Hey so question..... I just received the welcome email from VA about my exciting Gold Status..... I see that one of the benefits is "fly ahead" on an earlier flight up the 3 hours before your scheduled flight on any fare except a "getaway" fare (which I assume is their version of a red e-deal?). Does anyone know how generous they are with this? I only ask because the whole reason I am going through the messy divorce with QF is because they wouldn't put me on an earlier flight on a discounted J ticket.... if I had been flying VA that wouldn't have been an issue I imagine because "I "class is not a getaway fare....
QF's ears must be burning..... I am suddenly receiving all sorts of emails from them, even a phone call, asking what they could do to improve.... I wonder if it is coincidence or the fact that I went from almost 2x weekly flying to NIL overnight....
I have used fly ahead on about eight occasions in the past (all on SYD-MEL v.v.) and no fly ahead request has ever been rejected (all requests were from an Elevate fare and I checked that some Y seats were available prior to the request).
Getaway (the bottom three Y fare classes) and Elevate fares are equivalent to QF red edeals. Fly ahead is available on all Business fare classes and even all award tickets (in both Y and J).
T&C below. I have broken rule 23.5.3 on previous occasions as the PER lounge will not process a fly ahead request for the SYD-MEL sector if flying PER-SYD-MEL on the same ticket. You need to do it in the SYD lounge (if HLO) which is 'a mid-way point of a connecting journey'.
23.5 Fly Ahead
23.5.1 In the event that a Platinum or Gold Member, who has a confirmed seat for a
Virgin Australia marketed and operated Domestic flight, arrives at either the
Virgin Australia Lounge, Priority check-in or Service Desk or kiosk (where kiosk Fly Ahead functionality is available) on the day of travel in time to be carried on an earlier
Virgin Australia Domestic flight, the Member is entitled to make a request that they, and up to 3 accompanying guests on the same booking, be carried on that earlier flight (Fly Ahead).
23.5.2 Subject to clause 23.5.8, Platinum or Gold members may only make a Fly Ahead request at the
Virgin Australia Lounge or kiosk (where kiosk Fly Ahead functionality is available) for Members with no check-in baggage; or at the
Virgin Australia Priority check-in counter or Service Desk for members who have baggage and have not yet checked in.
23.5.3 Fly Ahead cannot be requested at the Lounge for Members who have check-in baggage or at a mid-way point of a connecting journey.
23.5.4 Fly Ahead requests are only available for individual Flight Sectors departing from the location at which the request is made.
23.5.5 Fly Ahead requests are not available to Members travelling on group bookings, Getaway Fares or bookings in Fare Classes S, M or T.
23.5.6 Fulfilment of a Member’s request is not guaranteed and is subject to the following conditions:
(a) the Member and the accompanying guest(s) (if applicable) must hold fully paid confirmed seats on the same
Virgin Australia Domestic flight to the same ultimate Any Domestic destination;
(b) the Fly Ahead flight selection must be made at least 30 minutes before departure while the flight is still open for check-in and the Member and guest(s) agree that catering is not guaranteed;
(c) routing changes to the Fly Ahead flight are not permitted and must remain as a single Flight Sector;
(d) there are available seats in the same cabin as the cabin originally purchased by the Member, on the eligible Fly Ahead flight; and
(e) no guests on the earlier
Virgin Australia Domestic flight are displaced.
23.5.7 If the request is granted and the Member and their accompanying guest(s) (if applicable) are moved to an earlier
Virgin Australia Domestic flight in a lower class than the fare class originally purchased, which may also include a lower cabin class than the cabin class originally ticketed, no refund will be provided on that ticket.
23.5.8 Notwithstanding clause 23.5.2, Platinum Members are additionally entitled to:
(a) in the case of flights between any of Brisbane, Sydney and Melbourne, request to Fly Ahead on a flight departing up to 2 hours prior to their booked flight by contacting the Guest Contact Centre; and
(b) in the case of all other
Virgin Australia marketed and operated Domestic Flights, request to Fly Ahead on a flight immediately prior to their booked flight by calling the Guest Contact Centre
In each case, the Platinum Member requesting to Fly Ahead must contact the Guest Contact Centre at least 1 hour prior to the departure time of the desired flight.