Etihad instant upgrade earn rate for virgin Australia

[EuroFlyer]

Hi fellow fflyers,
Just took a Etihad flight from dub - auh and opted for a instant upgrade to business at the Etihad ticket office.
What should I expect as the earn rate for this fare for virgin Australia. I was provided with boarding passes with the fare class marked as J.
I hoped someone may have had a similar experience.

Thanks

 

[KCMil]

I did the same in June last year. My advice is make sure you hold onto the updated itinerary / invoice that they print and give to you. AND keep the boarding pass. I didn't and they said too bad so sad. It seems that the Etihad team just couldn't get the details together to give to Velocity to process the points. After my last phone call about it in Feb this year I gave up!

 

[Aussie_flyer]

IF this was an on departure discounted upgrade at the airport you will get the original booking class credit only.

The boarding pass showing J is probably just a default thing for all business class

 

[EuroFlyer]

I did the same in June last year. My advice is make sure you hold onto the updated itinerary / invoice that they print and give to you. AND keep the boarding pass. I didn't and they said too bad so sad. It seems that the Etihad team just couldn't get the details together to give to Velocity to process the points. After my last phone call about it in Feb this year I gave up!

Thanks KCMiL, I will make sure to keep all documentation for the flight ,apprecite the reply

 

[EuroFlyer]

IF this was an on departure discounted upgrade at the airport you will get the original booking class credit only.

The boarding pass showing J is probably just a default thing for all business class

Thanks dazz81, I was hoping I might get business credits when I saw j travel class on my boarding class. This was a paid upgrade at the Etihad ticket desk so not sure if thats a discount upgrade or not. I think il just keep my boarding pass and receipt and see how I go. It was worth the extra cost anyways I think.

 

[Aussie_flyer]

If this upgrade cost in the region of a few hundred up to $1000 AUD it is most likely an on departure upgrade which won't qualify for J points/status credits

 

[darraghk]

Hi Euroflyer,
The Etihad online upgrade facility gives a 10% points bonus for paid upgrades to J so you may be entitled to the same.
Out of interest can I ask how much you had to pay for the upgrade?

 

[pythonisman]

Slightly off topic, but I made QF Silver last year off the back of 2 x "on departure" upgrades to Star Class on JQ flying SYD-CNS-KIX. My original ticket was ~$219 each way, +$200 for the upgrade.

I think that's an exception to how it should actually work though...

 

[Aussie_flyer]

Slightly off topic, but I made QF Silver last year off the back of 2 x "on departure" upgrades to Star Class on JQ flying SYD-CNS-KIX. My original ticket was ~$219 each way, +$200 for the upgrade.

I think that's an exception to how it should actually work though...

Yeah, they used to say you won't get the points/SC but I have received them in the past too.

As for Etihad's 10% bonus, that does not apply to Velocity members

 

[day-heg]

EuroFlyer, sorry I'm a bit late to to the party with this post, I saw it but forgot to respond...

Late last year I did a similar upgrade, I went to the EY office in Melbourne 48 hours before the flight and they offered me MEL - AUH in J for about $600, which I snapped up!

Velocity originally posted the SCs & points as 0, but after a bit of chasing with them and the VA rep on here, it all got posted at full earn for Business. As a bonus, at the time of booking the upgrade there was a double SC offer on, so I somehow got 320SCs for that one sector!!!

So, deffo worth chasing, and if my experience is anything to go by, you should earn at J rates.
Hope this helps...

 

[lazybones1987]

It seems that the Etihad team just couldn't get the details together to give to Velocity to process the points.

Most of these issues will be fixed once both VA and Etihad move to Sabre early next year.

 

[EuroFlyer]

Hi Euroflyer,
The Etihad online upgrade facility gives a 10% points bonus for paid upgrades to J so you may be entitled to the same.
Out of interest can I ask how much you had to pay for the upgrade?

Hi darraghk,
Thanks for the reply.I paid 435 euro,s for the upgrade and was told that the auh - Mel if available would be 750 usd to upgrade, however there was no seats available for the second flight

 

[EuroFlyer]

Hi day-heg,
Thanks for the reply, I will definitely follow up with this more when I get the points posted. Hopefully I can secure the business status credits as I would then be very close to platinum (done through actual virgin flying as opposed to anything else )

EuroFlyer, sorry I'm a bit late to to the party with this post, I saw it but forgot to respond...

Late last year I did a similar upgrade, I went to the EY office in Melbourne 48 hours before the flight and they offered me MEL - AUH in J for about $600, which I snapped up!

Velocity originally posted the SCs & points as 0, but after a bit of chasing with them and the VA rep on here, it all got posted at full earn for Business. As a bonus, at the time of booking the upgrade there was a double SC offer on, so I somehow got 320SCs for that one sector!!!

So, deffo worth chasing, and if my experience is anything to go by, you should earn at J rates.
Hope this helps...

 

[Aussie_flyer]

good luck getting them but you are actually not entitled to them. Other people have gotten lucky I guess. These discounted upgrades before departure are supposed to be original booking class only, but as others have said EY do give a 10% bonus.

They are quite cheap for upgrades Etihad, some people say it devalues the product significantly. The F cabin is likely full of upgrades than people who paid full F fares