Virgin Australia Changes - Effect on Virgin Flyer Card Buy 1 Get 1 Free

[Bucko]

Aplogies if this has been discussed elsewhere, if so, please link me to it.

With the fare re-structure and removal of the GO Fare and Blue Saver, it seems to me its had a major impact on the Buy 1 Get 1 free offer with the virgin flyer card.

Previously, if a flight had a Go Fare available, you could buy the blue saver fare and get a seat free.

I tried this last week, and since Go & Blue Saver are gone (well, from the website anyway), I was told I need to buy a Flexi fare to get one free. The lady on the phone also referred to Go Fares but I told her you cannot tell what flights have GO Fares anymore since the restructure. I got the impression she though I didn't know what I was talking about and just read out which flights were eligible. The flight I chose had the following prices:

Saver: $99
Flexi: $209
Premium: $385

So the virgin rep told me I needed to buy a Flexi Fare to Get a Fare free. I said thats ridiculous as I could just buy 2 saver fares which work out cheaper. She confirmed this was the case and I left it at that and booked with *ugh* Tiger for $120.

Has anyone else tried to use the Buy 1 Get 1 Free since the restructure ?!?!?! Surely it cannot remain like this. It was just after the fare restructure was launched, so maybe it has now changed. Im thinking it should just be buy a saver get a saver free which would bring it inline with around the same pricing previously.

 

[Bucko]

Ok, just noticed the T&C's have been updated on the pdf -

1. The offer is available to Primary Virgin Flyer Credit Card
holders and Virgin High Flyer Credit Card holders for direct and formal
connection Virgin Australia Australian domestic flights sold in Saver, Flexi,
and Premium fare classes subject to paragraph 3.


But the small pop-up that explains it better still says this:

You can buy one seat and get a 2nd seat for free’ when you fly domestically on Virgin Blue and it’s available for Blue Saver, Flexible, Corporate Plus and Premium Economy fare classes.


My take on it is that you should be able to buy a saver fare and get a saver fare free, but this is not what was conveyed to me on the phone a few weeks ago.

 

[lazybones1987]

Hi there Bucko,
From my knowledge, all they look for is an "F" class (saver fare) availability on the flight that you are trying to book. If there is a "F" class available, they will just book you on the next available class (I think "R", which is again a saver fare).

You probably had a new or an inexperienced agent. My suggestion to you would be to call them again and try and book one.

Good Luck!

 

[Bucko]

Thanks mate, that was my logical conclusion. I hope that's right!

 

[straitman]

Saver: $99
Flexi: $209
Premium: $385

So the virgin rep told me I needed to buy a Flexi Fare to Get a Fare free. I said thats ridiculous as I could just buy 2 saver fares which work out cheaper. She confirmed this was the case and I left it at that and booked with *ugh* Tiger for $120.

I cannot answer your question but I'm struggling to see why you would buy a Tiger fare and for a dearer price.

 

[Keith009]

I cannot answer your question but I'm struggling to see why you would buy a Tiger fare and for a dearer price.

I think he meant $120 in total for both tickets on Tiger.

 

[r.dunn]

Hi there Bucko,
From my knowledge, all they look for is an "F" class (saver fare) availability on the flight that you are trying to book. If there is a "F" class available, they will just book you on the next available class (I think "R", which is again a saver fare).

You probably had a new or an inexperienced agent. My suggestion to you would be to call them again and try and book one.

Good Luck!

This is absolutely correct!

As a handy hint, you can identify F class Saver fares on the website as these are shown with a "Sale Fare" icon. If the lowest Saver fare available is not F class (eg, R Class), then the "Sale Fare" graphic will not appear, and the 2FOR1 offer is not available on that flight.

Refer to Paragraph 1 and 3 of the Terms and Conditions, which read:

1. The offer is available...for direct and formal connection Virgin Australia Australian domestic flights sold in Saver, Flexi and Premium fare classes, subject to paragraph 3.

...

3. The availability for this offer is restricted and not available on sale fares...

 

[JB007]

So I tried to use my 2 for 1 offer tonight when purchasing 2 Flexi fares from Mel to Syd in October.

I was told that because there were no sale fares offered at all on the day that I wanted to fly then I couldn't use the offer.

My understanding was that if I was after a Flexi fare then the sale fare requirment didn't apply. Is this correct?

The agent also couldnt explain why a Sale Econmy fare needed to be present if I tried to purchase a Premium ticket. To me if I buy a Premium ticket with the 2 for 1 offer, I dont want my partner to be in Economy when I am up the front. The terms and conditions for the credit card arent very clear when it comes to Flexi and Premium fares.

In the end I have purchased two Saver fares for a greater cost and I cant say I am too pleased about it but if I have misunderstood it then bad luck to me