Things Virgin Australia Does & Doesn’t Do Well

[Secco]

They do offer these originating from Bali, as they sell them in Rupiah, or Fiji, sold in Fijian Dollar, Queenstown, sold in NZD (down to tax implications in each country/complying with each country's regulations to sell fares). But yes, I agree 100%. They need to start selling flights originating in other countries a lot more.
This hasn't personally impacted me, as I always book a return or book the return with points and pay cash on the outbound. But I can see they would lose some business operating this way (and it's annoying).

That's because they are Virgin planes. You can't book a one way flight from Christchurch or Auckland directly with Virgin

 

[simmomelb]

As a reference point: we booked VA to/from Paris earlier this year. We were lucky enough to see upgrade availability to J on the return DOH-SYD sector and I was still Plat at the time and able to upgrade from a Choice fare. However, we had to book direct to do this which meant I had to book to/from Paris instead of to Paris and back from Lyon as I had preferred. We figured it was a sacrifice worth making to get the J flight on the final sector and so took an unnecessary train trip back to CDG, but it was frustrating that we had to make that choice. In the end, the whole trip got scrapped anyway and moved to EK thanks to the war. That’s when we were introduced to VA’s policy not to refund credit card surcharges, or perhaps I’d just never paid attention as I’d never spend that much on VA in one go to rack up a fairly hefty fee.

Yeah that sounds frustrating. I get it! I would have been annoyed at that also.
The no-refund policy on card fees has been there since I can remember.

 

[MEL_Traveller]

That’s when we were introduced to VA’s policy not to refund credit card surcharges, or perhaps I’d just never paid attention as I’d never spend that much on VA in one go to rack up a fairly hefty fee.

They *used* to say that CC fees were refundable in cases where VA cancelled your flight, or you were otherwise entitled to a refund under ACL.

But they never had a mechanism to refund it, ‘computer said no’.

I had a long battle to get my fees refunded after VA cancelled a flight due to crew shortage. Countless screenshots of their official policy to refund in those circumstances.

They have now changed their website to remove any references to CC fees being refunded.

It’s pretty poor. Qantas refunds them automatically.

 

[Ansett Nostalgic]

They *used* to say that CC fees were refundable in cases where VA cancelled your flight, or you were otherwise entitled to a refund under ACL.

But they never had a mechanism to refund it, ‘computer said no’.

I had a long battle to get my fees refunded after VA cancelled a flight due to crew shortage. Countless screenshots of their official policy to refund in those circumstances.

They have now changed their website to remove any references to CC fees being refunded.

It’s pretty poor. Qantas refunds them automatically.

Sounds like something worth a complaint to ACCC / Fair Trading.

 

[MEL_Traveller]

Sounds like something worth a complaint to ACCC / Fair Trading.

ACCC is silent on the issue, as is fair trading

VA claims the fee is for the convenience of using the credit card, and is separate to the airfare. So regardless of whether or not you use the airfare, you chose to pay the fee for a credit card.

i think that’s rubbish personally.

 

[simmomelb]

That's because they are Virgin planes. You can't book a one way flight from Christchurch or Auckland directly with Virgin

Yep, aware of that. A frequent route I travel on
VA should, however, be selling flights on its website for its partner airlines, originating overseas, as Qantas does. That was FlyingKangaroos' point.
Just as I recently booked Sao Paulo, one way to Melbourne, with LATAM metal the whole way via Qantas' site.

 

[HS-TQE]

Yep, aware of that. A frequent route I travel on
VA should, however, be selling flights on its website for its partner airlines, originating overseas, as Qantas does. That was FlyingKangaroos' point.
Just as I recently booked Sao Paulo, one way to Melbourne, with LATAM metal the whole way via Qantas' site.

As it may be said, Virgin (or the customer reps) have in the past would say they are primarily a "domestic" airline that provides some short-haul international services on the side.
Hence, restricting the POS of codeshare fares on the Australian side to provide to their 'domestic' customers wanting to fly overseas.

Had there been some passenger support under the previous (although chaotic and probably likely financially unstable) ownership structure and various former JVs (i.e EY, DL, SQ, etc). Purchasing a VA codeshare on their partners from the other end may be still possible online today.

 

[simmomelb]

As it may be said, Virgin (or the customer reps) have in the past would say they are primarily a "domestic" airline that provides some short-haul international services on the side.
Hence, restricting the POS of codeshare fares on the Australian side to provide to their 'domestic' customers wanting to fly overseas.

Had there been some passenger support under the previous (although chaotic and probably likely financially unstable) ownership structure and various former JVs (i.e EY, DL, SQ, etc). Purchasing a VA codeshare on their partners from the other end may be still possible online today.

VA has plenty of great international partners to get you to & from most parts of the world, other than South America.

They could easily improve their VA Marketed flights. And what I believe FlyingKangaroos point was
Just start offering flights beginning from other countries as codeshare on the VA website, like most airlines do. It really can't be that hard. They do it with Velocity Points (rewards flights), just not cash (customer paid for) flights.
But yes, I don't see that changing at all.

 

[clarkkent]

If you are referring to the 50% requirement on a VA "marketed" flight, it is relatively easy to get flights with VA flight numbers. You can book with any of their partners on the partner's website (or VA website), generally speaking (some caveats), as long as it's a flight also sold on the VA website, and you enter your Velocity number, most of the time you'll be fine. In other words, a flight sold as a cash fare on the VA site usually also has a VA flight number; it doesn't need to be VA metal (that's mostly irrelevant). E.g., I booked Air Canada, Sydney to Vancouver return on the Air Canada website in Economy, entered my Velocity number, and this counts as a VA marketed flight (as long as it's a fare class VA sells - e.g., don't book a cash premium economy fare - needs to be economy or business).
Note, if booking with Air New Zealand, make sure you book via the VA website only (slightly different arrangement), and it's not on a competing route with VA (Queenstown - ACCC requirement), and departing and returning to Australia flights only.
If you booked on the Qatar website to say London, all flights Australia - DOH have a VA flight number (not just wet-leased), then the second leg would still earn status but count towards the other 50%, which is still important. Not sure about others, but the 50% marketed flights requirement hasn't impacted me at all. What have others found? Genuinely interested.

Interesting, I haven't noticed this when booking SQ flights on the SQ site. I thought a marketed flight had to be booked on the VA code, not merely that the codeshare exists. Is there a different deal with Air Canada?

 

[simmomelb]

Interesting, I haven't noticed this when booking SQ flights on the SQ site. I thought a marketed flight had to be booked on the VA code, not merely that the codeshare exists. Is there a different deal with Air Canada?

I took a Qatar Airways flight (October 2026) to Turkey and the first leg to DOH was definitely counted as a VA Marketed flight and it wasn't even a wet-leased flight (booked on the Qatar website). As long as you enter your Velocity number at the time of booking, it is counted as a VA Marketed flight (Some caveats exist to this).
What SQ flight did you book, to which destination? Only flights to SE Asia count as VA Marketed. Also, was your SQ flight in Economy or Business? Premium Economy is not a VA Marketed flight.

 

[MEL_Traveller]

A VA marketed flight is ONLY one with a VA flight number.

As per the VA website:

A Virgin Australia marketed flight is a flight with a VA flight number e.g. VA901, which may be operated by Virgin Australia or VA9056, which may be operated by a Partner airline. You may book Virgin Australia marketed flights through any Virgin Australia sales channels e.g. virginaustralia.com, the Virgin Australia Guest or Membership Contact Centres or via a Travel Agent.​

​

You can still earn points and status credits on prime partner airline flights, depending on the terms and conditions of the Velocity program for the particular airline. So for example you can earn points on a QR flight, with a QR flight number. But that is not a VA marketed or operated flight.

 

[simmomelb]

A VA marketed flight is ONLY one with a VA flight number.

As per the VA website:

A Virgin Australia marketed flight is a flight with a VA flight number e.g. VA901, which may be operated by Virgin Australia or VA9056, which may be operated by a Partner airline. You may book Virgin Australia marketed flights through any Virgin Australia sales channels e.g. virginaustralia.com, the Virgin Australia Guest or Membership Contact Centres or via a Travel Agent.​

​

You can still earn points and status credits on prime partner airline flights, depending on the terms and conditions of the Velocity program for the particular airline. So for example you can earn points on a QR flight, with a QR flight number. But that is not a VA marketed or operated flight.

It 100% works booking directly via most other airlines' websites as 'VA Marketed' (if it qualifies); they are mostly considered "travel agents". I have examples of this in my Velocity App or my partner's Velocity App. Eg, I booked Melbourne to Sao Paulo, which VA does not offer, so it had to be done via the QR website (yep, the long way around to SP), the first leg was considered VA Marketed for status; the second leg I was rewarded non-VA Marketed status.

 

[jeppetto367]

It 100% works booking directly via most other airlines' websites as 'VA Marketed' (if it qualifies); they are mostly considered "travel agents". I have examples of this in my Velocity App or my partner's Velocity App. Eg, I booked Melbourne to Sao Paulo, which VA does not offer, so it had to be done via the QR website (yep, the long way around to SP), the first leg was considered VA Marketed for status; the second leg I was rewarded non-VA Marketed status.

This is wrong and not true. It has to be a VA marketed flight (with a VA flight number), or a VA metal flight (inc VA1-29 wet lease) with a partner coded flight number.

The reason your flight to DOH counted would have been because you were booking on one of the VA flights (VA1-29) but sold as a QR flight, these count as VA flights.

 

[clarkkent]

I took a Qatar Airways flight (October 2026) to Turkey and the first leg to DOH was definitely counted as a VA Marketed flight and it wasn't even a wet-leased flight (booked on the Qatar website). As long as you enter your Velocity number at the time of booking, it is counted as a VA Marketed flight (Some caveats exist to this).
What SQ flight did you book, to which destination? Only flights to SE Asia count as VA Marketed. Also, was your SQ flight in Economy or Business? Premium Economy is not a VA Marketed flight.

Mine was a simple BNE-SIN return in economy.

 

[Flyfrequently]

Not sure if this is the right thread but hoping VA does this well for tomorrow.

Baggage :

Surfer Flyfrequently heading to WSL titles tomorrow MEL-OOL return.

Booked Economy Choice for 23kg to take her longboards - all good as usual.

Was then advised she could be, and then was accepted for VA "Sports Industry Baggage Allowance"
Great - giving Complimentary 32kg x2 baggage.

Her concern though not noted on her ticket only ambiguos interpretation on email.

Much time spent on the phone, answers varied from only 32kg, 32kg × 2 bags, 32kg + her paid 23kg.

Total kg not clear, ie 32 , 55, 87
Agents even supervisor couldn't agree
To err on the conservative , she is just a tad over 32kg.....

Any experience with VA @HirafuHeartAttack

https://www.virginaustralia.com/content/dam/vaa/documents/agency-hub/sales-tools/Sports-Industry-Baggage-Flyer.pdf

 

[MEL_Traveller]

Not sure if this is the right thread but hoping VA does this well for tomorrow.

Baggage :

Surfer Flyfrequently heading to WSL titles tomorrow MEL-OOL return.

Booked Economy Choice for 23kg to take her longboards - all good as usual.

Was then advised she could be, and then was accepted for VA "Sports Industry Baggage Allowance"
Great - giving Complimentary 32kg x2 baggage.

Her concern though not noted on her ticket only ambiguos interpretation on email.

Much time spent on the phone, answers varied from only 32kg, 32kg × 2 bags, 32kg + her paid 23kg.

Total kg not clear, ie 32 , 55, 87
Agents even supervisor couldn't agree
To err on the conservative , she is just a tad over 32kg.....

Any experience with VA @HirafuHeartAttack

https://www.virginaustralia.com/content/dam/vaa/documents/agency-hub/sales-tools/Sports-Industry-Baggage-Flyer.pdf

It seems very clear to me!

Sports allowance = maximum weight of 32kg, which can be carried in up to two pieces of baggage.

If you have VA status you can choose the higher of the two allowances, but not take advantage of both.

The fine print at the bottom of the flyer you linked spells it out that 32kg is the maximum combined weight allowed.

Excess baggage fees will apply in excess of 32kg.

 

[Flyfrequently]

It seems very clear to me!

Sports allowance = maximum weight of 32kg, which can be carried in up to two pieces of baggage.

If you have VA status you can choose the higher of the two allowances, but not take advantage of both.

The fine print at the bottom of the flyer you linked spells it out that 32kg is the maximum combined weight allowed.

Excess baggage fees will apply in excess of 32kg.

Thanks, I agreed with you @MEL_Traveller but the Surfer interpreted as having already paid for 23kg, so complimentary Sports Allowance was on top of that!

Even 2 VA call centre staff couldn't agree
The catastrophiser in me just suggested to go under 32kg - and she has - I think!