Velocity changes: Changes to status credits

[Keith009]

Does this change mean that we will see QF009 want to change his screen name to VA011?

Hope I have the VA flight number correct.

Still hanging on the question of who their Asian partner is.

One of my all time fave carriers MAS has now jumped into bed with QF.

If MAS cuts all ties with VAus I might have to rethink my FF strategy... again.

 

[pshepvic]

Suggestion for Velocity Rewards:

Working out if you are going to maintain status is easy, as there is already the field there to show the SCs required to maintain and the date which it happens.

But now that SC's "expire" on a rolling basis daily for upgrades, it is a little more difficult to monitor the upgrade path. (I guess as the rolling total is recalculated daily, the concept of "expiring" has changed somewhat - ie. the SCs are valid towards status upgrades for exactly 12 months from the day they are earned).

I'd suggest that a field be incorporated to show the number of SC's expiring in the next couple of months, as otherwise you have to keep going back to the Activity history to work out whether you are on track for an upgrade to the next level or not.

For example, my earn could be as follows:
Jan 40
Feb 70
Mar 80
Apr 0
May 40
Jun 70
Jul 50
Aug 0
Sep 40
Oct 20
Nov 60
Dec 20
Jan ?

In January, the 40 from the previous January will drop off at some point. Above I've earned 490 SCs ... would be nice to be able to see at a quick glance that 40 are about to drop off in January, and I should take a flight to earn an extra 10 SCs soon to hit Gold.

Or, as I'm Gold already and might not be able to see it, does this field already exist for others who are Silver or Red? Once Platinum comes in though, I'd like to be able to see quickly how far off I am, and what chances of hitting it are, without having to trawl through my account history.

 

[xtoss]

Hmm.. interesting, I like the rolling 12 month review date, it's a good thing that you dont lose all your status straight away, and I like the details that says how much your status will go down over the next year.


What I am interested in.... there used to be a 20% bonus flying V Australia if youre a silver member.

Does this only apply for flyer points now and not status earn?

 

[notzac]

Does this only apply for flyer points now and not status earn?

Yup, that's how I'm reading it. Loophole .. closed

 

[777]

Does this only apply for flyer points now and not status earn?

Yes, although the reduced re-qualification rates do offset this a little.

 

[xtoss]

Suggestion for Velocity Rewards:


Or, as I'm Gold already and might not be able to see it, does this field already exist for others who are Silver or Red? Once Platinum comes in though, I'd like to be able to see quickly how far off I am, and what chances of hitting it are, without having to trawl through my account history.

For me in silver

it says

Status Credits required to upgrade to Gold 500

Next to this there is a Show details button that basically has your flight history and what the points drop too



And also, how do they classify the earn for etihad economy. What classes are full fare,/doscount and so on, as their earn rates put economy down as one combined)?

 

[docjames]

I agree a line with number of status credits about to be lost (eg. is pshepvic's example) would be a useful addition given the rolling nature (it's not a clear as the QF system).

 

[Ewing]

What excellent news for the start of my new Velocity year.

This means that Velocity Gold re-qualification after my status match last year should be all but guaranteed

 

[connieguy]

I agree a line with number of status credits about to be lost (eg. is pshepvic's example) would be a useful addition given the rolling nature (it's not a clear as the QF system).

I like the new DJ rolling SC system. End April 2011 I lost 3,250 QF SCs. Most were earned in the last half of my QF year. With the DJ system I would maybe have had a shot at WP1.

Better still is a SC reserve system, like MH has, that keeps excess SC (those over that needed for a tier re-qualification) in a SC reserve account that can be called down if you are a bit short in the current year.

 

[Velocity Frequent Flyer]

If the SC's are calculated on a rolling 12 month period it is absolutely imperative that VA get their act together with promptly posting points and SCs from partner airlines. Otherwise we are going to have an awful lot of people complaining that the 2 months they waited for an Etihad flight to post has cost them two months of Gold/Silver/Platinum status.

We are currently working on the process of crediting Points to members accounts in a more timely manner. You should note that members will not be disadvantaged, as the day your upgrade takes effect, you will receive a full 12 months of benefits until your next review date.

 

[LiamR]

I've done the maths, worked out the new rules, and it looks like it is an improvement!

I was suprised you only need one return to LHR on EY to make silver. Thats pretty good.

I've got a Y+ trip to AUH booked so that is a nice little boost to my SCs.... and am deciding to go with VA or QF for my trip to ZRH.

Look forward to seeing more changes towards the end of the year!

 

[spg2000]

Hmmm. Not sure I'm reading this correctly, however...

Status Credit Balance reads 39,092 - the "Show Details" link simply goes to the FAQ with an explanation of the conversion process.

Status Credits required to upgrade to Gold reads 500

Review Date reads 31 Jul 2011

Status Credits earned since last review date reads 0

Additional Status Credits required to maintain Silver by review date reads 200


I was only made up to Silver about 3 weeks ago (13th May - just checked). Yet, this implies I need to earn the equivelant of a whole years worth of silver requal points in teh next 6 weeks to maintain Silver.



I could well be reading it wrongly, or it could be that we are mid-conversion, but a little worried as I thought I was 2 return flights from making gold, but now seem to be way back!

 

[DJ 1D]

I think they must be doing some work on the system at the moment. Some things aren't coming up properly as they were an hour ago. Mine keeps changing..

39k SCs in the new system would almost certainly be a record!!

 

[connieguy]

This looks good:

Adl/Kul, 3,524 MH miles, 120 DJ SCs
Kul/Bkk, 754 MH miles, 60 DJ SCs

How It Works | Velocity Rewards

360 DJ SCs per Adl/Kul/Bkk/Kul/Adl for say A$2,300 or A$6.39 / DJ SC.

At A$6.39 / DJ SC that is a min spend of ~A$3,200 for 500 DJ SCs / initial DJ Gold or ~A$2,560 to maintain DJ Gold and with MH you get a real business seat.

Me thinks DJ will have a LOT of Golds. Maybe better get in early as the goal posts may shift a bit as the numbers swell.

 

[777]

I think they must be doing some work on the system at the moment. Some things aren't coming up properly as they were an hour ago. Mine keeps changing..

39k SCs in the new system would almost certainly be a record!!

Yes, my year to date status credits have mysteriously dropped to 0. I'll assume this is temporary.

 

[SeaWolf]

Yes, my year to date status credits have mysteriously dropped to 0. I'll assume this is temporary.

I've got the same, and when I go to look at my account activity it has all disappeared! I'm guessing they're doing some work to iron out a few bugs.

 

[Gremlin]

This looks good:

Adl/Kul, 3,524 MH miles, 120 DJ SCs
Kul/Bkk, 754 MH miles, 60 DJ SCs

How It Works | Velocity Rewards

360 DJ SCs per Adl/Kul/Bkk/Kul/Adl for say A$2,300 or A$6.39 / DJ SC.

At A$6.39 / DJ SC that is a min spend of ~A$3,200 for 500 DJ SCs / initial DJ Gold or ~A$2,560 to maintain DJ Gold and with MH you get a real business seat.

Me thinks DJ will have a LOT of Golds. Maybe better get in early as the goal posts may shift a bit as the numbers swell.

With MH looking to join OW, I suspect that may not be around for long...

 

[xtoss]

sorry to ask again, but AUH to LHR leg I'm flying Etihad economy,

I think its around 3400 miles from memory

would that be 30 or 60 status credits?

 

[pshepvic]

We are currently working on the process of crediting Points to members accounts in a more timely manner. You should note that members will not be disadvantaged, as the day your upgrade takes effect, you will receive a full 12 months of benefits until your next review date.

Question for you - previously there was a 2 month grace period at the end, so if you didn't requalify you would still get 2 more months at the higher status after the anniversary date. Will this still be the case?

If it was, then during that time one could go for enough SCs to hit the Qualify level again, to hit the status level again, and effectively never drop back. Particularly if there were no SC's in the first 2 months of the rolling period where the drop in status occurred.

Second question - Will it still be a soft landing if not making the requalification, from Gold back to Silver (and long term, from Platinum back to Gold)?

 

[Velocity Frequent Flyer]

sorry to ask again, but AUH to LHR leg I'm flying Etihad economy,

I think its around 3400 miles from memory

would that be 30 or 60 status credits?

Would depend on what fare class you are flying.