SCs to be earned on Velocity Reward bookings (6mo promotion) [AusBT]

[Fruitcake]

Virgin Australia to give Velocity status credits on reward flights - Flights | hotels | frequent flyer | business class - Australian Business Traveller

Virgin Australia will offer Velocity status credits on reward seats for flights from January 13.

....

Under the promotion, which will run until June 30, travellers will earn status credits on rewards seats at the same rate as on commercial flights.To be eligible for this offer, members must book and travel on a Virgin Australia (VA) marketed and operated flight in a Reward Seat Fare Class (X, P or Z) between 13 January and 30 June 2013.

 

[moa999]

Potentially useful
(do these classes include upgrades ??)

 

[nlagalle]

pity it didn't run longer! was thinking of a UK trip later in year on points...

 

[777]

Very nice. Should make partner plat requal by the necessary date much easier than i thought!

 

[oz_mark]

Nice promotion! Will hold off on a booking I was going to make today....

 

[williamsf1]

pity it didn't run longer! was thinking of a UK trip later in year on points...

Only valid for VA operated services only ... So could earn to AUH or LAX only if going to UK

 

[pythonisman]

Wow! Pity I didn't dump a truckload of altitude points across when they had their bonus in November, but even so it might be worth taking advantage of this one!
If business reward seats earn at business SC earn rates that's great!

 

[bullerdude]

Not a bad promotion at all - status credits on rewards flight means that a cheap reward flight in business could net a nice amount for status credits at a cheap rate.

 

[carpenteria]

do these classes include upgrades ??

Inquiring minds would like to know... Failing that I would assume that business reward is one of those 3 classes, (X, P or Z) maybe?

Edit: A quick prod at the booking engine says H for business reward so I'm guessing not - happy to be corrected if wrong! Still might be a good time to burn some points methinks.

 

[Intra]

Woah This will help with gaining status credits for sure... Pity most of my travel will be from July onwards :?

 

[williamsf1]

Inquiring minds would like to know... Failing that I would assume that business reward is one of those 3 classes, (X, P or Z) maybe?

Edit: A quick prod at the booking engine says H for business reward so I'm guessing not - happy to be corrected if wrong! Still might be a good time to burn some points methinks.

I think H was the old DJ class, when all becomes VA, business will be Z class

 

[hummel]

Could help with retaining Gold for this little black duck! Good move Virgin.

 

[awilcockson]

For some reason someone in the comments on that post seems to think that this also means earning SCs per sector ... I don't see that anywhere in the article.

Also, whilst this is a step in the right direction, it is still nowhere near as good values as a QF JASA.

 

[pythonisman]

(do these classes include upgrades ??)

Upgrades book into Q class I think, so probably not?

 

[Fruitcake]

For some reason someone in the comments on that post seems to think that this also means earning SCs per sector ... I don't see that anywhere in the article.

The change to SCs calculated per sector (rather than per booking) is coincident with the start of the promotion but not directly related. So I wouldn't have expected it to be mentioned in the article.

This thread covers it, if you weren't aware that change was also coming:
http://www.australianfrequentflyer....city/velocity-changes-incl-sc-earn-46113.html

 

[awilcockson]

The change to SCs calculated per sector (rather than per booking) is coincident with the start of the promotion but not directly related. So I wouldn't have expected it to be mentioned in the article.

It's pretty sloppy reporting then. Because that's a fairly big change for Virgin and starts to make them more attractive for status runs.

fwiw, the article on ausbt isn't just about the limited promotion on award seats, it's also about the introduction of SCs on any seat awards, and it also neglects to mention that you also (apparently) also earn FF points on any seat awards.

 

[anat0l]

Nice promo. Granted, there is a bit of a cash premium difference between Reward seats and the cheapest Any Seat award seat, so this promo allows one to escape that small "premium" (or larger one if the cheapest Any Seat award seats are gone).

There was a commenter on the AusBT article who mentioned that this isn't new since Qantas have done it for a while, then the follow up I had to laugh a tiny bit. Didn't have the heart (or an account) to remark that QF ASAs can be had at Classic Award levels (with usually again a small premium on top of the normal co-pay when booking a Classic Award).

I guess we'll be waiting for the email to come out after Sabre transition.

What will be interesting - will you get points as well? The article does not mention points (it does mention status credits). Many of us would like to think that points will be awarded (a little "rebate" on the expense), but then how would you calculate the points anyway? If you pay more cash (i.e. use less points), do you get more points back (and, if you pay it all in points, do you get no points earned)? (Unless VA switch from a cost-based points calculation to a distance-based one).

I'd still be alright if only status credits were awarded but no points.

Now to work out what would be the most economical points outlay to get Platinum

 

[notzac]

Also, whilst this is a step in the right direction, it is still nowhere near as good values as a QF JASA.

Value is a relative thing - I don't know enough about Any Seat Awards on QF to make an informed comment - but keep in mind that the number of SCs required to earn/maintain a tier with VA is lower than what QF require.

 

[awilcockson]

Didn't have the heart (or an account) to remark that QF ASAs can be had at Classic Award levels (with usually again a small premium on top of the normal co-pay when booking a Classic Award).

And sometimes even cheaper

What will be interesting - will you get points as well? The article does not mention points (it does mention status credits). Many of us would like to think that points will be awarded (a little "rebate" on the expense), but then how would you calculate the points anyway? If you pay more cash (i.e. use less points), do you get more points back (and, if you pay it all in points, do you get no points earned)? (Unless VA switch from a cost-based points calculation to a distance-based one).

Apparently there's a thread around here somewhere discussing this, but I can't find it. edit: fount it http://www.australianfrequentflyer....city/velocity-changes-incl-sc-earn-46113.html

This document states that points and SCs will be earned on ASAs.

http://www.virginaustralia.com/cs/g...ent/~edisp/sales_trade_release_5_velocity.pdf

 

[awilcockson]

Value is a relative thing - I don't know enough about Any Seat Awards on QF to make an informed comment - but keep in mind that the number of SCs required to earn/maintain a tier with VA is lower than what QF require.

All I know is that almost all ASAs I book with QF are virtually the same price, if not cheaper, than the same fare as a classic reward. Every time I've looked at Virgin ASA fares they have been very expensive. And my comment was based on my belief at the time that Virgin ASAs did not earn FF points, whereas the QF ones do.