Incremental benefits of Velocity Platinum?

[twiningb]

I have had Gold off and (mostly) on for the last several years. I am within striking distance of Platinum with upcoming travel I'm going to book this weekend for double status credits. I'm trying to strategize whether to shoot to qualify with an Easter trip, or sooner then make a dent in requalification at Easter. We're planning a Europe trip for approximately Easter 2021 so it might be the difference between staying Platinum just long enough, or dropping back before then.

What are the concrete incremental benefits of Platinum over Gold? Obviously you get the First Lounge in AUH, but are there any lounge upgrades at SIN or SQ outstations? DL and VS don't have meaningful First differentiation, and NH benefits are not known yet.

Is Economy X availability pretty good? Are there routes with a decent Platinum upgrade chance where the Freedom fare is not disproportionately expensive?

I'm not going to redeem points for short-haul economy, so guaranteed availability to do so isn't a selling point for me.

Is there anything else I'm not considering?

 

[Bell21]

Good question - I'm also really interested in what the incremental benefits, as when I look at the obvious benefits (eco x, 4 free upgrades etc), it doesn't appear overly compelling - like you, I'm VA gold and I could push for platinum but I'm not sure it's tangibly worth it??

 

[moa999]

More points on flights is probably the biggest benefit.

But agree unlike QF, there isn't the advantage in lounges

 

[pauly7]

I’m sure there is another thread on this somewhere.... net result is very little benefit so most people stay VA gold then pursue other opportunities

 

[Harthagan]

I have had Gold off and (mostly) on for the last several years. I am within striking distance of Platinum with upcoming travel I'm going to book this weekend for double status credits. I'm trying to strategize whether to shoot to qualify with an Easter trip, or sooner then make a dent in requalification at Easter. We're planning a Europe trip for approximately Easter 2021 so it might be the difference between staying Platinum just long enough, or dropping back before then.

What are the concrete incremental benefits of Platinum over Gold? Obviously you get the First Lounge in AUH, but are there any lounge upgrades at SIN or SQ outstations? DL and VS don't have meaningful First differentiation, and NH benefits are not known yet.

Is Economy X availability pretty good? Are there routes with a decent Platinum upgrade chance where the Freedom fare is not disproportionately expensive?

I'm not going to redeem points for short-haul economy, so guaranteed availability to do so isn't a selling point for me.

Is there anything else I'm not considering?

For me economy X is really the main advantage as I'm tall and mainly fly domestic. I just booked 4 return flights and got seat 3D on all 8 legs.

The cost of a freedom fare is so high that it makes the 4 upgrades useless for me. Unless u were going to need the flexibility of a freedom fare in the first place I'd say there are much cheaper ways of getting a seat in J for almost any domestic route. Like a reward J seat or purchasing a getaway fare and then bidding $$ for the upgrade will almost always work out to be better value.

 

[traceyy]

for me the uprades work because i only use the domestic on international so you can up grade the domestic portions ie; i would go LA vid BNE or SYD and i always fly j via points upgrade these days so have to get the freedom fare anyway. so upgrade for free on those domestic portions which also nets me more points and more scs along the way.

 

[henrus]

Is Economy X availability pretty good?

If just by yourself it's okay... but when bringing lots of people it's a real saver. I had 4 legs with 4 people and it saved almost $1000 in Economy X seat fees.

Are there routes with a decent Platinum upgrade chance where the Freedom fare is not disproportionately expensive?

Routes away from the capitals aren't bad. Often on Brisbane to Cairns it's only $40-50 more.

 

[CPMaverick]

3 guests in the (VA operated) lounge & Economy X benefits can be quite good if you travel in a group (although finding lots of Economy X seats together can be a challenge).

The upgrades are nice but I have to work to use them, and end up spending extra $$ to do so. A bit of a wash.

Hotel status match is nice, even though it is meant to be a one-off I had Hilton renew my Diamond status for another year even though I didn't re-qualify.

 

[serfty]

There are some routes where freedom fares can make the use of the comp upgrades reasonable.

MEL-OOL is one, especially if you can get a connection in CBR/SYD then there's the bonus of a 50SC earn for ~$270 one way. Note this values them at 4900 points each.

Also, if you get WP, then there's a soft land to SG.

 

[Harthagan]

I think the cases are very specific where it would be advantageous. Like for the domestic leg of an international itinerary booked freedom for the sake of upgrading to business or perhaps a status run.

For just a simple domestic holiday with no connections ex Sydney it is of zero to minimal value. I think to cairns is the one place it's like breakeven $ wise and if u factor in SC and velocity points earned you come out slightly ahead (but again that's based on reward seat availability in the first place)

 

[CPMaverick]

There are some routes where freedom fares can make the use of the comp upgrades reasonable.

Agreed, and sometimes I get a Freedom fare just because the SC bump is worth it. Or I want to upgrade an International journey and have the unfortunate scenario where I have to connect in BNE or SYD. Still, not easy to plan this and it's extra work to sort it all out. I still like the benefit but I never really know if I'll get value from it or not. I've booked a Freedom fare and not been able to upgrade before.

MEL-OOL is one, especially if you can get a connection in CBR/SYD then there's the bonus of a 50SC earn for ~$270 one way. Note this values them at 4900 points each.

But if you connect in CBR you have to use twice the certs, right? They don't work across two connecting flights do they? I wouldn't see MEL-CBR or CBR-OOL as a very good use of 1 cert.

 

[serfty]

I've booked a Freedom fare and not been able to upgrade before.

I do try to ensure there is Z availability before booking a freedom fare.

...
But if you connect in CBR you have to use twice the certs, right? They don't work across two connecting flights do they? I wouldn't see MEL-CBR or CBR-OOL as a very good use of 1 cert.

Sure, YMMV - at that rate the value is equivalent to 4900 velocity Points. You may get better value on international short haul.

Another thing is to compare the cost of routes of Freedom fare on longer multi segment routes - sometimes they can be cheaper than fares for individual segments of the same route.

 

[CPMaverick]

I do try to ensure there is Z availability before booking a freedom fare.

Of course, I try as well. But most of my travel is work travel. So add in fairly inflexible schedules, restrict it to booking Freedom fares only when the incremental cost is low, and restrict it to flights with Z availability, and you can quickly find yourself with 4 expired certs.

I'd consider using a cert on MEL-CBR as a fail. Better than nothing but only just. it's not an equivalent value of 4900 points to me because I'd never waste 4900 points on that. Opinions of course may vary.

 

[serfty]

Of course, I try as well. But most of my travel is work travel. So add in fairly inflexible schedules, restrict it to booking Freedom fares only when the incremental cost is low, and restrict it to flights with Z availability, and you can quickly find yourself with 4 expired certs.

I'd consider using a cert on MEL-CBR as a fail. Better than nothing but only just. it's not an equivalent value of 4900 points to me because I'd never waste 4900 points on that

I once used two on a CNS-xMEL-PER booking ... long day that

 

[CPMaverick]

I one used two on a CNS-xMEL-PER booking ... long day that

Now that's a great use! I actually did get to use one on CNS-MEL about 18 months ago. But failed to achieve an upgrade on BNE-DRW (which is even longer than MEL-PER!), despite booking a Freedom fare well in advance.

 

[jase05]

There are some routes where freedom fares can make the use of the comp upgrades reasonable.

MEL-OOL is one, especially if you can get a connection in CBR/SYD then there's the bonus of a 50SC earn for ~$270 one way. Note this values them at 4900 points each.

Also, if you get WP, then there's a soft land to SG.

Recently booked PER-MEL on the A330 and paid $665 Freedom fare and used one of my comp upgrades. Business Saver was $1200 so not a bad use of the upgrade IMO.
The key was I was fairly flexible around the dates I was after and once I found award availability I booked and phoned up ASAP

 

[Harthagan]

Kind of illustrates the point though. U could have got the same seat for 39800 points plus $25 taxes.

All depends on what $ value u place on points and whether u need a flexible fare I guess. For myself, I can see how some find a way to use it but nothing more than that.

 

[jase05]

Kind of illustrates the point though. U could have got the same seat for 39800 points plus $25 taxes.

All depends on what $ value u place on points and whether u need a flexible fare I guess. For myself, I can see how some find a way to use it but nothing more than that.

I kind of agree although in my case I don’t have a huge stockpile of points and I prefer to keep them for SQ redemptions. Living in ADL I can use 53,000 points to get to SIN on SQ which sell for over $2500.

 

[twiningb]

Thanks, all, for your input. I decided to not go out of my way for Platinum this time.

I fly a couple of times a year with my wife and two kids, but usually no further than MEL-SYD vv, so Economy X isn't a killer benefit.

 

[jpp42]

DL and VS don't have meaningful First differentiation, and NH benefits are not known yet.

On DL, you're correct that there are no differences in official published benefits. However, unofficially it seems that VA Platinums map just below Platinum medallion status in terms of upgrade order. So if you're lucky enough to be on a flight with few Delta elites, you will have a slightly higher chance of upgrades to domestic First (or even Delta One, the lie-flat seats) on a DL sector. Note that these complimentary upgrades don't happen on international flights.

Also, VA elites are eligible for choosing seats for free in Delta Comfort+ (compare to Economy X - normal economy seats but in preferred rows and slightly more legroom). Delta says that these seats are available "shortly after ticketing" for Platinum Medallion and T-72 for Gold Medallion. I remember on my last Delta segment (as Virgin Plat), I was able to choose a Comfort+ seat for free, but can't remember if it was before T-72 or not (I got upgraded to domestic First anyway so it was a moot point). Does anyone have any more experience with this?