One Very Happy Customer :)

[swordfish]

So I received a letter from virgin in the mail today. Before opening I thought to myself... oh here we go "we regret to inform you blah blah you are now red".

Anyway to my surprise it said "As a valued member of Velocity Frequent Flyer and guest of Virgin Australia, i am pleased to welcome you to another year as a Silver member". :shock::shock::shock::shock::shock:

Huh?

I only got 30SCs last year and had flown in only 1 sector. WOW.

Thank you very much Virgin, I'll definitely try to hit gold this year !

 

[dsotm]

I got the same thing with Qantas. I had 90 credits and got a letter and new Gold card, saying they were pleased to welcome me to another year as a Gold member. Strange how these things work.

 

[TonyHancock]

Thank you very much Virgin, I'll definitely try to hit gold this year !

Way to go! Good luck and enjoy!

 

[Dave R32]

Very cool.

 

[Blinky]

Good for you. But they're not so generous with upgrades. I've been Velocity Gold since the program started, and got to 880 SCs last year. I wrote a nice email to remind them how loyal and valuable a member I was, and could they pretty please upgrade me to Platinum.

Nah, was the response. They very helpfully (not) reminded me that 1,000 was the level I needed.

 

[RB]

Good for you. But they're not so generous with upgrades. I've been Velocity Gold since the program started, and got to 880 SCs last year. I wrote a nice email to remind them how loyal and valuable a member I was, and could they pretty please upgrade me to Platinum.

Nah, was the response. They very helpfully (not) reminded me that 1,000 was the level I needed.

I guess others may say it is not reasonable to expect a 12% discount on everything?

 

[Deleted member 29185]

Congrats to the members who retained their uneared status', but to be honest, I have to really wonder what's going on when VA (and now it seems QF as well) are regularly giving away status for little or no earn.........how bizarre, how bizarre.

What a stange entangled web these lot are weaving. Reward the ones who fail to meet requirements and make it as bloody difficult as they can for those who do jump the bar and remove benefits to those on the basis of too many status members!!!!

 

[medhead]

I guess others may say it is not reasonable to expect a 12% discount on everything?

As opposed to a 92.5% discount?

 

[Simo]

That is great news.

 

[VMC73]

Great for some frustrating for others!

I sorted my in-laws so one pooled to the other, mother in law now has 500 SC's but 1 sector short still silver go figure!

 

[samh004]

It's been noted before with airline programs that they're generally reluctant to give you the next higher level, even if you're only a small amount short, but always seem generous in comping extra years at that level when you haven't flown enough... so everything in this thread checks out

 

[Formal Hall]

Great for some frustrating for others!

I sorted my in-laws so one pooled to the other, mother in law now has 500 SC's but 1 sector short still silver go figure!

They seem very strict with meeting sector requirements, which can make it tough if you are exclusively a long-haul VA customer.

 

[pshepvic]

Congrats to the members who retained their uneared status', but to be honest, I have to really wonder what's going on when VA (and now it seems QF as well) are regularly giving away status for little or no earn.........how bizarre, how bizarre.

What a stange entangled web these lot are weaving. Reward the ones who fail to meet requirements and make it as bloody difficult as they can for those who do jump the bar and remove benefits to those on the basis of too many status members!!!!

Although what does silver really get you these days with either airline? A couple of lounge passes and a bit of free baggage. No priority or anything like that, so not a lot really.

 

[totd]

Although what does silver really get you these days with either airline? A couple of lounge passes and a bit of free baggage. No priority or anything like that, so not a lot really.

Isn't silver there as an extra layer of cushioning for people "soft falling" from gold"; so they don't feel completely ripped that they've been dumped back to nuffink red after however many years loyal patronage.

 

[Justinf]

My wife qualified for silver status basically on the back on one trip to NYC and didn't earn any status credits once she qualified and VA kept her silver status for the following year, despite not having flown at all.

 

[Deleted member 29185]

Although what does silver really get you these days with either airline? A couple of lounge passes and a bit of free baggage. No priority or anything like that, so not a lot really.

Discounted lounge membership. But honestly, the issue is not at all about what silver gets you, it's about giving away status for little or no flying. There's been plenty of gold and plat examples given of the same experience, so what silver does or does not give is not the crux of this thread.

 

[grubbidok]

My guess is if you make Gold one year (or Silver or Platinum), but not the next, the airline probably assumes you're still flying (but with someone else) the same amount and tries to lure your business back with status. Retention is always more important than recruitment. Agree it shouldn't always be a given though.

 

[Deleted member 29185]

the airline probably assumes you're still flying (but with someone else) the same amount and tries to lure your business back with status.

Somewhat of a shift away from the age old concept of the golden handcuffs though. Not really handcuffs anymore when the opposition SMs and the other bestows free status in response. If that escalates, it will work against the airlines although possibly in favour of FFers. So my only query is when will QF SM?

 

[gwilli1]

Quick question , how long before your requal date did you receive your letter ? Im VA Gold and my requal date is late April ... have just clicked over halfway to requal & deciding whether i should start looking at SC run to get me across the line or just hang back & see if i get comped another year .

So I received a letter from virgin in the mail today. Before opening I thought to myself... oh here we go "we regret to inform you blah blah you are now red".

Anyway to my surprise it said "As a valued member of Velocity Frequent Flyer and guest of Virgin Australia, i am pleased to welcome you to another year as a Silver member". :shock::shock::shock::shock::shock:

Huh?

I only got 30SCs last year and had flown in only 1 sector. WOW.

Thank you very much Virgin, I'll definitely try to hit gold this year !

 

[jneufeld]

So my only query is when will QF SM?

Let me just say it doesn't hurt to ask.