Booking a VA Flight through Delta

[alwaysanon]

Hi everyone,
I am a Virgin Platinum and will be flying from upstate NY to Sydney in May. So not only will Delta, who serves that airport, let me book the whole flight on one itinerary they are charging much less for it than Virgin is (Virgin wants $2000/person for just the flight from LAX to SYD while Delta only wants USD$1450/person for BUF-LAX-SYD on the same codeshared Virgin metal).

So I have a few questions:
1.) What benefits will I get with Platinum with Delta? Which lounge in LA is better the Virgin or Delta one? Would I have access to both?
2.) If I book it in one itinerary they'll send the bags straight through?
3.) Will the points and status credits on the Virgin leg be calulated as Virgin or Delta?
4.) I can also take the Delta LAX-> SYD flight - is VA's product better on this route?

As it stands at the moment with two of us traveling this will save us nearly $2,000 so it seems to be the way to go...

 

[jneufeld]

1.) What benefits will I get with Platinum with Delta? Which lounge in LA is better the Virgin or Delta one? Would I have access to both?
If you are on VA metal you will depart from T3 which houses the VX Loft which has been newly refurbished, the DL lounge is in T5 you do have access to both though.


2.) If I book it in one itinerary they'll send the bags straight through?
Yes both carriers will do this


3.) Will the points and status credits on the Virgin leg be calulated as Virgin or Delta?
Points and SCs are calculated on the marketed fare so if you are on a DL ticket on VA metal you earn at a DL rate, this will mean a considerably lower amount of points for a WP as you lose your points bonus on a DL ticket.

4.) I can also take the Delta LAX-> SYD flight - is VA's product better on this route?
In Y VA is better cannot comment for premium cabins.

 

[notzac]

If you are on VA metal you will depart from T3 which houses the VX Loft which has been newly refurbished, the DL lounge is in T5 you do have access to both though.

Just as an extra point on this - you should be able to access the DL lounge on arrival in to LAX - grab a shower there before making your way over to T3 (I don't believe the VX lounge there has showers). Additionally, I'm pretty sure I read somewhere that there is an airside bus you can use, which will save you from having to go through security at T3 (a definite sanity saver if ever there was one).