VA award availability to EY Guest

[ChrisFlyer]

Has anyone here tried to redeem their EYG miles for Virgin Australia flights? Even though you have to book over the phone, does the availability for EY members generally match what VA shows through Velocity, particularly for domestic J?

 

[Melbin]

I've done it a couple of times and generally experience no hassle.. although i haven't checked Velocity awards at the same time. Booked return Melb - Perth for the Christmas break in Virgin's new "The Business" last week. There were lots of options available.

 

[Gold Member]

I've done it a couple of times and generally experience no hassle.. although i haven't checked Velocity awards at the same time. Booked return Melb - Perth for the Christmas break in Virgin's new "The Business" last week. There were lots of options available.

Really?? Last I heard on several Flyertalk threads was that it was near impossible to book EY miles with partner airlines. Wonder if all their partners are now open too... There are some really good options

 

[Melbin]

Yep. I don't know if it's a 'trick' or 'tip', but if you call the guest service number between 9am and noon AEST, you usually get put through to their Manchester call centre, and I've always found them excellent. I have no idea why I have this impression, but it really feels like they're much more empowered to do stuff for you...which is nice given Etihad's call centre staff are usually utterly hopeless.

The guy I got last week literally read out a full list of flights on the days I wanted - checking later on Virgin's own site I think there was only one flight option he couldn't offer me. The flights were $1850 each way online, but cost ~22000 points each way. Pretty sweet deal.