Velocity Changes incl SC earn on ASAs, SC by sector and baggage changes

[sumthinfornuthin]

Only if there is a witness and that is the problem....selective forgettory.

I've had over 40 years in real estate. Learnt the hard way early in my career that some people place no value on a handshake or their word and that "in writing" is the only way to be sure and even then.............................. !

 

[AdMEL]

I don't think so, the average joe ( aka me before Jan 13) has no desire to route through BNE to get to MEL and vv
VA's competition on this route is JQ and that will IMHO have far more influence on the price than cheap SC chasers
YMMV

And apologies I did misunderstand your first post which I quoted

Fair point. No worries, my post wasn't clear.

 

[Tuddy]

Question - if I'm flying NPE-AKL-SYD on NZ booked on the NZ site, will this also be included in the separate SC earn (i.e. an earn of 25SCs). Or is there a minimum fare class for earning on the NPE-AKL sector?

 

[greenfish]

Question - if I'm flying NPE-AKL-SYD on NZ booked on the NZ site, will this also be included in the separate SC earn (i.e. an earn of 25SCs). Or is there a minimum fare class for earning on the NPE-AKL sector?

International flights always had the separate sector rule; if you book the DJ codes on the NZ flights you will earn SCs as per the DJ fare class. I would be surprised if there is any change to this. Likewise the current problem where you book with NZ and the domestic fare class doesn't earn SCs seems unlikely to change.

Booking domestic NZ flights connecting to TT flights on the DJ website has been available for a while, I've been using the DJ site for TRG->AKL->MEL for family members. Hopefully with the move to SABRE we'll be able to select seats etc in advance.

 

[notzac]

Question - if I'm flying NPE-AKL-SYD on NZ booked on the NZ site, will this also be included in the separate SC earn (i.e. an earn of 25SCs). Or is there a minimum fare class for earning on the NPE-AKL sector?

I'm guessing you're booked on a NZ code; if so it's just as greenfish mentioned - you earn sector-by-sector. You just need to make sure that the fare class you've booked is one of Y, B, Q, H or M for NPE-AKL and then one of C, D, J, Z, Y, B, Q, H, M, V, W, T, L, G, S, K, P or F for AKL-SYD.

 

[Tuddy]

I'm guessing you're booked on a NZ code; if so it's just as greenfish mentioned - you earn sector-by-sector. You just need to make sure that the fare class you've booked is one of Y, B, Q, H or M for NPE-AKL and then one of C, D, J, Z, Y, B, Q, H, M, V, W, T, L, G, S, K, P or F for AKL-SYD.

Question is, how do I ensure that I'm within one of those fare classes for the NPE-AKL leg? If I'm booking NPE-SYD Seat fare, does this not automatically put me at lowest earning Airpoints/Velocity earning level?

 

[oz_mark]

The Virgin Australia Facebook page confirmed that Status Points will be per sector from 13 January. Time to book and get the last 60 SC I need for WP!

It would have to be like that unless they changed the Terms and Conditions of the program, and they haven't done that.

 

[notzac]

Question is, how do I ensure that I'm within one of those fare classes for the NPE-AKL leg? If I'm booking NPE-SYD Seat fare, does this not automatically put me at lowest earning Airpoints/Velocity earning level?

I don't know whether it's possible to ascertain the fare class on the NZ website (I don't think you can), but from Expedia it looks like you'd need to pay a bit more to get a fare that will credit the domestic sector to VA (most of the cheaper fares seemed to have NPE-AKL in V class). If you've already booked, the change fee + additional fare costs probably aren't worth the minuscule points and SCs that you'd earn for the domestic NZ flight.

 

[greenfish]

Question is, how do I ensure that I'm within one of those fare classes for the NPE-AKL leg? If I'm booking NPE-SYD Seat fare, does this not automatically put me at lowest earning Airpoints/Velocity earning level?

By far the safest option is to book the entire trip from NPE to SYD on the DJ website - this way you'll earn SCs per sector based on the DJ earn. You'll lose advance seat assignment but not much else.

If you book on the NZ site you can be pretty much assured that you'll earn nothing on the domestic segment, though as Notzac mentions you are only giving up 100 or so miles but you do also give up 10 SCs. The fare class is shown on your NZ e-ticket after booking, but best to assume the worst, I don't think my father has ever earned on domestic connections booked via the NZ website.

 

[AviatorPJ]

I'm still wondering if Plat comp upgrades will also be applied by sector now even if a connecting sector was required? Currently, booking OOl to Hobart always requires a connection through either SYD or MEL, but was counted as one upgrade, covering both connecting sectors, PJ

 

[markis10]

I'm still wondering if Plat comp upgrades will also be applied by sector now even if a connecting sector was required? Currently, booking OOl to Hobart always requires a connection through either SYD or MEL, but was counted as one upgrade, covering both connecting sectors, PJ

Since the definition of a sector is changing, I would expect the upgrades to follow suit, swings and roundabouts.

 

[hobo]

I am planning toupgrade from economy to business when I travel to Sydney in a few months time.With the new fare changes - am I better off booking a flexi fare now, orwaiting?
The tickets will bebooked using 2for1 if that makes a difference

 

[jazza1971]

I am planning toupgrade from economy to business when I travel to Sydney in a few months time.With the new fare changes - am I better off booking a flexi fare now, orwaiting?
The tickets will bebooked using 2for1 if that makes a difference

If your flights are connecting, I'd be making that booking now in case there are changes....I'm thinking of doing exactly the same with a connection to Perth for the A330

 

[Formal Hall]

Interesting to note that SQ has mentioned the offline period on the Krisflyer site.
Moreover, the Krisflyer redemption chart on VA is increasing across the board effective January 13th...not much notice!

https://www.singaporeair.com/en_AU/ppsclub-krisflyer/redeem-airpartners/redeemmiles-nonstar/

Could this point to increase in redemption levels on VA? (when not having a 30% off promo!)

 

[anat0l]

So any guesses as to how points will be awarded on an Any Seat award seat?

If it's based on the cash cost, does this mean you can change how many points you get for flying your Any Seat award by changing how much cash and points you pay upfront? Will it be a fixed amount, or will Velocity switch to a distance-based calculation for points earned?

For the new fare structure and baggage scheme, here's a handy cheat table which summarises the allowances from 13/01/2013 (in this table, a "normal" bag is 23 kg, a "heavy" bag is 32 kg):
[table=class:grid]
[tr]
[td]Fare Type[/td]
[td]Red[/td]
[td]Silver[/td]
[td]Gold[/td]
[td]Platinum[/td]
[/tr]
[tr]
[td]Saver Lite[/td]
[td]None[/td]
[td]1 normal[/td]
[td]1 normal[/td]
[td]2 normal[/td]
[/tr]
[tr]
[td]Saver[/td]
[td]1 normal[/td]
[td]2 normal[/td]
[td]2 normal[/td]
[td]3 normal[/td]
[/tr]
[tr]
[td]Flexi[/td]
[td]1 normal[/td]
[td]2 normal[/td]
[td]2 normal[/td]
[td]3 normal[/td]
[/tr]
[tr]
[td]Premium[/td]
[td]2 heavy[/td]
[td]2 heavy[/td]
[td]2 heavy[/td]
[td]3 heavy[/td]
[/tr]
[tr]
[td]Business[/td]
[td]2 heavy[/td]
[td]2 heavy[/td]
[td]2 heavy[/td]
[td]3 heavy[/td]
[/tr]
[tr]
[td]Economy Reward[/td]
[td]1 normal[/td]
[td]2 normal[/td]
[td]2 normal[/td]
[td]3 normal[/td]
[/tr]
[tr]
[td]Premium/Business Reward[/td]
[td]2 heavy[/td]
[td]2 heavy[/td]
[td]2 heavy[/td]
[td]3 heavy[/td]
[/tr]
[/table]
Probably of most interest is that under the new allowance scheme, Platinum members can carry 3 pieces. Suffice to say, it's 3 x 23 kg (69 kg) for Y fares; with QF WPs, they get 2 x 32 kg (64 kg) on any fare. When you get a VA Platinum in J, it bumps up to 3 x 32 kg (96 kg). That's probably quite useful to even a handful of people here. VA Silvers can do better than QF WP if they are on a Saver or Flexi fare, but not if they are on Saver Lite. Gold is a similar swing and roundabout.

A bit of the judgement does depend on whether you prefer to have more lighter pieces (i.e. 23 kg pieces) vs. less heavy pieces. I'm a fan of the latter as I'd rather have less pieces to manage, but it's very much a personal preference and also based on circumstances.

 

[notzac]

So any guesses as to how points will be awarded on an Any Seat award seat?

My guess is that everything is going to resemble how points are earned currently on the VA (long haul) chart - i.e., points will be earned based on miles flown vs. $$ spent. But, that's just a guess.

 

[williamsf1]

So any guesses as to how points will be awarded on an Any Seat award seat?

If it's based on the cash cost, does this mean you can change how many points you get for flying your Any Seat award by changing how much cash and points you pay upfront? Will it be a fixed amount, or will Velocity switch to a distance-based calculation for points earned?

.

Points earn on a domestic ASA will be based on the underlying $$ fare . So if you use 100% points you will get the points x5 (and tier bonus) of the underlying fare that was paid with points.

International will be mileage based

 

[bullerdude]

Not sure if this was already mentioned, but I just noticed in the fare guide document (below) that you cannot add baggage to saver lite fare after purchased unless you upgrade to a saver fare, which will obviously incur the change fee and fare difference.

But as mentioned above - Silver, Gold and Plat FF's all get bags included on saver lite.

https://a248.e.akamai.net/f/248/112...lia Fare Type Guide - Australian Domestic.pdf

 

[KCMil]

Just saw this article and thought it worth posting as it is the first time I've seen a direct statement from the Velocity CEO. This report states that the SC earn on ASA redemptions is for "a limited time only".
I have e-mailed velocity to check this fact, if true I'll post. Though I dare say that they're a little busy to bother with my e-mail as the IT changeover starts this evening for them.

Earn while you burn: Velocity Frequent Flyer unveils Australian First - COLLOQUY

 

[Princess Fiona]

Just saw this article and thought it worth posting as it is the first time I've seen a direct statement from the Velocity CEO. This report states that the SC earn on ASA redemptions is for "a limited time only".
I have e-mailed velocity to check this fact, if true I'll post. Though I dare say that they're a little busy to bother with my e-mail as the IT changeover starts this evening for them.

Earn while you burn: Velocity Frequent Flyer unveils Australian First - COLLOQUY

I'm reading that as SC's earnt for Reward Seats for a limited time, I think ( hope??) that SC's and points will be ongoing for ASA's.
This does differentiate Velocity from QFF as the general public now will now think that Velocity is the only group to allow SC earning on standard reward seats.
Most of AFF know that QF have being doing that for a couple of years ( ASA's at Classic Award redemption rates)