Can I use my Velocity Number on a booking for my partner?

[aussiejohn]

I probably already know the answer to this, but I doubt I could find the answer trawling the net.

Am sure someone here can tell me.

I have succeeded in getting a 3 month tourist visa for my partner to visit Oz from Egypt. All being well he hopes to fly next weekend.

Booking at this late stage will cost me an arm and a leg, but I have no choice. He has only flown once before with me when I took him to Malaysia for a holiday. I flew to Cairo to collect him as he had never been on a plane before. However, he flew home to Cairo via Abu Dhabi on his own.

So I am thinking that I will book him on Etihad, as he knows this airline now, and he can negotiate the transfer in Abu Dhabi on his own. I plan to book him on the direct flight Cairo - Abu Dhabi - Melbourne, to make it as painless as possible.

So my question is, could I use my Velocity number on his Etihad booking to get the points? That would give me something in return for having to pay top dollar for his return flights. I suspect the answer is no, but thought I would just ask the question.

As an aside, I have looked at Emirates, and they have flights slightly cheaper. I am sure he could manage a transfer in Dubai, but their flights look as though they arrive around 2am in the morning into Melbourne, and I am not keen on that idea!

Any and all help the community can give me to get him here will be gratefully accepted! Thanks

 

[jneufeld]

Sign him up to Velocity using your home address. Then add his new Velocity number to the booking and set up family pooling so you can get his points and status credits. The name on the booking must match the name on the Velocity account.

 

[MacBH]

Pretty sure you can't. However, can't you sign up your partner to Velocity using your Australia address? Then you could later transfer the points across. I suppose he'd count as an "eligibly family member" ("de facto" is listed in the Ts&Cs). You might even be able to set up family pooling...

 

[aussiejohn]

Thank you. I hadn't thought about that. Seems like that is the way to go.

 

[Bolthead]

Actually I think you may not be able to do this within the confines of the rules. It says they must be a resident of certain countries and I think you will find that Egypt is not on the list. As well being on a tourist visa means he is not a resident and hence not eligible, however I am happy to be corrected...

 

[MacBH]

I suspect they are intentionally vague about the definition of "Resident".

It merely says they must be "an individual resident in Australia, New Zealand, Papua New Guinea, Fiji, Cook Islands, Vanuatu, Tonga, Solomon Islands, Samoa, Christmas Island or Cocos Island;".

But it doesn't say that they must be a tax resident or a permanent resident or anything else to imply that "temporary residents" are excluded.

He will be living in Australia for 3 months and has a residential address to have his Velocity card mailed to.

Another option might be for him to apply himself once he's actually physically in Australia and then do a retro claim. I believe this would need to happen within 30 days.

 

[MarkD]

Meh, Sign him up, set up family pooling and bring in the points and SC. I dont believe that they will even check

 

[mooingchicken]

I suspect they are intentionally vague about the definition of "Resident".

It merely says they must be "an individual resident in Australia, New Zealand, Papua New Guinea, Fiji, Cook Islands, Vanuatu, Tonga, Solomon Islands, Samoa, Christmas Island or Cocos Island;".

But it doesn't say that they must be a tax resident or a permanent resident or anything else to imply that "temporary residents" are excluded.

He will be living in Australia for 3 months and has a residential address to have his Velocity card mailed to.

Another option might be for him to apply himself once he's actually physically in Australia and then do a retro claim. I believe this would need to happen within 30 days.

This wont work for SC's to get the SC's to another account u need to have family pooling setup prior, but would work with points.

But jsut sign him up to velocity under your own home adress, set up family pooling and bam in your account.

He is of course "moving here" *cough* so will be fine

 

[aussiejohn]

I'm not really worried about SC's. I can never earn enough of them as I don't fly enough.

But a few extra points to add to my current Velocity balance will come in handy. Still waiting to see what the Kris Flyer/Velocity ratio is going to be, as SIA is my favourite airline. But I am not holding my breath on this being good.

As an interim measure till we work out our future, I am hoping to try and move him to Malaysia at the end of his stay in Oz, rather than return to Egypt. That will depend on whether he can get a work visa there and a job of course!

It's all been a bit stressful as I've had an 8 month battle with DIBP to get his tourist visa, and just looking forward to him finally getting here and spending time together. If I can get him to Malaysia, then he will be closer, and easier (and cheaper!) for me to visit him.