VA transfer to SQ 1.35:1 VA

[stux]

Are we there yet?

 

[adam15]

Are we there yet?

Looks like we have arrived! At least one-way anyway.

Virgin Australia - Velocity

 

[Eggsbenedict]

Looks like jaspon was onto something! Let's hope it the same velocity to KF

 

[burmans]

Looks like jaspon was onto something! Let's hope it the same velocity to KF

Indeed, I'm not likely to be sending many KF to VA!

 

[anat0l]

Indeed, I'm not likely to be sending many KF to VA!

More to an ironic point, SQ KF membership is global, but VA FF membership is limited only to Australia, New Zealand and the Pacific Islands. So there are really only a distinct set of people who will benefit from the "lesser of the fairer" halves of this venture.

Yes, I realise you can just register to some random (or friend's) address in Australia (a bit like how us AU/NZ members take advantage of BA EC membership). But as quickly realised by many here, there's likely little to no value advantage to sweeping out KF miles for VA points. The only tactical points are: (a) consolidation, and (b) saving KF points from expiring.

 

[777]

Now available under the "Points Transfer - Airlines" button in the velocity FF account menu.

 

[777]

Oh, and it appears to be November.

 

[JohnK]

Someone at KF better brace themselves for the onslaught.

At 1.35 VA -> SQ, Velocity will easily clean up KrisFlyer.

At least I can now see some use for my 80,000+ orphaned Velocity points.

 

[Globetrotter]

I had a spare 8,500 KF miles so I thought I'd transfer them to velocity. I was very impressed when I immediately logged into my Velocity account and saw that the transfer had already gone through. Hopefully it works just as quick Velocity-KF.

 

[bulldog88]

So it looks like both KF-VA and VA-KF are 1.35:1 ratio,

that means the "transfer fee" is 26% either way

eg.
135000 VA = 100000 KF
135000 KF = 100000 VA

Just don't transfer back and forth

 

[Eggsbenedict]

After all the doomsdayers with predictions of 3-1 and even 5-1 this looks pretty reasonable. Now to decide whether to cancel my Etihad business flights to Europe next year for Singapore First class.

 

[J-G]

Just transferred over 120,000 points to KF. Impressively, the transfer was instant. Good to see VA IT integration stepping up their game.

 

[VAG newbie]

More to an ironic point, SQ KF membership is global, but VA FF membership is limited only to Australia, New Zealand and the Pacific Islands. So there are really only a distinct set of people who will benefit from the "lesser of the fairer" halves of this venture.

Yes, I realise you can just register to some random (or friend's) address in Australia (a bit like how us AU/NZ members take advantage of BA EC membership). But as quickly realised by many here, there's likely little to no value advantage to sweeping out KF miles for VA points. The only tactical points are: (a) consolidation, and (b) saving KF points from expiring.

Disagree! VA points has it's advantage. KF point is only useful on SQ metals and availability is not all that great, especially some of the sought after routes (eg, to US. Try to search SIN to JFK and see how many saver J you can find!) Star alliance redemption using KF is almost useless as it won't allow back tracking and the cost isn't much better than VA when you take away the 15% online discount. Whereas using VA points to redeem Etihad from SIN - JFK, the availability is much better. Almost guaranteed at least 2 F/J seats per flight everyday if you book 8-10 months in advance. Even at 3-6 months the availability is still pretty good. Not to mention EY's new Studio business class and the A380 apartment is arguably better than SQ business class and suites respectively.

Also VA has the best availability between US and AUS, which is the hardest route to find availability according to all experienced point gurus. Other than Delta (which is a pretty s**t program in the US), there isn't any other currency in US that can be used to redeem VA flights. So KF members in US might benefit from this (all major credit cards in US are transfer partners with KF!)

And don't forget the lack of fuel fines! SQ will charge you around $400 oneway for this SIN-JFK whereas EY probably will be less than $100 in taxes only (and you can offset this tax by points, so you get a true free flight!)

We think KF is more valuable than VA is because it's much harder to earn KF in Australia compare to VA. But similarly, for people outside of Australia, they may not be able to earn VA as easily as KF points!

 

[anat0l]

It's open slather - exchange rates as announced and no limits...


....or, at least for now that are set in stone, anyway...

12.5 Any Points Transfer - Airlines are subject to the following conditions:

12.5.1 Each Points Transfer from a Member’s Velocity Membership Account must be for a minimum of 5,000 Points.

12.5.2 VFFPL reserves the right to restrict the number of Points transfers each year from a Member’s Velocity Membership Account.

12.5.3 VFFPL reserves the right to restrict and amend the minimum and maximum number of Points required for transfer from a Member’s Velocity Membership Account.

Combined with Family Pooling / Family Transfer, you can actually do some really crazy things with this.

 

[Pleb Status]

VA. A quasi member of Star Alliance...... earn and burn (with a bit of a penalty both ways) on all *A airlines.

 

[anat0l]

After all the doomsdayers with predictions of 3-1 and even 5-1 this looks pretty reasonable. Now to decide whether to cancel my Etihad business flights to Europe next year for Singapore First class.

This is far, far better than pretty reasonable. IMO it's almost like giving it away, if only that VA obviously have redemptions which SQ cannot achieve.

Disagree! VA points has it's advantage. KF point is only useful on SQ metals and availability is not all that great, especially some of the sought after routes (eg, to US. Try to search SIN to JFK and see how many saver J you can find!) Star alliance redemption using KF is almost useless as it won't allow back tracking and the cost isn't much better than VA when you take away the 15% online discount. Whereas using VA points to redeem Etihad from SIN - JFK, the availability is much better. Almost guaranteed at least 2 F/J seats per flight everyday if you book 8-10 months in advance. Even at 3-6 months the availability is still pretty good. Not to mention EY's new Studio business class and the A380 apartment is arguably better than SQ business class and suites respectively.

Also VA has the best availability between US and AUS, which is the hardest route to find availability according to all experienced point gurus. Other than Delta (which is a pretty s**t program in the US), there isn't any other currency in US that can be used to redeem VA flights. So KF members in US might benefit from this (all major credit cards in US are transfer partners with KF!)

And don't forget the lack of fuel fines! SQ will charge you around $400 oneway for this SIN-JFK whereas EY probably will be less than $100 in taxes only (and you can offset this tax by points, so you get a true free flight!)

We think KF is more valuable than VA is because it's much harder to earn KF in Australia compare to VA. But similarly, for people outside of Australia, they may not be able to earn VA as easily as KF points!

I haven't dipped my finger in availability between Singapore and USA recently, but the last time I checked, it was easy (relatively speaking) to get premium seats. I don't mean you could get a Saver seat every day, but still decent. Of course, I search also as a single traveller; couples or more will have a harder time.

Definitely AU/US direct is where SQ has no stake at all, which defers to VA. Of course, the main advantage of someone in the US for redeeming on VA would only be for the direct flight (vs. via Singapore on SQ). Their sweeping KF to VA to redeem on VA will result in a significant premium in points over going via Singapore on SQ.

Fuel surcharges on SQ - yeah, can't do much on that, but people will weigh up which product they want - e.g. EY F vs SQ R - and by that time given the amount of points redeemed versus the realisation of the cost of the cash ticket, the fuel surcharges will be somewhat immaterial to most people. Unless you had an in-principle objection to paying for fuel surcharges, of which you will consciously avoid SQ anyway and thus this feature is of no benefit to you.

Finally, as I said, not everyone in the world is allowed to sign up for a VA account - VFF is not a global programme in that regard - unless you do a cheese like find a random Australian address to set one up. But the bottom line is really... how valuable are VA points if you don't (usually) earn them vanilla (e.g. by flying Virgin Australia)?

 

[serfty]

...
Finally, as I said, not everyone in the world is allowed to sign up for a VA account - VFF is not a global programme in that regard - unless you do a cheese like find a random Australian address to set one up. But the bottom line is really... how valuable are VA points if you don't (usually) earn them vanilla (e.g. by flying Virgin Australia)?

If you live in Australia VA points are valuable no matter how they are earned.

For Business 94K Velocity points is worth ~AU$400 more than 96K QFF points on a Transpacific redemption.

WHat are the +++ on a SQ Krysflyer OZ-SIN one way redemption?

If you don't live in SWP then SQ points are generally far more useful than VA points.

I guess if you don't live in VA defined residential zones then this whole thread is moot.

 

[anat0l]

What are the +++ on a SQ Krysflyer OZ-SIN one way redemption?

A quick ITA search on BNE-LAX :: SQ SQ return in Business gives

SQ YQ surcharge (YQ) AU$1,121.40
SQ YQ surcharge (YQ) AU$24.40

...then you add the rest.

A similar calculation to Europe is a handful cheaper.

In First or Suites that probably becomes a lot more palatable.

Yes, I know you could probably "do better" flying EY F instead (and we can debate which of the First Class services are better than the other), but so there.

 

[VAG newbie]

This is far, far better than pretty reasonable. IMO it's almost like giving it away, if only that VA obviously have redemptions which SQ cannot achieve.



I haven't dipped my finger in availability between Singapore and USA recently, but the last time I checked, it was easy (relatively speaking) to get premium seats. I don't mean you could get a Saver seat every day, but still decent. Of course, I search also as a single traveller; couples or more will have a harder time.

Did you check SIN-JFK? I looked at random dates all the way until next Oct, other than T-14, ie. next 2 weeks, I have failed to find any saver business class on this route even for 1 pax only. If anyone finds a saver J, I'm happy to know.

I think you are referring to SIN - LAX or SFO, which tend to have better availability. No doubt, if you are heading west coast, then KF might be great. But if you are heading east coast, VA is your friend!

Also KF won't allow you to combine other airlines unless you use the star alliance redemption, which no back tracking rule will apply, (and you don't get the 15% online saving, the cost will be about the same as VA + YQ!) So if you are traveling between US-AUS, then KF is not very useful if you intend to travel to other US cities that is not serviced by SQ. Where as VA will let you connect with DL flights to allow you to travel to different cities. (Not sure if they'll allow EY connecting with DL tho....)

My point is, each FFP has it's own strength and weakness. It's great they offer the flexibility to allow us to transfer point. But I think it is unfair to assume the VA is the beneficiary while KF is the victim. I think it benefits both ways.

 

[bean]

Hi folks, I would really appreciatye some help and oppinions. Im tryign to book 3 business class airfares to Singapore next year for my wife and 3 year old son. I have 240,000 Velocity points and woudl welcome your opinions on the best way to use them to book the tickets?

Also is it possible to purchase economy SA fares and use the points to upgrade etc?

Thanks in advance