Tier Matching at DJ - Oct 2010 [Offer closed]

[iqis60]

re: Tier Matching at DJ

Did my first two flights as DJ Gold on Tuesday. SYD-OOL-SYD whereas normally would have flown into BNE.

Checkin pole at SYD airport printed an incorrect RED Velocity number on my boarding pass so off to the special service desk to get a new boarding pass. After some calling around it appears I have 2 Velocity numbers :shock: no idea how that happened. Still have to call Velocity to get the Red on cancelled.

Flight up at 830
Off to The Lounge. Very quiet in comparison with the QP. Was able to sit and enjoy the barista coffee. No announcement about the 30min delay so had a bit of a wait at the gate. Uneventfull flight but no special Gold recognition from the cabin crew, nearly empty Y+ cabin and chockers at the back.

Flight back at 1655
As OOL does not have a lounge I had to wait at the gate. Flight back was again empty at the front and very full at the back as well. Also no special Gold recognition on this flight.

Would I fly Virgin again? The "clientele" on DJ is not very appealing I must say. The number of de-thonged (and for lack of better words) "manky" feet has put me off it.

As my next 18 domestic flights were already booked on QF before my status match it will only be for last minute trips that I will be able to go for DJ but I will definitely give them another go on more corporate routings. My QF SG has been secured with 9 months to go in my membership year so I can spread around a bit.

I have to say my first experience flying as a gold was very similar. The gold card got better service at the check-in counter, with good seats issued, but no recognition of status in any way on the flight. It was a Virgin Blue flight to and from Denpesar and it would have been nice to have been offered a drink or free access to one of the programed movies or something, but this might be something they are looking at at the moment anyway.

 

[yohy?!]

re: Tier Matching at DJ

I have to say my first experience flying as a gold was very similar. The gold card got better service at the check-in counter, with good seats issued, but no recognition of status in any way on the flight. It was a Virgin Blue flight to and from Denpesar and it would have been nice to have been offered a drink or free access to one of the programed movies or something, but this might be something they are looking at at the moment anyway.

DPS flights are operated by Pacific Blue which still seem to be more LCC than DJ itself. From the announcement today by DJ that these flights do not qualify for NZ lounge access it would seem they still have some work to do at synchronizing the brands.

 

[iqis60]

re: Tier Matching at DJ

DPS flights are operated by Pacific Blue which still seem to be more LCC than DJ itself. From the announcement today by DJ that these flights do not qualify for NZ lounge access it would seem they still have some work to do at synchronizing the brands.

Now that you mention it, I recall it was Pacific Blue and yes it did feel pretty low cost.

 

[JohnK]

re: Tier Matching at DJ

Would I fly Virgin again? The "clientele" on DJ is not very appealing I must say. The number of de-thonged (and for lack of better words) "manky" feet has put me off it.

Nothing wrong travelling with the great unwashed although I do not miss them when I am travelling Qantas.

As for the ferrals travelling with Jetstar I would like to stay as far away from them as possible, Saw and heard a few of them waiting at the gate for their JQ MEL flight in SIN a couple of weeks ago. No thanks even if my life is in danger....

 

[tuapekastar]

re: Tier Matching at DJ

As for the ferrals travelling with Jetstar I would like to stay as far away from them as possible, Saw and heard a few of them waiting at the gate for their JQ MEL flight in SIN a couple of weeks ago. No thanks even if my life is in danger....

Why didn't you say hello to me John?

I was actually there about a week ago. Yep, there are definitely some types you'd want to steer clear of on a flight (on MEL-SIN JQ leg there were a bunch - maybe 20 or so - of 'kids' wearing identical singlets with 'such and such tour 2011' printed on them, along with each individual's name, or nickname), but we breezed by them at the gate (priority boarding line) and they breezed by us on the plane on their way to the back, us in Row 1, so we were well insulated from them.

 

[JohnK]

re: Tier Matching at DJ

Why didn't you say hello to me John?

It would be a pleasure to meet and say hello to you overseas.

Yes ferrals tend to travel in groups, extremely selfish and think they own the place. It is a shame they give Asutralia such a bad name. Sometimes I just wish airfares doubled or tripled overnight so these people could not travel overseas and shame the rest of us....

 

[schomers87]

re: Tier Matching at DJ

After applying early Jan I've received an offer. Basically from what I gather they are still looking at status matches but there is also a consideration of where you work etc.

i had to chase this up with work and get approval etc.

great service though from the virgin rep though.

 

[themaiz]

re: Tier Matching at DJ

i had to chase this up with work and get approval etc.

Useful question: what did they ask you to do/provide?

I hope DJ works on the basis of rewarding spend and loyalty, rather than perceived depth of an employer's pocket. That's important to me because, as a freelancer/consultant, I'm the employer but most of the spend comes (directly) from my clients and those for whom I provide services.

That's worked well enough for QF, who have been pleasant and rewarding of the travel (and passionate support) they get from me. And I'm more than happy to spend my personal $$ to travel QF rather than JQ.... or an off-system US carrier.

great service though from the virgin rep though.

Anything you can share?

 

[Aussie_flyer]

re: Tier Matching at DJ

Nothing wrong travelling with the great unwashed although I do not miss them when I am travelling Qantas.

As for the ferrals travelling with Jetstar I would like to stay as far away from them as possible, Saw and heard a few of them waiting at the gate for their JQ MEL flight in SIN a couple of weeks ago. No thanks even if my life is in danger....

I must be a feral too. I fly Jetstar. oh well.... I can't help it I was just brought up this way.

 

[JohnK]

re: Tier Matching at DJ

I must be a feral too. I fly Jetstar. oh well.... I can't help it I was just brought up this way.

I think you know what I mean.

We are getting way off topic but not all people travelling with Jetstar are ferral but the overwhelming majority of ferrals would exlcusively travel on Jetstar or Tiger. I hardly ever, if at all, see these groups travel on QF, SQ, TG etc. Anyway, enough said from me....

 

[antycbr]

re: Tier Matching at DJ

I think Virgin is somewhere in the middle in terms of customer demographic, and it is very route dependent. CBR-SYD/MEL feels to me like "casual dress Friday in the public service" with the odd suit. I think if you're on a OOL flight the demographic is going to be different.

One thing I notice is that there seems to be more first time/inexperienced flyers on DJ - this leads to, in my estimation, slower security screening times and slower boarding times compared to QF.

 

[ozmille]

re: Tier Matching at DJ

I think Virgin is somewhere in the middle in terms of customer demographic, and it is very route dependent. CBR-SYD/MEL feels to me like "casual dress Friday in the public service" with the odd suit. I think if you're on a OOL flight the demographic is going to be different.

That is possible. If I get the opportunity for a last minute MEL trip will try DJ again. On the OOL flight there seemed a lot of people that were very inexperienced. As soon as the plane arrived they started queuing at the gate. They also looked at me like I was an alien when the priority boarding call was made and I just walked past them

 

[markis10]

re: Tier Matching at DJ

You also tend to not get the DYKWIA folks on DJ.

I am not sure if this was a weekend thing but two of my flights had mobility limited people in the first row of economy, this created an issue when I tried to get to 4A which was my allocated seat, the FA told me to go to row 6 as that was unoccupied to save the person having to move but in fact I moved three times because it turned out the seats were allocated, it was something of a PITA and made me look like I did not know what I was doing . I would have thought putting the mobility limited people back a bit in a row blocked off to give them some peace would have made more sense, especially when there were only 65 pax on a 737.

 

[antycbr]

re: Tier Matching at DJ

I am not sure if this was a weekend thing but two of my flights had mobility limited people in the first row of economy, this created an issue when I tried to get to 4A which was my allocated seat, the FA told me to go to row 6 as that was unoccupied to save the person having to move but in fact I moved three times because it turned out the seats were allocated, it was something of a PITA and made me look like I did not know what I was doing . I would have thought putting the mobility limited people back a bit in a row blocked off to give them some peace would have made more sense, especially when there were only 65 pax on a 737.

Perhaps the use of row 4 was because the mobility limited people could be boarded through the aerobridge (assuming that there was an aerobridge), whereas putting them at the back of the aircraft would have required them to go through all of the people boarding from the rear stairs, and required them to go the full length of the plane.

I would have suggested row 1 as an alternative compromise!

 

[Aussie_flyer]

re: Tier Matching at DJ

You also tend to not get the DYKWIA folks on DJ.

No wonder I hate them then.

 

[markis10]

re: Tier Matching at DJ

Perhaps the use of row 4 was because the mobility limited people could be boarded through the aerobridge (assuming that there was an aerobridge), whereas putting them at the back of the aircraft would have required them to go through all of the people boarding from the rear stairs, and required them to go the full length of the plane.

I would have suggested row 1 as an alternative compromise!

QF locate their mobility pax further down the cabin and often I see they have blocked the row, to me thats the better solution for all and one that takes a few seconds longer. As for using row 1, it seems the only way you get that is if you buy it, which is fair enough.

 

[samh004]

re: Tier Matching at DJ

You also tend to not get the DYKWIA folks on DJ.

I am not sure if this was a weekend thing but two of my flights had mobility limited people in the first row of economy, this created an issue when I tried to get to 4A which was my allocated seat, the FA told me to go to row 6 as that was unoccupied to save the person having to move but in fact I moved three times because it turned out the seats were allocated, it was something of a PITA and made me look like I did not know what I was doing . I would have thought putting the mobility limited people back a bit in a row blocked off to give them some peace would have made more sense, especially when there were only 65 pax on a 737.

Similar happened to me this weekend, I had 4D and on boarding realised there’d be a problem, the cabin crew didn’t know what to do, so I simply said I’ll sit in PE, and they said OK!

Probably not the most ideal solution, but a little bit of planning before I boarded would have been a much better idea. And it was empty anyway, other than two deadheading.

 

[schomers87]

re: Tier Matching at DJ

Useful question: what did they ask you to do/provide?

I hope DJ works on the basis of rewarding spend and loyalty, rather than perceived depth of an employer's pocket. That's important to me because, as a freelancer/consultant, I'm the employer but most of the spend comes (directly) from my clients and those for whom I provide services.

That's worked well enough for QF, who have been pleasant and rewarding of the travel (and passionate support) they get from me. And I'm more than happy to spend my personal $$ to travel QF rather than JQ.... or an off-system US carrier.



Anything you can share?

Apologies for not getting back to you sooner.

Essentially, I was asked questions relating to the nature of my work and whether I do travel. It was advised that support from my manager was required to confirm this which was nice and easy.

I was impressed with the service- the virgin rep on here followed up after I had written that I had not heard back; and the virgin rep who got in contact with me provided her direct contact details and was very prompt in responding to my enquiries.

As mentioned, from what I gather there is indeed no guarantee rather it is a case-by-case basis. I must say though I was very impressed with the service and will certainly utilise PE ADL-CBR on Virgin this year.

 

[nlagalle]

re: Tier Matching at DJ

Apologies for not getting back to you sooner.

Essentially, I was asked questions relating to the nature of my work and whether I do travel. It was advised that support from my manager was required to confirm this which was nice and easy.

I was impressed with the service- the virgin rep on here followed up after I had written that I had not heard back; and the virgin rep who got in contact with me provided her direct contact details and was very prompt in responding to my enquiries.

As mentioned, from what I gather there is indeed no guarantee rather it is a case-by-case basis. I must say though I was very impressed with the service and will certainly utilise PE ADL-CBR on Virgin this year.

I have yet to hear back from Velocity - however I did write just prior to the floods in Brisbane. I'll wait a bit longer as I haven't booked up my next lot of flights yet.

 

[koro25]

re: Tier Matching at DJ

Same here, no word from the VB team. Reading some of the clarification posts, looks like i wont be offered the status match as I do not meet their criteria of having any influence in directing my organizations air travel business to VB, even though my company probably gives more than 20K + of business to them anyway. Oh well, looks like I will be sticking with Team QF:arrow: