Teething issues - update from Virgin Blue

[crazydave98]

Hi again Frequent Flyers,

Time for an update from us. Just want to let you know that we are aware of the bugs and are working on them (and still reading the forums). The technical guys gave me the following notes on what seem to be the biggest issues:

The "Your Bookings" display (see http://www.frequentflyer.com.au/discus/viewtopic.php?t=1508)
The current design of our online booking system means that you will only see a booking in the "Your Bookings" section if you are logged in as a Velocity Member when making the booking on www.virginblue.com.au

The Velocity member number of the user who is logged in at the time of booking creation will "own" the booking, and have it appear under their "My Bookings". The booking will not appear under "My Bookings" for any other member who may also be part of the same booking.

Adding your Velocity number over the phone at a later stage will not allow the booking to appear in "My Bookings".

We recognise that this is not what is expected and are working on solutions. Rest assured if you have provided your Velocity number we will have it in the booking for crediting of your points even if it does not appear in "My Bookings". In the near future we hope to be able to ensure that any instance of a Velocity Member Number in a booking relates to that member's "My Bookings".

Crediting of points. (see http://www.frequentflyer.com.au/discus/viewtopic.php?t=1513 )
Immediately after launch we were auditing the files which created some delays. However the process now runs on a nightly basis (weeknights) so points should be credited on the next working day after your flight. Weekend files are currently being processed on Mondays but will shortly be fully automated ensuring you have your points inside 24 hours. There are some more complicated exceptions which fall outside of the automated process - these are being processed as quickly as we can manually and should be credited within 1-2 days of your flight.

Points earned with Emirates and Virgin Atlantic are still being being processed manually, however these will be automated later this month and will result in a much quicker turn around.

And here's my propaganda slot: check out the official On Time Performance statistics at http://www.btre.gov.au/statistics/aviation/otphome.aspx We have now beaten Qantas every single month for a full year by an average of 5 percentage points, even in November which was our worst month due to a computer outage (same one that Yada Yada got caught up in - sorry about that to all our guests including Yada Yada - but the numbers show it will still happen a lot less often with us than Qantas).

Thanks again for reading and we remain keen to hear what you have to say about Velocity and QFFP.

CrazyDave98

 

[N860CR]

Perhaps it would be a good idea to print ones Velocity number on their Boarding Pass (as Qantas does), that way if someone were to add their Velocity number to a reservation after booking they could be sure it was processed correctly. In December/Jan I had a number of flights booked before Velocity was around so I had to have my number added manually to the bookings and there was no way to confirm it had been done until after I'd taken the flights.

Just a suggestion though, I've been very happy with Velocity so far. Should have enough points to go to Dubai by the middle of the year which I'm certainly looking forward to.

 

[QF WP]

Thanks crazydave98 for updating us on those areas that members have commented on (and thus feel strongly). Being proactive in your response will certainly benefit our goodwill...rather than when we have to chase up other carriers.

If only QF did the same thing (had a QF staffer willing to review the Fora and even post sporadically when required) ...but I'm not holding my breath after my last chat with Jenny Chamberlain.

crazydave98, have you posted the same information over on the Flyertalk topics, or do you want somebody to quote you...

 

[MetroAir]

Even though I have not flown on a Virgin flight (and don't propose to do so until a J class is introduced) I applaud and admire you taking the time to come on here, read the comments and respond.

Well done!

 

[BlacKnox]

Even though I have not flown on a Virgin flight I applaud and admire you taking the time to come on here, read the comments and respond.

Well done!

Agreed. Welcome back crazydave98 .

 

[browski]

The On-time records remain a real bone of contention with the Qantas pilots. The Qantas boys claim that there is some automated electronic device that records the departure time at the instant of push back. They claim that Virgin does not have these automated devices and that it is a "manual" recording. In fact here is how it reads officially:

The method of capturing on time performance varies between airlines utilising different recording systems. Jetstar and Qantas jet aircraft use Aircraft Communication Addressing and Reporting System (ACARS) to electronically measure on time performance. Virgin Blue, Regional Express, Skywest, Macair and the Qantas non-jet fleet record on time performance manually using records from pilots, gate agents and/or ground crews.

So, the Qantas boys suggest that the DJ pilots just say they are "on-time" even if they miss by a few minutes!

Hard to argue, but at least there is a disclaimer in the official stats recognising this.

 

[Mal]

DJ do print the velocity number on the boarding passes.

crazydave98 thanks for the update.

My latest flights posted automagically very quickly.

Now can you let us into the secret of what the first Velocity number was?

 

[ksthommo]

Love the webcheck in My personal experience with posting of velocity points is dismal. I've had to contact Velocity everytime I've flown to have points credited. This is despite registering all my flights via the call centre and the second time by email.

 

[Yada Yada]

Performance statistics at http://www.btre.gov.au/statistics/aviation/otphome.aspx We have now beaten Qantas every single month for a full year by an average of 5 percentage points, even in November which was our worst month due to a computer outage (same one that Yada Yada got caught up in - sorry about that to all our guests including Yada Yada - but the numbers show it will still happen a lot less often with us than Qantas).

Hi CrazyDave98,

Thanks again for posting here and reading the forums. I certainly appreciate it as I'm sure do the others.

Can't remember if I mentioned this in my post about the day the computers went down, but the DJ staff at MEL were very helpful in crediting my account quickly and were extremely polite during what must have been an aweful afternoon for them.

With regards to on-time performance, I can personally vouch for this having flown more on DJ than QF last year. DJ is so on time that they are frequently early. I often arrive in MEL before my pickup arrives to collect me (I realise that the Tulla is sometimes at fault) and if I am picking up someone from SYD, I now know that I should arrive a bit early or I will miss them - happened a few times!

Hope to see you back here soon.

P.S. Can you pls add 3 or 4 rows of business class seats in your planes soon?

P.P.S. Or even better, remove a few rows of seats and improve the pitch slightly. I reckon that would be a huge competitive advantage.