they looked for in credit cards, to help them out with the content on their site.

So I don't believe they were just paying "lip service" to us at all. All the representatives from the three organisations were genuinely interested in feedback, which was great to see.

 

[david-au-2000]

With respect that really doesn't mean much, I mean, of course 30k bonus points are going to be a crowdpleaser. I was hoping DJ might have had a more 'meaningful' dialog with AFF Five about more than just "Here is our new Amex card, what do you reckon?" when even if you had objections to any part of the scheme it would be too late to do anything about it. Really, was this all just for show more than anything else? Once again I like DJ and AFF working closely together and want that to continue but with all the hype around this 'big announcement', flying people into Sydney for the day and lunch and all that I start to wonder if this wasn't just a PR exercise?

PS Dont shoot the messenger!

PPS Just read reply from pshepvic and this lunch sounds a bit more fruitful now thanks!

 

[pshepvic]

PPS Just read reply from pshepvic and this lunch sounds a bit more fruitful now thanks!

No worries. They also said this is something they want to do more of, which is great to hear. I guess this was a trial in a way to see how a customer engagement program could work as well (although maybe not directly positioned that way, I think it highlights for VA the benefit of direct engagement with frequent flyers).

By the way, does anyone want to know what we wrote for our 25 words or less???

 

[connieguy]

No worries. They also said this is something they want to do more of, which is great to hear. I guess this was a trial in a way to see how a customer engagement program could work as well (although maybe not directly positioned that way, I think it highlights for VA the benefit of direct engagement with frequent flyers).

By the way, does anyone want to know what we wrote for our 25 words or less???

Thought you would never ask? Yes.

 

[oz_mark]

While the release of the cards was the main reason for the whole event, and you are right, there was nothing that was going to be changed, there was quite a bit of conversation around the more general aspects of where Virgin and Velocity were heading. Was it a PR exercise? Absolutely, but it was still, in my view, a worthwhile exercise. I think it was appropriate for what was happening. If it were more earth shattering, then I think they would have gone with a full on glitzy media event!

There were certainly questions asked in both directions, across a wide variety of topics.

Unfortunately, the downside of not knowing who the partner was, was that we had no prepared questions to ask!

 

[markis10]

DJ have consistently shown that they listen and apply feedback gleaned from AFF, I see yesterdays event as another extension of that commitment rather than being the main example of such activity.

It was also pleasing to see that a request to keep the details under wraps was respected by the AFF members who attended, and they also held any comment until after the embargo despite some details leaking from the Amex site, pity such restraint was not shown elsewhere by other sites but then again I am not sure they were under the same conditions given they did not do the lunch?

 

[Travel Guru]

I think when comparing notes my answer was probably the most uninspiring of the lot of them, but none the less, here 'tis:

"Not only am I a passionate globetrotter, I'm also Travels Go-To Guy & have a unique insight into the desires of business & leisure flyers"


TG

 

[pshepvic]

My 25 words or less were:

6 months ago I was a Qantas die-hard. Now I’m Flying Virgin Australia, this lunch is my next destination on an awesome journey!

 

[malmacdowall]

No having a creative bone in my body, i wasn't planning to enter.... but then came this Shiraz inspired moment :

I'm no athlete, I've never come first,
but lunching with virgin, I'd just about burst.
Joining virgin's clique would be first for this flying geek.

 

[connieguy]

No having a creative bone in my body, i wasn't planning to enter.... but then came this Shiraz inspired moment :

I'm no athlete, I've never come first,
but lunching with virgin, I'd just about burst.
Joining virgin's clique would be first for this flying geek.

See Shiraz does amazing things to us FFers. :shock::mrgreen:

 

[Noob]

Honestly, is everyone on this forum an alcoholic?