VA status ladder

[scheps]

Hi Guys,

New to VA as giving them a try.

I was wondering, once one has achieved necessary points, (currently 600), how long does it take for the account to say gold instead of silver? number of segments fulfilled.

Also, with the plat business upgrade perk, can you use that for relatives who are flying by themselves?

Lastly in general, Plat is not worth the effort over gold?

Thanks! - Scheps.

 

[Muppet501st]

Hi Guys,

New to VA as giving them a try.

I was wondering, once one has achieved necessary points, (currently 600), how long does it take for the account to say gold instead of silver? number of segments fulfilled.

Also, with the plat business upgrade perk, can you use that for relatives who are flying by themselves?

Lastly in general, Plat is not worth the effort over gold?

Thanks! - Scheps.

1. If you've met all the requirements - SC and segments, your status should change overnight ( from my experience)

2. No you can not use the WP upgrade for a relative flying bythemselves

3. All depends, IMO, if you're doing most of your flying domestically, then WP is great. Mostly for being able to select row 3 at booking.
If your travel is OS, then no, I don't believe WP is much more benefit over SG. But everyone will have a different opinion on if WP is worth it. Personally, im WP, and im now pooling to my wife to get her to SG. We have some travel with family next year, and both of us being SG will be more of a benefit as we'll both be able to guest in 1 person each into lounges ( over 1 per WP), enough to get the family into lounges.

 

[clipped_wings]

Hi scheps! Hope VA exceeds your expectations, a little competition never hurt anyone eh?

We waited for approx. one week before the review upgraded us to Gold. You can always phone or email to request a review, they are very pleasant people and I have always found they genuinely want to assist.

Not sure about the second answer, but I guarantee someone who does know will be along real soon to help you.

Lastly, there is a lot of conjecture about this topic and I think it is subjective. I am a baby on the forum, so I don't have the history or experience to back my assumptions, but I will say this: any frequent flyer program is just that. A program designed for frequent flyers. The requisites to attain and maintain status are not cheap, so savvy flyers look for maximum return on their investment, especially on a corporate level. However, once the benefits become disproportionate to the effort, FF loyalty loses it's momentum and customers start looking at their options.
Personally, I can't wait to reach that Hallowed Ground called WP, maybe it's just a kooky achievement I want simply because I don't have it. Long term WP are becoming increasingly suspicious of Virgin's agenda with regard to the perks it offers SG and below. I'm reading the feeling here at the moment, is that Gold is the Sweet Spot.

I really do believe these things are a little more organic - in that they probably need to shift and adjust as the market changes. That may explain why FF programs appear to be morphing, but in any case - be prepared to be flexible. Whatever level works best for your lifestyle is the way to go.

 

[scheps]

Thanks mate. I might hang tight a bit longer.

Excellent point about row 3 and Dom travel. I think wp is the way to go for me. So the pursuit continues .

Thanks again

 

[PDog]

Welcome!

i am also a newbie here & have been WP for maybe 4 years? I fly domestically for work & row 3 is the best benefit (& extra guests into the lounge on occasion- my colleagues don't fly as much as me)

Personally, gold would be fine, but the 4 upgrades are fab visiting family in Perth (although the flex tickets required are expensive!) & the old etihad first class lounge in Abu Dhabi made the long flight bearable!

Things went wrong a couple of weeks age & Virgin were fantastic- I wonder if the WP helped?

 

[scheps]

Oh yea another great point about the potential perks in an emergency orcatastrophic situations. I tight the j upgrade was pretty difficult. I wonder if anyone had upgraded from an Amex ticket (if flex are even bookable)

 

[medhead]

In terms of value of platinum: IME VA simply do not provide any onboard recognition of Platinum. Row 3 on the 737 is a major bonus but the middle seat would almost always be filled with empty middle seats in rows 4 and 5, so the recognition of platinum by ground staff is limited. Priority boarding is great, but also available to gold. It is hard to see much value in platinum over gold

 

[PDog]

I've had no trouble with the J upgrade ever!
Haven't tried it from AMEX, but others upgraded with points I think? Actually, there was only one seat (in the right class) on the flight I wanted when I booked my AMEX flight, but the consultant pushed two through for me

 

[Ausbt]

Row 3 on the 737 is a major bonus but the middle seat would almost always be filled with empty middle seats in rows 4 and 5

Yep, filled by WPs who turn up 5 mins before earlier flights are boarding and request to fly ahead, which is precisely what I did at OOL yesterday. "certainly sir, I can put you in Row 3 but middle seats only". Me: "oh lovely, I might make some new friends". Lounge-Angel: "they were probably expecting a shadow". Me: "hah, no chance!"

 

[PDog]

Yep, filled by WPs who turn up 5 mins before earlier flights are boarding and request to fly ahead, which is precisely what I did at OOL yesterday. "certainly sir, I can put you in Row 3 but middle seats only". Me: "oh lovely, I might make some new friends". Lounge-Angel: "they were probably expecting a shadow". Me: "hah, no chance!"

yep, I'm frequently guilty of that!

 

[NZflygirl]

I think you can use the platinum upgrades for a friend etc if you are flying with them.

Just call velocity so they can sort it so you can get your gold benefits. You'd kick yourself if you had a flight coming up and didn't have them! Well.....maybe not.

There is still a reasonable chance of getting row 3 as gold. Guess it depends on your routes and flight times.

Some value the hotel and car partnerships available for a yr eg HH IHG They will show up when your account changes to gold in the benefits section.

Congrats!

 

[medhead]

Yep, filled by WPs who turn up 5 mins before earlier flights are boarding and request to fly ahead, which is precisely what I did at OOL yesterday. "certainly sir, I can put you in Row 3 but middle seats only". Me: "oh lovely, I might make some new friends". Lounge-Angel: "they were probably expecting a shadow". Me: "hah, no chance!"

Nope, not at all. IME plenty of non-status in those middle seats in row 3. Note also my comment about empty seats in rows just behind. I've even seen empty aisle seats in rows 6,7,8 but someone in the middle of row 3. That person turned out to have no status on their BP.
Probably should add that this experience is generally on the first departure of the day, with no earlier flights to fly ahead from...

 

[scheps]

I think you can use the platinum upgrades for a friend etc if you are flying with them.

Just call velocity so they can sort it so you can get your gold benefits. You'd kick yourself if you had a flight coming up and didn't have them! Well.....maybe not.

There is still a reasonable chance of getting row 3 as gold. Guess it depends on your routes and flight times.

Some value the hotel and car partnerships available for a yr eg HH IHG They will show up when your account changes to gold in the benefits section.

Congrats!

Thanks for that. Appreciate your advice!

 

[scheps]

Nope, not at all. IME plenty of non-status in those middle seats in row 3. Note also my comment about empty seats in rows just behind. I've even seen empty aisle seats in rows 6,7,8 but someone in the middle of row 3. That person turned out to have no status on their BP.
Probably should add that this experience is generally on the first departure of the day, with no earlier flights to fly ahead from...

How do they get row 3? Pot luck or t-x? Can't remember if it's 24 hrs

 

[medhead]

How do they get row 3? Pot luck or t-x? Can't remember if it's 24 hrs

I think they ask the gate desk to move them, at least that's my recollection of my thoughts at the time. Or it could be at check in. The situation is fairly similar for row 4 middle seats on Qantas, they fill pretty quickly. But my reluctance to keep flying VA is partially due to my experiences in Row 3.
I'm gold now so it doesn't matter and will be silver at the end of August.

 

[Deleted member 29185]

I have a recollection of using the plat J upgrade for my wife and daughter to meet me in CNS. I may be wrong though...I tend to forget which means I used to achieve an end!

Row 3 Dom is about the only real benefit of plat, apart from extra points and the extra soft landing if you can't sustain plat on an ongoing basis!

 

[Dannyism]

The biggest benefit of WP in my eyes, is losing WP... That's right, the soft landing.

On average, I earn 600 or so SC a year. So with a bit of careful planning, a few overseas trips and family pooling with my partner, I can sneak into WP. What that means to me is one whole year of flying on points. Without having to spend a dime. Then after that year, I drop down to SG. That is a good value two years to me.

Good luck and have fun out there.

 

[Lemon_Party]

For me it's the 4 free upgrades, as for work my return flight on a trip is mostly booked flexi.

That alone is well worth the step up to plat, but if I didn't fly coast to coast, or was buying my own (strictly saver!) tickets, I probably wouldn't notice the difference between gold or plat.

 

[N860CR]

I've found it really difficult to get the platinum upgrades on SYD-PER of late (not for me... My
WP days are over but I handle the MDs flying). I usually book PER trips about 3-4 weeks out and in about 12 sectors now have only managed 2 upgrades.

They do, however, seem to process fine as points upgrades about a day before hand (and it's not a bad use of 9900 points)

 

[NZflygirl]

I've found it really difficult to get the platinum upgrades on SYD-PER of late (not for me... My
WP days are over but I handle the MDs flying). I usually book PER trips about 3-4 weeks out and in about 12 sectors now have only managed 2 upgrades.

They do, however, seem to process fine as points upgrades about a day before hand (and it's not a bad use of 9900 points)

That is depressing yet interesting.