Gold Velocity FF wondering best VA airline partner to travel to London with.

[gee.]

Hey FF ,

I'm a velocity gold FF and am planing a trip to Europe; flying in and out of London in mid july this year. I'm thinking about flying with one of the VA partners to reach platinum status. What experience have people had with VA partners to Europe? any recommendations better lounges in Sydney/London etc . Stop over isn't too concerning and not expecting an upgrade in this tight economy. Have not had much experience with VA long haul .

Ps : I'm angling towards Cathay Pacific flight via Hong Kong to pick up QFF status as am sick of VA's attitude to being unable to change bookings because the system won't allow a change !!! absolute nonsense.

 

[Deleted member 29185]

I'm thinking about flying with one of the VA partners to reach platinum status.
I'm angling towards Cathay Pacific flight via Hong Kong to pick up QFF status

Welcome to AFF gee!

You may wish to clarify a bit what you want as those two statements are contradictory. Are you trying to compare VA partnerships with One World?

 

[pythonisman]

I'd say it depends which cabin class you're looking to travel.

For Y or Y+, given you're a VA gold then you'll get lounge access if you travel with them, or their partners. If you're talking J then it's a bit different.

If you're looking at Y+, I know that VS offer the product SYD-HKG-LHR, whereas VA you'll be booked to fly Y from AUH to your final destination on EY metal.

I haven't flown to Europe, but I did the USA with VA (on VA metal - the 777) last year and had a great experience. Nice wide seats, outstanding crew and an overall great flight. (I did Y+ over, Y back - in the future would do Y+ both ways for sure)

Hope this (limited insight) helps.

 

[grubbidok]

If you're looking at Y then SQ is a good choice. Full Y earns (just be sure you book an elegible class) at the same price VA and EY usually offer discount Y. A nice A380 experience the whole way and lounge access at both ends. The SQ lounges are underwhelming though, you're better off just slipping in for a drink and wandering around Changi. No showers at the Changi lounge either, which is a bummer (though they do at the other ends).

Flying VA is quite a nice experience, but like pythonisman my experience has been largely to NA. I go SQ if its an option for the double SCs, which if you're after platinum is probably important to you too.

J or Y+ would be different. My work won't let me use either of these, so I can only comment on Y options

Be careful with Cathay, trying to work out what flights earn on QFF can be difficult sometimes. Not all of them do.

 

[pythonisman]

SQ is a good choice.

Sorry, completely blanked on SQ. Both their Y and J hard and soft product (seat, aircraft, meals and service) is outstanding.

 

[EuroFlyer]

I would avoid ey in economy at all cost. Had 4 sub par flights with them.
there business product a good though.


id go v Atlantic or Singapore airines if it was me. I'm also va plat

Hey FF ,

I'm a velocity gold FF and am planing a trip to Europe; flying in and out of London in mid july this year. I'm thinking about flying with one of the VA partners to reach platinum status. What experience have people had with VA partners to Europe? any recommendations better lounges in Sydney/London etc . Stop over isn't too concerning and not expecting an upgrade in this tight economy. Have not had much experience with VA long haul .

Ps : I'm angling towards Cathay Pacific flight via Hong Kong to pick up QFF status as am sick of VA's attitude to being unable to change bookings because the system won't allow a change !!! absolute nonsense.

 

[gee.]

Welcome to AFF gee!

You may wish to clarify a bit what you want as those two statements are contradictory.

Thanks for the Welcome . Not comparing just adding that I'm not too happy with VA and their new system that doesn't seem to be getting much better but do enjoy the overall travel experience in Australia .

Still trying to understand and decode airline language and I was obviously more confident didn't even think about different fare types etc been spending too much time flying domestically.

I am now leaning towards Singapore Airlines in a flexi economy ticket (to gain sc) haven't ever seen the value in traveling business class much rather spend the money on shopping on arrival and find sleeping in economy fairly easy on long haul ! .

 

[Bolthead]

I would avoid ey in economy at all cost. Had 4 sub par flights with them.
there business product a good though.


id go v Atlantic or Singapore airines if it was me. I'm also va plat

Agree with EuroFlyer: Avoid EY Y product....too cramped unless you can get an exit row which I have been luckily enough to score twice. I have also been upgraded twice from AUH to DUS & FRA. LHR I would go with either SQ or VS.

 

[BrentH]

Let me start by saying OH MY FREAKING EYES!!

COMIC SANS!!!

:mrgreen:

Now, onto more serious matters...

I don't think Etihad (EY) or Singapore (SQ) represent particularly good value for money on that route.

Virgin Atlantic (VS) had a great deal on fares from Sydney (SYD) to London Heathrow (LHR) in Premium Economy (Y+ or PE) at a recent travel expo.

I think it was $2,700 return including all taxes and CC fees, flying from Melbourne, and it let us have a stopover in Hong Kong (HKG).

It looks like they still have some around at slightly more than this ($2900ish).

Since you have Velocity Gold, I think you get access to the lounges in Sydney, Hong Kong and Heathrow too. (Something you won't get if you go Cathay (CX).) And if you're flying Virgin Atlantic with a partner and using Family Pooling to claim their Status Credits (SC), the trip might even get you to Platinum (WP).

If you do decide to switch airlines, British Airways (BA) had some good value for money fares too last time I checked.

[You mentioned you're having trouble getting your head around "decoding airline language", so I threw the acronyms etc used beside words. Hope it helps. ]

 

[drewbles]

Virgin Atlantic (VX) had a great deal on fares from Sydney (SYD) to London Heathrow (LHR) in Premium Economy (Y+ or PE) at a recent travel expo.

Virgin Atlantic are VS btw. Virgin America are VX

I echo others sentiments; fly VS from SYD to HKG, and you're golden. If you have a Virgin Flyer or High Flyer card, you can also obtain an additional 5% discount on the fare as well (if booked via VS directly). That's in all booking classes.

 

[grubbidok]

Virgin Atlantic are VS btw. Virgin America are VX

I echo others sentiments; fly VS from SYD to HKG, and you're golden. If you have a Virgin Flyer or High Flyer card, you can also obtain an additional 5% discount on the fare as well (if booked via VS directly). That's in all booking classes.

I never knew about the discount from the Virgin Flyer cards. That's good to know. Slightly OT but any other discounts we should know about?

 

[777]

I echo others sentiments; fly VS from SYD to HKG, and you're golden. If you have a Virgin Flyer or High Flyer card, you can also obtain an additional 5% discount on the fare as well (if booked via VS directly). That's in all booking classes.

Have you got a link for that? I've never heard of this?

EDIT: Found it: Virgin Atlantic | Promotions | My Virgin Money

They don't exactly go out of their way to publicise that!

 

[BrentH]

Virgin Atlantic are VS btw. Virgin America are VX

Oops - you're correct. Thanks!

 

[gee.]

Virgin Atlantic (VS) had a great deal on fares from Sydney (SYD) to London Heathrow (LHR) in Premium Economy (Y+ or PE) at a recent travel expo.

I think it was $2,700 return including all taxes and CC fees, flying from Melbourne, and it let us have a stopover in Hong Kong (HKG).

It looks like they still have some around at slightly more than this ($2900ish).

sorry for the comic sans new to the forum clearly lost in translation - (might be a silly question) but where is the best place to book VS ? their website directly ? Thanks for the decoding slowly getting on board (terrible pun)

 

[BrentH]

AFAIK [as far as I know] Virgin Australia's website won't let you book flights with Virgin Atlantic. (They will push you towards Etihad... or Singapore at a pinch I believe).

You'll need to book direct with Virgin Atlantic.

Expedia or Kayak or similar will be good for finding the best days to fly if you want to keep the costs down.

 

[Bolthead]

sorry for the comic sans new to the forum clearly lost in translation - (might be a silly question) but where is the best place to book VS ? their website directly ? Thanks for the decoding slowly getting on board (terrible pun)

Also go to http://www.australianfrequentflyer....ions/abbreviations-and-explanations-5056.html

I recently booked 3 x Pax to Hong Kong with VS (return) and got onto the UK call centre.... best experience I have had. The lady was quick, knowledgeable and witty and was interested in asking questions about Australia. However when I had to ring the Australian call centre she made a flight change without me asking her to.

 

[gee.]

Also go to (link to abbreviations )

Excellent will add to study just hopefully won't get confused with my abbreviations for CA that could be interesting.

Looks like VS it is the clubhouses look kind of fun and checked I will get entry with gold membership . Thanks all so much for your help

 

[totd]

Let me start by saying OH MY FREAKING EYES!!

COMIC SANS!!!

ROFLMAO (Rolling on the floor, laughing quite hard). I have some graphic designer friends that torture this way quite regularly.

 

[hummel]

ROFLMAO (Rolling on the floor, laughing quite hard). I have some graphic designer friends that torture this way quite regularly.

Isn't it Rolling on the floor, laughing my cough off?

 

[totd]

Isn't it Rolling on the floor, laughing my cough off?

I was giving my family friendly translation.