Will you still earn/retain Velocity status beyond 2025?

[MEL_Traveller]

My view is that it will hurt Virgin as those flyers like me will have no reason to chose Virgin once they are no longer Platinum or Gold. Had not thought of buying a lounge membership though. Will check that out.

Well… the overwhelming advantage of VA is the price! That’s all you need to keep most people flying with them.

$349 business class one way between the major cities is hard to beat. QF is a little over $500.

Flex fares on the same route $209.

If you don’t want to pay more people will stay with VA. If they are paying more… last minute fares which are close to QF’s… retain their status anyway.

There are exceptions, maybe some smaller towns where VA is the only option.

 

[odysseus]

Well… the overwhelming advantage of VA is the price! That’s all you need to keep most people flying with them.

$349 business class one way between the major cities is hard to beat. QF is a little over $500.

Flex fares on the same route $209.

If you don’t want to pay more people will stay with VA. If they are paying more… last minute fares which are close to QF’s… retain their status anyway.

There are exceptions, maybe some smaller towns where VA is the only option.

Except... if all you're competing on is price, then the overwhelming advantage shifts to Jet*. So QF still has that covered.

While many customers were actually after value rather than price i.e. perks and bennies from status, if that carrot has been removed then you're just looking at the best price either bare bones or for bundle. And that moves the equation away from VA in many cases. VA will have to reduce their price to stay competitive - which was not the intent of these changes.

e.g. I was looking at a SYD-BNE flight a couple of days out. VA want $170-$300 just for Choice, whereas JQ were under$100 for the same times. (Knock $20 off for a Lite fare comparison.)

 

[MEL_Traveller]

Except... if all you're competing on is price, then the overwhelming advantage shifts to Jet*. So QF still has that covered.

While many customers were actually after value rather than price i.e. perks and bennies from status, if that carrot has been removed then you're just looking at the best price either bare bones or for bundle. And that moves the equation away from VA in many cases. VA will have to reduce their price to stay competitive - which was not the intent of these changes.

e.g. I was looking at a SYD-BNE flight a couple of days out. VA want $170-$300 just for Choice, whereas JQ were under$100 for the same times. (Knock $20 off for a Lite fare comparison.)

Yes good point!

I have been talking about ‘price’ but as you say, it’s really ‘value’.

And VA is probably the lowest entry ‘value’ carrier… 30’ seat pitch, bag, carry-on, cup of tea.

I don’t think people will swap all of those to suddenly flock to JQ?

 

[odysseus]

Yes good point!

I have been talking about ‘price’ but as you say, it’s really ‘value’.

And VA is probably the lowest entry ‘value’ carrier… 30’ seat pitch, bag, carry-on, cup of tea.

I don’t think people will swap all of those to suddenly flock to JQ?

A carry on is the same between them (7kg each), a bag is something many don't need and those that do would account for it in their comparison (e.g. becomes ~$120 in comparison above). I doubt many bother about seat pitch or tea, or would just put them in nice to have, but not worth $50+.

I'm not saying there's no value in these extras e.g. VA also would have slightly better recovery - but by taking status benefits out of the equation, it makes the value comparison more straightforward and easily assessed.

 

[RooFlyer]

What's the negative value ascribed to JetStar for the chance your flight will be cancelled and you'll not be offered a reasonable alternative?

I usually fly Virgin over Qantas due to price and value; but I'd never fly JetStar because of the above issue. And I reckon I'm not alone.

 

[andrewpf]

The latest stats (Feb 2025) show:

Jetstar on time arrivals: 76.1%; cancellations 1.6%
Virgin on time arrivals: 81.9%; cancellations 1.5%
Qantas on time arrivals: 81.3%; cancellations 3.6%

I had a look at random days next month, Sydney - Melbourne return on flights leaving late morning, return later in the week in the evening: Jetstar are $194, Virgin are $309, Qantas: $365.

For the fare premium Qantas gives you checked baggage and snacks (arguably not worth it), but Virgin doesn't really give you anything except 'not being Jetstar'.

If you're not interested in status anymore thanks to the changes, and are flying a basic economy ticket, what exactly is Virgin offering to a traveller for the significant premium over Jetstar? They are neither competitive on price or on service.

 

[clifford]

If you're not interested in status anymore thanks to the changes, and are flying a basic economy ticket, what exactly is Virgin offering to a traveller for the significant premium over Jetstar? They are neither competitive on price or on service.

But they may be competitive on schedule. Try flying out of CBR on JQ.

 

[Zinger]

I've been a Velocity platinum member since soon after VA's status match offer following Joyce's 2011 shut down of Qantas which left me stranded in Singapore for a week.

I have enjoyed the experience and have been mostly quite happy with VA despite its rag tag inconsistent alliances and closure of my home airport's lounge. The price difference between a VA business class seat compared to the opposition meant I could happily have a few drinks and food at the airport and still be financially in front.

I've found their business class product quite good value and for less cash than the opposition.

I'm a leisure flyer and usually do three international trips a year and a few domestic trips, all in business class at my own expense. These were all credited to my Velocity account to retain platinum status which never really offered much more than what a paid business class fare offered.

I'm now crediting my SQ flights to my KrisFlyer account to gain more KF points and not lose in the VA to KF exchange rate. Also the option of flying other *A carriers opens up many new possibilities.

The new rule requiring 50% of status credits to be earned on VA flight numbers doesn't suit. Flying partner airlines booking through VA to get that VA flight number usually involves a hefty price jump for no justifiable reason.

I don't know if I will qualify for Velocity Forever Gold as over the years I think I have earned enough SCs but not 75% earned on VA flights. VA hasn't actually offered a large number of opportunities to fly overseas to make this viable. They haven't contacted me about my situation so I doubt they saw it as being in their interest to do so.

Certainly many others either are reassessing or have already decided their future with Velocity due to the changes. Even as a platinum member I've found it impossible to find reward J seats on international partner airline flights.

I think VA's Rohrlach and those who thought the changes would encourage Velocity status holders to continue as they were without considering the changes have greatly misjudged us and just when they are kicking off the IPO process.

 

[levelnine]

Virgin doesn't really give you anything except 'not being Jetstar'.

That's a huge factor in many people's views, including many on this thread.

It's why people will shop on price between Woolworths and Coles, but never consider Aldi.

It's why people will shop on home loan rate between the Big 4, but never consider a local credit union.

And so on.

Market segmentation is real, and Jetstar is assigned to a different segment of the market than Virgin by many people.

 

[simmomelb]

A carry on is the same between them (7kg each)

Jetstar frequently checks carry on weight, and if over, out comes the EFT terminal.
VA never does this and I'm usually always carrying about 10KG.
I won't put up with having the queue twice before a flights, once for everyone to have their carry on checked and tagged at the gate and another to board, it's very annoying and a totally different experience.
Speaking from personal experience a few weeks ago and vowed to never fly them again because of this.
The experience between VA and JQ is definitely not the same, not even close in my experience.

 

[RooFlyer]

The latest stats (Feb 2025) show:

Jetstar on time arrivals: 76.1%; cancellations 1.6%
Virgin on time arrivals: 81.9%; cancellations 1.5%
Qantas on time arrivals: 81.3%; cancellations 3.6%

I had a look at random days next month, Sydney - Melbourne return on flights leaving late morning, return later in the week in the evening: Jetstar are $194, Virgin are $309, Qantas: $365.

You quote from one of the most active routes in the world. As I mentioned above, the main issue for flying JQ for me is that IF they do cancel, then you are totally on your own resources and won't get a flight until they are good and ready. My commonest routes are HBA-MEL and HBA-SYD; comfort and amenity of JQ would be perfectly OK. But the positive price differential on JQ simply isn't enough for me to consider them, and I'm only a leisure flyer.

For the fare premium Qantas gives you checked baggage and snacks (arguably not worth it), but Virgin doesn't really give you anything except 'not being Jetstar'.

If you're not interested in status anymore thanks to the changes, and are flying a basic economy ticket, what exactly is Virgin offering to a traveller for the significant premium over Jetstar? They are neither competitive on price or on service.

Virgin not being JetStar is quite enough. And I'm not sure what you mean by VA not being competitive with JQ on 'service'.

 

[MEL_Traveller]

Jetstar frequently checks carry on weight, and if over, out comes the EFT terminal.
VA never does this and I'm usually always carrying about 10KG.
I won't put up with having the queue twice before a flights, once for everyone to have their bags weight checked and tagged and another to board, it's very annoying and a totally different experience.
Speaking from personal experience a few weeks ago and vowed to never fly them again because of this.
If you think the experience between VA and JQ is the same, you're kidding yourself IMO.

Agree.

With VA you are paying for ‘less hassle’ at every stage of the journey.

Every time I pass through Sydney T2 departures there are people milling around the JQ counters because it’s ’too early’ to drop bags.

Then there are calls for those on upcoming flights to jump the queues because check-in for their flight is about to close.

And as mentioned, cabin bags are meticulously weighed.

I accept maybe some folk don’t worry about seat pitch… but 28 inches vs 30 makes a difference if you are flying regularly.