Interesting experience last week flying HKG to SYD. I had placed both a points and UpgradeMe bid for an upgrade approximately 6 weeks prior to departure.
3 days prior to departure my colleague (Velocity Red) had her upgrade confirmed via UpgradeMe for $720. As a Platinum member I was intrigued that I had not yet had confirmation despite bidding points and $715.
I phoned Velocity several times over the next 48 hours only to be told nothing could be done other than request to pay HKD5999 on departure.
Sure enough the Hong Kong Airlines employee on the check in desk knew nothing of the VA policy and moved me on.
A further phone call to the VA call center saw them agree with my predicament and offer to pass the feedback on.
I felt the new CEO of VA should be made aware of the feedback and that whilst the airline had made $5 profit from a Red member this time, it had impacted the loyalty of a 8 year platinum member (who had provided 2 x Platinum memberships to family members this year through family pooling).
A received a response from Velocity 6 days after arriving back in Australia acknowledging that the UpgradeMe process does not just accept the highest bid but takes into account status and indeed there was an IT issue that impacted my bid. They told me they were sorry and offered 2 x complimentary upgrades for future domestics travel (I haven’t used my 4x this year and haven’t used this benefit since they moved to complimentary upgrades on Freedom fares)
3 days prior to departure my colleague (Velocity Red) had her upgrade confirmed via UpgradeMe for $720. As a Platinum member I was intrigued that I had not yet had confirmation despite bidding points and $715.
I phoned Velocity several times over the next 48 hours only to be told nothing could be done other than request to pay HKD5999 on departure.
Sure enough the Hong Kong Airlines employee on the check in desk knew nothing of the VA policy and moved me on.
A further phone call to the VA call center saw them agree with my predicament and offer to pass the feedback on.
I felt the new CEO of VA should be made aware of the feedback and that whilst the airline had made $5 profit from a Red member this time, it had impacted the loyalty of a 8 year platinum member (who had provided 2 x Platinum memberships to family members this year through family pooling).
A received a response from Velocity 6 days after arriving back in Australia acknowledging that the UpgradeMe process does not just accept the highest bid but takes into account status and indeed there was an IT issue that impacted my bid. They told me they were sorry and offered 2 x complimentary upgrades for future domestics travel (I haven’t used my 4x this year and haven’t used this benefit since they moved to complimentary upgrades on Freedom fares)
