VA Partner Award Changes

[esseeeayeenn]

The only thing I could think of that would mess separate bookings would be if you flew VA29 or whatever it is. Both flights have to be EY metal. And there is no 1st from AUH to MXP, just J.

That should work fine on the trip home as EY will interline with VA and check your bags through.
But I gather VA won't do the same in reverse.

 

[mark4217]

Not sure on that one. You could do the following flight 451 in J, SYD - AUH arrives at 11:10pm, 94k, points. Book this on VA. Book separate ticket with VA call center flight 103 AUH - JFK 120k ish points, departs AUH at 03:20AM arrives JFK at 9:30AM and it's got the apartments. When you get to the gate they will book you all the way through. Currently there is no 1st available from SYD or MEL in June, so J is it. Then closer to June if 1st shows up you just cancel out the J ticket and move to the new 1st seat. Only problem there is SYD flight 451 is a 777. That aside, even if you swap departure flight to 455 which is the 380 you get stuck with connection flight 101 which is a 777 to JFK, so no matter what you do, you are only getting the 380 for one leg, unless you stay a night in Abu.

 

[Cadboy]

Not sure on that one. You could do the following flight 451 in J, SYD - AUH arrives at 11:10pm, 94k, points. Book this on VA. Book separate ticket with VA call center flight 103 AUH - JFK 120k ish points, departs AUH at 03:20AM arrives JFK at 9:30AM and it's got the apartments. When you get to the gate they will book you all the way through. Currently there is no 1st available from SYD or MEL in June, so J is it. Then closer to June if 1st shows up you just cancel out the J ticket and move to the new 1st seat. Only problem there is SYD flight 451 is a 777. That aside, even if you swap departure flight to 455 which is the 380 you get stuck with connection flight 101 which is a 777 to JFK, so no matter what you do, you are only getting the 380 for one leg, unless you stay a night in Abu.

My only issue is that i dont want to pay for two individual awards. I want to pay the 187k for A380 from SYD all the way to JFK. From what I gather this is an impossible feat unless both legs are available at the same time.

 

[mark4217]

Hmmmmmm, then your running out of options and time. Either way, you will only get the 380 for one leg, be it SYD - AUH or AUH -JFK. Good luck.

 

[Cadboy]

Hmmmmmm, then your running out of options and time. Either way, you will only get the 380 for one leg, be it SYD - AUH or AUH -JFK. Good luck.

I am happy to overnight in AUH to get the A380 flight. How is last minute availibility these days?

 

[mark4217]

Plenty available for AUH - JFK. I would lock it in. Then from SYD/MEL to AUH less but they open more up 2-3 weeks out. You should be fine. Note that EY show 128k points to AUH for 1st but when you call VA call center they charge 141k points. Not sure about the second leg, I've never done it.

 

[Jobeki111]

You need to check the definition of stopover as well with VA as you won't be able to make 1 award booking if there is a stopover it will need to be 2

 

[mark4217]

I don't believe a stopover is possible on one ticket. Has to be 2 separated tickets.

 

[Cadboy]

I understand that. Any period longer than 24 hours is considered a stop over on Virgin Awards.

Plenty available for AUH - JFK. I would lock it in. Then from SYD/MEL to AUH less but they open more up 2-3 weeks out. You should be fine. Note that EY show 128k points to AUH for 1st but when you call VA call center they charge 141k points. Not sure about the second leg, I've never done it.

But by locking in AUH-JFK now I have to book the awards seperately which will increase the points cost signifigantly. Its a shame that you can't just add an extra segment to an award booking and have it repriced as a single itinary (assuming there is no stop over).

 

[Jobeki111]

What about availability in first on the 777 out of Syd/melb or the 787 out of brisbane... If there is no availability on the a380 then these are your only other viable options for getting 1 reward all the way through and only paying the 187k points rather than 2*141k points. I know it's no 380 apartment but The 787 is still great in first (haven't done the 777 but how bad can it be). If you want to lock in the Auh-Jfk and only want to pay one award this seems to be your only option (if there is availability with these for your dates). Or you roll the dice and hope melb/Syd comes up and Auh/Jfk doesn't get taken.

 

[mark4217]

So just out of curiosity as I have never considered USA via Abu, what you are saying is for example:
You have to ring VA call center and ask for rewards flight in 1st, BNE-AUH-JFK in 1st and they will charge you 176k points on the one PNR.
2nd point, if you can do this, you still only get the option of 787 + 777 or 737 + 380 depending on your outbound choice out of BNE. Can anyone confirm that VA charge 176k points for this. I only go EU via Abu.

 

[mark4217]

VA charge me 141k one way to AUH in 1st from BNE.

 

[CJEMNMAC]

So just out of curiosity as I have never considered USA via Abu, what you are saying is for example:
You have to ring VA call center and ask for rewards flight in 1st, BNE-AUH-JFK in 1st and they will charge you 176k points on the one PNR.
2nd point, if you can do this, you still only get the option of 787 + 777 or 737 + 380 depending on your outbound choice out of BNE. Can anyone confirm that VA charge 176k points for this. I only go EU via Abu.

EY is 187500 VA points in F or 125000 VA points in J from BNE to JFK

Here is Velocity points table..

http://www.velocityfrequentflyer.com/content/Redeem/Airlines/PointsTables/

 

[mark4217]

Ok, and that's done via VA call centre as long as you can see F availability and connecting flights on EY guest rewards. That's not much more than going via LAX in J to JFK with VA and VX.

 

[CJEMNMAC]

Ok, and that's done via VA call centre as long as you can see F availability and connecting flights on EY guest rewards. That's not much more than going via LAX in J to JFK with VA and VX.

yes correct...booked via call centre..you do not need to locate connecting flights..just search BNE-JFK in EY Guest and it will show available or not

From BNE it is EY485 and EY101

 

[mark4217]

Wow, next time I go to US it's F alllll the way. The extra time in the air won't bother me one bit. Thanks for tip . Going via VA/VX would be around 150k.

 

[Jobeki111]

Sorry mate... My initial post was a typo and has now been changed... It's 187k points.

I don't have personal experience either so can't comment re nuances that may restrict but it comes in at under 15000 miles total trip. The restrictions that I know of are
*the whole trip would need to be done in first as velocity does not allow cross class bookings on 1 award. This means 787 from Bris (perth's 787 will only have business/economy), 777 out of Syd or a380 out of Syd/melb (just had a look and there will be no 777 from Melbourne as the a380 is a replacement flight not in addition to)
* no stopovers are allowed

So you would need to have reward seats available in first on each leg with no 'break' in your journey. Again, I have no personal experience doing this but if the 'stars align' It should be doable?

 

[CJEMNMAC]

Sorry mate... My initial post was a typo and has now been changed... It's 187k points.

I don't have personal experience either so can't comment re nuances that may restrict but it comes in at under 15000 miles total trip. The restrictions that I know of are
*the whole trip would need to be done in first as velocity does not allow cross class bookings on 1 award. This means 787 from Bris (perth's 787 will only have business/economy), 777 out of Syd or a380 out of Syd/melb (just had a look and there will be no 777 from Melbourne as the a380 is a replacement flight not in addition to)
* no stopovers are allowed

So you would need to have reward seats available in first on each leg with no 'break' in your journey. Again, I have no personal experience doing this but if the 'stars align' It should be doable?

It's not quite as complex as you may think. You just search BNE or SYD - JFK.. You do not search separate sectors.

Here is an example for tomorrow depart SYD in J....You can call up book the flight and it is 125000 VA points. I have booked no problem before ex SYD

 

[mark4217]

Hang on, this is J, not F.

 

[CJEMNMAC]

Hang on, this is J, not F.

Yes mark4217 it is in J......It was purely for illustration purposes.

Here is 1 for F