135 SC needed by 15 Sept to go GOLD!

[MazzaBee]

Hi all

A (very good) friend of mine introduced me to this forum yesterday, and the concept of the "status run". I know, I must be retarded, but I'd never thought of it before. Looking forward to the Happy Hour email later today to plan my very first one. If I make it on/over a weekend, I can take hubbie for company (and his pooled SCs of course )

Cheerie
MazzaBee

 

[markis10]

Where you want to start would be the first question? Using Mod magic I suspect it's SE QLD, a weekend in AKL from Brisbane flying Premium via another city one way will easily do the job and probably the most cost effective.

 

[MazzaBee]

Gee that was quick, Markis10!! Yeah, that would have been smart. We'll be flying out of Sydney. (p.s. I've updated my profile - sorry, I should have done that before posting).

 

[markis10]

Gee that was quick, Markis10!! Yeah, that would have been smart. We'll be flying out of Sydney.

$550 for Sydney to Christchurch via BNE in Premium earns 100 SC one way. Coming back direct is 15 SC.

 

[AustraliaPoochie]

You don't say which airport you are flying from, but I do have some C/D class of discounted business class flights, with Air New Zealand (NZ), and they earn a substantial number of points and SC.
Fly from say, BNE to PER, then PER to AKL, AKL back to BNE, some in C/D and you will get enough points.
For me, the need is PS, I thought I didn't have enough, but overnight, it seems I have made it to PS.
PER to AKL, direct flight with NZ all through the night, will earn quite a sum of SCs.
Yes, the hobby of chasing SC is not a cheap one.
I am just using BNE as an example, you could fly from any Australian city to PER, to get that NZ from there direct to AKL.
EDIT: ah, SYD. Sorry.
But I would still fly to PER and go to AKL.
A lot of domestic flight classes with NZ (within NZ) do not earn SCs.
Eg, I have a flight with NZ AKL to CHC, in seat and bag, the third choice in, under S class, and no SCs earnt on that fare.
So, going SYD to PER with VA, and then PER to AKL with NZ, and then AKL back to SYD will be the best option.
Sat SYD to PER, first flight out from SYD to PER. That Sat evening, 19.05 (I think) NZ flight dep from PER to AKL. Gets to AKL before dawn on Sun. Get the 16.00 flight from AKL back to SYD.

 

[AustraliaPoochie]

OP, if you or hubby have any credit card points sitting with linked programs to VA FF, this is another way to earn some SCs.
Virgin Australia serves up status credits on credit card points - Flights | hotels | frequent flyer | business class - Australian Business Traveller
Hopefully you or him get that "special" email mentioned in the blurb.

 

[Jack_OC]

A status run to earn 135 SCs is going to cost you a bit - probably $500+ per the example Markis gave. Do you think it's worth spending that much money to reach Gold?

Personally, I wouldn't spend that much to get Gold. For me, the best benefit of Gold status by miles is lounge access, but as a Silver member, you could buy lounge membership for just $300. I should stress that lounge membership only gets you into domestic VA lounges, not intnl, but that may or may not be important to you.

The other Gold benefits aren't worth paying very much for IMHO.

 

[AustraliaPoochie]

Just one last one from me on VA/NZ flights, if you like me prefer wide planes, book any NZ flights on the Air NZ website.
If you book any NZ flights on the VA website, you might or will get an email yourr flight has been changed to a VA 737 from an NZ 777.
Noting Jack3193's reply of course.

 

[MazzaBee]

A status run to earn 135 SCs is going to cost you a bit - probably $500+ per the example Markis gave. Do you think it's worth spending that much money to reach Gold?

Personally, I wouldn't spend that much to get Gold. For me, the best benefit of Gold status by miles is lounge access, but as a Silver member, you could buy lounge membership for just $300. I should stress that lounge membership only gets you into domestic VA lounges, not intnl, but that may or may not be important to you.

The other Gold benefits aren't worth paying very much for IMHO.

Yeah, noted. The friend who put me on to this forum thought that the lift from Silver to Gold was worth a bit of effort if I could get it - of course, "cheaply" is SOOO a relative term. I was envisaging three or four separate trips - either days away or with inexpensive accommodation. But I do take your point. It might be better for me to try again next year and pay more attention to ways to boost status credits throughout the year.

I'll have a look at what's on offer in this week's happy hour and have a think.

 

[Jack_OC]

Yeah, noted. The friend who put me on to this forum thought that the lift from Silver to Gold was worth a bit of effort if I could get it - of course, "cheaply" is SOOO a relative term. I was envisaging three or four separate trips - either days away or with inexpensive accommodation. But I do take your point. It might be better for me to try again next year and pay more attention to ways to boost status credits throughout the year.

I'll have a look at what's on offer in this week's happy hour and have a think.

Yes it's certainly all relative! I have never undertaken a status run, and I have to say the only time I would seriously consider one would be if I was very close to the mark and I could get there with one cheap and painless trip (e.g. if I was 20 SCs short and I could get a $140 rtn to ADL or SYD). However, if you can get the required number of SCs by going on a trip that you actually want to go on, that's a different matter. For example if you and your other half fancied a few days in NZ anyway, you could then probably select flights in such a way that maximises SCs without a massive increase in cost.

One other thing has just occurred to me - you said you need 135 SCs by 15 Sept. Just in case you're not aware, Velocity uses a rolling tally rather than resetting the SC balance to zero at the end of a membership year (like Qantas). As such, your tally won't go from the current 365 SCs down to zero on 15 Sept (unless you actually earned most or all of your 365 SCs on one flight). For example, if you earned 20 SCs on 15 September last year, all that will happen on 15 September this year is that your balance will decrease from 365 to 345. The relevance of this is - it's (probably) not an all or nothing scenario where you have to either get 135 SCs by 15 Sept or give up and wait until next year. You might find for example, that 155 SCs by October or 180 SCs by the end of the year would get you there (these are random numbers as examples- obviously the real figures would depend on exactly when you earned your existing SCs). Sorry if I'm telling you what you already know here, but I just thought it was worth explaining this in case you aren't familiar with the way Velocity works.

 

[markis10]

The other Gold benefits aren't worth paying very much for IMHO.

I beg to differ, as a high user of Hotels the Hilton SG with its free breakfast has value, more importantly the extra miles you get has real value.

 

[JohnK]

I need 45 SCs for Gold by 02 September.

I booked 35 SCs for ~$200 and need another 10 SCs. BNE-ROK and return on Qantas?

 

[Jack_OC]

I beg to differ, as a high user of Hotels the Hilton SG with its free breakfast has value, more importantly the extra miles you get has real value.

I haven't made use of the HH benefit yet, but I can see how that might be of significant value for some people, even for some people who don't fly all that much. Car hire status too, perhaps. For my circumstances though, those benefits aren't hugely valuable.

As for the 25% extra points earn - yes it has value, but really only if you earn quite a lot of Velocity points from flying in the first place. Since the OP expects to be 135 SCs short of Gold after a 12 month period as things stand, it seems unlikely that she flies a huge amount with VA/partners. Of course, as the total spend on airfares increases, so too does the value of this benefit, so it is a valid point and it's worth the OP considering what this might be worth in her circumstances.

 

[markis10]

As for the 25% extra points earn - yes it has value, but really only if you earn quite a lot of Velocity points from flying in the first place. Since the OP expects to be 135 SCs short of Gold after a 12 month period as things stand, it seems unlikely that she flies a huge amount with VA/partners. Of course, as the total spend on airfares increases, so too does the value of this benefit, so it is a valid point and it's worth the OP considering what this might be worth in her circumstances.

That extra points earn is also on car rental and agoda bookings as well. Status runs make sense if the $$$ add up, if you can make a weekend of a trip that's a bonus.

 

[MazzaBee]

Well, there was something that interested me on Happy Hour this arvo. Syd to Perth, and return, for $159 each way. Never been to Perth, so decided to take Hubbie over for a weekend. I have a 2 nights for 1 certificate for one of the nicer hotel chains, so should be pretty nice! And 80 credits between the two of us! This is all a bit addictive, though, isn't it? I'll be looking out for deals to other places that I've been meaning to get to but just haven't.

 

[MazzaBee]

Yes it's certainly all relative! I have never undertaken a status run, and I have to say the only time I would seriously consider one would be if I was very close to the mark and I could get there with one cheap and painless trip (e.g. if I was 20 SCs short and I could get a $140 rtn to ADL or SYD). However, if you can get the required number of SCs by going on a trip that you actually want to go on, that's a different matter. For example if you and your other half fancied a few days in NZ anyway, you could then probably select flights in such a way that maximises SCs without a massive increase in cost.

One other thing has just occurred to me - you said you need 135 SCs by 15 Sept. Just in case you're not aware, Velocity uses a rolling tally rather than resetting the SC balance to zero at the end of a membership year (like Qantas). As such, your tally won't go from the current 365 SCs down to zero on 15 Sept (unless you actually earned most or all of your 365 SCs on one flight). For example, if you earned 20 SCs on 15 September last year, all that will happen on 15 September this year is that your balance will decrease from 365 to 345. The relevance of this is - it's (probably) not an all or nothing scenario where you have to either get 135 SCs by 15 Sept or give up and wait until next year. You might find for example, that 155 SCs by October or 180 SCs by the end of the year would get you there (these are random numbers as examples- obviously the real figures would depend on exactly when you earned your existing SCs). Sorry if I'm telling you what you already know here, but I just thought it was worth explaining this in case you aren't familiar with the way Velocity works.

Thanks! No, I'm pretty new to paying attention to all this to be honest, so it hadn't occurred to me that I wouldn't be starting back from zero on September the 15th.

 

[Warks]

I need 60 SCs by the end of September. Have 30 booked so I think I'll retain SG this year.

Sadly for QF I will go from WP two years ago to PS at the end of October. Only got 50 SCs this year. Now that clients don't pay my airfares I've had to economise and QF doesn't cut it on my routes most of the time. I thought about status runs but with the end of JASAs (and I couldn't be bothered trying to organise that not using the internet) my money will be better spent on Qantas Club membership. It's been on hold for a few years, wonder how much I've got left.

 

[AustraliaPoochie]

I have used QP SYD and MEL and food wise, QP wins over Lounge.
Cost wise, VA wins as I have to pay my own.
I will make QF PS later next year, loyalty bonus even I do hope.
To the colleague wanting QF BNE to ROK, do it.
BUT QF PS only has one single entry to the QP.
VA PS get 2 entries to the Lounge.
Lounge or QP better than the general population hold zone anyways.
PS better than NB or Red.

 

[TomVexille]

Well, there was something that interested me on Happy Hour this arvo. Syd to Perth, and return, for $159 each way. Never been to Perth, so decided to take Hubbie over for a weekend. I have a 2 nights for 1 certificate for one of the nicer hotel chains, so should be pretty nice! And 80 credits between the two of us! This is all a bit addictive, though, isn't it? I'll be looking out for deals to other places that I've been meaning to get to but just haven't.

I like that way of doing it. SC's, and you get to have a nice weekend away

 

[WethereX]

the missus and i are doing BNE to CNS tommorow in J, pooled to me thats an extra 240sc. my ticket is paid for, but hers was only $650 return from BNE. not bad, edging me towards plat.