Virgin Flyer or High Flyer Credit Card - 2 for 1 fare booking class?

[bcworld]

Can you only buy saver fares? I would seriously consider 2-4-1 J class if they were available as they wouldn't be much more than a flexi ticket if they were half price (or maybe even less). I paid $800 to fly MEL-CNS-MEL on a last-minute school holiday Flexi last year. If I could get 2-4-1 J on that route for, say, $1400 I would seriously consider it!

Yes you can book J fares.

Now, given that you and your partner both have the card be very careful about updating your bookings to include both your Velocity numbers. As I have updated in another thread if you do this you'll see your 8 free one way flights deplete a lot quicker than you're expecting and Velocity seem completely incapable of sorting it out!

The advice seems to be to retro claim only for the points / status credits for the free flyer. Does anyone know if producing a valid silver card at check in allows a free checked bag assuming the booking shouldn't be updated in advance?

 

[smit0847]

Yes you can book J fares.

Now, given that you and your partner both have the card be very careful about updating your bookings to include both your Velocity numbers. As I have updated in another thread if you do this you'll see your 8 free one way flights deplete a lot quicker than you're expecting and Velocity seem completely incapable of sorting it out!

The advice seems to be to retro claim only for the points / status credits for the free flyer. Does anyone know if producing a valid silver card at check in allows a free checked bag assuming the booking shouldn't be updated in advance?

Cheers. I just checked MEL-CNS-MEL with a random date next year (they have a perfect-for-holidays 9.30am direct flight up).

Saver is $420 return.

Business is $2210 return.

I guess some people pay it but we would certainly rather spend that $1800 difference eating a giant seafood platter with a bottle of good wine every night of the trip than spend it on a wide chair, priority boarding and some cold rolls and orange juice!

(honestly, who pays this?!? You could fly to LAX on VA Y TWICE for $2210!).

Regarding the joint cards, yes, we ran into this problem last year and got quite confused. We now have learnt you only give 1 person velocity number when booking, then the day after we get home we retro the other person.

And if the other person is the only silver I am 99% sure it would not be a problem. I'm fairly sure I've done this before. When I flash my silver card at priority check-in they usually don't even match the name to the booking, let alone the velocity number.

 

[Moopere]

I also did the maths as my best mate has the High Flyer card because he says the 1.25 pp$ makes it worth it. I put through around $20,000 a year on this card (usually sit just around the cap each month), so the 5,000 or so extra points Id get each year are not worth the $150 extra fee. I've tried to tell him this (he would only put $10K max through his card each year as he's a student) but he doesn't understand, nor is interested in the logic of it (doesn't play the game like us here!).

Depends if your spend is 'lumpy'. I agree that the maths is important, but I would find the cap on points earn of $1500 a month would be restrictive. Particularly if I want to buy a 2-4-1 J class fare out of Perth which will easily bang into the monthly limit.

Having said that, the Current High Flyer promotion is a funny one and a bit off-putting. 15K points but requires a 10K spend in the first 3 months.... My spend pretty much all goes onto Amex, I'd use this card for booking the 2-4-1 flights and also for cases where Amex is not accepted (ie, not much).

Can you only buy saver fares? I would seriously consider 2-4-1 J class if they were available as they wouldn't be much more than a flexi ticket if they were half price (or maybe even less). I paid $800 to fly MEL-CNS-MEL on a last-minute school holiday Flexi last year. If I could get 2-4-1 J on that route for, say, $1400 I would seriously consider it!

I don't have one of these cards, but was/am considering getting one for the potential of 4x 2-4-1 J class fares. I have not yet read the fine print, but the advertising reads:

Buy a Virgin Australia domestic seat and we’ll give you a complimentary seat* on the same flight up to four times every year. All you need to do is cover the credit card booking fees and any applicable baggage charges. Flights are subject to availability and conditions apply.

Which means to me that _any_ domestic fare would be eligible.

The * reads (in part):

* The offer is valid for two Guests only and both Guests must be booked and travelling together, and the Primary Cardholder must be one of the guests travelling. Offer provides 50% off Domestic Virgin Australia flights for you and a friend for up to 4 segments a year in saver, flexi and premium fare classes (excludes sale fares)

and I'm reading that to mean that Business Class is a "premium fare"

 

[smit0847]

Having said that, the Current High Flyer promotion is a funny one and a bit off-putting. 15K points but requires a 10K spend in the first 3 months.... My spend pretty much all goes onto Amex, I'd use this card for booking the 2-4-1 flights and also for cases where Amex is not accepted (ie, not much).

I don't have one of these cards, but was/am considering getting one for the potential of 4x 2-4-1 J class fares. I have not yet read the fine print, but the advertising reads:

Which means to me that _any_ domestic fare would be eligible.

The * reads (in part):

and I'm reading that to mean that Business Class is a "premium fare"

I would wait until they have a better sign-on promotion for the Flyer card. I got mine about a year ago and it was 20,000K points for $500 spend in first 3 months. I don't consider this 10K condition remotely fair or attractive - no-one spending that much would apply for a card with such a low cap!

Do you pay the surcharges on your amex? I only use it where there is no surcharge (supermarkets, service stations, department stores, major retailers etc). I value Velocity points personally at between 1 and 2 cents per point so a 3% surcharge, for me means it costs more than its worth on a 1.25:1 card. I split my spend about 40% Velocity Amex and 60% Virgin Flyer Visa.

I would definitely recommend getting this card if you are looking for 2-4-1 J fares. Avoid the terrible Virgin Money website like the plague after you get the card (paying bills on their website is a nightmare). I believe as long as their are 2 fares available for purchase you get the second one free. Given J always seems to have spare seats this should mean you will always be able to get the flights you want.

I think this will be a very attractive offer on the 330 trans-con services. If they opened this up to ALL VA routes (i.e. to LAX) I would be on this like a shot - 2-4-1 Y+ to LAX would be irresistible!

 

[smit0847]

[h=3]Flyer Card Features | Virgin Flyer Credit Card | Virgin Money

Here's how it works:[/h]

• Within 10 days of your Virgin Flyer card being approved, your Velocity Frequent Flyer account will be updated to show your 'Complimentary flights' redemption activity. As soon as your Velocity account has been updated, you can call Virgin Australia to book your flights. You can buy one seat and get a 2nd complimentary seat when you fly domestically on Virgin Australia and it's available for Saver, Flexi, and Business fare classes only. Saver Sale fares cannot be used as part of this offer.

 

[Moopere]

I would wait until they have a better sign-on promotion for the Flyer card.

Yes, this is my intention.

Do you pay the surcharges on your amex? I only use it where there is no surcharge (supermarkets, service stations, department stores, major retailers etc). I value Velocity points personally at between 1 and 2 cents per point so a 3% surcharge, for me means it costs more than its worth on a 1.25:1 card. I split my spend about 40% Velocity Amex and 60% Virgin Flyer Visa.

I generally don't pay a surcharge. Some utilities will charge 0.7%, but as its the same across all cards including MC/VISA I wear that. I'm finding that I get get through daily life here in PER using an Amex almost everywhere and no surcharge. Got a rude awaking last time I went to SYD however and exercised the Mastercard quite a bit. MEL is generally good for Amex, other places are generally not too much trouble.

My points are worth 3c each to me whether they be MR, VFF or QFF ... I won't trade them for less than this and they pretty much only get used for J tickets.

 

[greg-777]

Can any one help with the following.

Current have the flyer card with 2for1 and have 4 of them remaining.

I want to take the family to Melbourne ex Sydney in October, can I use all 4 at once ie pay for 4 sectors down and redeem the 4 sectors back... Ie only paying 1/2 the entire trip for 4 family members, or is their a strategy to do this

 

[bcworld]

Can any one help with the following.

Current have the flyer card with 2for1 and have 4 of them remaining.

I want to take the family to Melbourne ex Sydney in October, can I use all 4 at once ie pay for 4 sectors down and redeem the 4 sectors back... Ie only paying 1/2 the entire trip for 4 family members, or is their a strategy to do this

I don't think there is a strategy. For each sector you buy you can get ONE companion free. You must be one of the travellers forming part of the companion arrangement so you can't also get buy one get one free on the 3rd and 4th passengers.

 

[greg-777]

Can I book myself twice on the flight to get the second person, ?? I cant imagine this would work but is it worth a try ??

 

[bcworld]

Can I book myself twice on the flight to get the second person, ?? I cant imagine this would work but is it worth a try ??

As your velocity number is automatically attached to the booking I'd imagine that's not possible and borderline fraudulent and likely to come back and bite you...at least by having some or all of the seats cancelled.

Oh...and if you did you'd still end up paying for 3 seats anyway!

 

[smit0847]

Get one of the other family members to get a Virgin Flyer card too.

Problem solved.

The 2-4-1 flights are a terrific feature of this card - Ive saved hundreds!

 

[bcworld]

The 2-4-1 flights are a terrific feature of this card - Ive saved hundreds!

Yup, me and the other half both have one.

Savings so far:

MEL-BNE-MEL: $310
MEL-ADL-MEL: $498 (could not believe the price of these flights at 4 weeks notice but J* wasn't much better!)
SYD-MEL: $120

Just about to book MEL-OOL-MEL: $414

...and one sector left.

So, so far that's $1342 saved for 2 x $99 annual fees!

 

[DeKa]

Has anyone booked a Business Class fare with the 2-for-1 offer and seen what the fare class is? I can see reference to Economy class, but not for Business Class.
Thanks.

 

[DeKa]

Has anyone booked a Business Class fare with the 2-for-1 offer and seen what the fare class is? I can see reference to Economy class, but not for Business Class.
Thanks.

For future reference, Virgin 2-for-1 offer Business Class tickets book into "J" Class.

 

[bcworld]

For future reference, Virgin 2-for-1 offer Business Class tickets book into "J" Class.

I'm curious as to why it matters? Earning in another FFP?

 

[Moopere]

I'm curious as to why it matters? Earning in another FFP?

It helps to know what these 'special' booking classes are if your trying to nut out availability via a service like ExpertFlyer.

 

[bcworld]

It helps to know what these 'special' booking classes are if your trying to nut out availability via a service like ExpertFlyer.

As far as I know these tickets don't book into special booking classes - they book into whatever fare is available. You don't need to check availability for these...if the website shows 2 seats available in a particular bucket...as long as it's not a sale fare, you can book them.

 

[Moopere]

As far as I know these tickets don't book into special booking classes - they book into whatever fare is available. You don't need to check availability for these...if the website shows 2 seats available in a particular bucket...as long as it's not a sale fare, you can book them.

Yes, indeed, and this is confirmed now that we know they book into J class. The question was asked several posts above, no doubt as a reference to the potential for the 'free' or 50% fare ticket possibly booking into H or even Q (domestically other codes for international)

 

[bcworld]

(domestically other codes for international)

The free seats can only be redeemed for domestic flights.

 

[kpc]

I bought a flex economy Syd - Per return for $610, used this 2 for 1 offer, and my 4 expiring DJ Plat upgrades, and paid another $18 credit card surcharges for 2, and ended up with 2 business Syd-Per return tickets on the Virgin A330 for $628