Virgin has stopped the transfer of points to Krisflyer

[jakeseven7]

whY ?

Personally, I've had rubbish service from Air Canada, unpleasant staff. Their hard product is also average. I have only flown J with them though. Unsure about other classes.

 

[lonewolf]

whY ?

I didnt have any points or rewards with them. Only recently got into using my points (had too much saved up all these years but never got to use them. Transferred them all into KF and then covid hit and only got to fly J once .

I found AC staff just not very friendly and at times rude and unhelpful. As well as i found the seats tighter / smaller than some other budget airlines i have flown much less economy in other main stream airlines. I found one of their domestic flights better, they had younger and friendlier crew. But their long haul international crew have always come across a bit tired / rude to me.

 

[jjonnboy]

I didnt have any points or rewards with them. Only recently got into using my points (had too much saved up all these years but never got to use them. Transferred them all into KF and then covid hit and only got to fly J once .

I found AC staff just not very friendly and at times rude and unhelpful. As well as i found the seats tighter / smaller than some other budget airlines i have flown much less economy in other main stream airlines. I found one of their domestic flights better, they had younger and friendlier crew. But their long haul international crew have always come across a bit tired / rude to me.

I was happy to see the points extension by KF, but I now have 1M points expiring in December 2021. I'm hoping for a further extension as I'd hate to spend them on new MacBook etc.

 

[jakeseven7]

I was happy to see the points extension by KF, but I now have 1M points expiring in December 2021. I'm hoping for a further extension as I'd hate to spend them on new MacBook etc.

Lots and lots of people in your boat.

Hopefully SQ aren't short sighted and extend....

 

[HS-TQE]

The general feeling is it is highly unlikely to return anytime soon because of the fact it was a one way cash drain on VA1..... perhaps it will return with a poorer redemption rate? Who really knows...

In the slim chance it does resume, chances are it'll be because Bain managed to 'get something' out of SIA/SQ to 'get a return' on investment.

E.g SQ paying Bain recurring fees to allow Krisflyer/Velocity transfers to happen (to recover the losses incurred by the transfers from Velocity to Krisflyer), probably at a poorer redemption rate.

Chances of it resuming under the former VA mk 1 'money draining/loss' arrangement would be close to zero.

 

[Mr H]

In the slim chance it does resume, chances are it'll be because Bain managed to 'get something' out of SIA/SQ to 'get a return' on investment.

I don't pretend to understand the economics of frequent flyer schemes, but if there is a profit to be made by selling frequent flyer points then you need to have a value proposition for customers. Toasters and flights to OOL are not enough. They aren't going to tempt people to take out high-fee credit cards; they aren't going to make people buy over-priced wine; they aren't going to get people buying points to top up their balances. Velocity needs international routes in premium cabins, and that means some kind of partnership with other airlines and preferably some kind of access to their own FF redemption programs.

 

[jase05]

I don't pretend to understand the economics of frequent flyer schemes, but if there is a profit to be made by selling frequent flyer points then you need to have a value proposition for customers. Toasters and flights to OOL are not enough. They aren't going to tempt people to take out high-fee credit cards; they aren't going to make people buy over-priced wine; they aren't going to get people buying points to top up their balances. Velocity needs international routes in premium cabins, and that means some kind of partnership with other airlines and preferably some kind of access to their own FF redemption programs.

I would think that Singapore Airlines, Etihad and Delta will remain onboard in partnership. Throw in the new Air Canada plus ANA? and it’s a good start.

 

[HS-TQE]

The "Big 3" in SQ, EY and DL were reported to be locked in Velocity's offerings for VA mk 2. Adding in AC and assumably NH would make it 5.

SQ, AC and NH would be enough to qualify for "Star Connect" status if Bain feels that VA would be a "Star Alliance Connect", the cheaper (but restricted version limited to VA's Star aligned partners only, not the whole Star network) without having to go through the process for the expensive full membership and having to facing approval status from all 26 members, considering the long standing problems between VA and UA / NZ.

But as a Star Connect member, Star benefits would be limited to the partners only and not the entire Star network - same as existing Star Connect members Juneyao and Thai Smile which are only limited to their Star aligned partners (largely LH group and the European partners).

 

[Must...Fly!]

Even with their equity now being effectively (or literally) zero I think all three previous partner airlines do have a strategic need to remain aligned with VA in the long term.

 

[jase05]

The "Big 3" in SQ, EY and DL were reported to be locked in Velocity's offerings for VA mk 2. Adding in AC and assumably NH would make it 5.

I almost forgot about VS (if they survive) to make 6
With DL now having a finger in the LA pie is there a chance down the track that they added to the list?

 

[lonewolf]

Lots and lots of people in your boat.

Hopefully SQ aren't short sighted and extend....

This is what i am hoping too, A couple of people did say they think SQ might extend for quite some time due to the sheer impact of everyone and their points as well how long it will take to get enough reward seats to cater for everyone's points. But at the same time they may be tempted to use this as a method to reduce a lot of the points / expire them and / or increase the costs.... Of course this would create a lot of irate customers and also negative media attention. Especially at a time when they would want as many people to come back to the skies asap.