Introducing Fare Promise

[smatho10]

http://www.virginaustralia.com/au/e...ise/?icmpid=hp_201506_farepromise_triangle_AU



At Virgin Australia, we pride ourselves on giving our guests the best service and price value.
That is why we are offering the Virgin Australia Fare Promise.
Fare Promise guarantees that if you find a lower price for an eligible Virgin Australia flight on an eligible third party website, we will not only match that price – Velocity Frequent Flyers will receive a bonus 500 Points per booking.


So the question is for all of the bargain hunters - are their any third party websites that are cheaper??

 

[Revolio]

It usually works out that when you dig one out, you spend more than 500 points in your own time getting Virgin to honour their offer.

Promise!

 

[Grimace1]

I love the consistency that VA have

From the FAQs tab:

[h=2]When will I receive the Velocity Points Offer in my account?[/h] The Velocity Points Offer will be loaded into the membership account within 2 weeks of successful claim and booking.

And from the "Making a claim" Tab:

1. Velocity Points will be loaded to the nominated travelling Velocity membership account within three weeks after successful claim and booking.

 

[samh004]

I can often find cheaper fares, but whether they're then bookable and eligible is the key

 

[Deleted member 29185]

All good to know.......but would have preferred a price match policy like JQ do.

 

[esseeeayeenn]

All good to know.......but would have preferred a price match policy like JQ do.

It is a price match policy.
The 500 velocity points are offered as a bonus in addition to selling you the fare at the cheaper price.

HOWEVER ...
The sting is in the terms and conditions and eligibility criteria:

• Domestic flights operated by Virgin Australia, Virgin Australia Regional Airlines or Virgin Australia International (i.e. no codeshare flights operated by our codeshare partner airlines)
• Prices on third party website:
  • quoted in Australian dollars (GST amount must be quoted) without the use of a currency converter (including mandatory taxes and fees but excluding credit card fees and commission)
  • that ends in '.au'
  • that is operated by a licensed Australian Travel Agency whereby tickets are issued in Australia

I frequently find cheaper fares for international flights or itineraries including international and domestic sectors on sites such as cheapoair but I would be hard pressed to find cheaper fares for purely domestic fares, on an .au website, ticketed in Australia.

 

[Mattg]

I suspect this will be much like the QF price promise - lots of talk, but almost impossible to use.

 

[derpdeder]

Tried to match with Tripsta and eDreams. Both denied. I could have tried others but gave up even though there were about 4 other third party sites with the same flight cheaper than Virgin.

eDreams because the site is au.edreams.com (no au at the end) and Tripsta because it is not a Australian licensed travel agent.

Useless fare promise. I booked with another airline for the flight instead out of spite.

 

[Deleted member 29185]

I booked with another airline for the flight instead out of spite.

Good on you! If more people did that, airlines may think twice before treating us like mugs. Make sure you let them know.

 

[VulpesVulpes]

Being in-industry this sticks out to me

• that is operated by a licensed Australian Travel Agency whereby tickets are issued in Australia

Most states have de-regulated travel agents

While I understand that they would want it to be ticketed in AU - the wording is outdated. It probably won't impact anything but it annoys the OCD person in me. Grr

 

[smit0847]

This definitely appears to be more trouble than its worth but I woulf be interested in hearing any success stories

 

[trippin_the_rift]

Generally price guarantees are implemented by companies to show perception they are the lowest cost in the market. It's designed to provide the feeling of the product being cheapest by most customers and those who are price sensitive will be the ones that claim under the guarantee.

Problem is - when the guarantee is a price match + nominal points... The offer isn't even nearly completing and it fails to deliver what management hoped it would achieve.

For this to be effective in the manner it was designed there needs to be a perceived loss or pain point for virgin if a customer finds it lower elsewhere. This is what drives price promises. #business101

 

[JohnK]

I don't understand why they bother?

 

[smit0847]

So has anyone actually succesfully made a claim with this?

 

[GaryBne]

At the risk of going of topic, Hotels too have a similar best rate guarantee. Book direct with the Hotel and find a better price elsewhere and they will beat it, give you $50US credit etc. I have tried these.

None will look at the competing web site and give you the best rate on the spot. They invariably insist that you book elsewhere and then start the adversarial process of making a claim: not at the hotel but offshore admin centre. And there is something in some Asian Cultures that they wont give money back no matter what. I hand delivered a denied claim, all documented to the Secretary of the Chair of the Board of one company in SIN - and heard nothing. So after 10 years they never saw me again.

If you want to try, then keep screen shots etc as evidence. But again, not worth the hassle. I just enjoy calling their bluff on occasions - and proving to the local management that their head office is crazy: they put up the Guarantee - then sell at a low rate to Expedia etc. Sofitel, Hilton, Crowne - all the same...

There is a similar concept at Bunnings and Officeworks. On occasions I have been in store found an item, then googled a better price. This seems to work OK. And to be fair Officeworks does keep up with competitors pricing, and take the promise seriously - so well done to them.

And to be fair to Bunnings I have seen it abused - Masters has a run out of Karchers below cost- so some guy goes to Bunnings and gets a Karcher below cost , less 10% ( or is it 5%?) - that's just abusing the generosity.

But Overall - the marketing strategy is Misleading - as far as the travel examples at least. I think its a broader issue for the ACCC to investigate. Then again they have been toothless when it comes to booking fees i heard.

I guess the airline marketing folk think this gets $ in the door - but for those who do shop around, it crushes trust and breeds disloyalty. And the claim is an adversarial process - the opposite of the company:customer culture they should be building. Bad move overall perhaps?

Apologies for broadening the issue

Gary

 

[derpdeder]

I have had good success and experiences with hotel price promises. In particular, Starwood and Hilton seem to have system in place that actually honour rates that you find that are cheaper. With Starwood, you don't even need to make a booking first before submitting the claim - it can be done after you find out if the claim is successful.

The Virgin fare promise is just a fluff to try and change people's perceptions that they will always get a lower price booking with them instead of an online travel agent, when the real case is the terms and conditions are a page long which exclude anyone they know will offer a lower price. The people of this forum seem to see through it, I hope the general population does too.

 

[va7378fe]

Just had a look for travel on 11 May 2016 HBA-MEL ... VA showing $129.68 one way ... WebJet showing $125 one way.

Deliberating on ringing up and seeing what response I get.

 

[Deleted member 29185]

Just had a look for travel on 11 May 2016 HBA-MEL ... VA showing $129.68 one way ... WebJet showing $125 one way.

Deliberating on ringing up and seeing what response I get.

Go on, you know you want to do it.

 

[JohnK]

For me there is one thing I didn't consider.

Using the gift vouchers purchased at 5% off to avoid credit card fee and then stacking that with various discount codes on offer is a lot more useful than 500 Velocity points.

YMMV.

 

[va7378fe]

Well ... Thought about ringing up, and told myself, after dinner I'll do it. Dinner came and went, then thought about it again ... Then the thought of spending over half an hour on the phone (because I had 2 separate bookings to make), I just bit the bullet and booked over the web and paid the extra. As JohnK suggests, there are more inticing offers on than 500 points to sit and argue over. Maybe I just chickened out