Time to Ship Velocity Card

[BrentH]

I went NR->PS on Wednesday, PS->SG on Thursday (yaay)...

...Then realised the address I have in the Velocity system was out of date :shock:

How long does it take for cards to be sent? (Am I going to need to visit the house I left 2 years ago, or call the SG line, to sort this out?)

I've already been credited the 2x lounge passes. Will I also get a Silver card/tags?

 

[carwashhair]

I found mine took 2-3 weeks to post out from achieving silver. Change your address ASAP and you might be OK. Call velocity if you want some peace of mind.

 

[drewbles]

As mentioned, change your address and just give them a quick call.

You'll get a bag tag and a kit that looks something like this:



http://www.australianfrequentflyer....anges-status-credits-30576-10.html#post456451

 

[BrentH]

Thanks!

I jumped on it last night, so hopefully I got in fast enough. But might spend 3 hours listening to VA's hold music just to be sure.

Anyone care to PM me the SG hotline number?

 

[Fruitcake]

Anyone care to PM me the SG hotline number?

No need for secrets among friends, it's +61 2 8667 5924.

 

[Fruitcake]

Lest I appear a bit rude with that above post, I should clarify it was firmly tongue in cheek. For those not completely familiar, Velocity has no dedicated incoming line for status members. Entering your velocity number into the phone menu (allegedly) puts you in the correct queue. Entering the number of a Gold or Platinum friend is the only way I can think of to get to the status team. Whether they would continue to the conversation you 'fessed up is another thing altogether!

 

[BrentH]

Lest I appear a bit rude with that above post, I should clarify it was firmly tongue in cheek. For those not completely familiar, Velocity has no dedicated incoming line for status members. Entering your velocity number into the phone menu (allegedly) puts you in the correct queue. Entering the number of a Gold or Platinum friend is the only way I can think of to get to the status team. Whether they would continue to the conversation you 'fessed up is another thing altogether!

I'm not so sure...

On Christmas Day 2011, when those horrible hail storms hit Melbourne, I was waiting for a flight with the girlfriend.

We waited from midday to quite late in the evening before our flight was actually cancelled - and were told we had to re-book with Virgin, to see if we could travel the next day.

We got in the queues at the check-in counters, pulled out the mobile phone and attempted to call the Call Centre at the same time. We were on hold for 40 minutes until someone beside us (who had been doing the same thing, and had managed to re-book more easily) handed us a phone number on a piece of paper and said "Here, call this."

My girlfriend called that number while I waited on hold with the other number. Her call got answered first.

Perhaps something's changed in the past 14 months - or perhaps it was a fluke. Whatever the case, the "other" number was at least 40 minutes faster.

 

[samh004]

I'm not so sure...

On Christmas Day 2011, when those horrible hail storms hit Melbourne, I was waiting for a flight with the girlfriend.

We waited from midday to quite late in the evening before our flight was actually cancelled - and were told we had to re-book with Virgin, to see if we could travel the next day.

We got in the queues at the check-in counters, pulled out the mobile phone and attempted to call the Call Centre at the same time. We were on hold for 40 minutes until someone beside us (who had been doing the same thing, and had managed to re-book more easily) handed us a phone number on a piece of paper and said "Here, call this."

My girlfriend called that number while I waited on hold with the other number. Her call got answered first.

Perhaps something's changed in the past 14 months - or perhaps it was a fluke. Whatever the case, the "other" number was at least 40 minutes faster.

Back in the days of Virgin Blue and Gold being the highest status, I once had a cancelled flight in ZQN, rang up the usual number and did the old trick of choosing to book a PE flight instead of dealing with existing bookings, and was answered within seconds. That's the way I'd found for getting to the front of the queue, but not sure if they still prioritise business bookings or not

 

[highflyingkiwi]

As mentioned, change your address and just give them a quick call.

You'll get a bag tag and a kit that looks something like this:



http://www.australianfrequentflyer....anges-status-credits-30576-10.html#post456451

No longer... Wife got her Silver card in the mail the other week. It was in a simple envelope with the cards, a brochure and a letter inside. She's annoyed that I got the little flash box

 

[grubbidok]

No longer... Wife got her Silver card in the mail the other week. It was in a simple envelope with the cards, a brochure and a letter inside. She's annoyed that I got the little flash box

That's pretty poor form. Even though it's not high status you still have to fly a fair bit to get Silver, especially domestic and especially domestic Y. For many people, it's as high as being loyal to one airline will get them. This just says to me that VA doesn't give a s**t about them.

QF still send out the full package with Q-Tags and all. This just reeks of VA being stingy.

 

[drewbles]

No longer... Wife got her Silver card in the mail the other week. It was in a simple envelope with the cards, a brochure and a letter inside. She's annoyed that I got the little flash box

There is another post on here that just displayed photos of the full pack, with bag tag (received in the past week).

There was evidence that the envelope and card were only generated when a status match occurred but they have ceased a while ago.

I know someone else that also got Silver not all that long ago, and received the full enchilada. Perhaps they're out of stock.

You can ring for bag tags too and they'll send them out.

 

[drewbles]

That's pretty poor form. Even though it's not high status you still have to fly a fair bit to get Silver, especially domestic and especially domestic Y. For many people, it's as high as being loyal to one airline will get them. This just says to me that VA doesn't give a s**t about them.

QF still send out the full package with Q-Tags and all. This just reeks of VA being stingy.

There's obviously something more to the situation than as stated. You can't call them stingy just because of one incident (see my post above).

And, with all honesty, PS is not much on either carrier. The reason QF send out a pack is they have to pack the Q Bag Tags in something. If VA had the NGCI setup, then it would be apples with apples.

 

[grubbidok]

There's obviously something more to the situation than as stated. You can't call them stingy just because of one incident (see my post above).

And, with all honesty, PS is not much on either carrier. The reason QF send out a pack is they have to pack the Q Bag Tags in something. If VA had the NGCI setup, then it would be apples with apples.

I remember getting silver prior to Q Bag Tags and had the full enchilada. Wasn't suggesting that VA was stingy, just that not sending the pack out to Silvers would be a stingy move. Getting silver is still 30 short-hop sectors a year (e.g. SYD-BNE, SYD-ADL or MEL-SYD) for people that can't afford (or aren't allowed) to fly J or Flexi. That's still likley to be $3000-5000 minimum spend, and these guys are probably more likely to do it out of their own pocket than the Golds and Plats. It's not big league but it's not insubstantial and is the kind of bread and butter that airlines shouldn't take for granted. They're still customers that could take 30 flights elsewhere, and I think they should be rewarded if they choose to stick with one airline, and be treated as 'special' (even if it's not quite as special as higher tiers).

 

[drewbles]

I remember getting silver prior to Q Bag Tags and had the full enchilada. Wasn't suggesting that VA was stingy, just that not sending the pack out to Silvers would be a stingy move. Getting silver is still 30 short-hop sectors a year (e.g. SYD-BNE, SYD-ADL or MEL-SYD) for people that can't afford (or aren't allowed) to fly J or Flexi. That's still likley to be $3000-5000 minimum spend, and these guys are probably more likely to do it out of their own pocket than the Golds and Plats. It's not big league but it's not insubstantial and is the kind of bread and butter that airlines shouldn't take for granted. They're still customers that could take 30 flights elsewhere, and I think they should be rewarded if they choose to stick with one airline, and be treated as 'special' (even if it's not quite as special as higher tiers).

MEL-SYD garners 10SC's per segment, and Silver is only 200 SC's to attain, so that's 10 return trips. Average is around $200 return, so that makes it around $2k for silver. I see where you're getting at, but that's only 20 flights at a maximum.

My WP costs me a lot more than 4 x silver (to renew).

Whilst I agree with you, it's obvious that at that level there's not a huge amount of benefits to actively encourage someone to stay with one airline or another. IMHO, it's when the lounge access kicks in that people start feeling more of a need to stay with one airline than another (that's purely my 2c of course).

Of course, airlines work in mysterious ways But the way a card comes delivered doesn't really enamour me to want to fly specifically with that airline; the benefits do.

I was QF Silver for around 7 years. All I got was a cardboard folder with a card stuck in it. Certainly nothing flash. Same for my Gold and Platinum when I progressed. I was fortunate in that I was part of the NGCI pilot, so I got all kinds of funky packs whilst they rolled it out for PER, and when the released ones came out (with the band and fold out 'wings') I got that too, as a WP.

Up until NGCI, QF's packs were yawnworthy

 

[grubbidok]

What can I say. I'm just a sucker for rooting for the little guy.

My mistake initially though, I was thinking of QF The first PS earn does require 250SCs though (300 on QF), it goes down to 200SCs to retain. It's not a lot (in terms of what you or I may fly), but for the majority of the population they would see it as being quite 'frequent'. They may not be earning in $ but they are earning in BIS actually on VA metal (I say this as I remember seeing some posters complain that despite having enough SCs they couldn't get SG or WP as they didn't have the eligible sectors on VA as all their J flying was on VA partners, are these more valuable to VA than BIS Y?).

My sister is a good example of someone who travels on her own coin frequently to visit family. Even though she only 'needs' 200SCs to retain, she usually does ~320/yr all up (inc 1 international flight). The free baggage really endears her to VA, and she gets excited about the extra points (which at her level she sees as more valuable than SCs) and said she felt like a rockstar when she got to use the 'special line' on a flight to Bali. She feels quite special going into the lounge too, on the two free passes. Most non-AFF low level FFers are a pretty easy bunch to please and don't expect a lot. She actually quite enjoys being Silver, and actually has no interest in Gold She did get the Silver pack and made a bit of a ceremony opening it. She's due again in the next two months (hence my interest in the topic). She would have been rather underwhelmed without it, not a deal-breaker, but a bit deflating. Just feeling that little bit special has been enough for her to decide on VA if most other things are equal.

My initial QF packs were rather yawn-worthy too. I just think that it doesn't hurt to package all tiers in a similar way, even if the higher ones are nicer versions, or at least doesn't make the silver seem as though the airline doesn't value them. At least when QF were yawn-worthy, they were yawn-worthy for everyone. SG and WP already get treated way beyond PS (and deservedly so) on things like lounge access that people like you and I actually value, but I think just mailing out the PS card in an envelope the same way you'd mail out a new Red card is a bit insulting.

It's a moot point anyway, sounds like VA are doing the right thing.

 

[highflyingkiwi]

There is another post on here that just displayed photos of the full pack, with bag tag (received in the past week).

There was evidence that the envelope and card were only generated when a status match occurred but they have ceased a while ago.

I know someone else that also got Silver not all that long ago, and received the full enchilada. Perhaps they're out of stock.

You can ring for bag tags too and they'll send them out.

To be honest, it looked tailor made for an envelope, the brochure was envelope size as opposed to the one that I received in both my silver pack and gold pack. The bag tag was in there as well, with her card. She did do her silver qualifier during the Sabre cutover, and definitely the focus should have been on that rather than FF packs