FlyBuys - Explore Gold offer

[xen0n33]

My Explore Gold kicked in last night (no email, just noticed when opening the VA app). Odd thing is that I was Silver with 384SC (none due to expire before May) but, after Explore Gold, my account now shows 129SC. Couldn't see any mentions of it happening in this thread; has anyone else experienced this?

It's not like I feel short-changed - I was on-track to hit Gold at the end of May, so picking it up now is a bonus - but the number of points deducted seems arbitrary.

 

[Dr Ralph]

My Explore Gold kicked in last night (no email, just noticed when opening the VA app).

Same same:

Membership level

Explore Gold

 

[MattA]

My Explore Gold kicked in last night (no email, just noticed when opening the VA app). Odd thing is that I was Silver with 384SC (none due to expire before May) but, after Explore Gold, my account now shows 129SC. Couldn't see any mentions of it happening in this thread; has anyone else experienced this?

Same here. Applied Friday, and I can see my Explore Gold status today (didn't get any email confirmation), but I've lost some Status Credits that were earned in November and December last year. I reckon it's a bug. Maybe because the validity period of Explore Gold is three months the system incorrectly removes any credits earned more than three months ago? Doesn't really affect me either but it will definitely bother people who are worried about potentially screwing up qualification for Gold through the regular route after the Explore Gold period expires.

In case it helps anyone wondering whether to take up the offer now or wait in case you might get it again at a better time for you: I also received this offer the last time it was going around, on the same FlyBuys card. Didn't take it up then as that one required you to show QF status to qualify (which I don't have). So I think there's a good chance you'll get the offer again if you meet their criteria (my guess is it's based on your overall spend through FlyBuys -- my wife has a separate FlyBuys account that has not put nearly as much spend through Coles and that one didn't get either offer...)

Also for anyone wondering how the 3 month period is calculated it is from the day when the status review happens -- i.e. my review happened yesterday so the deadline for the 80SC and 1 sector is 7th June.

 

[kamchatsky]

Just logged in this morning, my membership has turned to Explore Gold , with review date of 7 June 2017. Perfect timing as my Etihad Gold expires end of this month!

So now I need to get 80SCs to maintain Gold in next 3 months. That should not be a problem because I already have booked SYD-CBR return next week for 40SCs (15 + 25SC) and I have more trips to come ....

Interestingly, my current Status Credit has gone down from 230SCs to 96SCs. Why is that?

 

[Mr He]

Just found my membership level has turned to Explore Gold too, with 8 June as the review date. Strangely my status credits have dropped from 59 (all earned through shopping at Coles) to 39, and the "Maintain Explore Gold" section showed 0 for "Status Credits earned since 08 June 2016", lol. So I guess for the 80 SCs required by the review date, only the SCs earned from flying (rather than shopping) are calculated, right? Anyway, there should be no problem hitting the target, and I'm considering a business class return between SYD-MEL now.

 

[Liu]

Thanks to Flybuys for giving us the opportunity to become Gold status holders.. It will be nice to attain Gold status for further 12 months just for 80 SC.. Thanks Flybuys..

 

[Liu]

You are lucky.. they took 200 SC from my account...

Just found my membership level has turned to Explore Gold too, with 8 June as the review date. Strangely my status credits have dropped from 59 (all earned through shopping at Coles) to 39, and the "Maintain Explore Gold" section showed 0 for "Status Credits earned since 08 June 2016", lol. So I guess for the 80 SCs required by the review date, only the SCs earned from flying (rather than shopping) are calculated, right? Anyway, there should be no problem hitting the target, and I'm considering a business class return between SYD-MEL now.
View attachment 93238

 

[GarrettM]

Didn't receive this one. Bugger. Would have been well timed too.

 

[twiningb]

So, people who are now Explore Gold:

Do you not have an "Upgrade to Platinum" status box under your "Maintain Explore Gold" box?

I specifically asked by Twitter how this works with respect to qualifying for Platinum, or for Gold if you miss the Explore Gold maintenance target. They called me back yesterday, and said that my existing status credits would still be considered for a full year.

 

[MattA]

Do you not have an "Upgrade to Platinum" status box under your "Maintain Explore Gold" box?

No. I have only one box that says "Maintain Explore Gold".

They called me back yesterday, and said that my existing status credits would still be considered for a full year.

As I said above, that's not been my experience. All SCs earned more than 3 months ago have gone from my account. I suspect that's what has happened to all the others reporting missing SCs too.

 

[kamchatsky]

No. I have only one box that says "Maintain Explore Gold".



As I said above, that's not been my experience. All SCs earned more than 3 months ago have gone from my account. I suspect that's what has happened to all the others reporting missing SCs too.

+1, I did a count back, and it looks like VA kept the SCs that I have earned since 1 Jan 2017 (or thereabouts).

 

[AnnaB]

In case it helps anyone wondering whether to take up the offer now or wait in case you might get it again at a better time for you: I also received this offer the last time it was going around, on the same FlyBuys card. Didn't take it up then as that one required you to show QF status to qualify (which I don't have). So I think there's a good chance you'll get the offer again if you meet their criteria (my guess is it's based on your overall spend through FlyBuys -- my wife has a separate FlyBuys account that has not put nearly as much spend through Coles and that one didn't get either offer...)

Also for anyone wondering how the 3 month period is calculated it is from the day when the status review happens -- i.e. my review happened yesterday so the deadline for the 80SC and 1 sector is 7th June.

How long did it take before you got another offer to Explore Gold? Just wondering as we got the offer, but all our flights are booked in July, which means we will miss out on maintaining gold if we take up this one...

 

[MattA]

How long did it take before you got another offer to Explore Gold? Just wondering as we got the offer, but all our flights are booked in July, which means we will miss out on maintaining gold if we take up this one...

As far as I know they've only done two batches of Explore Gold offers, but my Flybuys card was invited to both of them. The first one, which required you to show that you had at least QF silver status, was on 16 November (I can't post a link to it due to low post count but there's a thread on AFF about it titled "FlyBuys Velocity Status Challenge - targeted"). Last Friday's was the second round of offers.

Of course there are no guarantees they will run this again at all. I was just making the point that if you do skip this one for whatever reason, it doesn't necessarily mean you won't get another chance at some point in the future.

 

[AnnaB]

As far as I know they've only done two batches of Explore Gold offers, but my Flybuys card was invited to both of them. The first one, which required you to show that you had at least QF silver status, was on 16 November (I can't post a link to it due to low post count but there's a thread on AFF about it titled "FlyBuys Velocity Status Challenge - targeted"). Last Friday's was the second round of offers.

Of course there are no guarantees they will run this again at all. I was just making the point that if you do skip this one for whatever reason, it doesn't necessarily mean you won't get another chance at some point in the future.

Well, I guess it would be better to skip it this time around and hopefully get another invite, then wasting it when I have no flights planned.
Thanks for the info

 

[badseed]

Ha - I was approved also. Not sure why I was targeted in the first place, given I've never held status with VA, and never had over 10k points.

But it's probably going to earn them a bit of revenue over the next few months as I'll be flying between MEL and SYD quite a bit, so may as well try and get to the 80SC (and enjoy the lounge).

 

[Dr Ralph]

Received this today:

'A new class of travel awaits
Congratulations, your Explore Gold application has been successful.

Explore Gold is your three month taste of Velocity Gold membership. From Lounge access to Priority Boarding, you'll have the opportunity to experience the best of Virgin Australia's premium products and services^.

Keep an eye out as your membership pack is on is way, including your new membership card. You can unlock your benefits when travelling with Virgin Australia immediately simply by quoting your membership number. You’ll need to present your card to access our partner airline benefits and if you turn it over you’ll find your Velocity Global Wallet® - a Visa Prepaid Travel card that simply needs to be activated by visiting velocityglobalwallet.com, should you choose to use it.

Your Gold journey starts here.'

 

[Mr He]

Same here. Looking forward to my new membership pack now.

Received this today:

'A new class of travel awaits
Congratulations, your Explore Gold application has been successful.

Explore Gold is your three month taste of Velocity Gold membership. From Lounge access to Priority Boarding, you'll have the opportunity to experience the best of Virgin Australia's premium products and services^.

Keep an eye out as your membership pack is on is way, including your new membership card. You can unlock your benefits when travelling with Virgin Australia immediately simply by quoting your membership number. You’ll need to present your card to access our partner airline benefits and if you turn it over you’ll find your Velocity Global Wallet® - a Visa Prepaid Travel card that simply needs to be activated by visiting velocityglobalwallet.com, should you choose to use it.

Your Gold journey starts here.'

 

[koconder]

Got mine in few days, its great as i family pool and use Flybuys for Coles shopping with Amex PE card for x3 MR earn. Recently been transferring to VA points for Gift Card redemptions with the bonus transfer rates at the moment. I have a SYD>PER>ADL>SYD x2 (via pool) coming up that will more than satisfy my earn for 1yr of Gold and will use over the next year for domestic flights using points and keep my QF card for international and OW trips.

 

[Daver6]

I received this offer late last year and took it up. Sadly, no flying with VA so not maintained. What is interested is I was red prior. Now that gold has expired, I've dropped to silver until Feb next year. As a result, I have two lounge visits loaded onto my card. Not a bad outcome.

 

[kyle]

Explorer Gold came thru just in time for last weekend's trip MEL-OOL-MEL. Enjoyed the priority check in, luggage (only on OOL-MEL), boarding, forward seating (moved from row 30 to 8) and the lounge. On the MEL-OOL, my priority tagged luggage came out near the end! Oh well... 9/10. Now thinking of taking one trip just to keep the Gold for 12 months.