So I gave it a go. Twice. Was successful, but not really worth the time. I guess next time, since I know which airline to try first, I might go there first. I was successful with flights on STAtravel. Sorry, but I can't remember which websites I was not successful with.
You find your cheaper flights, on the Australian website with a .au ending. Then you call Virgin, tell them you light to make a Fare Promise booking. They take the info, then they look to see if that website is on their list. STA was not YET on their list, so it took a while longer. Then they got back to me. The flight was like $1.50 cheaper on STA. ( I know, I know, not worth the effort - but I really wanted to see how the process worked.) So, then she actually asked me if I really wanted to go ahead with the Fare Promise booking. I told her of course I did! I wanted those 500pts. (Imagine where I could fly with them!)
So they made the booking ( I think they waived the credit card booking fee) and a week later I had my precious 500pts.
I would just recommend looking at BYOjet, since even though it does not qualify for the Fare Promise, the flights are significantly 10-20% cheaper. I just booked with them instead.
