Woeful Virgin Australia Velocity FF [Customer] Service in comparison with Qantas FF

[williamsf1]

Re: Woeful Virgin Australia Velocity FF [Customer] Service in comparison with Qantas

On the contrary they do have soft landing, just not something that is formalised.

OT

I for one have benefited from a very soft landing on QF...... still Silver after 2 years .... and I had not even stepped onto a QF aircraft until very recently for 3yrs ( and that was a reward flight) I was Gold for 2 years before that .. hence my average would have been high

 

[tinkybelle]

Re: Woeful Virgin Australia Velocity FF [Customer] Service in comparison with Qantas

I can't really see your point
Qantas would not have kept you at gold either if you did not fly the required segments and get the required SC.
like all of us you pay and fly and get status then u use puts and loose status
get over it
also you were flying from Dallas why would any other airline get your paid business when they are the only ones that fly direct?
as far as using points ,
VA runs rings around QFF with the flight availability both to USA and to europe.
I have been able to acquire lots of flights to LA when qantas were not available and the tax is far less
try 1k syd lax return using QFF and 140 using VA.
i know which points i would rather possess.

 

[aaflyer]

Re: Woeful Virgin Australia Velocity FF [Customer] Service in comparison with Qantas

Having read his post, it seems like his reward seats were to the USA and his European flights may have been paid tickets via Etihad in first.

Have no idea how he hasn't remained Gold.

Also, for someone who does so much flying they should be able to play the FF game and maintain it without much issue.

Especially on Virgin. I keep Platinum so easily with my domestic flying and occasional Premium Economy jaunt to the USA (typically twice a year). I don't fly flexis either.

 

[Deleted member 29185]

Re: Woeful Virgin Australia Velocity FF [Customer] Service in comparison with Qantas

Given a choice between the days when status was given away to anyone with a shiny card or the apparent current situation, I'd choose the current situation any day of the week. Status should be earned not gifted. That way the airlines (either of our two dominant domestics) has a chance to reward those worthy, rather than enhance benefits in an attempt to keep the masses in unearned status positions.

It's just my opinion of course, but I believe a frequent flyer status should be for frequent flyers of the airline giving the status, or one of their partners.

 

[medhead]

Re: Woeful Virgin Australia Velocity FF [Customer] Service in comparison with Qantas

I am confused .... you mentioned you travelled on EY in first class 2 times in the past 12 months..... From your profile it says you are in SYD.... based on that info, even if you only travelled to AUH, those 2 journeys would have given you 320 status credits per trip based on return .... so in 12 months you would have received 640SC alone for EY.

You need 4 eligible sectors to maintain gold ... and you say you do 2-3 trips per month .. even at the cheapest fare you would be getting 20 SC each time.... If they are all on VA ... that's 60SC per month or 720 per year ....

Am I missing something ?

They are gold with both VA and QF. That earn is solidly double gold or single platinum.

 

[esseeeayeenn]

Re: Woeful Virgin Australia Velocity FF [Customer] Service in comparison with Qantas

It is all very well to say Virgin should have showed some common sense, but have you thought about what that would actually entail?
Like any business they roster on enough staff to do the job. Extra staff aren't always sitting around waiting for something to do.
The ground crew who provide such assistance have other duties. That's why you have to book special assistance in advance.

I don't know enough (about the length of the queue, the availability of a premium check-in counter, check-in kiosks, online check-in or whether your relative had checked luggage) to comment on whether they should have accelerated her check-in. I can observe, however, that assisting someone to "jump the queue" can leave other passengers unhappy.

I can't believe the other issue is even being complained about. Over the past few years I've taken care to arrange my travel to keep status with both Virgin and Qantas. That has sometimes involved a cost, in money, convenience or both. I don't see how it would be fair for someone who fails to arrange their travel with similar care, and incur similar costs, to be rewarded with unearned status.

 

[JohnK]

Re: Woeful Virgin Australia Velocity FF [Customer] Service in comparison with Qantas

After years of throwing status at anyone who came within 1km of an airport, VA (and QF) are finally starting to enforce the actual rules of their program/s.

The rules are very clear and if you want status, you need to follow/satisfy them. I am actually very happy with this new situation and the more stories like the OP, the better it will be for those who actually earned our status the hard way (without DSC, comps etc).

It could be a bit late for Platinum but hopefully the benefits don't erode further for other status tiers.

 

[reniklaf]

Re: Woeful Virgin Australia Velocity FF [Customer] Service in comparison with Qantas

I am confused .... you mentioned you travelled on EY in first class 2 times in the past 12 months..... From your profile it says you are in SYD.... based on that info, even if you only travelled to AUH, those 2 journeys would have given you 320 status credits per trip based on return .... so in 12 months you would have received 640SC alone for EY.

You need 4 eligible sectors to maintain gold ... and you say you do 2-3 trips per month .. even at the cheapest fare you would be getting 20 SC each time.... If they are all on VA ... that's 60SC per month or 720 per year ....

Am I missing something ?

I am also a Centurion member with Amex and I paid for the flights to Europe and was credited with the points on my EY FF status not VA. I actually booked and paid for business, but Amex have a deal with EY whereby there is an automatic upgrade to First if full business class fares are purchased. The flights were to Europe.

Not all my domestic flights are on VA as sometime I was unable to get the times I wanted or the fares were too high. I also mentioned that last year I redeemed many domestic flights with my VA points and these did not earn any SC, this was the real point of my complaint. In previous years I had not redeemed any points for domestic (or overseas flights) so everything I flew I paid for, and therefore maintained my Gold status.

 

[reniklaf]

Re: Woeful Virgin Australia Velocity FF [Customer] Service in comparison with Qantas

The point is simple, I have been a Gold VA ff for many years. Last year I still flew on average twice a month Syd-Mel. Many of those flights were redeemed with VA ff points, including a business class from DFW on VA. I was downgraded to Silver as a result, because many of my flights last year were non-revenue, and additionally I have the equivalent of Gold/Platinum with EY through my flights to Europe in Business (fully paid) but none of this was taken into consideration in my downgrade despite me writing to them and additionally their responsiveness to my emails was abysmal (time wise).

 

[anat0l]

Re: Woeful Virgin Australia Velocity FF [Customer] Service in comparison with Qantas

The point is simple, I have been a Gold VA ff for many years. Last year I still flew on average twice a month Syd-Mel. Many of those flights were redeemed with VA ff points, including a business class from DFW on VA. I was downgraded to Silver as a result, because many of my flights last year were non-revenue, and additionally I have the equivalent of Gold/Platinum with EY through my flights to Europe in Business (fully paid) but none of this was taken into consideration in my downgrade despite me writing to them and additionally their responsiveness to my emails was abysmal (time wise).

The other main point is also very simple: to retain VA Gold, you need 4 Eligible Sectors and 400 status credits in 12 months.

If you do not fulfill these requirements, you are downgraded. If you get given a free pass, so be it, but the gazetted expectation is a downgrade and nothing else should be considered as expected.

As for Qantas, Qantas are known for giving people a free pass (or comp, if you will) when they fall short of the retention mark, although in many cases it would rely on evidence of an atypical membership year compared to several recent ones, and in several cases is a "grace" which is only accorded once per membership. Again, in cases like these, it should only be expected that if you fall short of the mark, you will lose your status.

The only main grievance I can see here is possibly the very long time it has (had) taken to address your original correspondence.

 

[TomVexille]

Re: Woeful Virgin Australia Velocity FF [Customer] Service in comparison with Qantas

The point is simple, I have been a Gold VA ff for many years. Last year I still flew on average twice a month Syd-Mel. Many of those flights were redeemed with VA ff points, including a business class from DFW on VA. I was downgraded to Silver as a result, because many of my flights last year were non-revenue, and additionally I have the equivalent of Gold/Platinum with EY through my flights to Europe in Business (fully paid) but none of this was taken into consideration in my downgrade despite me writing to them and additionally their responsiveness to my emails was abysmal (time wise).

If you had credited your EY flights to VA instead this most likely would not have been an issue. And as long as you had eligible sectors you would have requalified as gold or possibly even platinum.

 

[williamsf1]

Re: Woeful Virgin Australia Velocity FF [Customer] Service in comparison with Qantas

The point is simple, I have been a Gold VA ff for many years. Last year I still flew on average twice a month Syd-Mel. Many of those flights were redeemed with VA ff points, including a business class from DFW on VA. I was downgraded to Silver as a result, because many of my flights last year were non-revenue, and additionally I have the equivalent of Gold/Platinum with EY through my flights to Europe in Business (fully paid) but none of this was taken into consideration in my downgrade despite me writing to them and additionally their responsiveness to my emails was abysmal (time wise).

You have EY gold ... does that not offer most of the same things a VA gold gets ? Lounge / Priority security / seating / bags ??????

 

[markis10]

Re: Woeful Virgin Australia Velocity FF [Customer] Service in comparison with Qantas

The other main point is also very simple: to retain VA Gold, you need 4 Eligible Sectors and 400 status credits in 12 months.

If you do not fulfill these requirements, you are downgraded. If you get given a free pass, so be it, but the gazetted expectation is a downgrade and nothing else should be considered as expected.

As for Qantas, Qantas are known for giving people a free pass (or comp, if you will) when they fall short of the retention mark, although in many cases it would rely on evidence of an atypical membership year compared to several recent ones, and in several cases is a "grace" which is only accorded once per membership. Again, in cases like these, it should only be expected that if you fall short of the mark, you will lose your status.

The only main grievance I can see here is possibly the very long time it has (had) taken to address your original correspondence.

Lately the comps have been on excess rollover SCs from the past three years.

 

[TomVexille]

Re: Woeful Virgin Australia Velocity FF [Customer] Service in comparison with Qantas

You have EY gold ... does that not offer most of the same things a VA gold gets ? Lounge / Priority security / seating / bags ??????

My thoughts exactly. The OP seems to want a comp because they chose to qualify with EY instead of VA.

 

[mark4217]

Re: Woeful Virgin Australia Velocity FF [Customer] Service in comparison with Qantas

Maybe this is a silly Q, but I have been enjoying WP for a 2nd year now, just re-qualified Dec. Due to work expenses I have 4mil+ points and growing. I now find myself booking trips with points all this year and probably next year & beyond. all flights J class. I expect to be gold this December as no revenue tickets this year. Q, Does one have to be WP or SG to book International flight or can any Silver book them providing they have the points. If points & J flights is all you need then why bother chasing the status.

 

[anat0l]

Re: Woeful Virgin Australia Velocity FF [Customer] Service in comparison with Qantas

Q, Does one have to be WP or SG to book International flight or can any Silver book them providing they have the points.

As far as I know, anyone with any status can book any award tickets as long as the availability is there. I don't think VA has a "tiered availability" (or the like) system like in QF (i.e. where Golds and Platinums have slightly more availability than Silver and Bronze - in theory), notwithstanding any favours or what not that the Platinum help desk can grant over and above what the system allows by itself (if any).

If points & J flights is all you need then why bother chasing the status.

In theory, not much point, except that there are still benefits that can be had from status which are not afforded each time you travel in the highest class of service (let alone when you don't).

 

[mark4217]

Re: Woeful Virgin Australia Velocity FF [Customer] Service in comparison with Qantas

Interesting Anat01, then if this is the case why is the OP so worried as they fly 1st and J all the time. All I need with my points J seat is lounge access and priority check in. The 4 free upgrades are ok, but flying OOL - SYD is not great value. I see the Value coast to coast.

 

[anat0l]

Re: Woeful Virgin Australia Velocity FF [Customer] Service in comparison with Qantas

Interesting Anat01, then if this is the case why is the OP so worried as they fly 1st and J all the time. All I need with my points J seat is lounge access and priority check in. The 4 free upgrades are ok, but flying OOL - SYD is not great value. I see the Value coast to coast.

It seems that the shorter flights (mainly domestic) the OP still travels in Economy. I guess all said and done they could also use their massive points balance (if there is some left) on domestic upgrades, which is a considerable prospect if there is no direct expense of the base ticket by the OP.

As a Gold member the OP would be, by letter of benefits, entitled to Fly Ahead when flying domestically without checked baggage. A person on a Business ticket, even if paid for, does not have the same luxury, although suffice to say some such passengers can change their flight relatively free of charge through the call centre.

Other benefits include partner company status - Hilton/IHG, hire car company, Secure Sentinel - and additional baggage allowance due to status (on top of any class-specific entitlement).

On a more minor point, given two passengers even in Business or First Class, one with a higher status will have a better chance of being afforded better service than otherwise. These little unwritten things are what makes status a smoother experience overall, not that they necessarily override or transcend travellers based on class of service.

The OP has to weigh up the value proposition in the same way you obviously have and thus in your judgement the OP is not really missing out on too much at all.

 

[mark4217]

Re: Woeful Virgin Australia Velocity FF [Customer] Service in comparison with Qantas

Ahh yes, I do enjoy the fly ahead from SYD. There is a benefit I would miss. Maybe I keep my domestic to flexi with upgrade on points. That would keep me SG.
Here's a Q, in my situation I may as well wait until this Dec to drop back to SG, Then I start back with revenue flexi's for 2016. I would only need 400 SC's to retain Gold, correct. Cheers and thanks

 

[medhead]

Re: Woeful Virgin Australia Velocity FF [Customer] Service in comparison with Qantas

Saver fares can be upgraded with points, now.

My reading was that the OPs points were mainly from flying. Meaning awards would not be sustainable without also buying fares.