Virgin Australia flights to Doha now on sale

[Secco]

Velocity has just released Reward Seats on the VA flights between Australia and Doha. It looks like there are up to four Business Class seats available per flight, and many more in Economy.

Get in fast!

You Can Now Book Virgin Flights to Doha with Velocity Points

You can now redeem Velocity points to book Virgin Australia flights to and from Doha, and there are up to 4 Business Reward Seats available per flight.

www.australianfrequentflyer.com.au

Thank you for the heads up.

I originally had to book Paris-Doha-Singapore-Melbourne, but just managed to change it to Paris-Doha-Melbourne, and after paying $240 in change/cancellation fees, still ended up $155 in front.

 

[jase05]

Seriously looked at cancelling awards seats from DOH back to Asia and booking on the direct flights into Australia but in the end no AS access swayed with my decision to stick to my existing flights.

 

[Gold Member]

My planned route was MUC-DOH-SYD-MEL. This priced at 173K miles + ~$950AUD! I realise Virgin are merely passing on QR’s carrier charges and that the SYD-MEL flight was priced as an additional separate one-way award (albeit on the same ticket), but damn that’s steep. Not up there with QF redemption on EK, but still. So I amended the booking to just DOH-SYD-MEL for 135K + ~$500.

That’s saving me 38K miles and $450, but I now have the option to pick and choose my connecting flight which is so much better. Although there are two daily flights from MUC, of course the VA booking engine only offered the afternoon flight with the shortest connection time which left a 9hr transit in DOH. That’s only about 4 hrs of sleep in a nearby airport hotel in practical terms when you account for all the logistics before and after head on pillow.

I can now select the earlier morning flight using AA, QR/BA and many more FFPs from just 40K and circa $100 in taxes/surcharges. I could even pay just 35K miles with SQ’s partners if I could handle indirect and narrow bodies. I value other FF points much higher than VA points, so I now have a lot more flexibility and I don’t feel like I’ve been as badly ripped off using my VA points on the extra EU-DOH segment. But I am certainly grateful that I can actually use my points for long-haul premium cabins to/from Europe during peak season.

Edit: just for reference using QR points - The very same DOH-SYD flight alone is just 70,000 Avios + 785.50 AUD.

 

[flyerzz]

if flying from SYD to Europe via DOH (same ticket), does the baggage need to be picked up at DOH and re-check back in?
Or, will it go to the final destination (Europe)?

Also, do we know which days VA1 (SYD-DOH) fly during the week?

 

[Secco]

if flying from SYD to Europe via DOH (same ticket), does the baggage need to be picked up at DOH and re-check back in?
Or, will it go to the final destination (Europe)?

Also, do we know which days VA1 (SYD-DOH) fly during the week?

You won't need to pick it up

 

[jase05]

Also, do we know which days VA1 (SYD-DOH) fly during the week?

Every day

 

[flyerzz]

looks like no J from around 10 or 14 Dec onwards. I assume because it's peak period?
is it normal for airline not to release any reward J seats for peak period in Dec?

 

[Bagpuss]

looks like no J from around 10 or 14 Dec onwards. I assume because it's peak period?
is it normal for airline not to release any reward J seats for peak period in Dec?

Yup this is normal. If released it's usually last minute.

 

[am0985]

It is poor value on the wet-leased Virgin flights. The excellent value is on the Qatar-operated flights.

The shame is that the Virgin flights are not priced at the same rates as the Qatar flights.

Have looked and SYD - DOH on VA flights seems to be the same Avios points price?

This is of relevance to this thread given plenty of people would have options to book this flight with either set of points.

 

[levelnine]

Have looked and SYD - DOH on VA flights seems to be the same points price?

This is of relevance to this thread given plenty of people would have options to book this flight with either set of points.

1. You can't book SYD - DOH on VA then DOH - Elsewhere on the same ticket with QR & thus lose out on their excellent 90K Australia-Europe in J price point.

2. Taxes are higher on the VA flights compared to the QR flights.

 

[am0985]

1. You can't book SYD - DOH on VA then DOH - Elsewhere on the same ticket with QR & thus lose out on their excellent 90K Australia-Europe in J price point.

2. Taxes are higher on the VA flights compared to the QR flights.

Ah. Well hopefully this reduces some of the demand on the Doha legs anyway. Hasn't been too hard to book reward seats outside of peak times as long as it's fairly close to release date.

 

[flyerzz]

1. You can't book SYD - DOH on VA then DOH - Elsewhere on the same ticket with QR & thus lose out on their excellent 90K Australia-Europe in J price point.

2. Taxes are higher on the VA flights compared to the QR flights.

How to get 90k AU to Europe in J class?
I read that SYD-DOH J class is 112k already, plus maybe 50k from DOH to somewhere in EU ?

 

[drmatte]

How to get 90k AU to Europe in J class?
I read that SYD-DOH J class is 112k already, plus maybe 50k from DOH to somewhere in EU ?

90000 Avios booked via Qatar. Not 90000 velocity points.

 

[flyerzz]

90000 Avios booked via Qatar. Not 90000 velocity points.

ah okay. how to get Avios points btw? only via purchasing points using $ if not earning miles?

 

[Hunter4vr]

ah okay. how to get Avios points btw? only via purchasing points using $ if not earning miles?

Transfer points from Citi, Commbank Awards or Amex MR cards.

The Best Credit Cards for Earning Avios in Australia

Earn lots of Qatar Airways Avios, which you can also transfer to British Airways, with the best Avios credit cards in Australia.

www.australianfrequentflyer.com.au

 

[twinaisle]

ah okay. how to get Avios points btw? only via purchasing points using $ if not earning miles?

Go to QR or Oneworld airline thread with avios for discussion.

 

[BriarFlyer]

Interestingly, I've booked LHR-SYD using VA points but only because the route/date wasn't available using QR avios. I trfied a bunch of other European departure points but couldn't find anything suitable connecting to VA2. I may still cancel as it's spectacularly poor value.

 

[k1s3k1]

Booked DOH to PER Business rewards.
How do I select seats?? Cant be done online??