Points + Pay a good Velocity Option, 7800 points + $53 PE BNE-SYD

[LiamR]

Scored YFC, 1A is nice with the new seats, but row 3, OMG, more legroom than 1, more than 1A on a 717! Love the new interior!

YFC is a very nice aircraft. Look forward to seeing more of them in the Virgin fleet.

[Off Topic]

Did you get the speel about your seatbelt being an airbag? I've never heard that before until I flew on YFC.

[/Off Topic]

 

[loobloke]

Oh dear! I actually hate you for posting this right now.

I just booked all the fares I need to book using the jetabroad offer..

On reading the fare rules, it sounds like I can make a booking for the future and just stow it there and change it to a date that works for me later on down the track without any change fees?
Is this what everyone else is reading?

I'm dreaming of all the abuse if only reward flights could earn SC's...

Edit: Quick tip I just noticed. If you slide the points/pay slider all the way to the very left, it puts on a credit card surcharge. If you stop just before the minimum points spendage, it doesn't tack on the surcharge.

 

[AdMEL]

Have not had a serious look at the DJ points + pay option until this morning, grabbed a PE seat to SYD tomorrow for 7800 points + $55 in total, which to me seemed very good value by comparison to the options on offer from QF.

So, for the new price of a casual lounge pass, plus 7,800 points, you can get a PE flight worth $419! Fantastic! That values the points at 4.66 cents each!

Thats the point, that is exactly what I booked, but when you get to the screen where you can slide down the points used and use more cash, you get my result, I was not thinking at the time but should have seen have low I could go! Any award that around the 14K mark can be adjusted to get my figures from what I can tell, which makes Velocity point redemption suddenly very attractive IMHO at around $6.16 for every 1000 points reduction.

Looking at PER-SYD (no difference in points for 73 or A330, ie real J class), 33800+$16 could be come 7800 + $173 :shock:.

And for about the price of a discount economy ticket SYD-PER or PER-SYD, plus 7,800 points, you can get a business class flight worth $1,399! Awesome! That values the points at 15.7 cents each! Can't wait 'til Virgin start flying their new A330 from MEL-PER. Anyone know if/when this will happen? Unfortunately, it doesn't appear you can redeem MEL-PER in PE or Business currently.

markis10, thanks for the heads up!

There is what I would call an annoying glitch in the Velocity system though - you have to have the full amount of points in your account before it will you choose the flight so you can reduce the number of points using points + pay.

Since I don't have enough points in my account at the moment and don't want to transfer points unless I have a specific flight to purchase, could someone be so kind as to check what the lowest amount of points + pay for the above routes would be? Thanks in advance.

 

[markis10]

You don't need the full amount of points to redeem, I only had 8000 which is how I found about the good points and pay!

 

[loobloke]

You can't access the point/pay slider unless you have sufficient amounts of points in the first place.

In the mean time, someone should go hide this thread in the QFF forum before VA notices!

 

[AdMEL]

You don't need the full amount of points to redeem, I only had 8000 which is how I found about the good points and pay!

When I try BNE-SYD, it comes up with the following message:

The total price of the booking is 9800 Points. You do not have the minimum number of Points required to continue - view more details. Try other flights or make your booking at www.virginblue.com.au.

Odd, given economy is 6,900 points + pay! When I click on view more details, it just says that the min. number of points varies and to try another route or pay for the flight! Not very helpful!

I have a bit over 4,000 which must not be enough, hence my question as to what the lowest amount required for points + pay.

 

[oz_mark]

You can't access the point/pay slider unless you have sufficient amounts of points in the first place.

The way I think it works, is that you need to have the minimum possible points for the itinerary you have selected. So, while 8000 points might be enough to see the option on a one way SYD-BNE redemption, if you try a return trip, you won't get any options to choose from.

 

[froggerADL]

I have a bit over 4,000 which must not be enough, hence my question as to what the lowest amount required for points + pay.

The minimum is 6,900 points one-way, 13,800 return.

 

[kamchatsky]

What a bargain!

Just wondering, for Premium awards, what is the date change/cancellation policies? Is it all fee free? Or you lose all the points if you cancel?


Now, can someone tell me what I can do in PER?!

 

[loobloke]

Can someone clarify this for me,

Flying PE, can I guest someone into the lounge with me if I'm not Gold? Or is guesting only reserved for gold?

Members Guests

Each time you enter the Virgin Australia lounge, you may invite one Guest to join you at no charge. Your Guests do not need to be travelling with Virgin Australia to join you. Additional Guests will be charged the Casual entry fee of $35 (inc. GST) untill 30 July 2011 or $65 (inc. GST) after 1 August 2011 at the lounge reception area, or you can save $5 per visit by pre-paying online.

 

[froggerADL]

Just wondering, for Premium awards, what is the date change/cancellation policies? Is it all fee free? Or you lose all the points if you cancel?

I suggest you read the first page of this thread.

 

[markis10]

OK, now that I finally got some points back into my velocity account I have done a bit of research, here is the low down:

BNE-ADL PE 25700 points or 6900 Points + $149.42 AUD
BNE-PER PE 38800 points or 6900 Points + $186.32 AUD
BNE-MEL PE 21800 points or 6900 Points + $128.71 AUD
BNE-CBR PE 16700 points or 6900 Points + $72.67 AUD
BNE-SYD PE 16700 points or 6900 Points + $72.67 AUD


NOW CHECK THIS OUT:

PER-SYD J 36700 points or 6900 Points + $167.75 AUD

OK, so these are "classic awards" but availability is fantastic every time I have looked and while you dont earn on them, its not a bad burn option. If you are based in Perth then that J special seems very good value!

 

[AdMEL]

OK, now that I finally got some points back into my velocity account I have done a bit of research, here is the low down:

BNE-ADL PE 25700 points or 6900 Points + $149.42 AUD
BNE-PER PE 38800 points or 6900 Points + $186.32 AUD
BNE-MEL PE 21800 points or 6900 Points + $128.71 AUD
BNE-CBR PE 16700 points or 6900 Points + $72.67 AUD
BNE-SYD PE 16700 points or 6900 Points + $72.67 AUD


NOW CHECK THIS OUT:

PER-SYD J 36700 points or 6900 Points + $167.75 AUD

OK, so these are "classic awards" but availability is fantastic every time I have looked and while you dont earn on them, its not a bad burn option. If you are based in Perth then that J special seems very good value!

I've also now got enough points in my account and have found PER-SYD J has great availability! If only they flew the A330 MEL-PER!

Interesting that you can get BNE-PER PE but for numerous I checked, PE MEL-PER was not available, despite one of the Y flights routing via SYD on the A330! I would be more than happy to go via SYD so I could try the A330 J! I realise I can do that with two separate reward flights, but it would be much easier and cheaper if the Velocity website allowed me to do it as one flight!

What's the bet that once they re-fit the planes so they actually have J on most routes, the revamp of Velocity will remove these sweet deals!

 

[Saab34]

Can you not do PE Reward connecting flights or is everything just Sold out?

 

[AdMEL]

Can you not do PE Reward connecting flights or is everything just Sold out?

MEL-PER shows PE as not available (Y standard and any seat available on almost every flight). Only way would be to book as two separate flights.

 

[AdMEL]

I've just checked again and they now have PE on MEL-PER available on direct flights - 6,900 points + $218.80. Just need proper J class now!

 

[kamchatsky]

I have the points required to book SYD-PER J return for 2 of us but my better half could not see any good reason to go to PER!