Will you still earn/retain Velocity status beyond 2025?

[antycbr]

What gets me is that he framed it as being primarily those flying SYD-MEL regularly (he did use that specific route as the example) wanting to make that experience better... surely the $$ based SC calculation does not benefit them at all, and yet the program is primarily aimed at them, in this narrative.

Are you really going to look those 80% in the eye and say we have found that the way for you to make flying SYD-MEL more enjoyable is to fly it 3 x as much to earn the same status? What did the focus groups have to say about that idea?

Ramming an extra row of seats in sure hasn’t helped on the comfort front.

 

[RooFlyer]

I asked Velocity Frequent Flyer's CEO about the results of the poll in this thread on the latest episode of the Travel Pointers podcast:

Travel Pointers Episode 5 - Interview with Velocity CEO Nick Rohrlach & Mongolia

In episode 5 of the Travel Pointers podcast, Matt and Chris interview Velocity Frequent Flyer CEO Nick Rohrlach about the recent changes to Virgin Australia's loyalty program. Plus, find out why next year is a great time to visit Mongolia.

www.australianfrequentflyer.com.au

That specific question starts at around the 14-minute mark.

Yep - they want to give status to those who actually fly the airline and give them the perks - not those who might just take a few flights a year with them.

 

[33kft]

Yep - they want to give status to those who actually fly the airline and give them the perks - not those who might just take a few flights a year with them.

How good of a proxy for actually flying is a revenue target, though? Going from a matrix of distance flown and class of travel to purely dollars spent, you are lowering the bar for the occasional flex J traveller (likely business funded) and increasing the bar for the frequent discount Y traveller.

I guess we will see, but I am not convinced that part of the equation really does promote regular VA pax over occasional travellers.

Certainly the proportion required to be VA SCs does, but you could have that instead of a revenue based model and you would have achieved the stated goal without the alienation of customer base.

 

[RooFlyer]

How good of a proxy for actually flying is a revenue target, though? Going from a matrix of distance flown and class of travel to purely dollars spent, you are lowering the bar for the occasional flex J traveller (likely business funded) and increasing the bar for the frequent discount Y traveller.

Does the frequency or fare class make much difference with the new model? It’s basically a flat revenue spend no matter how you accumulated, I think.

 

[MooTime]

Poor reasoning for the changes, was basically just to make it more financially viable to improve lounges, well they have upgraded MEL & ADL (years ago), but the f&b is very basic n cheap. $6 vino n falafel wraps so often.
Seemingly to appease the mel-syd flyers. Yes big revenue, but does nothing for families that he did mention was a key part of virgin... How again? Oh family pooling staying.

Very poor reasoning and no followup questions regarding the change in fares. Why was flex ever so ridiculously expensive compared to J? And never modified?

Point made on not rewarding VA members travelling on int partners, then raving on about how good partners they have, ana, Qatar etc so which is it? G
Fly our partners but buggered if we're going to reward you fairly.

Not explained the changes in any details except the positive of Gold Forever & the very few that will jump to WP+.

Weak and commercial interview.

 

[RooFlyer]

Fly our partners but buggered if we're going to reward you fairly.

Fly the partners and get whatever benefits we can get you but if you want the good stuff you've really got to fly enough with us as well.

Someone flying Etihad a lot and giving them most of their coin but only occasionally putting their bum on a Virgin seat shouldn't get the same status as someone who flies on Virgin all the time.

yes a change and a negative one for a lot here it seems but you really can’t fault the logic: We'll give you elite status if you fly us and put money into our coffers.

 

[eastwest101]

Ramming an extra row of seats in sure hasn’t helped on the comfort front.

And it would be nice if they could even operate their schedule on time as well. I don't know if it is crew shortages or aircraft shortages but I havent seen many VA domestic flights on time at all after about 3pm on any weekday lately. Their OTP stats will be in the toilet when the next set of quarterly stats are released.

 

[SCM]

I asked Velocity Frequent Flyer's CEO about the results of the poll in this thread on the latest episode of the Travel Pointers podcast:

Travel Pointers Episode 5 - Interview with Velocity CEO Nick Rohrlach & Mongolia

In episode 5 of the Travel Pointers podcast, Matt and Chris interview Velocity Frequent Flyer CEO Nick Rohrlach about the recent changes to Virgin Australia's loyalty program. Plus, find out why next year is a great time to visit Mongolia.

www.australianfrequentflyer.com.au

That specific question starts at around the 14-minute mark.

Thanks for the interview, it was very insightful.

I guess those here who suggested VA doesn't want people who mostly fly international were right, but I am still perplexed by these changes. If that's the case, why drop the requirements with flight segments? Why not increase them instead? If we are talking about frequent flyers, plats would only have to take 8 local flights in order to qualify... so if that's what is considered platinum why poopoo them for also flying international?

It's all a bit nonsensical to me.

I also think the other question not asked (maybe also in this forum - we need a new poll perhaps), which is, will people even stay with VA? For example, I do need to travel domestically, maybe at least a dozen trips a year, but if VA is going to significantly reduce benefits for international travel, it just makes way more sense to fly jetstar for a fraction of the cost (or god willing some new competitor), and go directly with SQ or EY for loyalty (or both!). I am convinced that VA will lose some marginal amount of domestic business just because of that. It's not going to be crazy, but it may reduce their overall utilisation by say 5%. In a game of such close margins, why take the risk?

It sounds like maybe at some point at in the not so near future there might be some more benefits when flying with QR, but it's nothing short of a gamble at the moment, far better to disengage with velocity until they figure something out for accessing better lounges in Doha. Money has value, so why give it to VA when they are presiding over such a reduction in benefits for international travelers.

 

[levelnine]

I do need to travel domestically, maybe at least a dozen trips a year, but if VA is going to significantly reduce benefits for international travel, it just makes way more sense to fly jetstar for a fraction of the cost

I think the interviewee did address this point.

He basically said they are losing too many people at the top end of the frequent flyer spectrum — people who hit Plat and then shift their spend elsewhere because there's nothing more to aim for.

Losing a domestic road warrior who flies SYD-MEL once a week is probably 10-20x more impactful than losing a person who flies a couple of times per year. So they sacrificed the lower end of the spectrum to make the program more appealing to the top end of the spectrum.

As he repeatedly mentioned, they couldn't do both — it wasn't financially viable to introduce lifetime status without thinning the herd.

Whether the calculation was the correct one remains to be seen, of course. But you can see the reasoning.

 

[MarkD]

I have platinum locked in until feb 26 will drop to gold then and back to silver year after. I am now actively searching bfod and dont chase status. For a coffee and sandwich in the lounge im better off flying jq or qf and going without a lounge. I have not set foot on a VA aircraft since this money grab was released and all my forward bookings are on QF at this stage.
Whilst i agree with the part about flying VA to gain status on VA I find it blatant BS when he claimed they need to make it financially viable. Isnt velocity the most profitable part of the airline?
They are full of cough and have no idea that loyalty is a two way street.

 

[marcojim]

As a leisure traveller these new changes make it more difficult for me to retain status (which is understandable from VA's point of view).

My review date isn't until October though so I will be taking advantage of the current Black Friday Sale and (hopefully) a DSC promotion in February to get the bulk of my bookings in before the status credit earn rate changes come into effect for bookings made from 2 April. The plan is to retain Platinum until October 2026, and then I could re-assess from there. Most likely scenario is that I will drop down to Gold, which I will have until October 2027 at least.

 

[levelnine]

I have platinum locked in until feb 26 will drop to gold then and back to silver year after. I am now actively searching bfod and dont chase status. For a coffee and sandwich in the lounge im better off flying jq or qf and going without a lounge. I have not set foot on a VA aircraft since this money grab was released and all my forward bookings are on QF at this stage.

Hold on.

You have status with VA for several more years. You do not have particularly valuable status with QF (your profile says Silver). You are paying more to fly QF even though you have fewer benefits and no lounge access.

Talk about cutting off your nose to spite your face.

 

[RooFlyer]

I am now actively searching bfod and dont chase status.

Good stuff. As I've said before, chasing status is a mug's game. In most cases, if you fly enough, you'll get the status you need.

They are full of cough and have no idea that loyalty is a two way street.

I think you'll find they are not alone in that! So good luck going over the road.

 

[Zanzara]

Blatantly chasing the MEL-SYD (and visa versa) ff $$$ (some of who commute weekly) and ensuring that Velocity remains economically viable (aka highly profitable) explains why the VA flyers to DRW and CNS haven't been considered. Both VA lounges remain shuttered and closed, with no plans to reopen them. The whole reevaluation does make you think too why people value providing basically a room, some cheap wine and beer and inexpensive snacks (aka as a lounge) as one of the highly valued perks of attaining status.

 

[MooTime]

Blatantly chasing the MEL-SYD (and visa versa) ff $$$ (some of who commute weekly) and ensuring that Velocity remains economically viable (aka highly profitable) explains why the VA flyers to DRW and CNS haven't been considered. Both VA lounges remain shuttered and closed, with no plans to reopen them. The whole reevaluation does make you think too why people value providing basically a room, some cheap wine and beer and inexpensive snacks (aka as a lounge) as one of the highly valued perks of attaining status.

I guess the staffing costs have to come into the equation, with sporadic flights throughout the day, is it or is it not worthwhile keeping the lounge open all day in CNS & DRW? can't close & open multiple times a day.

I believe Nick should've been asked/pushed on the revenue based SC change, cos that's what killed for lot of current status holders. He did say they look to o/s flyer programs so yeah came from their US airlines?? All he said was some winners & some losers with every change.

I maintain that my annual 8-12 flights/sectors may or may not be considered platinum status, each to their own, but these changes, my ~$3-4k spend won't even get me Gold, hence me believing these changes a little too harsh.

Nick did mention that some members fly just 4 times per year & attain status, fair call. Why I believe they should've lifted the sector requirement or increased total SC to retain/attain, closer aligned with the other mob.

I suspect VA will keep their competitive flight pricing so most, myself included will not abandon them completely, bfod etc. Just many will drop status level or 2.
S#^tstar will definitely gain IMO, so how much they lose compared to how much they gain for those extending themselves to FG & WP+ will only be know in 24months time.

Note limiting lounge status access them throwing free lounge access all year with AMEX Velocity platinum card reasoning is beyond me.

 

[RooFlyer]

Note limiting lounge status access them throwing free lounge access all year with AMEX Velocity platinum card reasoning is beyond me.

I guess AMEX pays 'em enough.

 

[justinbrett]

What strikes me as odd is that VA is walking towards international pax, and Velocity is walking away from them.

 

[RooFlyer]

What strikes me as odd is that VA is walking towards international pax, and Velocity is walking away from them.

How so? A passenger on one of their new international flights will be paying a fair bit and should qualify for platinum more easily ( fewer flights, at least) than pure domestic flyers.

Again, they are rewarding people who spend money with them not partner Airlines.

 

[levelnine]

Another point to consider in relation to the suggestion that people will start flying Jetstar instead of Virgin.

The 'quality' of Jetstar's customer base has degraded since the collapse of Tiger. The 'party squads' looking to get to their boozy holiday as cheaply as possible now only have one airline to fly.

It was interesting hearing someone say this to me last week — they were on a flight full of really poorly behaved young men and have sworn off flying Jetstar again. The financial savings compared to Virgin were not worth the unpleasantness of the experience.

My prediction is a lot of the people who are threatening to fly Jetstar will be back to Virgin after one unpleasant experience.

 

[33kft]

Nick did mention that some members fly just 4 times per year & attain status, fair call.

Would the new regime prevent this? Quick back of the napkin math, it's $6,000 for VA Gold, or $1,500 per flight for 4 flights to reach Gold.

VA flights SYD-PER in J are going for $1,600 each way. You could get VA Gold in 4 east-west legs, could you do that previously? No, because SYD-PER would earn 105 SC in J, for a total of 420 SC with the target being 500 to earn Gold (yes, it would have allowed you to requal)

The point is, it doesn't seem to actually make earning status harder, it just shifts the emphasis from the mileage calculation to price calculation, ie if you pay for the more expensive flights on any given day you'll earn it quicker. This is entirely at odds with all claims that this new regime either reduces the ability for infrequent flyers to qualify, or rewards those who fly the most.

It rewards those who pay the most, and who fly VA/codeshares over partners, this is indeed true.