Virgin Flyer 2-For-1 - Significant negative changes from Dec 1

[aupirate]

I mainly book cheap seats so HF Velocity card was mainly used for the points all channelled to VA, I fly VA almost exclusively and am almost at WP for the first time. In a couple of weeks Mrs Pirate and I are flying BNE-SYD-DAR on 2 4 1 which was a saving of approx. $700. Interestingly enough my profile says I still have 8 sectors available. This seems odd as by booking 4 sectors I should have used all my allocation, or is it a case of they don`t cancel off until the day(s) of travel? I will probably stay with this card until someone clever on this forum susses out a better option, my cards expire in December.

 

[grubbidok]

For me a $200 difference would prevent us travelling as a family when we otherwise would have.

If your happy just cancelling out the cost of the card there are plenty free cards on he market.

I get what your saying. But it's not just cancelling out the cost. Even with the T&Cs the 2 flights would have saved over $200 on top of the fee on that one redemption alone. I'm likely to make the next one with $300 savings again. $500+ saved on flights on top of the free fee is not a bad deal, it's just not as good as $800+ was (or even more if people were using it for business - but did anyone honestly think that would be sustainable).

I understand that people are upset about losing a good loophole, but the fact is if they hadn't been so greedy in exploiting it to its maximum then the CC terms probably wouldn't have had to be changed. I enjoy gaming the system as much as anyone, but VA (or QF) doesn't owe anyone a free ride, or a free upgrade. A bit of levity on this wouldn't go astray.

People can always vote with their feet if they don't like it.

 

[Jama]

I understand that people are upset about losing a good loophole, but the fact is if they hadn't been so greedy in exploiting it to its maximum then the CC terms probably wouldn't have had to be changed. I enjoy gaming the system as much as anyone, but VA (or QF) doesn't owe anyone a free ride, or a free upgrade. A bit of levity on this wouldn't go astray.

And how has the 2 4 1 been exploited. You buy one you get one free. That's not a loophole.

And people are voting with their feet. Not enough to make a difference though.

 

[Deleted member 29185]

And people are voting with their feet. Not enough to make a difference though.

I'm voting with my feet too, but I coundn't care less whether I make a difference.....it's all about rationalising my needs.

As a predominently -Y flyer, I tend to find that at the soon to be mandated 3 weeks lead time to book, I can usually pick up saver lites for a very similar price of the more expensive 2-4-1 buckets anyway. Personally, the amount of stuffing around needed to secure these Y fares is not worth the saving for me (if there is a saving at all.....the taxes change will eliminate most of that), but for those who still manage the deals, that's good but they must have more time on their hands than I do.

 

[Demonoid]

So...have any existing cardholders received a hard copy of these new T'C's in the mail? The below statement (from the first post of this thread) came out 1st of July...

http://virginmoney.com.au/downloads/credit-cards/Buy_one_seat_get_one_free_Terms_and_Conditions.pdf

 

[jas]

So, a couple of emails backwards and forwards with VM's "expert" team expressing my displeasure with the new changes combined with last year's annual fee spike, them organising a call back from the (useless) call centre to whom I expressed my intention to cancel the card when December rolls around before my renewal in January, and I have an annual fee waiver to compensate me for the loss of value.

Works for me.

 

[Fruitcake]

Works for me.

Understandable, although given I've just had to chase up a JP to sign a statutory declaration about the third fraudulent transaction on the card in nine months my tolerance is wearing a bit thin - I'm not sure a fee-free year would be enough to keep me. Especially with their atrocious online banking systems and inflexible PINs.

 

[Deleted member 29185]

Understandable, although given I've just had to chase up a JP to sign a statutory declaration about the third fraudulent transaction on the card in nine months my tolerance is wearing a bit thin - I'm not sure a fee-free year would be enough to keep me. Especially with their atrocious online banking systems and inflexible PINs.

Hi Fruitcake, I haven't raised my issues yet, but VM has been bloody awful. 5 times I've been sent a letter saying they've identified potentially fraudulent activity and have frozen the card. I honestly cannot sit here and type the utter bull*#it they've told me, but to the best of my knowledge, there has been no fraudulent activity and as I really don't use the card that much, any such activity most likely has originated from "in-house" rather than my genuine vendors. Only just today have I gained access again to the website as each time they freeze the account, they freeze my web access as well. Then the dills ask me to identify any incorrect transactions ???????? HOW? I can't access the bloody thing. They've stopped sending me paper statements, I haven't (until today) been able to access my on-line account and for about 5 or 6 weeks, I've had no idea what's been going on. It's the Keystone cops in charge of finances.............

 

[Fruitcake]

My favourite bit is when the one time password doesn't work and your account is locked (despite requesting a new OTP after your second attempt, just to be sure). You need to wait five days for them to send you a letter with a new internet PIN. And then you need to ring them to get another PIN number (telephone PIN?) that they could have sent you in the post at the same time they re-sent the internet PIN. Then your account is unlocked.

 

[bcworld]

Broke my own rules and used a 2 for 1 for cheapo flights last night - have 8 comp flights (between us) to use before Feb so starting to wonder if some would go to waste.

MEL-SYD-MEL flights - web site price of $411 inc credit card fees for 2. In one direction the web site Saver Lite was in fact a sale fare.

2 for 1 price of $252 inc credit card fees. So still a saving of $160. And not bad considering we had both annual fees refunded this year due to having a whinge about the difficulties post Sabre!

 

[Azanker]

Is anybody else having trouble accessing on the website how many 241 flight sectors they have left... In the my benefits page it looks like it has just dropped off????

 

[bcworld]

Is anybody else having trouble accessing on the website how many 241 flight sectors they have left... In the my benefits page it looks like it has just dropped off????

It's a common problem if you have much data to show in that section e.g. 4 or more sectors taken depending on what bugs there are in the system...for instance I had lots of duplicate sectors showing previously. It seems like if there are a few rows that section is prone to timing out and disappears from the My Benefits page entirely. Sometimes if you keep refreshing the page you will eventually get lucky!

 

[Azanker]

Thanks, Not so worried about them not showing up right now... As long as they haven't disappeared totally...

 

[robd]

Does anyone know if you can use your Travel Bank to pay some, or all, of a 2-4-1 booking?

I had to cancel a 2-4-1 back in May and they put the refund into my Travel Bank rather than back to my CC.

 

[bcworld]

Does anyone know if you can use your Travel Bank to pay some, or all, of a 2-4-1 booking?

I had to cancel a 2-4-1 back in May and they put the refund into my Travel Bank rather than back to my CC.

No you can't. I asked last week to part pay with travel bank and was knocked back.

 

[blingy90]

Yes!

My last 2-4-1 booking I used travel bank to pay for a portion of the cost and on the cc for the remaining cost not covered by the travel bank funds.

Did not have any dramas whatsoever in doing this

Does anyone know if you can use your Travel Bank to pay some, or all, of a 2-4-1 booking?

I had to cancel a 2-4-1 back in May and they put the refund into my Travel Bank rather than back to my CC.

 

[bcworld]

Yes!

My last 2-4-1 booking I used travel bank to pay for a portion of the cost and on the cc for the remaining cost not covered by the travel bank funds.

Did not have any dramas whatsoever in doing this

I guess it's a YMMV scenario - I was told no, this is a promotion related to the credit card so you must use it for full payment...which is fair enough, and matches the T&Cs (which I think also allow gift vouchers to be used).

 

[robd]

No you can't. I asked last week to part pay with travel bank and was knocked back.

Bummer.

Yes!

My last 2-4-1 booking I used travel bank to pay for a portion of the cost and on the cc for the remaining cost not covered by the travel bank funds.

Did not have any dramas whatsoever in doing this

But wait......

I guess it's a YMMV scenario - I was told no, this is a promotion related to the credit card so you must use it for full payment...which is fair enough, and matches the T&Cs (which I think also allow gift vouchers to be used).

Well, that's interesting. I will be arguing that the cancelled 2-4-1 should have gone back to my CC and therefore I should be able to use the amount that they credited to my Travel Bank.

 

[bcworld]

I will be arguing that the cancelled 2-4-1 should have gone back to my CC and therefore I should be able to use the amount that they credited to my Travel Bank.

Was it a refundable fare?

 

[robd]

Was it a refundable fare?

It was a flexi, which I had upgraded to J with Plat comps.