Status runs out of Melbourne? And couple of other questions

[celetrum]

Hi Everyone

Fairly new here. I have started reading through the Status Run Thread but it goes for about 130 pages at the moment!

Can someone point me in the write direction for best status runs out of Melbourne? I have seen a few and even a couple listed in a spreadsheet going back to 2013 that have VIA Melbourne but only one originating from MEL

A few Questions. (And sorry if they are somewhere else but I don't know how best to utilise the search function either!)

Bear with me while I learn all this stuff.

1) A lot of talk about a spreadsheet doing the rounds? Is the one linked on the very first page of the NEW Velocity Status Run Master Thread (Sorry not allowed to post links yet!) still the current spreadsheet or has this been replaced by something new?


We are family pooling between the wife and I on both points and status to try to get one of us (me) onto some kind of status!

I am hoping someone has done some homework already that is based in Melbourne to save me doing the hard yards of researching myself!

Any help in the right direction would be appreciated.

3) how hard would it be to get the upgrades from SYD - AUH if we plan to fly in just over one year from now (in Sep 2016) and are starting on NIL Status one year out? Basically would it be wishful thinking to get to GOLD and have upgrades still available by the time we got to GOLD?

4) Probably a stupid question but with fees and charges I take it looking at short haul international not as effective cost per status point as domestic runs?

Finally Do all parties need to be on Gold for those elusive SYD - AUH upgrades or as long as booking party is on Gold is enough if flying as a couple?

Early stages of trying to figure out strategies thats all!

Cheers

Jim

 

[celetrum]

Hmm seems I've missed the boat on good status runs on Virgin !

 

[Deleted member 29185]

Hmm seems I've missed the boat on good status runs on Virgin !

That's probably true. VA prices have been heading upwards for a while and there are very few (if any) bargain fares and as such the spreadsheet isn't that relevant these days, but I admit to not looking at it for many, many months (years), so it may have some good runs.

Are you trying to gain status just for the future SYD-AUH trip? If so, I believe anyone can bid for an UpgradeMe auction upgrade. For people to give you pointed advice, I'd suggest you add some more detail, like how often you fly and what benefits you expect status to advantage you. Sometimes the costs involved for status runs outweighs the benefits of having the status especially as you say you're starting from no status (what's your current SC balance? Is it nil as well?). If you're starting from scratch, gold will take a minimum of about $3500 to reach.......which may be better spent buying PE outright for your trip.

 

[smit0847]

That's probably true. VA prices have been heading upwards for a while and there are very few (if any) bargain fares and as such the spreadsheet isn't that relevant these days, but I admit to not looking at it for many, many months (years), so it may have some good runs.

Are you trying to gain status just for the future SYD-AUH trip? If so, I believe anyone can bid for an UpgradeMe auction upgrade. For people to give you pointed advice, I'd suggest you add some more detail, like how often you fly and what benefits you expect status to advantage you. Sometimes the costs involved for status runs outweighs the benefits of having the status especially as you say you're starting from no status (what's your current SC balance? Is it nil as well?). If you're starting from scratch, gold will take a minimum of about $3500 to reach.......which may be better spent buying PE outright for your trip.

This. Given how high the costs of status runs are these days (youll be looking at a minimum of $6 per SC) it may be cheaper just to bid for an upgrade.

 

[davidsilver]

Do VA offer UpgradeMe Auctions for long haul international? I thought these "auctions" were only Domestic travel.

To use points to upgrade SYD-AUH you will need to be Gold to eligible for this and from a flexi ticket to Y+ you're looking at 18,000 points or to J its 45,000 points. Only 1 person needs to be Gold to upgrade 2 PAX.

Best status run I've found from Melbourne was MEL-BNE-CNS-BNE-MEL but you're looking at around $750-$850 and this will earn 120 SC.

MEL-BNE-NAN-BNE-MEL that is 140SC but around $1500 for flexi ticket (October travel, have done this cheaper)
MEL-BNE-AKL-BNE-MEL will get 120SC for around $850 on a flexi ticket

I've just booked (not a status run) MEL-SIN-MNL-SIN-MEL for $1,020 via SQ and that is 180 SC

Play around on webjet, you can select 1 stop trips, this will give you an idea of price. Once you have your trip in mind go to VA and book. With today's market prices I don't really think there is any "cheap" status runs. It all depends on how much you value status and what your regular flying is. If you don't fly regularly then chasing Gold to have lounge and upgrade options for 1 trip to AUH then it's not really worth it. You would need to do the CNS trip 5 times to get to gold and would cost at least $3800 all up and you still wouldn't have enough points to upgrade to AUH.

If you do get to Gold before you go and buy Flexi tickets MEL-SYD-AUH-SYD-MEL this would get you 400SC with family pooling and would mean you wouldn't be far off WP, depending on what other flights you did between now and then

 

[Deleted member 29185]

Do VA offer UpgradeMe Auctions for long haul international? I thought these "auctions" were only Domestic travel.

I'm not entirely sure as VA aren't too descriptive on their site. To find out if your flight is eligible, you have to put in your PNR, but you can't do that whilst you're still searching and evaluating. They do mention upgrade to PE and as domestic doesn't have PE, I was assuming it is possible, but whether it's long haul as well as short haul is beyond my knowledge. Perhaps someone else will know the truth!

 

[celetrum]

Hi everyone thanks for the info.
our starting point (only joined VFF) is zero for points and SC

however within ten weeks our points balance will be 120000 points thanks to credit card sign ups.

from what I can read status runs probably more important and more beneficial to keep status these days.

we honestly probably will be travelling 2-3 times a year (but the bug might take over lol) so might be better just to plan our trips according to places we haven't been and on our bucket list and if status comes it's a bonus and take it from there.

just out of curiosity is $7.70 per status credit good value in current Virgin climate ? Think I might of found somewhere on our bucket list overseas which will give 160 points combined for about $1200 ish

 

[davidsilver]

Status is good for lounge access, priority luggage etc.

If lounge access is a concern you can always buy a lounge membership, this will give you access to NZ lounge when fly SYD-AUH just no lounge access in AUH

 

[celetrum]

Do VA offer UpgradeMe Auctions for long haul international? I thought these "auctions" were only Domestic travel.


MEL-BNE-AKL-BNE-MEL will get 120SC for around $850 on a flexi

tried this route before you wrote this and is the route I mentioned as giving 160 combined for around $1200.

Had a promo code (10% off ) in when searching so it didn't let me return the same way. If I chose out MEL - BNE - AKL outbound using promo fare it locked up most options except AKL - MEL only !

So so was thinking do MEL - BNE - AKL on Flexi. (60 points each ) Then use our 2 comp Virgin lounge passes through Amex velocity platinum whilst in Brisbane. Also use 19800 points to upgrade us both to business BNE - AKL.

Then come back AKL - MEL (as other options locked) on saver (20 points each ) to keep costs down. The cost of going from saver to Flexi was about $200 each. So this is $10 a point for the change from saver to Flexi.

Total cost just over $1200 plus 19800 points would gives us

MEL - BNE economy
Access to the Virgin lounge in brisbane
BNE - AKL business

AKL - MEL economy.

does this sound about right and good value for a first time experience on Virgin in many many years ?

oh not to mention 6250 points accrued combined for 2 from miles (MEL - BNE - AKL at 1 point per mile and MEL - AKL at 0.5 per mile )

plus a further 3600 ish points from paying through Amex platinum through Virgin.

Giving a a total of 9850 points accrued back. (Deficit at end of 10000 points cost to us )

 

[davidsilver]

Virgin lounge passes are only for domestic lounges. Upgrading points to J will give you access to the NZ bunker in BNE. But double check because a lot of the flights from BNE are operated by NZ and you won't able to use points to upgrade to J on these flights. The flights that VA run are all on 737, but for 9,900 points J is definitely better than Y

 

[serfty]

CNS via BNE each way (not SYD) will return 120 SC as well. Cost is from $838 ...

 

[celetrum]

Virgin lounge passes are only for domestic lounges. Upgrading points to J will give you access to the NZ bunker in BNE. But double check because a lot of the flights from BNE are operated by NZ and you won't able to use points to upgrade to J on these flights. The flights that VA run are all on 737, but for 9,900 points J is definitely better than Y

Made sure it was a Virgin plane to get the upgrade. So Upgrading will mean won't need to use comp passes either. That's a bonus

 

[davidsilver]

Yes that's right, with J tickets you can use the NZ lounge. No VA lounge in international area.

 

[stux]

I'm not entirely sure as VA aren't too descriptive on their site. To find out if your flight is eligible, you have to put in your PNR, but you can't do that whilst you're still searching and evaluating. They do mention upgrade to PE and as domestic doesn't have PE, I was assuming it is possible, but whether it's long haul as well as short haul is beyond my knowledge. Perhaps someone else will know the truth!

Back in the early days when the UpgradeMe for $$$ auction was first released I did it a few times from economy to PE. It often worked when they would send you an email. BUT if they didn't send you an email you could still do it at any time by visiting this page:

http://www.virginaustralia.com/au/en/specials-offers/upgrademe/premium-bid/

Whether or not you've received the email.

Looks like you still can, and as far as I can tell, its always available.

I prefer to book flights where I can upgrade to Premium/Business with points, and there is normally a lot of availability for Premium upgrades, of course you need to be SG+ for that.

You can check if a flight is upgradable with points before you book the flight by searching for reward seats on the leg you're interested. My modus operandi is to find the reward seat I want, book the flight, then immediately call up and get the upgrade.

 

[Deleted member 29185]

Back in the early days when the UpgradeMe for $$$ auction was first released I did it a few times from economy to PE.

OK, so just to clear up the unknown, were those early ones you did, long or short haul international?

 

[stux]

OK, so just to clear up the unknown, were those early ones you did, long or short haul international?

long haul, SYD<->LAX

 

[Deleted member 29185]

within ten weeks our points balance will be 120000 points thanks to credit card sign ups.

we honestly probably will be travelling 2-3 times a year (but the bug might take over lol) so might be better just to plan our trips according to places we haven't been and on our bucket list and if status comes it's a bonus and take it from there.

just out of curiosity is $7.70 per status credit good value in current Virgin climate ? Think I might of found somewhere on our bucket list overseas which will give 160 points combined for about $1200 ish

OK, so with your point balance up, I can see why you want status....to do a point UpgradeMe. An alternative may be to use your points to buy the ticket and then do a Premium UpgradeMe for the upgrade (assuming this is allowed in the Ts&Cs, which it may not be). I suppose at this point, it should be pointed out that the UpgradeMe bid is certainly not guaranteed. You may place a bid and still not get the upgrade, which makes aiming for gold, just to secure an upgrade, even more debateable.

You say "we" will be doing 2-3 flights a year. So I guess that means up to 6 between you both? To maintain gold, you need 400SCs each year, so an average of over 66SCs per sector. I'd personally think most pax would not be thinking too hard about this as unless you do catch the "bug" and start doing connections, over 60SCs in primarily domestic flying is not that easy. You did however point out a really important differentiation when you spoke of a bucket list holiday. That is not actually a status run, it's a very plausible travel plan which is not simply throwing money at gaining/retaining status.......it's a holiday, which has the bonus of contributing toward status. These days, I use a very rough rule of thumb of $7/SC. You can definitely find cheaper, but you can also pay considerably more, so $7.70 is average(ish) and it'd give you a good boost toward gold, leaving just 30SCs per each of your "normal" yearly flights (far more achievable). Perhaps look at a nice holiday in Cairns as well. Lovely time of year and could give 120 more SCs (stopover in BNE) in -Y.

Enjoy your status hunt!

(EDIT- Apologies to serfty, who had already advised the MEL-BNE-CNS routing)

 

[stux]

OK, so with your point balance up, I can see why you want status....to do a point UpgradeMe. An alternative may be to use your points to buy the ticket and then do a Premium UpgradeMe for the upgrade (assuming this is allowed in the Ts&Cs, which it may not be). I suppose at this point, it should be pointed out that the UpgradeMe bid is certainly not guaranteed. You may place a bid and still not get the upgrade, which makes aiming for gold, just to secure an upgrade, even more debateable.

You say "we" will be doing 2-3 flights a year. So I guess that means up to 6 between you both? To maintain gold, you need 400SCs each year, so an average of over 66SCs per sector. I'd personally think most pax would not be thinking too hard about this as unless you do catch the "bug" and start doing connections, over 60SCs in primarily domestic flying is not that easy. You did however point out a really important differentiation when you spoke of a bucket list holiday. That is not actually a status run, it's a very plausible travel plan which is not simply throwing money at gaining/retaining status.......it's a holiday, which has the bonus of contributing toward status. These days, I use a very rough rule of thumb of $7/SC. You can definitely find cheaper, but you can also pay considerably more, so $7.70 is average(ish) and it'd give you a good boost toward gold, leaving just 30SCs per each of your "normal" yearly flights (far more achievable). Perhaps look at a nice holiday in Cairns as well. Lovely time of year and could give 120 more SCs (stopover in BNE) in -Y.

Enjoy your status hunt!

(EDIT- Apologies to serfty, who had already advised the MEL-BNE-CNS routing)

Believe you can't use UpgradeMe Premium bid on reward bookings.

UpgradeMe Points on international is the most important perk of Gold+ for me, I do use it whenever I can. If you are doing a couple of international trips as a couple a year, it's fairly easy to maintain.

But, it's fairly effective to buy reward seats with points, rather than upgrading a revenue fare. I use the upgrades because my employer/clients will pay the base fares. I figure that's what a "frequent" flyer program is about. And then you still earn status. When you use rewards you don't earn points or status, which makes point/status chasing hard, funny that.

Syd<->LAX premium is circa 70,000 points, business is 108,000 points iirc, which is pretty good value, considering the premium to business points upgrade is 25,000-45,000

It comes down to, don't throw money after status, but if you will be doing some flying regularly then it's worth pursuing.

 

[AustraliaPoochie]

If you fly MEL-AKL with the 777, you can buy premY fare tickets for less than J fares, and earn 75% of the SC of J.
Entry to the Koru club lounge can be had for Aud$55 or the NZ equivalent, good if you don't want to pay for J seats but still want single entry to Koru. You can pay by cash or card to the Koru per entry.
Virgin will sell dom lounge passes for Aud$65 per entry.
Go to (Air) NZ website, you can earn 45 SC for one way flights from MEL-AKL one way, return you get 90 SC, for which you are 36% towards VA PS. 250 VA SC to attain PS, 200 to retain. 500 VA SC to attain SG, 400 to retain SG.
Having a lot of VA FF points is not that important, so your points only from CC signups or spends will help, to a smaller extent than flying where you can earn SC which will help climb the status ladder.
The higher your status, the more benefits. SC earn on VA and (Air) NZ are the same.

 

[celetrum]

You did however point out a really important differentiation when you spoke of a bucket list holiday. That is not actually a status run, it's a very plausible travel plan which is not simply throwing money at gaining/retaining status.......it's a holiday, which has the bonus of contributing toward status.

Yeah the idea of running up status for the sake of getting status has gone out the door after a couple of days of researching into it! The more I thought about it the more I was thinking what's the point especially if your not going to be constantly travelling.

New Zealand would of been great to visit BUT the wife wants Hamilton Island and we can make use of the Virgin money velocity visa two for one tickets in saver to get there.

Plan to have our holidays / trips as normal now and everything else comes as a bonus ! We are looking at booking planes slightly different though since joining this site. Realising that cheapest isn't necessarily best ALL the time especially if not much difference between saver or Flexi. Also maybe flying via somewhere else vs direct might be better.

But we have decided to treat these things (such as status) as a bonus! But still looking at doing things slightly differently. For example our trip to Sydney mentioned in the other post the return leg we will probably come back a bit later than we normally would for a trip just to make use of our two complimentary Virgin lounge passes thanks Amex velocity platinum.

Also our trip to Greece next year there is no way I can justify the extra cost of going Flexi merely to double my status credits (unless there isn't much difference between the two again). Also going to move from direct from melbourne to via Sydney if the cost is similar so we can experience the Amex lounge. The extra status credit for the extra sector is a side bonus.

Work situation dictates that going to be hard to travel too many times anyway! Need to earn to pay for all this!