VFF is it really worth it

[lazarusg]

Hey!

So let me give you guys a slight background! I usually travel for working within Australia, NZ and the South Pacific. I am currently a Velocity Gold Member and have been since March of this year.

I have extensively flown Virgin, AirNZ, SIA (not whilst a Gold Member) & Qantas (Club Member)

Flying Virgin Australia:

Overall I have been fairly happy with the service, but that is only once they know I am a Gold Member. I wonder what Red Members think about the service! I have had flights where the crew are disgruntled, rude and not organised! One example would be 2 weeks ago I flew Sydney to Perth (GREAT STATUS & POINTS ) and the crew had completely expressionless faces, did their announcements and handed out headphones for the In-Flight Entertainment.

Once at cruising altitude I decided to watch something on their system. Upon opening their headsets I found them to only have a single jack, the seats have a 2 jack input. When I called someone over and asked them about the headphones they said "oh we ran out of the other headphones" even though I was the second row from the front so they only brought headphones for one row. Either their In-Flight Supervisor is incompetent or they are simply disorganised.

I have noticed several times where Virgin are simply losing their touch, they were a great airline; service unparalleled and prices unimaginable.

I completely undertand that Borghetti wants to make Virgin a full service airline, but first I think they need to go back to basics and make sure their P&P's are in place!

Flying AirNZ:

My first flight was great! I received an Express Departure Card and Arrivals card service was great!

My Second flight a couple of months later - I received and Express Departure Card but had to request an Express Arrivals Card!

My Third flight I got an Express Departure card and when I requested an Express Arrivals Card I was simply told No, by the inflight supervisor as it is only for Platinum Velocity Members!

I was in shock as the last 2 times I was a Velocity Gold Member but didn't want to make a scene!

Finally I will be traveling to India and will be on Singapore Airlines, I will be departing Sydney Airport so I do hope that the new SIA Lounge will be open first week of December! and I am looking forward to the service being a Velocity Gold Member and finally make my decision as to is Velocity really worth being loyal to?

What are your feelings and experiences with Velocity or your other FF?

 

[grubbidok]

I've had great service on VA and terrible service on SQ, NZ and QF - and vice versa. Averaging it out I still think VA better than QF. I do have non-VA preferences in VFF though (e.g. I do prefer VA Trans-Pacific over DL/QF/AA but prefer NZ Trans-Tasman and SQ to Europe over the VA/QF alternatives).

I should note that flying NZ as a VA elite gets you a very different experience to flying them as a bog-standard traveller (or even NZ elite for that matter), so it is probably not a fair comparison. They really seem to go above and beyond on VFFers for some reason (not that I'm complaining!). Personally I find SQ great in the air but leave a little to be desired on the ground.

By and large I would definitely agree that VA service is slipping, but unfortunately the whole industry appears to be going that trend - not just VA - so it all evens out in the wash. On balance my VA experiences have been better than QF/OW, so stick with VA. I also find with the points (which I admittedly use largely for domestic travel to bring family to me or to visit family rather than high-class international fares) get you a lot more bang for your buck at VA than QF (the taxes you have to pay on top have made QFF points almost worthless).

 

[lazarusg]

I've had great service on VA and terrible service on SQ, NZ and QF - and vice versa. Averaging it out I still think VA better than QF. I do have non-VA preferences in VFF though (e.g. I do prefer VA Trans-Pacific over DL/QF/AA but prefer NZ Trans-Tasman and SQ to Europe over the VA/QF alternatives).

I should note that flying NZ as a VA elite gets you a very different experience to flying them as a bog-standard traveller (or even NZ elite for that matter), so it is probably not a fair comparison. They really seem to go above and beyond on VFFers for some reason (not that I'm complaining!). Personally I find SQ great in the air but leave a little to be desired on the ground.

By and large I would definitely agree that VA service is slipping, but unfortunately the whole industry appears to be going that trend - not just VA - so it all evens out in the wash. On balance my VA experiences have been better than QF/OW, so stick with VA. I also find with the points (which I admittedly use largely for domestic travel to bring family to me or to visit family rather than high-class international fares) get you a lot more bang for your buck at VA than QF (the taxes you have to pay on top have made QFF points almost worthless).

Interesting Grubbidok

If I may ask what exactly did you not like about SQ ground was it the lounge, Check-In staff? I am interested to see the new lounge in Sydney!

I do agree that VA used to have the best service, but are now slipping and it is unfortunate as they are now advertising themselves as a full service airline!

I was having a look at QF and they offer a Lifetime Gold Membership which is unfortunately not offered by VA - very disappointing!

The reason for my question is because at the moment I am a VA Gold Member and I am a Qantas Club Member so I get access into all the lounges, excess baggage etc... I just need to make up my mind if I should continue on with VA or Qantas

 

[suze2000]

I prefer flying QF - I'm not sure if it's just loyalty or what. I have had some shocking experiences on JQ, but I don't hold QF responsible for that. Mainly I prefer QF because there are more widebody jets and so it's just more comfortable. VA is almost completely narrowbody jets and I don't really fit in their idea of a seat. That said, generally I find my experience better on VA. The staff are more pleasant and I actually prefer to buy food on VA than take my chances on QF's offering. Of course, if you are flying J, which I almost never do, these things are less of a consideration.

 

[JohnK]

Virgin service can be hit and miss at times.

That being said it is nice to have status on Virgin as a backup to the times where Qantas is a little too expensive.

 

[grubbidok]

Interesting Grubbidok
If I may ask what exactly did you not like about SQ ground was it the lounge, Check-In staff? I am interested to see the new lounge in Sydney!

Nothing particularly terrible about SQ on the ground, they're just not up to the level of Australian airlines (think US lounge experience, rather than Oz or other Asian airlines). They do make up for it in the air though.

 

[QF21]

yes; having made my way into the SQ lounge at BKK, I wondered why I bothered to walk to it; US quality; I had a can of diet coke and left.