United Airlines new Virgin Australia/Velocity Partner

[http_x92]

Hopefully its a matter of the reward business seats coming online soon.

 

[Thibault]

Activate your exclusive member only offer

You won't want to miss out on our special limited-time offer! Activate now

experience.velocityfrequentflyer.com

Earn up to 7,000 bonus Points and 70 Status Credits on your first flight departing Australia with United Airlines.*

Interesting it has to be booked on the United website. Had a look flying Perth <> USA and it returns Qantas, Jetstar flights for the Australian domestic flights including Virgin. Also being Star Alliance has flights via New Zealand. (Any flights not flown with Virgin or United metal isn't going to get Velocity recognition.)

'Points and Status Credits cannot be earned on Velocity Reward Seat bookings. Codeshare services marketed or operated by partner airlines, other than United Airlines or Virgin Australia, are not eligible for this offer. '

I understand on my side that a VA or UA marketed flight would qualify - not 100% clear.

 

[leewizza]

I sure hope that Delta doesnt cancel my 130k point Business Rewards flight booking MEL>LAX June 16, last minute! pray for me lol

 

[BRIS_VA_HAWK]

I'm new so sorry if this is a basic question but how do I find Velocity business rewards seats to USA for August/Sept? Do I just keep plugging in dates and various usa destinations on the virgin website?

Start with the AUS-US transpac leg first (i.e. SYD-LAX, SYD-SFO etc). If you find J availability there then switch the search to your ultimate destination and/or origin (e.g. BNE-DEN) to see whether there's J/F availability on those legs as well. VA was notorious for providing J availability 2-3 weeks before take off, so being flexible is key.

 

[SYD]

Hopefully its a matter of the reward business seats coming online soon.

Don’t hold your breath.

Take a look on united.com, if you can find a J Saver award across the Pacific, then it ought to appear on VA (and other A* searches). But as per my comment above, they are very rare for non-UA MP status PAX.

 

[aaronm]

I sure hope that Delta doesnt cancel my 130k point Business Rewards flight booking MEL>LAX June 16, last minute! pray for me lol

I have a few DL awards in July/August, no reason they shouldn't hold but possibly some small risk there.

 

[jase05]

For those interested

 

[MooTime]

For those interested
View attachment 278324

That's on top of the standard earn in miles & SC's, right?

 

[http_x92]

The cheapest way to get it is to take a trip to Hawaii, but that means taking a hairpin first to LAX/SFO and takes 10-12 hours more compared to direct flights

 

[jase05]

That's on top of the standard earn in miles & SC's, right?

Yes, it’s a bonus for taking your first flight with them

 

[MJHoops]

Found a bit of J reward MEL-SFO for late July / early Aug but nothing through to New York airports. Thought there might be a lot once it opened up but have since seen the posts indicating these routes are always rare

 

[jase05]

Hopefully its a matter of the reward business seats coming online soon.

Seeing a few now

 

[http_x92]

Business reward flights still rare as a hens teeth but its there, 95.5k + taxes it is. Saw it on my end even as a Red member.

Ofc even harder to find one if a stopover in the US is required to get there (e.g. New York)

 

[AIRwin]

For those interested
View attachment 278324

Already booked an upcoming flight with United Airlines?
Don't worry, activate this offer now by adding your Velocity Frequent Flyer number to your upcoming booking and, if you complete travel by 31 December 2022, you will be eligible to for the bonus Points and Status Credits for your first flight departing Australia with United Airlines.

 

[BRIS_VA_HAWK]

Looks like more J reward seats have come on line, whereas the non-Award seats are showing as VA flight numbers instead, with the obligatory higher number of FF points to be spent.

On a related note, it appears that only first flight of the day BNE-SYD (0605 ex BNE, 0740 into SYD) is going to connect to SFO (1020 depart) and VA isn't offering BNE-SYD-LAX except with an overnight layover in SYD, as UA842 departs at 0930.

Ironically DL's later departure out of SYD with DL40 doesn't pose as much of an issue. :/

Wonder whether VA will be able to get UA to push that departure time back a bit to enable connections from BNE, ADL and others?

 

[AIRwin]

On a related note, it appears that only first flight of the day BNE-SYD (0605 ex BNE, 0740 into SYD) is going to connect to SFO (1020 depart) and VA isn't offering BNE-SYD-LAX except with an overnight layover in SYD, as UA842 departs at 0930.

It may be even more problematic during daylight saving?

 

[BRIS_VA_HAWK]

It may be even more problematic during daylight saving?

Not particularly. VA normally schedules the first BNE-SYD for 0500 rather than 0600.

 

[HS-TQE]

Looks like more J reward seats have come on line, whereas the non-Award seats are showing as VA flight numbers instead, with the obligatory higher number of FF points to be spent.

On a related note, it appears that only first flight of the day BNE-SYD (0605 ex BNE, 0740 into SYD) is going to connect to SFO (1020 depart) and VA isn't offering BNE-SYD-LAX except with an overnight layover in SYD, as UA842 departs at 0930.

Ironically DL's later departure out of SYD with DL40 doesn't pose as much of an issue. :/

Wonder whether VA will be able to get UA to push that departure time back a bit to enable connections from BNE, ADL and others?

UA's SYD departure(s) is subject to SYD slot allocations, iirc.

 

[BRIS_VA_HAWK]

UA's SYD departure(s) is subject to SYD slot allocations, iirc.

Fair enough, although surely SYD isn't slot-constrained after peak hours??

 

[dzzr]

Does anyone know if upgrades using points will be possible?