VA-AC relationship

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theevilmuppet

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Hi all,

I flew from YVR to SEA yesterday on AC (and had to suffer the indignity of sitting in Y as the flight was on a Q400) and recalled the previous announcements made regarding limited codeshare agreements between Air Canada and Virgin Australia, with a promise of a proper reciprocal loyalty program relationship before the end of 2017.

At this point we've seen no progression on this, and there are two pieces of information that make me question whether this will happen before the end of the year, if at all:

  • Air Canada have announced that they'll be bringing their loyalty program back in-house, effectively ending Aeroplan
  • Delta-ticketed flights now award the same earn bonuses as Virgin-ticketed flights for status-holding Velocity members. As the codeshare agreement was focused on providing connecting traffic from LAX to Canada for VA passengers, one could see such a move as attempting to negate the usefulness of that arrangement.
What thoughts do others have on this? As always, thanks to all who reply!
 
Hi all,

I flew from YVR to SEA yesterday on AC (and had to suffer the indignity of sitting in Y as the flight was on a Q400) and recalled the previous announcements made regarding limited codeshare agreements between Air Canada and Virgin Australia, with a promise of a proper reciprocal loyalty program relationship before the end of 2017.

At this point we've seen no progression on this, and there are two pieces of information that make me question whether this will happen before the end of the year, if at all:

  • Air Canada have announced that they'll be bringing their loyalty program back in-house, effectively ending Aeroplan
  • Delta-ticketed flights now award the same earn bonuses as Virgin-ticketed flights for status-holding Velocity members. As the codeshare agreement was focused on providing connecting traffic from LAX to Canada for VA passengers, one could see such a move as attempting to negate the usefulness of that arrangement.
What thoughts do others have on this? As always, thanks to all who reply!

I think this partnership will never see the light of day given they have missed the end of 2017 timeframe and given no updates.

VA corporate have gone silent on it as well sadly. Would have been great to see this get off the ground.

I don’t think the demise of Aeroplan had anything to do with it, but something else between AC and VA they couldn’t come to agreement over.
 
When was the last time VA met a deadline outside of an airport. Wouldn't say it's dead just yet.
 
i really hope it does happen, as it'll give me another option ex BNE to North America.
 
I wouldn't say it was dead, just they need to carry the one. They were pretty premature on announcing the South African link-up too if I remember correctly.

That being said, it wouldn't surprise me if this is causing some friction in the VA-DL relationship, which may be a reason for it being delayed, and even perhaps delayed indefinitely
 
Noticed that on the retro claim page they now say:
"
Velocity is currently in the process of implementing a new partnership with Air Canada.If your flight was operated by Air Canada with a VA flight number, you are eligible to earn Velocity Points (not Status Credits) for travel from 26 May 2017. Air Canada operated flights with an AC flight number are currently ineligible to earn Velocity Points or Status Credits.
Claims with these partners take between 4 to 6 weeks to process.
"
 
Noticed that on the retro claim page they now say:
"
Velocity is currently in the process of implementing a new partnership with Air Canada.If your flight was operated by Air Canada with a VA flight number, you are eligible to earn Velocity Points (not Status Credits) for travel from 26 May 2017. Air Canada operated flights with an AC flight number are currently ineligible to earn Velocity Points or Status Credits.
Claims with these partners take between 4 to 6 weeks to process.
"

This codesharing without Status Credit earn is ridiculous. There are now two airlines that VA has codeshare agreements with that do not allow for Status Credit earn (the other being VX).
 
The Frequent Flyer Concierge team takes the hard work out of finding reward seat availability. Using their expert knowledge and specialised tools, they'll help you book a great trip that maximises the value for your points.

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This codesharing without Status Credit earn is ridiculous. There are now two airlines that VA has codeshare agreements with that do not allow for Status Credit earn (the other being VX).

VX are now defunct though right? After Alaska bought them?
I agree though, looking forward to a proper SC earn relationship.
 
VX are now defunct though right? After Alaska bought them?
I agree though, looking forward to a proper SC earn relationship.

No - the two airlines will still operate separately until 2019 last I checked.

I did have a LAX-SEA leg booked on a VX-operated VA codeshare service for 1/Mar/2018. There's another thread I've posted in going through the ridiculousness of it all.
 
The VFF SC earn on AC has been bandied around for a while now, but the VFF points earn for flying AC aircraft itself has been on for nearly 2 years and a bit by now, if I remember correctly.
I certainly would not be too pleased if I was the one going to be flying AC but with VFF membership, and counting on that SC to retain VFF status.
Waiting, waiting, waiting...
 
Perhaps one of you could ask about this on the VA Facebook page to try to elicit a response?
 
No - the two airlines will still operate separately until 2019 last I checked.

I did have a LAX-SEA leg booked on a VX-operated VA codeshare service for 1/Mar/2018. There's another thread I've posted in going through the ridiculousness of it all.

I don't think the VX and AC situations are in any way comparable.

First of all, as far as I can tell, VA codeshares on VX metal should still earn points and SCs as normal. When flying on a VA code, SCs are earned, unless one of the following exceptions applies (according to the Velocity website):

"3. Includes all Virgin Australia codeshare services operated by partner airlines with a VA flight number except Air Canada operated services. Discount Economy fare classes U and T are ineligible for Status Credit earn when travelling on domestic connections within New Zealand on Virgin Australia codeshare services operated by Air New Zealand."

Secondly, you used to be able to earn both points and SCs with VX (even on VX coded flights - not just VA codeshares). That changed on 30 September 2017, but I believe that was solely because of the takeover by Alaska. As stated on the Velocity website:

"Earn Points with Virgin America when you travel in eligible fare class on flights with a VX flight number and operated by Virgin America for travel until 30 September 2017. You can also earn Status Credits on all eligible fare types.

Velocity Points and Status Credits cannot be earned on:
  • Reward Seat Bookings
  • Fare classes other than as specified above
  • Virgin America flights for travel after 30 September 2017. Virgin America has announced it will dissolve its loyalty program, Elevate, by 31 December 2017 and Velocity Frequent Flyer members will not be able to earn points on Virgin America flights from 30 September."
The AC issue is indeed ridiculous though, and to be honest I don't know how they can get away with not awarding SCs for any flights on a VA code. It's not even clear to me what this has to do with AC - surely it's up to VA to award SCs as they see fit when the flights are on their own code?

As it happens I have LAX-YUL-LAX booked later this year on a VA code operated by AC - I don't actually need the SCs so I'm not hugely bothered, but on principle I think it's shocking from VA - the lack of SC earn is not drawn to your attention when booking, and there was another similarly priced option with DL, which would have earned something like 300 SCs.
 
No - the two airlines will still operate separately until 2019 last I checked.

I did have a LAX-SEA leg booked on a VX-operated VA codeshare service for 1/Mar/2018. There's another thread I've posted in going through the ridiculousness of it all.

Yep they will technically be operating separately, but VX ended their frequent flyer program in December 2017 (as Jack says) so although you will be flying a VX branded (for now) aircraft, it will be an Alaska airlines flight.

They will be using the interim period to retire the brand, merge the crew seniority lists, get rid of the 'Redwood' callsign etc. Terminating the FF program was the first step.

I do wish they would hurry along the VA/AC implementation, it would be nice to have a status earning option (or at least recognition) for when we start to plan our Canadian trip (who knows when that will be though!!)
 
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