The Velocity Status Run Master thread

[Deleted member 29185]

Re: Need 45 SC in 9 days ex MEL

Hi All,

I need a frustrating 45 points by 20 July to maintain gold status. Ex MEL. No additional sectors required.

Any suggestions as to how to do this reasonably cheaply? I can't work it out for less than about $700 (MEL-HBA-MEL x 2).

Thanks in advance.
JJB

MEL-OOL Flexi (say 15 July 9.10am - 11.15am) is $242.56
OOL-MEL -Y (same date, 1.50pm - 4.15 pm) is $174.44

So 45 SCs for $417.

I haven't checked other dates, which may yield better results! Short notice (so no disc codes) and school holidays may work against you

 

[Deleted member 29185]

Re: Need 45 SC in 9 days ex MEL

Forget Hobart and take advantage of the MEL-OOL run. Discount codes won't apply, being less than 20 days away, but you'll get what you need in just over half a day.

Flexi both ways will net you 60 SCs return for around $500 (including the credit card fee)

Flexi one way and a Saver on the other leg will net you bang on 45 SCs for around $400.

Fares quoted are for next Saturday. Fares are slightly higher on Sunday, and fractionally cheaper midweek.

Terribly sorry.......I've given same info but you beat me whilst I was looking up dates!

 

[joejoeblogs]

Re: Need 45 SC in 9 days ex MEL

Forget Hobart and take advantage of the MEL-OOL run. Discount codes won't apply, being less than 20 days away, but you'll get what you need in just over half a day.

Flexi both ways will net you 60 SCs return for around $500 (including the credit card fee)

Flexi one way and a Saver on the other leg will net you bang on 45 SCs for around $400.

Fares quoted are for next Saturday. Fares are slightly higher on Sunday, and fractionally cheaper midweek.

Perfect.

Thanks very much aamflsc and swanning_it .

JJB

 

[Buzzard]

Re: Need 45 SC in 9 days ex MEL

Forget Hobart and take advantage of the MEL-OOL run. Discount codes won't apply, being less than 20 days away, but you'll get what you need in just over half a day.

Flexi both ways will net you 60 SCs return for around $500 (including the credit card fee)

Flexi one way and a Saver on the other leg will net you bang on 45 SCs for around $400.

Fares quoted are for next Saturday. Fares are slightly higher on Sunday, and fractionally cheaper midweek.

Need to plan ahead but can save 5℅ IIRC and the CC fee when buying a gift voucher via Entertainment Book.
Just be cautious of unused funds on the voucher.

 

[Eternalx]

Re: Need 45 SC in 9 days ex MEL

Hello everyone,

I just recently joined VA and have read through some of this thread for the best ways to earn SCs (which was super useful - thanks!)

I booked a trip to Seoul (BNE - PER - SIN - ICN and return is ICN - SIN - BNE). On Full-fare Economy. From PER it's operated by Singapore airlines.

From my calculation it should get: (60 + 40 + 40) + (40 + 60) = 240 per person (is this correct? and will that go towards my VA right away or i need to transfer from SG airlines)

Also I'm travelling with my dad and little sister (12) so both are considered adults. Does that mean I can get 240 x 3 for family pooling (we live in the same house).

Lastly, How does family pooling work? Since our names are on the same flight ticket, will I automatically get the pts after our travel (they already pooled to my account).

The agent at flight centre asked me to give her my FF number, should I provide my dad and sister's too?

Thank you very much for your time !

 

[flying_duck]

Re: Need 45 SC in 9 days ex MEL

Hi All,

Looking for some advice. Hoping to retain VA Plat, need to requal by April next year (so planning ahead). I want to fly United MEL-LAX (I'm UA Gold) as its $1500 for economy + vs VA's $2500 for flexi economy (and no points upgrades available on my dates). That means no SC except for USA internal flights.

So flying into LAX, visiting LAS and JFK (or any NY airport), what is a possible routing to net the best SC (flying Delta obviously)?
I've done LAX - LAS - DTW - JFK - MSP - LAX which is around 280 SC in business for $2000AU. There has to be a better deal? Not afraid of driving between airports either, I drive a lot in North America and have Hertz gold.

ANY advice gladly welcome.

Ps Home airport MEL, flying 11 or 12th Sept - 18th Sept.

 

[JessicaTam]

Re: Need 45 SC in 9 days ex MEL

Hello everyone,

I just recently joined VA and have read through some of this thread for the best ways to earn SCs (which was super useful - thanks!)

I booked a trip to Seoul (BNE - PER - SIN - ICN and return is ICN - SIN - BNE). On Full-fare Economy. From PER it's operated by Singapore airlines.

From my calculation it should get: (60 + 40 + 40) + (40 + 60) = 240 per person (is this correct? and will that go towards my VA right away or i need to transfer from SG airlines)

Also I'm travelling with my dad and little sister (12) so both are considered adults. Does that mean I can get 240 x 3 for family pooling (we live in the same house).

Lastly, How does family pooling work? Since our names are on the same flight ticket, will I automatically get the pts after our travel (they already pooled to my account).

The agent at flight centre asked me to give her my FF number, should I provide my dad and sister's too?

Thank you very much for your time !

Firstly, welcome to AFF Eternalx.

I am not a VA expert, but you will need to give FC everyone's FF numbers to ensure all points and SCs are allocated. (Someone else will need to answer the family pooling qn).

Oh, and Singapore Airlines code is SQ.

 

[Eggsbenedict]

Re: Need 45 SC in 9 days ex MEL

Also I'm travelling with my dad and little sister (12) so both are considered adults. Does that mean I can get 240 x 3 for family pooling (we live in the same house).
Yes as long as family pooling is set up for both of them to pool to you.

Lastly, How does family pooling work? Since our names are on the same flight ticket, will I automatically get the pts after our travel (they already pooled to my account).
Yes as long as their FF numbers are added to the tickets and (See Above)

The agent at flight centre asked me to give her my FF number, should I provide my dad and sister's too?
YES!
Almost instant WP - Well done.

Regarding the transfer from SQ to VA I think your thinking about points but that would only be if you added an SQ FF number. If you add all VA FF numbers all points and Status credits will go direct to VA accounts and if all are pooling to you then direct to you.

 

[Deleted member 29185]

Family Pooling with SQ

Also I'm travelling with my dad and little sister (12) so both are considered adults. Does that mean I can get 240 x 3 for family pooling (we live in the same house).

Lastly, How does family pooling work? Since our names are on the same flight ticket, will I automatically get the pts after our travel (they already pooled to my account).

The agent at flight centre asked me to give her my FF number, should I provide my dad and sister's too?

Thank you very much for your time !

Hi Eternalx, Welcome to AFF.

I'll let Others more versed with VA/SQ earning to answer your question with regard to SC earn, but for the crediting of SCs, you'll need to ensure you are crediting Velocity with the SCs rather than SQ. If you are crediting VFF, then all three of you will need Velocity Frequent Flyer accounts. For family pooling with Velocity, you only have two categories, adult (over 18) and child (under 18) so although your sister is classed as an adult for flying, she is a child for status crediting via family pooling. This is a good thing, as you are only allowed one adult (apart from yourself) to pool to you. In your case, if you want all the SCs, you are permitted to have both your fathers and your sisters (provided you all live at the same address, which you've said you do).

By the sound of it, as the TA asked for your FF number, provided you gave her your Velocity number, she should ensure the points and SCs are credited to your Velocity account. You DO however, need to give her both your fathers and sisters Velocity number AND you need (or ask them to) enter their Velocity account on line and set up family pooling to YOUR account. You can do this any time up until the flights are taken, but YOU DO need to do this, otherwise the SCs and points will credit to their account and you will not be able to use them yourself. Setting up family pooling within their separate accounts is not difficult and can be changed, but it does need to be done to get their SCs (and points).

 

[Eternalx]

Re: Family Pooling with SQ

Thank you everyone for the answers! They were super helpful

I have two more questions..(I've read the TCs and Virgin website but is still a little confused)

1) If I get gold after my trip in Dec 2015, the TCs said i'll keep it for 365 days (so till Dec 2016). If I fly again in August 2016 and get Plat, does that mean my membership expends to August 2017?

2) The website said I need 8 sectors to be qualified for Plat. I'm assuming my trip only counts as 2 so I need 3 more return trips (domestic and/or international) right?

Thanks everyone in advance

 

[Deleted member 29185]

Re: Family Pooling with SQ

1) If I get gold after my trip in Dec 2015, the TCs said i'll keep it for 365 days (so till Dec 2016). If I fly again in August 2016 and get Plat, does that mean my membership expends to August 2017?

That's correct. When you achieve gold, your "status" year resets. That is, if you earn Gold (500SCs) in December '15, your new Gold card will show a new review date of Dec. 2016 (you actually get a further 30 days after that date as well). Should you then go on to earn platinum (a further 500SCs, or a total of 1000SCs) by August 2016, you will receive a new platinum card which will show another new review date of Aug. 2017. If you reach that tier, you will actually have use of platinum benefits until Sept. 2017 because of the 1 month "grace period" at the end of your status year, but of course if you then go on to requalify Platinum prior to August 2017, your platinum status will extend out to Aug.2018 and so on for subsequent year (once you reach platinum, your review date remains the same for each subsequent year at that status level). With VA, if you do not manage to renew platinum by Aug.2017, you receive what's called a "soft landing" back to Gold status, even if you did not earn a Gold requalification. (eg, if you only flew 6 short domestic trips in that 2017 period and only earned 60SCs, you would still get Gold rather than being bumped back to Red).

One thing to watch out for, is when you are calculating your SCs for the tier jumps, make sure you know when previous status credits are due to expire. SCs are not linked to your status year as such and each SC has a one year validity (rather than being lost on entering a new status year like what happens with QF). So if your current balance consists of SCs that were earned before you current review date, they will expire and drop off your SC balance possibly before you reach your Gold or Platinum targets. You can check when the SCs were earned by going into your Velocity account and scrolling to the very bottom of your account summary page and there is a hyperlink to the right of page that says "View All Activities".

2) The website said I need 8 sectors to be qualified for Plat. I'm assuming my trip only counts as 2 so I need 3 more return trips (domestic and/or international) right?

Sectors required are on VA metal (not code share) and are counted as different sectors for each different flight number. A connecting flight, for example OOL-SYD-MEL would be classed as two sectors as they have different flight numbers. The sector count does not family pool. For your trip BNE-PER will be classed as a sector so I believe you'll only receive 1 sector unless VA fly any of the other sectors (which I don't think they do). A trick many a FFer has employed, is to route your BNE-PER sector via SYD or MEL, which has the better A330 (BNE often has a 738) and it also results in more sectors credited and more SCs earned.

 

[CJEMNMAC]

Re: Family Pooling with SQ

Sectors required are on VA metal (not code share) and are counted as different sectors for each different flight number. A connecting flight, for example OOL-SYD-MEL would be classed as two sectors as they have different flight numbers. The sector count does not family pool. For your trip BNE-PER will be classed as a sector so I believe you'll only receive 1 sector unless VA fly any of the other sectors (which I don't think they do). A trick many a FFer has employed, is to route your BNE-PER sector via SYD or MEL, which has the better A330 (BNE often has a 738) and it also results in more sectors credited and more SCs earned.

I would make 1 further note. The eligible sector does not have to be actually on VA metal. The flight only has to be VA marketed ( meaning have VA code ). My example is VA flights from CHC to SYD VA code but operated by AirNZ still earn you eligible sectors..

 

[greenfish]

Re: Family Pooling with SQ

I would make 1 further note. The eligible sector does not have to be actually on VA metal. The flight only has to be VA marketed ( meaning have VA code ). My example is VA flights from CHC to SYD VA code but operated by AirNZ still earn you eligible sectors..

This is correct, but also note that the flight sectors also need to earn SCs to be eligible. So if flying say, TRG-AKL AKL-BNE on a VA saver codeshare (all flights NZ operated), the TRG-AKL probably won't be in an SC earning fare class, and so won't count as an eligible sector.

 

[Deleted member 29185]

Re: Family Pooling with SQ

I would make 1 further note. The eligible sector does not have to be actually on VA metal. The flight only has to be VA marketed ( meaning have VA code ). My example is VA flights from CHC to SYD VA code but operated by AirNZ still earn you eligible sectors..

Thank you for the correction, I wasn't aware of that work around. Shame the VA marketed flights are usually dearer than direct.

 

[a330j]

Re: Family Pooling with SQ

I have just landed softly from Plat about a month ago, didn't see the value in it to try to retain. I would like to retain Gold and have 11 months to do so. Almost half way there after a month but would like to requalify quickly so I effectively get Gold to June 2017. Am thinking about return BNE to HKG return with SQ, which if I can squeeze a SYD or MEL leg in will get 220-230SC and do the job in one trip (would prefer Melbourne for ease of transit). To gain the required number of sectors I will have to VA codeshare, much to my disgust. Alternatively if I booked with SQ direct it would be cheaper but I would still need sectors with VA which would soak up any savings there. Still mulling that over - Changi$ and duty free whisky keep coming to mind

An up and back trip looks possible from the schedules but I am wondering about transiting HKG. If I had 4 hours at HKG between scheduled flights, does SQ have OLCI so I don't have to wait for the SQ transfer desk to open. My understanding is the transfer desk opens about 2 1/2 hours prior to the flight, so waiting in the transit area for 90 minutes doesn't appeal. Just wondering how I could get through to the departures area including the SQ lounge straight away.

 

[Teal747]

Re: Family Pooling with SQ

Is the best value you can do for a eligible sector $105 Bne -syd - Bne each way ? (Over next 2 months)
just short of 3 eligible sectors I have the sufficient 1,000 SP required

 

[FrankC]

Re: Family Pooling with SQ

Is the best value you can do for a eligible sector $105 Bne -syd - Bne each way ? (Over next 2 months)
just short of 3 eligible sectors I have the sufficient 1,000 SP required

Can you leave from OOL?

 

[Teal747]

Re: Family Pooling with SQ

It looks like travelling to the
Gold coast airport is not worth it
It's too far from Brisbane

 

[Deleted member 29185]

Re: Family Pooling with SQ

Is the best value you can do for a eligible sector $105 Bne -syd - Bne each way ? (Over next 2 months)
just short of 3 eligible sectors I have the sufficient 1,000 SP required

To need three, I'd be looking at a OOL-MEL-SYD-OOL. Try using this thread for better fares, but there's not too many "cheap" fares with VA these days.

 

[a330j]

Re: Family Pooling with SQ

If I had 4 hours at HKG between scheduled flights, does SQ have OLCI so I don't have to wait for the SQ transfer desk to open. My understanding is the transfer desk opens about 2 1/2 hours prior to the flight, so waiting in the transit area for 90 minutes doesn't appeal. Just wondering how I could get through to the departures area including the SQ lounge straight away.

To answer my own question, and for the information of others, it looks like OLCI is not available on codeshare.