VA you will lose this longterm Plat....

[juliusg]

Every year I redeem my four upgrade certificates that come with my Platinum status, paying the top economy fare to do so. My regular flights are VA555 and 556 to/from Perth. At $1343 return, v $2498 in The Business, those upgrade certificates are useful to me and have been used on this flight pair my entire 8 years as a Plat.

So imagine my state of mind today to find that on my return flight NEXT MAY (yes, May 8, 2020) has NO direct A330 flights at all; and most crazy, NO upgrades available on the 737! TEN+ MONTHS OUT!

This seals the deal for me - there is now zero benefit in Velocity. I plan to switch my flying - either to QF or to SQ and NZ, and when domestic in AU I'll claim Kris points. Here's my reasons for SQ/NZ:

- KRIS offers more redemption flights in Business (and First) to more places
- KRIS Gold gets me into VA lounges
- VA redemptions are becoming scarcer, esp on the LAX run
- NZ gets me one stop into more cities in the USA than just LAX

Qantas may also be the winner, I need to choose soon. I am a current QF Plat, so I know the ropes.

What do you guys think of this, and who has ideas about why there are NO upgrades from Perth on May 8 next year?

 

[serfty]

Well, May the 8th is a Friday so inherently busy -however, in the same vein, are you sure there are no A330's scheduled that day?

It really up to you. If Velocity no longer suites your needs then they may be green pastures out there.

(FWIW, I find the Delta partnership extremely beneficial whthin the USA.)

 

[juliusg]

Well, May the 8th is a Friday so inherently busy -however, in the same vein, are you sure there are no A330's scheduled that day?

It really up to you. If Velocity no longer suites your needs then they may be green pastures out there.

(FWIW, I find the Delta partnership extremely beneficial whthin the USA.)

I do agree, we just took a bunch of domestic first class flights in the USA with DELTA and that added a couple hundred SCs..... Equally, I could use United and add on to Kris tho.

 

[juliusg]

I do agree, we just took a bunch of domestic first class flights in the USA with DELTA and that added a couple hundred SCs..... Equally, I could use United and add on to Kris tho.

Thinking more, QF have 5 x A330 flights that same Friday while VA have zero. The A330's have gone AWOL next May. Wonder why??

 

[TomVexille]

Just remember that if you go SQ, VA flights do not earn Elite Miles

 

[Bagpuss]

Every year I redeem my four upgrade certificates that come with my Platinum status, paying the top economy fare to do so. My regular flights are VA555 and 556 to/from Perth. At $1343 return, v $2498 in The Business, those upgrade certificates are useful to me and have been used on this flight pair my entire 8 years as a Plat.

So imagine my state of mind today to find that on my return flight NEXT MAY (yes, May 8, 2020) has NO direct A330 flights at all; and most crazy, NO upgrades available on the 737! TEN+ MONTHS OUT!

This seals the deal for me - there is now zero benefit in Velocity. I plan to switch my flying - either to QF or to SQ and NZ, and when domestic in AU I'll claim Kris points. Here's my reasons for SQ/NZ:

- KRIS offers more redemption flights in Business (and First) to more places
- KRIS Gold gets me into VA lounges
- VA redemptions are becoming scarcer, esp on the LAX run
- NZ gets me one stop into more cities in the USA than just LAX

Qantas may also be the winner, I need to choose soon. I am a current QF Plat, so I know the ropes.

What do you guys think of this, and who has ideas about why there are NO upgrades from Perth on May 8 next year?

VA552 which is an A330 on 8th May is available with at least 2 redemption's.

If they change the A330 service to VA556 then call Virgin and they will move you to VA556 ... They have always allowed me to change flights to remain on the A330.



Though, I would go this way ....
(The A330 on the Brisbane service is very unlikely to change as it's positioning to fly Brisbane - Nadi on the Saturday then Nadi - Brisbane - Perth on the Sunday.)



But there are a number of A330 via services available.

 

[CPMaverick]

What do you guys think of this

This seals the deal for me - there is now zero benefit in Velocity

I think it is news to me that the only existing benefit to being a VA Plat was a 737 upgrade on May 8, 2020. But yeah, I guess if that was it, and it's gone, then you aren't being hyperbolic at all!

 

[pauly7]

Thinking more, QF have 5 x A330 flights that same Friday while VA have zero. The A330's have gone AWOL next May. Wonder why??

Maintenance?

Or maybe they are planning increase/new Asian route?

Or maybe just don’t have the pax required anymore for a widebody trans con?

 

[Bagpuss]

Maintenance?

Or maybe they are planning increase/new Asian route?

Or maybe just don’t have the pax required anymore for a widebody trans con?

They are operating.

 

[stm1sydney]

For me, this (lack of availability of WP free upgrades) would not be reason to move from VA to QF, as I have never put any value on this benefit because you need to have purchased a fully flex Y fare. (But I can see this would be different for Perth people.) The other benefits of VA over QF remain substantial.

 

[jakeseven7]

Thinking more, QF have 5 x A330 flights that same Friday while VA have zero. The A330's have gone AWOL next May. Wonder why??

They have minimal coverage now cross country with the launch of Hong Kong and they are also renowned for down gauging to 737's as well. There is still the odd service here and there, I can usually find one a day but the risk of a down gauge is far higher than QF.

 

[Bagpuss]

They have minimal coverage now cross country with the launch of Hong Kong and they are also renowned for down gauging to 737's as well. There is still the odd service here and there, I can usually find one a day but the risk of a down gauge is far higher than QF.

Kinda disagree. Both QF and VA will downgrade A330's to B737's. Over on the QF thread there are plenty of comments are this.
For VA I don't think there are that many last minute downgrades as the B737 fleet is being better utilized .. To redirect a B737 to operate Melbourne - Perth and return would probably knock out 3 or 4 East Coast flights.
A VA A330 domestic service on a Saturday is a bit like gold dust and a little better on a Sunday.
Also, if the entire A330 fleet was still just flying domestically I'm pretty sure there would be a lot of empty seats.
Most days there are least at 2 SYD <> PER and 2 MEL <> PER A330 services which I think is fine.

In my opinion, the real problem with the B737 on longer flights is that the economy toilets are at the rear of the aircraft so it's a lot of traffic through the plane and then queues which would be annoying for passengers at the back and it does make everything feel closed in. A "fix" would be to have a toilet behind business class, to reduce this and provide an additional toilet .. Unless this is thought of on newer planes, it's not gonna happen.

Anyway if Virgin stuck with B737's for domestic use then Qantas would have .....

 

[sometime_flyer]

This seals the deal for me - there is now zero benefit in Velocity.

Zero benefit? You don't get any benefit from Fly Ahead, or Family Pooling, or FOC Economy X seating ?

 

[getluv]

This is the problem with only having four available A330s for domestic flying. QF has a bigger network and therefore has more aircraft and frequencies. However, you already know this.

Also - VA552 or double the flying time by going via BNE over VA556. Yeah, nah.

You just need to sit down and see what programs work best for you and what value the most overall. Ignore the people and DYOR.

 

[Bagpuss]

This is the problem with only having four available A330s for domestic flying. QF has a bigger network and therefore has more aircraft and frequencies. However, you already know this.

Also - VA552 or double the flying time by going via BNE over VA556. Yeah, nah.

You just need to sit down and see what programs work best for you and what value the most overall. Ignore the people and DYOR.

Well a few things:
The poster asked for people’s thoughts.
“Yeah, na” contradicts “Ignore the people”.
DYOR ... its a community forum which is part of DYOR. The truth it many posts aren’t needed if people read information on official websites / called the company.
Virgin have 6 A330’s which are used for domestic / international flying. Two airframes are currently fully utilised for international flights.
QF have a bigger network and allocating more A330’s onto international routes in which they haven’t added to their A330 fleet.
However you already knew all this.

 

[getluv]

QF still use more A330s for domestic ops than VA and is by and large due to having more A330s in their fleet. Yes, QF (like VA) have downgauged services to B737s but more or less you will find more A330s on QF's transcons. Example - Morning of May 8, 2020 on PER-SYD is attached.

The "Yeah, nah" comment was comparing VA556 with VA552 or doubling the travel time to go via BNE. Clearly the OP is not interested in waking up at 3AM or travelling nine hours, and would have seen those options when they looked to book. I'm making this assumption of course.

DYOR comment is really applicable here and I don't think asking for advice is research at all. You're on the internet after all. People tend to be bias, so it is better to consider your wants and what the respective programs offer to see if they align.

 

[CPMaverick]

VA downgrades A330-B737 were a huge problem when the HKG schedule was in constant flux, but now that HKG is more settled I wouldn't expect so much uncertainty. At least not any more than QF.