Some Changes to Family Pooling from 27/4/16

[Princess Fiona]

Saw this on the bottom of my statement today.
Will not affect me but may affect some creative pooling
Family Pooling Changes

 

[CJEMNMAC]

Yes just got my statement and read it tonight... Will slow down the pools that have a lot of "family" members that regularly enter and exit the pool

 

[AnnaB]

Will slow down the pools that have a lot of "family" members that regularly enter and exit the pool

That was exactly my thought. Wont really have any impact on my pooling but I can see problems for some others.

 

[straitman]

Yes just got my statement and read it tonight... Will slow down the pools that have a lot of "family" members that regularly enter and exit the pool

That was exactly my thought. Wont really have any impact on my pooling but I can see problems for some others.

Thankfully this is one 'enhancement' (There's that word again) that won't worry me.

 

[cssaus]

I know what a "gold" Velocity Member is but what is meant by a "‘Pilot Gold’" member?

 

[Princess Fiona]

http://www.virginaustralia.com/au/en/experience/corporate-travel/accelerate/

I know what a "gold" Velocity Member is but what is meant by a "‘Pilot Gold’" member?

It's part of their corporate program Accelerate and is a three month trial of Velocity Gold

 

[williamsf1]

Thankfully this is one 'enhancement' (There's that word again) that won't worry me.

Fairer and simpler......

As stated earlier, the only ones really affected re the ones doing "creative pooling"

 

[Bolthead]

These so called enhancements certainly stuffs us up a bit. Prior to my retirement 2,1/2 years ago we had 3 family members as Platinum with another on the way. Since then we have managed to keep me at Platinum, my elder daughter at Gold, the younger daughter back to Red (what little travel she does is usually at the cheapest fare) and my wife has been the sacrificial lamb sacrificing her points to everyone else. (she is currently Silver) This will most probably mean I will eventually drop to Gold. I know there is a lot of people out there that think that Gold is good enough when it comes to benefits with VA however I will disagree with this thought. I can't remember the last time I was Gold. Sorry getting a little OT.

Anyway, thanks VA, my loyalty over the last 10 years obviously means nothing to you. Unfortunately you don't have a worthy foe to change my allegiance.

 

[serfty]

Given the rules have always stated 'poolers' must live at the same address, some houses must have seemed pretty crowded to Velocity analysis ...

 

[Radio8tiv]

slightly of topic but, I have often wondered about family pooling and if you could double dip the pooling, I only have my daughter pooling to me at the moment but would it be possible for a family of 5 adults for example to have the pooling all go to one person? so person A receives from B and C then person B receives from D and E would the points person B gets from their pool automatically go to person A?

 

[clipped_wings]

I agree with serfty, this amendment will probably weed out some of the exploitations with residential status, but otherwise I can't see it being less fair to all. I'm just thankful that we have enjoyed a reasonably generous system to date, we just now need to analyse our pooling with more discretion.
SG is a fantastic level to be at (I'm Red, but husband is SG).

 

[serfty]

I believe one can be a recipient or a donor but not both.

 

[clipped_wings]

slightly of topic but, I have often wondered about family pooling and if you could double dip the pooling, I only have my daughter pooling to me at the moment but would it be possible for a family of 5 adults for example to have the pooling all go to one person? so person A receives from B and C then person B receives from D and E would the points person B gets from their pool automatically go to person A?

As long as there is a minimum of 5000 points, a family member can transfer to a beneficiary, but the new limits bring those opportunities back to 2 per calendar year. I've used this method often, the only hindrance I can see, is that the points will build up more and be delivered to the beneficiary as a greater amount in those 2 transactions.

 

[Radio8tiv]

I believe one can be a recipient or a donor but not both.

your right, I've just been reading the T&Cs and you can only be part of one family pool

13.10 A Member with a Beneficiary Account may only participate in one Family Pool but is entitled to perform Points Transfers in accordance with clauses 11 and 12.

Also noticed you can only add one other adult besides yourself

13.3 A maximum of two Members of the Family Pool may be 18 years or over in age. If the Beneficiary Account belongs to a Member aged 18 years or over, they can have a maximum of one Contributing Account belonging to a Member aged 18 years or over.

 

[kpc]

As long as there is a minimum of 5000 points, a family member can transfer to a beneficiary, but the new limits bring those opportunities back to 2 per calendar year. I've used this method often, the only hindrance I can see, is that the points will build up more and be delivered to the beneficiary as a greater amount in those 2 transactions.

Where does it say that family points transfers are now limited to 2 (instead of 4) per year?

 

[clipped_wings]

Just to clarify: we had all family members pooling to husband when the kids were under 18, but now we are down to 2 young ones and two adult children. So, I spend lots of time rearranging the pooling to suit our current flight schedules. For, example, husband and eldest daughter flew to the USA, I pooled her SC and points to him. Then, when he and I flew, I removed her, added me and the so on. The young kids still pool everything so that's not a problem. When another daughter earned nearly 4000 points from her velocity credit card spend, I transferred 1000 points to her, then transferred the lot to husband from her account.
It's a legitimate method, but there is no double dipping at all in terms of pooling. I simply change the accounts as required. Under the new rules, the transferring will be done with less frequency. I will let everyone's points to build up - and keep those transfers to 2 a year. When the kids leave home, well that's another story and we will have to cop it sweet.

 

[Princess Fiona]

Where does it say that family points transfers are now limited to 2 (instead of 4) per year?

It doesn't. Still 4 times per year for family points transfers

 

[Milefest]

In regards to having the same residential address to be eligible for family pooling.. I realised that I spent half of last year as a beneficiary of my partner's points while having different addresses to each other.

It's obviously in breach of their T&Cs but I don't think they have a system in place to reject a family pool based on the address. I've since corrected my VFF details, though it could be the case that they may have fixed this too.

 

[CJEMNMAC]

These so called enhancements certainly stuffs us up a bit. Prior to my retirement 2,1/2 years ago we had 3 family members as Platinum with another on the way. Since then we have managed to keep me at Platinum, my elder daughter at Gold, the younger daughter back to Red (what little travel she does is usually at the cheapest fare) and my wife has been the sacrificial lamb sacrificing her points to everyone else. (she is currently Silver) This will most probably mean I will eventually drop to Gold. I know there is a lot of people out there that think that Gold is good enough when it comes to benefits with VA however I will disagree with this thought. I can't remember the last time I was Gold. Sorry getting a little OT.

Anyway, thanks VA, my loyalty over the last 10 years obviously means nothing to you. Unfortunately you don't have a worthy foe to change my allegiance.

Just thinking about your situation

It seems you have 4 members ( You and your wife and 2 daughters ). Change number 1 is ( a.) A beneficiary will be permitted to have a maximum of 5 Contributing Accounts in any calendar year). So this should not affect your current circumstance.

Your wife is the "sacrificial lamb" in this equation. Change number 2 is b.) A contributor may contribute to a maximum of two Beneficiary Accounts in any calendar year. My reading of this change is that your wife can still contribute to both you and your older daughter. Your younger daughter can still contribute to both you and your older daughter.

All 4 of you should be able to still stop and start as needed as you don't breach the T&C's

I am not sure this change will impact your current circumstance as much as you may think.

Just my thoughts

 

[esseeeayeenn]

Wish they would change the under 18 rule. The only reason I change my family pooling is to swap one adult child for another as a contributor. Would be nice to allow adult children who are students like health funds do.