Velocity Gold reciprocal perks?

[squeeze72]

Hi, recently made Gold.

I can't find a great deal of information on reciprocal agreements/perks and if they are more I'd love to find out your 'best perks'.

Etihad - access to EY gold features
Hilton Honours - matched to HH Gold for 12 months

Any other things I could be looking at that aren't on their standard web page?

 

[Denali]

Apparently youre suppose to hold off until Jan to activate your Hilton Honors match as you will get longer benefits. By memory, hubby got 26mths Diamond when we activated his. Im waiting until Jan to activate mine, now that hes a HH pleb.

 

[Bundy Bear]

Flying Air New Zealand to New Zealand gets you lounge, some flights to other destinations don't so you need to read the fine print.

 

[Strategic Aviation]

I can't find a great deal of information on reciprocal agreements/perks and if they are more I'd love to find out your 'best perks'.

Is it not sufficiently detailed in Velocity Frequent Flyer Gold Membership under International Airline Partners? (HHonors/IHG Rewards is listed under At Your Destination.)

There are partner benefits on airberlin, Air New Zealand, Alitalia, Delta, Etihad, SilkAir, Singapore, South African, Virgin America (until end of September) and Virgin Atlantic.

 

[Icy]

Flying Air New Zealand to New Zealand gets you lounge, some flights to other destinations don't so you need to read the fine print.

Yes, you get Air New Zealand lounge access for both domestic and international flights excluding pacific islands.

When booking with Air New Zealand you also get access to reserved seating or Frequent Flyer seating as they refer to it. We're booked on a NZ flight to Vancouver in August in PE and had access to much better seats due the VA Gold. Of course you also get priority check-in, boarding and additional baggage allowance. Their system must be linked fairly tightly with VA as our status was immediately recognised as soon as it was entered into the Air New Zealand website.

 

[xen0n33]

If you do much travel to and within NZ it's of great benefit IMO - I sometimes think Air NZ do a better job of looking after/recognizing Velocity Golds than VA themselves! Domestically: Gratis seat selection anywhere on plane (except $10 exit row seats), priority check-in, lounge access, priority boarding and priority luggage. Had a nice check-in agent take a look at my BP and say "oh, that's not a great seat - how about I move you to the exit row?" Trans-Tasman: Similar to above, plus Express Path at SYD (and presumably other Australian airports, where available).

 

[squeeze72]

Thanks all for the feedback.

Denali, interesting why HH gives longer benefits if you wait until Jan?

Thanks strategic I clearly didn't have my glasses on as I didn't realise on the webpage the dot points were actually tabs with more information. I thought it was rather vague!

No New Zealand plans in the near future.

 

[The Flying Brick]

Thanks all for the feedback.

Denali, interesting why HH gives longer benefits if you wait until Jan?

Thanks strategic I clearly didn't have my glasses on as I didn't realise on the webpage the dot points were actually tabs with more information. I thought it was rather vague!

No New Zealand plans in the near future.

Most hotels give status benefits for a full year beyond their change over date.

This date may be Jan, Feb or Mar depending on the hotel chain but what it means is that your status upgrade if processed in December it will l run for 12 months but if processed, in say March would then run for 21 months (being 9 months plus one full calendar year).

Sometimes good things are definitely worth waiting - or at least planning - for.

 

[paultiffen]

I applied for Hilton Gold in May but haven't received it. Any advice for follow up? Have sent email to Velocity

 

[Strategic Aviation]

They're notorious for dragging their heels with that (presumably at the HHonors end). From hazy recollection it took about five months for me.

Just keep following up patiently.

 

[paultiffen]

Anyone know a good email for both Velocity and Hilton to escalate? I could only find a web form on Virgin's end (hate when companies do that) or should I just tag them both on Facebook

 

[SheikYerbouti]

Yeah it does concern me, I've pursued and held Gold for a couple of years now; next year I want to take the family to Europe flying Singapore. I was hoping/assuming I could get lounge access with Singapore Airlines through VA Gold... turns out to not be that good. With VA Lounges I get access for myself, and my wife and 2 under-12 kids get in free. With Singapore, I *might* be able to get in, and I can bring one person; don't think there's even an option of paying for 2 extra guests (kids)? Plus, unlikely to be any decent seat allocation preference? Or is it not that bad?

 

[pauly7]

Anyone know a good email for both Velocity and Hilton to escalate? I could only find a web form on Virgin's end (hate when companies do that) or should I just tag them both on Facebook

[email protected]. For Virgin. Very slow to respond though.

I called Velocity daily for about two weeks until they got sick of me and 'manually' put it through somehow.

 

[Jude Starr]

I recently completed a European trip on Singapore Airlines as a VA Gold member. I got Krisflyer lounge access in Brisbane (great lounge) and in Singapore (very ordinary lounge). As I was travelling alone, I don't know about getting extras in. Unfortunately, no lounge accessability anywhere on the continent, but apparently there is a lounge at Heathrow (I didn't go to London so no idea about that one). The other benefit, however, that was valuable to me, was priority check-in, boarding and luggage. That saved me a lot of time not standing in the economy lines.

Yeah it does concern me, I've pursued and held Gold for a couple of years now; next year I want to take the family to Europe flying Singapore. I was hoping/assuming I could get lounge access with Singapore Airlines through VA Gold... turns out to not be that good. With VA Lounges I get access for myself, and my wife and 2 under-12 kids get in free. With Singapore, I *might* be able to get in, and I can bring one person; don't think there's even an option of paying for 2 extra guests (kids)? Plus, unlikely to be any decent seat allocation preference? Or is it not that bad?

 

[paultiffen]

Admin - is there a Velocity rep I can contact on here?

 

[Strategic Aviation]

You can try to contact the Velocity Frequent Flyer account. They haven't posted since January but still log in (most recently on 30 June).

The prospects via twitter, facebook, etc are probably better.

 

[Lord_Lenny]

I recently completed a European trip on Singapore Airlines as a VA Gold member. I got Krisflyer lounge access in Brisbane (great lounge) and in Singapore (very ordinary lounge). As I was travelling alone, I don't know about getting extras in. Unfortunately, no lounge accessability anywhere on the continent, but apparently there is a lounge at Heathrow (I didn't go to London so no idea about that one). The other benefit, however, that was valuable to me, was priority check-in, boarding and luggage. That saved me a lot of time not standing in the economy lines.

I've done Singapore Airlines as a Velocity status pax twice now, once as Gold to London, once as Platinum to Kuala Lumpur, both times in Economy or Premium Economy. I'm fairly happy with their recognition, it seems to be in line with how they treat Star Alliance & their own status pax as well - e.g. Krisflyer Gold lounge in Changi if not in Business, access to Silverkris lounges everywhere else, priority check in, boarding and express cards where appropriate.

That said I did fly to London and KL, which both have Silverkris lounges, we're looking at Munich in January 2018 and leaning to Etihad as there are no SQ lounges in Munich, and apparently I have access to a lounge there if I fly Etihad, but no access to the same lounge if I fly Singapore.

We're doing Queenstown in 2 weeks so I will be able to check out Air New Zealand treatment, and possible Delta to Seattle next year so I should be able to try their treatment of Golds (will drop down in August)

 

[blacksultan]

Does anyone know if you are eligible for the Hilton & IHG upgrade to Gold as a Velocity Explorer Gold member?
I can`t find the option when I click on `benefits ` under my Velocity Gold Explorer account.All the other benefits are visible.
Is the Hotel upgrade benefit excluded for Explorer members?
Also is there a Velocity contact person in this forum ?

Hi, recently made Gold.

I can't find a great deal of information on reciprocal agreements/perks and if they are more I'd love to find out your 'best perks'.

Etihad - access to EY gold features
Hilton Honours - matched to HH Gold for 12 months

Any other things I could be looking at that aren't on their standard web page?

 

[deva22]

They are not included as per:

[FONT=&quot]23.2.5 The following Gold Member Benefits are excluded from Pilot Gold Membership and Explore Gold Membership:[/FONT]

(a) Gold member baggage tag;
(b) Complimentary Partner Memberships;
(c) Guaranteed Reward Seat; and
(d) Membership Pause for Parental Leave.


​

You'll have to wait until you're past the explore stage.

Does anyone know if you are eligible for the Hilton & IHG upgrade to Gold as a Velocity Explorer Gold member?
I can`t find the option when I click on `benefits ` under my Velocity Gold Explorer account.All the other benefits are visible.
Is the Hotel upgrade benefit excluded for Explorer members?
Also is there a Velocity contact person in this forum ?