VA2.0 International Partners

[TMP]

So, are Hainan Airlines/Tianjin/Capital Airlines still Velocity partners? They are still listed as airline partners on the Velocity website:

Explore Velocity Partners

Discover our extensive network of global program partners and learn how to earn and redeem Velocity Points with them. Learn more about our airline, credit cards, banking, insurance, holiday, travel, car, hotels ,shopping, wine, dine and everyday partners now.

experience.velocityfrequentflyer.com

But there is no mention of them in VA's announcement about reopening partner airline reward bookings:

Virgin Australia Group ramps up international travel

More partnerships and more destinations will be revealed in the coming months. In the meantime, Velocity members are encouraged to get in early to book their Reward Seats due to the limited availability on offer until partner airlines increase their network and services as travel demand returns.

newsroom.virginaustralia.com

From the link in the media release below the partner tables is this about the HNA Group:

HNA Group Airlines: Our Reward Seat proposition on Hainan Airlines, Hong Kong Airlines and Capital Airlines is currently suspended. We will provide more information as these airlines rebuild their network of flights.

 

[Mr H]

Exactly, and in this case, VA's incentive was both substantially more appealing, and the cost more appropriate. QF require personal, private details just to get a token gift.

Personal preferences. In my case I’d rather have a free 1,000 points for no effort rather than a minuscule chance of a larger prize.

 

[scottff]

Question to someone more knowledgeable than I...

Will these partner flights be considered "codeshare"? eg. with VA flight codes etc.

 

[AustraliaPoochie]

Good point, Scottff.
**(Code share)** is the operative word.
OT a bit, I put my SQ KF # onto a VAd flight one time, it wasn't a code share, I thought I would or could earn SQ KF miles from that VAd flight, but nope, after I flew, the expected points didn't appear in my SQ KF account, so I put in a claim, and the claim got rejected.
I didn't contact them to ask.
That flight I took was a VAd flight, with a VAd flight number, with no SQ flight # on it.
Hopefully, the code share, ie, a VA flight number, will be added to SQ flights in future.

 

[Grimace1]

You can now book flights using VFF points on partner airlines

 

[jase05]

You can now book flights using VFF points on partner airlines

Not bad EY availability in J but very little else at this stage

 

[Must...Fly!]

Not bad EY availability in J but very little else at this stage

Yes I noticed this when looking to book via AA. Getting a J seat from Europe to MEL/SYD was quite simple in March.

 

[andye]

Yes I noticed this when looking to book via AA. Getting a J seat from Europe to MEL/SYD was quite simple in March.

Out of interest, is there a per sector supplementary charge on EY via AA?

 

[Must...Fly!]

Out of interest, is there a per sector supplementary charge on EY via AA?

No, not at all. Taxes BCN-xAUH-MEL were $68.

 

[jase05]

Some smattering of EY F available too.
Found 2x F seats on some of the AUH-LHR legs on dates early next year. 78k of points plus $455 for just under 8hrs isn’t too bad IMO

 

[saz02h]

I was looking to get back from USA late next year (sept/oct) but there doesn't seem to be anything available at all from lax. Hopefully more seats are released at some stage as surely they didn't all sell out already?

Post automatically merged: Nov 2, 2021

I was looking to get back from USA late next year (sept/oct) but there doesn't seem to be anything available at all from lax. Hopefully more seats are released at some stage as surely they didn't all sell out already?

 

[jase05]

I was looking to get back from USA late next year (sept/oct) but there doesn't seem to be anything available at all from lax. Hopefully more seats are released at some stage as surely they didn't all sell out already?

Post automatically merged: Nov 2, 2021

I was looking to get back from USA late next year (sept/oct) but there doesn't seem to be anything available at all from lax. Hopefully more seats are released at some stage as surely they didn't all sell out already?

Seems to be plenty of Y availability on DL but. I premium yet

 

[saz02h]

Seems to be plenty of Y availability on DL but. I premium yet

I actually have nothing showing up on the velocity website lax-syd for the next year in any class for even 1 person? wondering if my screen isn't working

Post automatically merged: Nov 2, 2021

Seems to be plenty of Y availability on DL but. I premium yet

I actually have nothing showing up on the velocity website lax-syd for the next year in any class for even 1 person? wondering if my screen isn't working

 

[antycbr]

I actually have nothing showing up on the velocity website lax-syd for the next year in any class for even 1 person? wondering if my screen isn't working

Post automatically merged: Nov 2, 2021

I actually have nothing showing up on the velocity website lax-syd for the next year in any class for even 1 person? wondering if my screen isn't working

LAX is going to be tough compared to when VA were flying the route and there was a lot more availability including occasionally in J

 

[jase05]

I actually have nothing showing up on the velocity website lax-syd for the next year in any class for even 1 person? wondering if my screen isn't working

Post automatically merged: Nov 2, 2021

I actually have nothing showing up on the velocity website lax-syd for the next year in any class for even 1 person? wondering if my screen isn't working

You are quite correct, nothing coming back at this stage. I was looking at SYD-LAX and there was quite a bit of Y availability but nothing at all for LAX-SYD

 

[MooTime]

Can't seem to book 1 way rewards seat for fiji.

Not even for cash tickets.
Seems must book return ticket.

 

[Pele]

From my initial perusing the EY J availability looked reasonable. Way better than what QFF offers although once these initial seats are snapped up it will be interesting how things settle.

I checked Sydney to Japan but couldn't find any seats at all. Assuming no NH alliance would this mean SQ to Japan via SIN would be the only possibility and that is once SQ release bookings to partners?

My main issue, and it could be user error, is that I couldn't work out how to search for J or F awards only. I could only search by day and then it shows every class.

Pele.

 

[jase05]

From my initial perusing the EY J availability looked reasonable. Way better than what QFF offers although once these initial seats are snapped up it will be interesting how things settle.

I checked Sydney to Japan but couldn't find any seats at all. Assuming no NH alliance would this mean SQ to Japan via SIN would be the only possibility and that is once SQ release bookings to partners?

My main issue, and it could be user error, is that I couldn't work out how to search for J or F awards only. I could only search by day and then it shows every class.

Pele.

Appears to be several partners that haven’t been loaded yet. NH, AC etc will hopefully come soon. EY seems to be the only one that has any real availability at this stage. VS has some real good availability on some routes but that needs to be done via phone

 

[FTac]

No, not at all. Taxes BCN-xAUH-MEL were $68.

J availability for LHR - MEL with Etihad but it's 139k points plus ~$1000 in taxes and fees... is this normal?

 

[jase05]

Can't seem to book 1 way rewards seat for fiji.

Not even for cash tickets.
Seems must book return ticket.

I just tried a few random dates for reward seats and paid seats and it worked fine