highflyingkiwi
Intern
- Joined
- Aug 11, 2012
- Posts
- 58
I recently became a DJ Gold member, and of course it happened just before Christmas, so was concerned about if I was going to get any perks or not. I thought I would lay out my experiences, so others in the same boat would feel comfortable.
on 10/12 wife and 3 kids flew POM-BNE-AKL, I subsequently upgraded via family pooling to Gold which didn't happen overnight, but I rang a few times to the contact center and they pushed through the status credits owed from the families flights.
I was flying flexi, so checked my seat allocation for my flight on the 18th POM-BNE-AKL, and was gradually being pushed back down the plane. Rang once I was Gold, and got them to reapply my velocity number (as per hints on the forum) and was immediately in row 3.
on arrival at Jackson's airport, the priority queue was empty, and the checkin fella told me I was only allowed 1 bag (I had 2). A delay of 10 minutes whilst they checked, and yes - all good to go.
Noted on both boarding passes DJ-G. The checkin staff belong to Airlines PNG, so Virgin may have to do a little work there - but at no stage did they ask for my card.
POM-BNE was in one of the refurb birds with the divider between business (rather than premium) and economy. I happened to ask for a points upgrade earlier, and was declined due to no seats, and it was a very full flight. Happily though, I gained a shadow
. No IFE on this flight which was odd.
On arrival in BNE through transfer, and thought I would try my luck in the Koru lounge. With no card, I thought I would have no chance, and was even told by the virgin staff that it was unlikely. However - no problem, let straight in and had a great time made even better due to my BNE-AKL flight being 2 hours delayed. This flight was very full, with a late passenger occupying 3E so I guess I had a shadow there till a last minute booking. I had also asked for a points upgrade on this flight, but was told it was full, however they still had 4 premium seats empty.
on arrival at AKL, my priority bags came out in the first 20, and since I had to declare a whole lot of PNG stuff I was first at customs for declaration.
later that day, Me, wife and 3 kids flew AKL-DUD NZ. We got priority baggage and space + seating (row 5) even though I booked as a DJ Silver. I hadn't updated NZ with my status, but it was printed on the boarding pass - so obviously NZ works better with velocity status changes than DJ (both booked individually).
with new found confidence I rocked up to the Koru Lounge with the family in tow - scanned my boarding pass, got the green light and we all rocked in.. Pretty awesome.
flight back from DUD-AKL, same experience, Row 7 and DUD Koru lounge access with "real" priority baggage. 5 bags out in the first 10...
On Monday I fly back to PNG, In the meantime, wife is trying to figure out how to flog the family pooled status credits back lol.
i know this sounds like a trip report, but really, I thought it was interesting from a velocity perspective on how having just acquired status, one would be still be likely to get all the benefits - especially with the airNZ partnership. fingers crossed for an easy trip to POM, and maybe a points upgrade for the business seat leg
cheers
HFK
on 10/12 wife and 3 kids flew POM-BNE-AKL, I subsequently upgraded via family pooling to Gold which didn't happen overnight, but I rang a few times to the contact center and they pushed through the status credits owed from the families flights.
I was flying flexi, so checked my seat allocation for my flight on the 18th POM-BNE-AKL, and was gradually being pushed back down the plane. Rang once I was Gold, and got them to reapply my velocity number (as per hints on the forum) and was immediately in row 3.
on arrival at Jackson's airport, the priority queue was empty, and the checkin fella told me I was only allowed 1 bag (I had 2). A delay of 10 minutes whilst they checked, and yes - all good to go.
Noted on both boarding passes DJ-G. The checkin staff belong to Airlines PNG, so Virgin may have to do a little work there - but at no stage did they ask for my card.
POM-BNE was in one of the refurb birds with the divider between business (rather than premium) and economy. I happened to ask for a points upgrade earlier, and was declined due to no seats, and it was a very full flight. Happily though, I gained a shadow
. No IFE on this flight which was odd.On arrival in BNE through transfer, and thought I would try my luck in the Koru lounge. With no card, I thought I would have no chance, and was even told by the virgin staff that it was unlikely. However - no problem, let straight in and had a great time made even better due to my BNE-AKL flight being 2 hours delayed. This flight was very full, with a late passenger occupying 3E so I guess I had a shadow there till a last minute booking. I had also asked for a points upgrade on this flight, but was told it was full, however they still had 4 premium seats empty.
on arrival at AKL, my priority bags came out in the first 20, and since I had to declare a whole lot of PNG stuff I was first at customs for declaration.
later that day, Me, wife and 3 kids flew AKL-DUD NZ. We got priority baggage and space + seating (row 5) even though I booked as a DJ Silver. I hadn't updated NZ with my status, but it was printed on the boarding pass - so obviously NZ works better with velocity status changes than DJ (both booked individually).
with new found confidence I rocked up to the Koru Lounge with the family in tow - scanned my boarding pass, got the green light and we all rocked in.. Pretty awesome.
flight back from DUD-AKL, same experience, Row 7 and DUD Koru lounge access with "real" priority baggage. 5 bags out in the first 10...
On Monday I fly back to PNG, In the meantime, wife is trying to figure out how to flog the family pooled status credits back lol.
i know this sounds like a trip report, but really, I thought it was interesting from a velocity perspective on how having just acquired status, one would be still be likely to get all the benefits - especially with the airNZ partnership. fingers crossed for an easy trip to POM, and maybe a points upgrade for the business seat leg
cheers
HFK
