Earning SCs & Velocity FF points on SQ flights

[gnani]

Hi all,

Inaugural post for a medium-term lurker here.

Just wanted to clarify and seek advice from the brain trusts here with respect to earning SCs and FF points flying on SQ metal.

We (being 2 adults and a child of 2 yrs) are planning a trip to Japan (MEL-SIN-NRT; KIX-SIN-MEL). When I look at SQ's site, I'm getting Flexi Saver for roughly AUD 4,265. I'm ignoring their 2 cheaper fare buckets as I understand they do not accrue any VA SCs or FF points. If I look at VA's website, I'm getting a Flexi of roughly AUD 5,140.

Questions are;

1) When you fly SQ metal on economy fares that qualify for VA SCs and FF points, when booking directly with them, am I correct to assume they all earn Full Economy SCs?

2) I'm a Platinum and my wife is a Gold VFF. Assuming 1) is correct, is it worth paying the extra AUD 875 to earn the bonus FF points? I understand each person will value point/$ spent differently, but your thoughts will be apprecaited.

Cheers,
GS

 

[grubbidok]

Welcome! SQ is now my default OS carrier so I was stoked VA have partnered.

You don't need to assume on the SQ website. If you click on "Fare Conditions" near the price on the bottom of the page it will actually tell you what fare class it is, and therefore whether it is eligible. Sometimes the cheaper flights are (only rarely though). W is usually the lowest earning class.

1) SQ flights are all or nothing. They'll either earn full economy or they'll earn zip. Also make sure nothing is on Silk Air metal (even if it is SQ number, it'll earn nothing)
2) No bonus points on SQ flights, just 1=1. I personally value the extra SCs above that anyway. If you'd like the SCs I would say it's worth it. That's ~240SCs each for your flights. That's over half her requal and nearly one third of yours. If it were me I would pay.

 

[pythonisman]

1) When you fly SQ metal on economy fares that qualify for VA SCs and FF points, when booking directly with them, am I correct to assume they all earn Full Economy SCs?

Yes, discount economy is ineligible for earn with Velocity from an SQ flight, the 'minimum' you earn (provided you fly the appropriate fare class) is Full Fare Economy
For your flights each leg would earn 60SCs provided it's in S, Y, B, E, M, H, W, U, L or K. I did this in January and flew W (but am still waiting for the points, am told it should be done within a week!)

2) I'm a Platinum and my wife is a Gold VFF. Assuming 1) is correct, is it worth paying the extra AUD 875 to earn the bonus FF points? I understand each person will value point/$ spent differently, but your thoughts will be apprecaited.

That's something only you can answer really. The differences will be points earn, and also I think they count as "eligible sectors" - the SQ flights on SQ metal aren't, and you only earn the base points earn.
I have plenty of eligible sectors, and the extra few points weren't really worth it for me, so I booked and ticketed through SQ only. I was pretty happy/impressed with the recognition of partner status while flying SQ as well, with priority checkin, lounge, baggage and boarding all working really well.

Enjoy your trip!

 

[gnani]

Thanks for the reply, grubbidok.

With regards to my second question, if I was to book the flights through VA - and therefore have a VA flight number on SQ metal - won't they qualify for bonus points? I'm going by Velocity's wording:

When travelling on eligible Virgin Australia or Virgin Samoa fares and flights with a Virgin Australia or Virgin Samoa (VA) flight number, including codeshare services operated by our airline partners, you can earn Points on your ticket. Silver, Gold and Platinum members can earn an additional Points bonus.

Thanks.

 

[gnani]

Thanks pythonisman.

I'm glad to hear that SQ recognises VA status. I am more inclined to book directly with SQ.

 

[grubbidok]

Thanks for the reply, grubbidok.

With regards to my second question, if I was to book the flights through VA - and therefore have a VA flight number on SQ metal - won't they qualify for bonus points? I'm going by Velocity's wording:

When travelling on eligible Virgin Australia or Virgin Samoa fares and flights with a Virgin Australia or Virgin Samoa (VA) flight number, including codeshare services operated by our airline partners, you can earn Points on your ticket. Silver, Gold and Platinum members can earn an additional Points bonus.

Thanks.

Yes sorry, misread your question. Yes they would earn bonus points, but I would book directly with SQ anyway, as points are relatively easy to get on VA other ways (I got nearly 1000 points just by buying cologne via The Iconic on a point-earning CC last week; hell, you can even get 2p/$ on eBay). What's the bonus? ~13,000 points for you and 10,000 for her? That's ~$230 worth on a good day, so unless you have something you're saving for I'd not bother. But that's just me, ultimately it depends on what you prefer.

One thing you often have to watch out for with SQ/VA mix-ups is that just because it is full Y status credits on SQ doesn't always mean it will be on a codeshare (you'd have to check the VA dets). VA is determing whether your flight is discount Y or full Y on a VA number, and they don't always have the same definition as SQ. You could even end up in a situation where you spend the same/more and earn half the points (VA only earns 0.5/mi in discount Y - though your status bonus would beef that up to equal) and half the SCs.

SQ do recognise you quite well to, as pythonism mentioned. FWIW given the choice between booking SQ and booking via VA I've always chosen to use the SQ website. The points usually post quite quickly anyway, SQ treat you well as a VA elite (the lounges aren't the best though - SQ has the best service in the air, but terrible on the ground) and VA doesn't really give you anything extra to make it worthwhile booking with them.

 

[Mondo]

I decided to book via VA website for my flight PER-HKG as I predominately wanted to maximise SCs. SQ site kept giving me the shortest travel time possible (PER-SIN-HKG V/V) whereas VA let me choose to go (PER-MEL-SIN-HKG V/V). This gave me an additional 120 SCs on full Y status for the same fare. Now just need to make sure my checked bags don't go astray.....

 

[Velocity Frequent Flyer]

Questions are;

1) When you fly SQ metal on economy fares that qualify for VA SCs and FF points, when booking directly with them, am I correct to assume they all earn Full Economy SCs?

2) I'm a Platinum and my wife is a Gold VFF. Assuming 1) is correct, is it worth paying the extra AUD 875 to earn the bonus FF points? I understand each person will value point/$ spent differently, but your thoughts will be apprecaited.

Cheers,
GS

Hi there,
SQ Economy fares that are booked through SQ and that are eligible for earn, will attract Status Credits at Full Economy levels.

On VA codeshare service operated by SQ, Flexi fares will earn Status Credits at Full Economy levels whereas Saver fares (other than those booked in T, V, Q which are ineligible for earn) will earn Status Credits at Discount Economy levels.

Details can be found here: Status Earn Fare Class| Velocity Frequent Flyer