Virgin Australia Discover Gold (Status Match)

[MattA]

Thanks for the information. Most of the extra benefits don’t interest me as I mostly fly solo anyway. The soft landing extra year is worthwhile if I fly SQ in economy though.

Yeah -- that's why I think of them as "nice to haves" -- I think VA could do more to differentiate between the tiers. I'm sure everyone has their own view on how they value the various benefits, but for me lounge access is the key one and therefore Gold is the sweet spot really.

That said as a tall bloke I have appreciated the economy X seating since turning WP, and have used Fly Ahead once, which got me home an hour earlier than I otherwise would have done in that case.

 

[jase05]

Yeah -- that's why I think of them as "nice to haves" -- I think VA could do more to differentiate between the tiers. I'm sure everyone has their own view on how they value the various benefits, but for me lounge access is the key one and therefore Gold is the sweet spot really.

That said as a tall bloke I have appreciated the economy X seating since turning WP, and have used Fly Ahead once, which got me home an hour earlier than I otherwise would have done in that case.

Free WiFi for Plats coming soon too.
Also some little things that are often forgotten such as HH Diamond and Elite Hertz status plus if any other status match offers come up the Platinum comes in handy

 

[Isolar]

Just got rejected for the status match.. the only item in the generic email sent across that applies to me is:
"Holding membership in a loyalty program of an airline that partners with Velocity frequent flyer. "

I do technically hold one with Etihad, but no status at all. I was matching from a QF WP status.. have I missed something basic here? it's not like i'm trying to status match from an Ethihad FF program

That's interesting. How did they know you were a member of the Etihad program?

I thought the match is supposed to be based on having status with a program that doesn't partner with Velocity. So, even if you have an Etihad membership, if is not higher than the basic tier it should not matter (at least from my reading of the relevant web page)

 

[citrusb]

I have carefully read through Velocity’s information but cannot see much benefit for me becoming Platinum. If you do need four reward seats each quarter, then go for it. There is no difference to lounge entry or partner lounge entry between Gold and Platinum. I am going to change next month’s Qatar flights to my Velocity number and will earn lots of SCs and points, but the flights are not “eligible sectors” as not on VA metal. I’ll earn enough points for a couple of reward flights though. I have booked the one segment to activate Gold for 12 months.
I think I’ll have to ask some questions on the VA threads.

For me the platinum benefit over gold is Hilton Diamond and Hertz 5 star .....

 

[Jubas]

That's interesting. How did they know you were a member of the Etihad program?

I thought the match is supposed to be based on having status with a program that doesn't partner with Velocity. So, even if you have an Etihad membership, if is not higher than the basic tier it should not matter (at least from my reading of the relevant web page)

Agreed - Can't figure out how it would be relevant.. they're not 'stealing' me from Etihad, they're doing it from Qantas which currently gets 95% of my spend

 

[Port Power]

Agreed - Can't figure out how it would be relevant.. they're not 'stealing' me from Etihad, they're doing it from Qantas which currently gets 95% of my spend

Reading your post, I realised that I had also joined the Qatar FF program some months ago. I’ve never used it and have not flown Qatar since joining. So that should debunk you being rejected for having Etihad membership. We’re you ever Silver with Velocity in the distant past?

 

[hb13]

Free WiFi for Plats coming soon too.
Also some little things that are often forgotten such as HH Diamond and Elite Hertz status plus if any other status match offers come up the Platinum comes in handy

Have to agree here - the HH Diamond for me is pretty useful and if other status match offers come up, it would be nice to be platinum to take advantage of higher tiers in other programs where platinum equivalent tiers offer much more enhanced benefits like Qantas Plat vs Qantas Gold.

 

[dairyfloss]

Looking at some options for my 200 SCs to VA WP, and wondering whether the family pooling also covers the segments needed? There are 3 of us, so if I fly one way in J somewhere that gives enough for the 200 SCs between us, is that it… or I would need another segment, still?

I realise I can connect… but it may not be feasible depending on where and when we travel

Cheers,
Matt.

 

[jase05]

Looking at some options for my 200 SCs to VA WP, and wondering whether the family pooling also covers the segments needed? There are 3 of us, so if I fly one way in J somewhere that gives enough for the 200 SCs between us, is that it… or I would need another segment, still?

I realise I can connect… but it may not be feasible depending on where and when we travel

Cheers,
Matt.

Family pooled segments don’t count. Segments need to be yours

 

[Jubas]

Reading your post, I realised that I had also joined the Qatar FF program some months ago. I’ve never used it and have not flown Qatar since joining. So that should debunk you being rejected for having Etihad membership. We’re you ever Silver with Velocity in the distant past?

Nope - not at all. I'm completely perplexed by the situation. Have re-submitted again to see if it's a luck of the draw thing

I'm not going to lose sleep over it if I don't get it, but it's probably made me slightly more anti-virgin than i was before!

 

[lukus g]

Hi All,
I've been accepted for the switch-a-roo promo matching my BA exec Silver to VA gold. I’m looking to fly the one required sector. What the most cost effective way of hitting the 80 SC’s from SYD?

 

[encryptededdy]

Hi All,
I've been accepted for the switch-a-roo promo matching my BA exec Silver to VA gold. I’m looking to fly the one required sector. What the most cost effective way of hitting the 80 SC’s from SYD?

SYD is hard since all golden triangle routes are 55

 

[kerfuffle]

SYD is hard since all golden triangle routes are 55

Even Adelaide is 55 SC.

MEL-BNE is 80 SC though

 

[encryptededdy]

Even Adelaide is 55 SC.

MEL-BNE is 80 SC though

Yeah, it's quite unfortunate. Since I'm based in SYD I'm going to have to do 4x $299 J sectors to get to Platinum, whereas someone based in Melbourne or Brisbane probably has better options (esp. connecting).

I guess I could've done SYD-xMEL-CBR return for 110 SCs each way for ~$400-500 x2.

 

[dairyfloss]

I've locked my WP challenge flights in tonight, after convincing the other half of the benefits, and if nothing else, another short break!

Found the VA promo code thread on here and booked J return SYD-MCY for the 3 in our little family, 2 of whom are now shiny new Velocity members that pool to this lucky gent. I'll overshoot the target SCs by 130... but it was too complicated to coordinate alternatives and save the cost of their unnecessary (for this purpose) VA J revenue return segments.

Will be sorted mid November.

Cheers,
Matt.

 

[Guvner]

I have MEL-xSYD-BNK return in J booked. 210SC
Used promo code so $845 for 1 pax
Had a travel bank credit from Covid days of $449 which I’d forgotten about!
$396 on the credit card. WP locked in.

 

[aikman]

Has everyone received their status matches pretty much straight away?

I applied one week ago and still no response from them other than the auto-response confirming they've received my application.

 

[hb13]

Has everyone received their status matches pretty much straight away?

I applied one week ago and still no response from them other than the auto-response confirming they've received my application.

I think mine was straight away - I'd say roughly 24 hours from the time I applied.

 

[tdimdad]

Has everyone received their status matches pretty much straight away?

I applied one week ago and still no response from them other than the auto-response confirming they've received my application.

I'm going on business day 2 of the wait. If it lands before my flights on the weekend, that'd be nice.

 

[Isolar]

Has everyone received their status matches pretty much straight away?

I applied one week ago and still no response from them other than the auto-response confirming they've received my application.

Applied last Thursday and received approval email yesterday. Status not updated online as yet but email said it would be within 48 hours.