Velocity/Virgin websites are RUBBISH

[theevilmuppet]

These are clearly Virgin bugs, nothing to do with Sabre - I believe to do with interactions with the cookies VA is storing in our browsers. I find that I have best success when I use an "incognito" tab on Chrome. If I don't use this tab, I can't even search for new flights - I end up with a redirect loop warning.

The same for the Temporary Error messages; I have much better luck avoiding these by using an icognito browser tab.

Same for checking in online - if I click the link in the email, the check-in fails. Cutting and pasting the link into an incognito browser tab works 100% of the time. In all cases, I'm just using Chrome.

Specifically it'll be to do with the session management that is occurring within their server-side application.

On one hand, this indicates that changes are being made which is a good thing. Unfortunately the changes we're seeing aren't reflective of the things that customers have been requesting for years.

Such as a calendar view for bookings. Or the ability to search for only actual Award Seats instead of Award + Any Seat redemptions.

 

[greenfish]

Specifically it'll be to do with the session management that is occurring within their server-side application.

On one hand, this indicates that changes are being made which is a good thing. Unfortunately the changes we're seeing aren't reflective of the things that customers have been requesting for years.

Such as a calendar view for bookings. Or the ability to search for only actual Award Seats instead of Award + Any Seat redemptions.

Interesting point about session management, that sounds plausible.

In some ways they've gone backwards recently - aside from these incredibly annoying bugs. When searching for a fare, the site used to display the lowest fare on each day. Now the fare flashes up and is then replaced with "available".... why?

And I agree, with the exception of now being able to book connecting flights for some international fares, the site seems to get nothing more than trivial cosmetic changes - so far behind Qantas it isn't funny .

 

[theevilmuppet]

Interesting point about session management, that sounds plausible.

In some ways they've gone backwards recently - aside from these incredibly annoying bugs. When searching for a fare, the site used to display the lowest fare on each day. Now the fare flashes up and is then replaced with "available".... why?

And I agree, with the exception of now being able to book connecting flights for some international fares, the site seems to get nothing more than trivial cosmetic changes - so far behind Qantas it isn't funny .

Looking at the traffic back and forth between a browser and their site, the problems are definitely all on the server side of things. There's just not enough happening within the browser side of the application to be interesting or contributing to such issues.

It is possible to get a calendar view for bookings on Virgin's site, however the only way I have found of doing this is to select "Include other Velocity Reward Seat destinations" when searching and to search well outside of Australia. For example, here's the result of searching for Paris to Cleveland, OH:



Of course clicking Continue results in the same page being displayed again (this didn't happen in the past).

The calendar view is clearly something the code has been written for - it just isn't exposed to customers for the vast majority of cases.

 

[HeavyElectricity]

Does anyone else get the error when trying to check in online using the login on the top right and then it displays the message: "Our system cannot process your Velocity login. Please check your details and try again, or contact us for assistance."

Then you just type in velocity number, surname and departure port manually.. That login in the top right has never worked for me.

Yep, I've have had this same issue for quite some time I believe. You'd think if they don't have time to fix it, they'd at least hide the login option so we don't waste our time trying to use it!

 

[Milefest]

They should seriously just hire some intern to go through all of their websites and fix up all the little inconstancies that don't require a high level of expertise. If you delve into the website deep enough you'll find so many outdated informational, promotional and policy pages scattered all over the place.

 

[anat0l]

They should seriously just hire some intern to go through all of their websites and fix up all the little inconstancies that don't require a high level of expertise. If you delve into the website deep enough you'll find so many outdated informational, promotional and policy pages scattered all over the place.

Some jokingly insist that it is the interns who created all these incessant problems in the first place!

 

[Milefest]

Some jokingly insist that it is the interns who created all these incessant problems in the first place!

That would be worrying I've worked in places where the interns are more proficient than the more senior staff. I get the feeling that VA just has a "it's good enough attitude".

 

[Warks]

Don't you love how you have to click on the login box in the top right corner first before you can click on the login? Seems like it has to expand by about 100 pixels to show the login details. How hard would it be to fix that?

 

[anat0l]

Don't you love how you have to click on the login box in the top right corner first before you can click on the login? Seems like it has to expand by about 100 pixels to show the login details. How hard would it be to fix that?

View attachment 63250


View attachment 63251

Hmmm yes. I've saved my login (with my browser) on the Virgin Australia website. It "shows" that it has saved this so when you first see the two fields, but when you click up there to log in, the fields are cleared! And I can't get my saved details back. It is easily fixed, however, if you simply enter in your details again and click the Remember Me checkbox. The next time you then log in, the fields are prefilled just as before, even after you "bring up" the log in button.

Another interesting geeky discovery (at least that I discovered with Firefox running on Windows): the Velocity Number field is configured as a numerical field. Put in some text, tab away, the field highlights red to indicate an 'error'. Enter in a negative number, e.g. -2114303992, tab away, no red highlight. Enter a non-integer, red highlight. Click in the field so it is selected and press the Up and Down keys on your keyboard (with either nothing to start with or an existing integer value). The field will scroll through the integers. If you try and log in with a red highlight on the number field, it will not proceed and tell you to enter a number. Kind of funny in a way. I suppose it was a cheap-ish way to guard against any injection attacks (though you might have to add a specific guard on the password field).

 

[theevilmuppet]

Kind of funny in a way. I suppose it was a cheap-ish way to guard against any injection attacks (though you might have to add a specific guard on the password field).

I sincerely hope that no one at Virgin thinks that this serves as a protective measure! Setting a field to a specific type (or having a JavaScript change handler attached to it) does absolutely nothing to protect against injection attacks of any nature (SQL, XSS or otherwise).

Given the very spotty configuration of TLS across the various sites (https://www.ssllabs.com/ssltest/analyze.html?d=velocityfrequentflyer.com&hideResults=on , https://www.ssllabs.com/ssltest/analyze.html?d=virginaustralia.com&hideResults=on and https://www.ssllabs.com/ssltest/analyze.html?d=fly.virginaustralia.com&hideResults=on ), the very poor level of attention to detail on the Velocity site and the very ordinary customer experience when looking for award availability, I doubt security gets a decent look in.

 

[Deleted member 29185]

Another interesting geeky discovery (at least that I discovered with Firefox running on Windows):

anat0l, I either have to employ you or chastise you!

Are you still OS? If so, stop looking at VA websites and go and enjoy yourself! :mrgreen:

 

[anat0l]

anat0l, I either have to employ you or chastise you!

Are you still OS? If so, stop looking at VA websites and go and enjoy yourself! :mrgreen:

Negative on overseas - back in Australia.

I hardly look at the VA website... not because I am anti-VA, but I'm just not travelling enough to be able to hit the site that often.

 

[Deleted member 29185]

Negative on overseas - back in Australia.

So does that mean we're up for breaky at some time......or a nice wine?......(oh, and perhaps some of that stuff they call food?)

 

[anat0l]

So does that mean we're up for breaky at some time......or a nice wine?......(oh, and perhaps some of that stuff they call food?)

Sure - shoot over a message some time

 

[clarkkent]

Anyone tried using a gift card with a 2017 expiry? The form only goes up to 2016... (and helpfully still allows 2013, 2014, and 2015!)

 

[adame]

In some ways they've gone backwards recently - aside from these incredibly annoying bugs. When searching for a fare, the site used to display the lowest fare on each day. Now the fare flashes up and is then replaced with "available".... why?

If you sort by price the fares will come back across the top.

I agree with the comments in this thread. Virgin have a lot of work to do to catch up to Qantas with their website. I'd love to see the Virgin and Velocity websites integrated with a seamless single login, like Qantas.

 

[Justinf]

Well, it's gotten to the stage where the website won't even work for me at all using Chrome. I have to use explorer and it works, but it's slower.

 

[bcworld]

Well, it's gotten to the stage where the website won't even work for me at all using Chrome. I have to use explorer and it works, but it's slower.

I still find you have to achieve a variety of browsers to complete various tasks. For me, searching is only really possible with IE, and yes, unbearably slow. But the other day I tried to check in using IE and when submitting details the form just continually refreshed with no warning or error messages. So I think I ended up using Firefox for check in.

 

[greenfish]

JustinF and bcworld, did you try using an incognito tab within Chrome? I haven't found any function that doesn't work - but it does mean you can't just click on a link in your email to check-in - have to cut and paste the link into the incognito tab.

 

[Milefest]

Maybe if they keep ignoring it, the problems will go away!

This happened 2 days ago: Airport chaos as Virgin's check-in system goes down nationwide