Will you still earn/retain Velocity status beyond 2025?

[JohnK]

I haven't kept up with most of this thread but has Virgin realised they made a mistake?

Dumb changes . I finally made Gold last month. Not sure can make Gold again without status runs which is waste of money. Wife about to lose Platinum and will drop to Gold and then Silver and down. Virgin will end up losing revenue from us if we start moving to low cost travel.

 

[natpin]

Interestingly consistent sentiments in most of the past 10 posts. Why anyone would desert one airline completely because they can't make Platinum and go over to 'the other one' where they would be < Plat too (probably NB?), and pay more for the privilege, beats me.

I dropped from Plat to Gold - I still fly VA, and I also fly Qantas when it suits. I know the grass, on average, is pretty much the same flavour on both sides of the fence, but Qantas grass is usually more expensive..

I use points to obtain SCs so it actually works out much cheaper on QF

 

[pblackie]

Interestingly consistent sentiments in most of the past 10 posts. Why anyone would desert one airline completely because they can't make Platinum and go over to 'the other one' where they would be < Plat too (probably NB?), and pay more for the privilege, beats me.

I dropped from Plat to Gold - I still fly VA, and I also fly Qantas when it suits. I know the grass, on average, is pretty much the same flavour on both sides of the fence, but Qantas grass is usually more expensive.

I also still fly VA just don't prioritise them or their partners when booking flights. In the past I would always book VA domestically and unless there was a huge price difference their partners internationally.

 

[SYD]

Interestingly consistent sentiments in most of the past 10 posts. Why anyone would desert one airline completely because they can't make Platinum and go over to 'the other one' where they would be < Plat too (probably NB?), and pay more for the privilege, beats me.

I dropped from Plat to Gold - I still fly VA, and I also fly Qantas when it suits. I know the grass, on average, is pretty much the same flavour on both sides of the fence, but Qantas grass is usually more expensive.

One of the themes is the issue of needing 50% VA codes to maintain status.

I was VA WP (and QF WP) concurrently for over 10 years before I left a large multinational company that required me to go to Europe a couple of times a year. Usually on EY, QR or SQ. Always booked with native codes even though our domestic contract was VA.

I wouldn’t be able to maintain WP now, probably not even SG!

 

[trisreed]

Strangest thing retaining WP this year is the annual pack in the mail. Maybe it is only the promised new baggage tag but it came with a brochure ("Your platinum status deserves to be in the spotlight") advertising all the Platinum benefits and telling me that my "phone can be [my] card, too" - well there is no plastic card enclosed so it can only be my card! No personally addressed letter from Rohrlach (or his replacement) either... just feels like penny pinching from both ends. Really confusing and not 'premium' at all.

 

[BRIS_VA_HAWK]

Interestingly consistent sentiments in most of the past 10 posts. Why anyone would desert one airline completely because they can't make Platinum and go over to 'the other one' where they would be < Plat too (probably NB?), and pay more for the privilege, beats me.

I dropped from Plat to Gold - I still fly VA, and I also fly Qantas when it suits. I know the grass, on average, is pretty much the same flavour on both sides of the fence, but Qantas grass is usually more expensive.

Same here. I've generally found that VA is consistently cheaper than QF on the triangle, and with the recent changes to seat allocations for QF Silver (i.e. pay or sit in the back half) I haven't had the impetus to dump VA on a wholesale basis.

 

[RooFlyer]

telling me that my "phone can be [my] card, too" - well there is no plastic card enclosed so it can only be my card! No personally addressed letter from Rohrlach (or his replacement) either... just feels like penny pinching from both ends. Really confusing and not 'premium' at all.

Personally, I reckon I could endure those slights.

 

[trisreed]

Personally, I reckon I could endure those slights.

Certainly won't miss Nick's gush but the plastic card does come in handy overseas. Maybe I'll just scratch off the expiry date of last year's one

 

[clifford]

Interestingly consistent sentiments in most of the past 10 posts. Why anyone would desert one airline completely because they can't make Platinum and go over to 'the other one' where they would be < Plat too (probably NB?), and pay more for the privilege, beats me.

I dropped from Plat to Gold - I still fly VA, and I also fly Qantas when it suits. I know the grass, on average, is pretty much the same flavour on both sides of the fence, but Qantas grass is usually more expensive.

It now costs somewhat less to attain QF WP over VA WP, if you are well organised. I speak from personal experience.

And the QF WP benefits are far greater than those that VA may confer. So really VA (I mean Bain) has shot itself in both feet, when it really didn't need to at all. Talk about an own goal....

 

[antycbr]

It now costs somewhat less to attain QF WP over VA WP, if you are well organised. I speak from personal experience.

And the QF WP benefits are far greater than those that VA may confer. So really VA (I mean Bain) has shot itself in both feet, when it really didn't need to at all. Talk about an own goal....

And with the situation in the gulf, QR has also … err… shot itself too.

QRs investments are the only part of the company likely making money at the moment.

 

[RooFlyer]

I use points to obtain SCs so it actually works out much cheaper on QF

Welcome to AFF, BTW. Points Club? I would've been doing that (fly QF on points) all along if I had the points!

It now costs somewhat less to attain QF WP over VA WP, if you are well organised. I speak from personal experience.

Sure, if you want to go to the effort of planning just to obtain status, as opposed to just taking the flight that suits (price/schedule).

That's the type of sentiment I'm pushing back on - hunting status; I don't think its a good thing to do. As others have mentioned - losing status can be a blessing - suddenly the handcuffs are off and you can fly as you please. And me going back to Gold. About the only thing I've lost that I'll really miss is free Economy X (loss of free wi-fi I can easily forego). Still get priority boarding etc, which I value. Still get lounge access, which is occasionally handy. Absolutely no intention of buying anymore VA or partner flights than I need to. Same with Qantas BTW.
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The thing I've been looking for is an old thread (which I can't find) which IIRC asked the question "How long does 'Never fly with them again' last"? I think the consensus was about a year. Like me. After a bad experience I swore I'd never fly American Airlines again. But of course I did.