VA wishlist. Time for.....

[Fiches Mouser]

I prefer the rolling system with the proviso that date of flying is used rather than date of crediting.

Yeah, I really don't want to see this go away. I really like the way SCs works. Like anything, it's pretty simple once you understand it.

 

[Moopere]

My wishes are really simple and surely could be easily added .... put a footrest in your 737 planes.

Having just gone over to DPS and back from PER, one way in J and the other in Y- its a horrible horrible experience in either class and one I won't do again.

Reminded me of the one time I lost my mind (obviously!) and flew HKT-PER in J - 6.5 hours on those god awful 737 seats with no footrest. Seriously one of the most uncomfortable flights I've ever taken.

Pretty much everything else meets my expectations these days, but those 737 assets are just awful. Small, bumpy, noisy, with 'weird' seats that just don't work at all for my bony a** and no footrest to stop me sliding forward and feeling -even more- uncomfortable.

Everything else works well enough for me, priority bags and boarding, lounges are passable if not exciting, partnership with SQ tends to get me where I want to go without a lot of additional effort (though an alliance membership would be nice).

At the end of it all - just please give me a footrest.

 

[theevilmuppet]

Why wouldn't you just work hard on being the BEST domestic carrier, serve a few token regional international destinations (NZ, Bali, Fiji etc - ditch LAX and AUH) and join a major alliance and leave it to them to do the long haul? *A would be my choice as SQ/Thai would give you the Asia and Europe network and UA/AC/NZ could handle America.

There are a number of issues with doing that though. Arrangements in place with the various current partners have years left to run and are contingent on VA not joining any of OneWorld, SkyTeam or Star Alliance.

Given VA's track record of failing to get their own house in order for self service for their own flights and those of their partner airlines, I'd suspect things would be even worse if they joined one of the alliances.

 

[justcallmeryan]

There are a number of issues with doing that though. Arrangements in place with the various current partners have years left to run and are contingent on VA not joining any of OneWorld, SkyTeam or Star Alliance.

Given VA's track record of failing to get their own house in order for self service for their own flights and those of their partner airlines, I'd suspect things would be even worse if they joined one of the alliances.

Yup, totally get it and don't expect them to join an alliance any time soon. It is however, my 'wish', even if it will never happen.... They could not join an alliance and continue to concentrate only on domestic and regional international and leave the true long haul to the big boys. Get rid of the 777's, use the money to buy more A333 and service a couple of decent, high volume destinations (Singapore, HK and Japan might work?).

I'm no expert, it's just my 'wish'.

 

[R36snowbound]

For me, widen the benefits gap between gold and platinum.
To do this, I would allow platinum members flying on saver tickets to upgrade to domestic J for the same number of points that other gold, silver members need when flying on a flexi.

SYD to MEL is basically 10,000 points to upgrade on a saver ticket or 5,000 points to upgrade on a flexi ticket. I don't think this would discourage platinum members from purchasing a flexi fares.
This would be a benefit that I think would be popular, encourage gold members to reach platinum status and allow members to easy burn points. I do over 100 domestic flights every 12 months with VA and I would say that on 85% of flights, the business cabin is not full.

 

[Fiches Mouser]

Does this mean our year is coming (i.e. FY17)?



Virgin Australia looks to build on its successes in 2016 - Australian Business Traveller

 

[Jousams]

Does this mean our year is coming (i.e. FY17)?

View attachment 62757

Virgin Australia looks to build on its successes in 2016 - Australian Business Traveller

Unlikely.

 

[rtyuiop]

Does this mean our year is coming (i.e. FY17)?

View attachment 62757

Virgin Australia looks to build on its successes in 2016 - Australian Business Traveller

They're sure going to have to do something other than 'we're just like QF but without a meaningful number of international destinations or a real global alliance' if they want to pull that off!

 

[Fiches Mouser]

They're sure going to have to do something other than 'we're just like QF but without a meaningful number of international destinations or a real global alliance' if they want to pull that off!

Very true. Surely this is just referring to domestic...

Among other things, they forgot many lounges to 'create an indifference' in FY15.

 

[rtyuiop]

Very true. Surely this is just referring to domestic...

Among other things, they forgot many lounges to 'create an indifference' in FY15.

Oh, yeah, I'm assuming it is just domestic - but for me, loyalty to an airline is pretty much for two things... Slightly better treatment where it doesn't cost them much (which both QF and VA do pretty well domestically, but VA can't for international long haul, given they don't really fly international), and the ability to get into J or better for international holiday flights.

VA used to do better than QF with redemption availability, but it seems more and more like that is going away... In which case I should switch back to QF, where I would at least get that slightly better treatment internationally as well.

For me personally, they are close to converting me from a VA loyalist to either indifferent or QF loyalist - if they want that graph to be a reality, they'd better either change something, or hope there aren't very many people like me! I have no idea why they think they will be able to convert indifferent travellers (who have apparently remained indifferent to VA for the last 4 years) into VA loyalists, unless they're planning on changing something big.

 

[theevilmuppet]

Oh, yeah, I'm assuming it is just domestic - but for me, loyalty to an airline is pretty much for two things... Slightly better treatment where it doesn't cost them much (which both QF and VA do pretty well domestically, but VA can't for international long haul, given they don't really fly international), and the ability to get into J or better for international holiday flights.

VA used to do better than QF with redemption availability, but it seems more and more like that is going away... In which case I should switch back to QF, where I would at least get that slightly better treatment internationally as well.

For me personally, they are close to converting me from a VA loyalist to either indifferent or QF loyalist - if they want that graph to be a reality, they'd better either change something, or hope there aren't very many people like me! I have no idea why they think they will be able to convert indifferent travellers (who have apparently remained indifferent to VA for the last 4 years) into VA loyalists, unless they're planning on changing something big.

There's a double-edge sword here unfortunately.

The fact that Gold and Platinum members complete with Red and Silver members for J seats in the limited long haul offerings VA provide is frustrating for those of us who have built up status with VA.

On the other hand, it's wonderful for everyone else. I wouldn't want to see other members negatively impacted by any move to better avail Gold and Platinum members with access to upgrades (which is easily the best perk on offer) but there's plenty that VA can do in this area. Worryingly for non-Gold and non-Platinum members, I suspect the introduction of upgrade waitlisting will see Velocity become more like Qantas Frequent Flyer in terms of reward availability in premium cabins.

 

[Fiches Mouser]

For me personally, they are close to converting me from a VA loyalist to either indifferent or QF loyalist - if they want that graph to be a reality, they'd better either change something, or hope there aren't very many people like me! I have no idea why they think they will be able to convert indifferent travellers (who have apparently remained indifferent to VA for the last 4 years) into VA loyalists, unless they're planning on changing something big.

Yep, this hits the nail on the head pretty well. You're not alone.

 

[rtyuiop]

There's a double-edge sword here unfortunately.

The fact that Gold and Platinum members complete with Red and Silver members for J seats in the limited long haul offerings VA provide is frustrating for those of us who have built up status with VA.

On the other hand, it's wonderful for everyone else. I wouldn't want to see other members negatively impacted by any move to better avail Gold and Platinum members with access to upgrades (which is easily the best perk on offer) but there's plenty that VA can do in this area. Worryingly for non-Gold and non-Platinum members, I suspect the introduction of upgrade waitlisting will see Velocity become more like Qantas Frequent Flyer in terms of reward availability in premium cabins.

Oh, absolutely - I do understand it's not an easy problem to solve! I can live with the lack of a single big alliance, and I understand their reasoning for that (I actually really like the SQ transfer feature), but the simple fact is they won't be competitive with QF internationally without spending a bunch of money to expand their own international ops... And it doesn't seem like they have the funds/interest to do that.

 

[Deleted member 29185]

Does this mean our year is coming (i.e. FY17)?
Virgin Australia looks to build on its successes in 2016 - Australian Business Traveller

Thanks for posting that up. I hadn't seen it before and the news that VA currently have a plan is truly an unexpected revelation.

I think they overcooked the "create indifference in 2015" and actually not just created indifference, but turned many away. I'm now rapidly approaching QF gold where I'll be assessing QF vrs VA in a big way. I can keep one gold and one plat, not two plats so one will play 2nd fiddle to the other, but I could argue that VA has already lost as I no longer essentially fly VA exclusively. I'm guessing I'm far from alone on that score.

Promising to hear about 2017 but I cannot lie in saying I can't see the benefit for them in creating indifference..........why? To make us all jump with glee when they pay us a bit of attention again? Do they really think their most frequent and loyal pax are that naïve, stupid or shallow?

 

[rtyuiop]

Promising to hear about 2017 but I cannot lie in saying I can't see the benefit for them in creating indifference..........why? To make us all jump with glee when they pay us a bit of attention again? Do they really think their most frequent and loyal pax are that naïve, stupid or shallow?

I assumed that was about moving QF loyalists into the indifferent category, not their own loyalists... But I agree they've done a pretty reasonable job at the latter recently!

 

[Fiches Mouser]

Thanks for posting that up. I hadn't seen it before and the news that VA currently have a plan is truly an unexpected revelation.

I think they overcooked the "create indifference in 2015" and actually not just created indifference, but turned many away. I'm now rapidly approaching QF gold where I'll be assessing QF vrs VA in a big way. I can keep one gold and one plat, not two plats so one will play 2nd fiddle to the other, but I could argue that VA has already lost as I no longer essentially fly VA exclusively. I'm guessing I'm far from alone on that score.

Promising to hear about 2017 but I cannot lie in saying I can't see the benefit for them in creating indifference..........why? To make us all jump with glee when they pay us a bit of attention again? Do they really think their most frequent and loyal pax are that naïve, stupid or shallow?

They kind of missed their opportunity, didn't they...

Had they've exceeded QF's product initially, and maintained that lead, those indifferent flyers might still be VA loyalists. But the experience is largely the same, if not less impressive than QF today. This leaves flyers like you and me sitting on the fence, probably leaning in VA's direction, but hardly a "loyalist" and moving further and further away.

For me, the only reason I became a "VA loyalist" initially was because of timing. I left high school around the time they got serious about being a full-service carrier. As I started flying more frequently, VA were setting up an impressive operation and I became one of the loyalists swept up in that buzz. Adding SQ and EY to the partnership helped dramatically, and the improved A330 hard product is great. But their growth as an international carrier/network just hasn't kept up. Expectations are no longer being met as domestic service and product starts to lose its shine, and I'm just generally starting to look elsewhere for products that fit my needs better.

VFF needs love. WPs need some love. You can't neglect your biggest spenders and then decide to woo them down the track once you've decided that's a priority. By then, they've lost interest. People move on.

 

[rtyuiop]

Yeah, I am only with VA because in a period when I wasn't flying much, VA comped my gold for a year, where QF did not. When I started to fly a lot again, it was only logical to stick with them. I do like the SQ and EY alliances - SQ has been a great option for frequent trips to India, and EY has been a great source of very satisfactory redemption flights... But it seems like EY availability is very hit and miss these days, so I'm not sure I can count that as much of a plus anymore.

 

[gazzax2]

Mackay to Rockhampton, Townsville or Melbourne

 

[justcallmeryan]

They kind of missed their opportunity, didn't they...

Had they've exceeded QF's product initially, and maintained that lead, those indifferent flyers might still be VA loyalists. But the experience is largely the same, if not less impressive than QF today. This leaves flyers like you and me sitting on the fence, probably leaning in VA's direction, but hardly a "loyalist" and moving further and further away.

For me, the only reason I became a "VA loyalist" initially was because of timing. I left high school around the time they got serious about being a full-service carrier. As I started flying more frequently, VA were setting up an impressive operation and I became one of the loyalists swept up in that buzz. Adding SQ and EY to the partnership helped dramatically, and the improved A330 hard product is great. But their growth as an international carrier/network just hasn't kept up. Expectations are no longer being met as domestic service and product starts to lose its shine, and I'm just generally starting to look elsewhere for products that fit my needs better.

VFF needs love. WPs need some love. You can't neglect your biggest spenders and then decide to woo them down the track once you've decided that's a priority. By then, they've lost interest. People move on.

I basically mirror your situation. I have become a 'loyal' VA WP by default as when I started traveling in Australia I chose them as they were cheaper (back in the ole backpacker days). When they launched SYD - LAX I bought one Y+ SYD - LAX fare and by coincidence ended up as a Silver member. That first silver card that came in the post has driven me to stick with them ever since. Now, 6 years later I'm definitely in the indifferent phase. What's the significant difference for WP vs Gold? Lately I haven't even been able to secure row 3 for my domestic legs!

The only thing that keeps me here rather than QF is size of the pool. My theory (probably incorrect) is that there is a significantly smaller number of high status pax with VA and as such the benefits are easier to obtain... Maybe...

 

[Deleted member 29185]

I assumed that was about moving QF loyalists into the indifferent category, not their own loyalists... But I agree they've done a pretty reasonable job at the latter recently!

I laughed aloud at your post as I genuinely had not considered their plan to create indifference could have been directed at QF flyers, mainly because VA had done such a sterling job of creating indifference within their own ranks in 2015! Perhaps someone in VA hierarchy made the same mistake about their plan as I did? :mrgreen: