The Virgin Australia Newbie Questions Thread

[SomeRando]

How long does it normally take for your status to be upgraded after meeting the requirements? I got the required status credits about a week ago but in the app I'm still the lower tier status. It's not that big a deal as I won't be flying for a bit but I thought it would have been pretty much as soon as the sectors and credits had been added to my account.

 

[SYD]

How long does it normally take for your status to be upgraded after meeting the requirements? I got the required status credits about a week ago but in the app I'm still the lower tier status. It's not that big a deal as I won't be flying for a bit but I thought it would have been pretty much as soon as the sectors and credits had been added to my account.

I went back to Gold o/n after some flights posted (next day).

Have you refreshed the app / checked on the website?

What does the status dial say you need to do to retain/attain?

 

[Human]

How long does it normally take for your status to be upgraded after meeting the requirements? I got the required status credits about a week ago but in the app I'm still the lower tier status. It's not that big a deal as I won't be flying for a bit but I thought it would have been pretty much as soon as the sectors and credits had been added to my account.

Do you have the required eligible sectors?

 

[SomeRando]

Yep.

 

[drron]

The Terms and Conditions of the 2000 bonus points offer contain this:
Where multiple guests are listed on the same booking, only those guests who satisfy the above Offer criteria are eligible for this Offer.

So it sounds like your wife would also need to have activated the offer.

Though I have taken advantage of the double SCs and 2000 points offers. I tried to activate them on Mrsdrron's account but they were no where to be found. As her account is the big double zero as she pools to my account I thought that might be why.

 

[FlyingFiona]

I've always been a QFF but lately I have been gathering up Velocity points with a J class redemption to Europe in mind.

I gather there is no international multi-city tool for Velocity like there is for QFF. I were to book a flight that leaves/arrives into another domestic city to my own, how do you go about things? Book a separate domestic ticket and ask them to merge the two bookings?

Is that a) even possible and b) risky (eg with flights potentially dropping off as they do with QFF OWA) Or is there an easier way to go about things?

 

[MEL_Traveller]

I've always been a QFF but lately I have been gathering up Velocity points with a J class redemption to Europe in mind.

I gather there is no international multi-city tool for Velocity like there is for QFF. I were to book a flight that leaves/arrives into another domestic city to my own, how do you go about things? Book a separate domestic ticket and ask them to merge the two bookings?

Is that a) even possible and b) risky (eg with flights potentially dropping off as they do with QFF OWA) Or is there an easier way to go about things?

You can’t merge bookings.

I’d be calling velocity to ask them to add any sectors you need into the one booking to start with.

 

[FlyingFiona]

You can’t merge bookings.

I’d be calling velocity to ask them to add any sectors you need into the one booking to start with.

Thanks. Could you book the reward when you see it and then call to add the dom sector?

 

[MEL_Traveller]

Thanks. Could you book the reward when you see it and then call to add the dom sector?

Changes are permitted, but at 4500 points (or cash). And no guarantee the agent will be able to understand, or do the change. I’d just ring and do it in one, and ask them to waive the phone booking fee as you can’t book it on line.

 

[Verbal]

How close to your review date can you leave that final flight that will retain your VA status?

I'm VA Gold with a review date of 10 May 25. SC won't be a problem to retain but I fly mostly international so I'll need some domestic VA flights to make up the 4 eligible sectors.

If I fly my 4th eligible sector (a Choice flight ADL-MEL) on 9 May 25 (yeah, it's cutting it close) to satisfy the status retention, I can see it going two ways:

Scenario A - Eligible sector gets updated to my account on 9 or 10 May (that's good)

Scenario B - Eligible sector doesn't get updated to my account until 11 May or later (that's not good)

So the questions I have for the people more knowledgeable on these things are:

1) Would Scenario A be fine to retain my Gold status? My eligible sector travel history all posted the following day after the flight so I'm confident (but not definite) this will be the likely outcome.

2) For Scenario B, my account would have 500+ SC but only 3 of 4 eligible sectors on the 10 May review date. In this situation, what would happen to my Gold status?

 

[Human]

Hello and welcome to AFF @Verbal !

Velocity points, status credits and sectors normally come through within 5-6 hours of a domestic flight. But even if they take a few days (which does sometimes happen), the date will be for the date of the flight.

In other words, Scenario A will apply, even if it takes a few days for the points etc to be posted on your account, and you will retain your Gold status.

That, by the way, is why Velocity takes a couple of weeks after the review date before finalising things: it's waiting for all the SC's to come in from partner airlines etc.

 

[MooTime]

How close to your review date can you leave that final flight that will retain your VA status?

I'm VA Gold with a review date of 10 May 25. SC won't be a problem to retain but I fly mostly international so I'll need some domestic VA flights to make up the 4 eligible sectors.

If I fly my 4th eligible sector (a Choice flight ADL-MEL) on 9 May 25 (yeah, it's cutting it close) to satisfy the status retention, I can see it going two ways:

Scenario A - Eligible sector gets updated to my account on 9 or 10 May (that's good)

Scenario B - Eligible sector doesn't get updated to my account until 11 May or later (that's not good)

So the questions I have for the people more knowledgeable on these things are:

1) Would Scenario A be fine to retain my Gold status? My eligible sector travel history all posted the following day after the flight so I'm confident (but not definite) this will be the likely outcome.

2) For Scenario B, my account would have 500+ SC but only 3 of 4 eligible sectors on the 10 May review date. In this situation, what would happen to my Gold status?

Only require 400 SC's to requalify. Not 500.
4 sectors correct.

 

[Verbal]

In other words, Scenario A will apply, even if it takes a few days for the points etc to be posted on your account, and you will retain your Gold status.

Thanks! I thought this would be the case and I appreciate the reassurance so I can rest easy with this knowledge.

 

[Verbal]

Only require 400 SC's to requalify. Not 500.

You're right! This is my first VA status retention, but I think I can make VA WP in 2025 so in my mind I was thinking I'd be around 500-600 SC around May next year.

 

[kerfuffle]

I booked return Business Class flights to Melbourne for December, which I then had to change the dates for a few months later.

My dilemma is this: for one of the flights, I decided to change it again to Choice as I could use the money on other Choice flights and still maintain Gold. Instead of cancelling the entire booking and making a new one, I just swapped said flight from Business to Economy, so now one flight is Choice and the return is Business. So in theory Virgin now owe me a few hundred bucks.

It's only been two days, so not too worried yet, but will this few hundred bucks go back to my card automatically or do I need to call up the Guest Contact Centre and do some chasing?

 

[MEL_Traveller]

I booked return Business Class flights to Melbourne for December, which I then had to change the dates for a few months later.

My dilemma is this: for one of the flights, I decided to change it again to Choice as I could use the money on other Choice flights and still maintain Gold. Instead of cancelling the entire booking and making a new one, I just swapped said flight from Business to Economy, so now one flight is Choice and the return is Business. So in theory Virgin now owe me a few hundred bucks.

It's only been two days, so not too worried yet, but will this few hundred bucks go back to my card automatically or do I need to call up the Guest Contact Centre and do some chasing?

Did it indicate you were entitled to a refund? You might want to find out where it’s gone… to travel bank for example, or to original form of payment.

 

[kerfuffle]

Did it indicate you were entitled to a refund? You might want to find out where it’s gone… to travel bank for example, or to original form of payment.

As I booked refundable Business Class fares, yes. The below is for the flight I haven't changed:

-REFUND-
REFUND TO ORIGINAL FORM OF PAYMENT ON UNUSED OR
PARTIALLY USED TICKET VALUES PERMITTED - NO
FEE APPLIES FOR REFUND.
-----
-CREDIT-
CREDIT PERMITTED FOR UNUSED OR PARTIALLY USED
TICKET VALUES. NO FEE APPLIES FOR CREDIT.
1. FOR BOOKINGS MADE DIRECTLY WITH VIRGIN
AUSTRALIA A CREDIT WILL BE ISSUED TO TRAVEL BANK.
2. FOR BOOKINGS MADE VIA INDUSTRY PARTNERS VALUE
OF TICKET MAY BE USED IN THE FORM OF A CREDIT
TOWARDS A FARE OF EQUAL OR HIGHER VALUE. CREDIT
MUST BE REISSUED WITHIN 12 MONTHS OF ORIGINAL
ISSUE DATE AND ALL TRAVEL MUST BE COMPLETED
WITHIN 12 MONTHS.
-----
IF TICKET HAS BEEN PREVIOUSLY REISSUED TO A
REFUNDABLE FARE THE ORIGINAL REFUND CONDITIONS
APPLY.

However my situation is different as I downgraded my flight from Business to Choice ...