Yoooo Hoooo (maybe?) -- Virgin Platinum for another year!

[ozstamps]

.
Kind of bitter sweet to just get this in inbox, now BAIN have removed near any benefits of having Status.

Used to get excited to see this each year!

Hardly took a flight, like many here I am sure.

Be interesting what BAIN and HRDLICKER decide to do going forward with Status periods.

As I recall Hilton have rolled over exiting Status for 2 more years?

What are the thoughts here?

STATUS cards of course cost an airline or Hotel basically zero - especially with no lounge access possible now.

Now Tiger#2 are down to plastic cups of water and Maggi 2 minute noodles in "Business Class", are they still mailing out cards, or is that another costs cutting exercise - when was the most recent real card anyone saw?

Possibly the main reason folks will want a physical card this year is to scan and send to Qantas if they do a Status Match, which they would be NUTS not to do right now.

 

[Bolthead]

My daughter got her new card in the mail the other day, so I guess that means they are mailing out new cards.

Bolt

.
Kind of bitter sweet to just get this in inbox, now BAIN have removed near any benefits of having Status.

Used to get excited to see this each year!

Hardly took a flight, like many here I am sure.

Be interesting what BAIN and HRDLICKER decide to do going forward with Status periods.

As I recall Hilton have rolled over exiting Status for 2 more years?

What are the thoughts here?

STATUS cards of course cost an airline or Hotel basically zero - especially with no lounge access possible now.

Now Tiger#2 are down to plastic cups of water and Maggi 2 minute noodles in "Business Class", are they still mailing out cards, or is that another costs cutting exercise - when was the most recent real card anyone saw?

Possibly the main reason folks will want a physical card this year is to scan and send to Qantas if they do a Status Match, which they would be NUTS not to do right now.

 

[andye]

Why would QF offer a status match? Most who value what status brings would still switch to QF without it.

 

[knagelli]

Possibly the main reason folks will want a physical card this year is to scan and send to Qantas if they do a Status Match, which they would be NUTS not to do right now.

Thats a crazy yet wishful thinking ....

 

[ozstamps]

Why would QF offer a status match?

DO keep up -

Now Would Be a Great Time for Qantas to Launch a Status Match

Virgin Australia is in crisis.

www.australianfrequentflyer.com.au

 

[henrus]

At the moment platinum has still been quite useful thanks to the Economy X benefit.

Aside from the extra baggage (which Silver/Gold/Plat all get ) and Priority Boarding (both Gold/Plat) there aren't really many other benefits but something is better than nothing.

 

[knagelli]

At the moment platinum has still been quite useful thanks to the Economy X benefit.

It will not be long before economy X becomes a thing of the past.

 

[MarkD]

The reality is, nobody really knows outside virgin what the end product will be. Personally, they have given me an extra 12 months, however moving forward im probably going to shift to QF, start from scratch again there and pay discounted QF Club through the union. I switched to VA many years ago and my qf status returned to a bronze colour so will take a while to build up again. My main use for lounges was overseas, but thats not going to happen for some time.

Just not going to spend any $$$ with VA until they know what they want to be. Im also open to rex if they have a good product and establish interline agreements and lounges. Regardless, the good old days are over

 

[trippin_the_rift]

Qantas isn't stupid. They won't run a status match.
There is no reason to run one. In fact, it would cannibalize their own business by running one.

- Pax demand domestically is SUPER LOW.
- Qantas intl (where status holds the most benefit) does not exist.
- The vast majority of status holders with VA and QF are not flying.
- xx,xx_+ top-tier Virgin flyers already matched to Qatar (thus will fly Qantas for their benefits).

The reality is that QF and VA status is only worthwhile when the networks are back online and demand growth becomes a thing again.
Until then - it's free status extensions for all.

 

[andye]

DO keep up -

Now Would Be a Great Time for Qantas to Launch a Status Match

Virgin Australia is in crisis.

www.australianfrequentflyer.com.au

I respectfully disagree with that analysis

 

[Milefest]

Got my letter in the mail too. I have $1000s in future flight credits and half a million vff points.

My plan to burn through all of that when travel resumes and re-evaluate whether I want to continue with the airline. Hopefully by that point there will be a clearer direction.

 

[AustraliaPoochie]

You can tick the box, use Points plus Pay, on the first page of the VA booking page.
This means you are using majority of your points to pay for the fare, but you do not earn any SC from this.
You might still earn 5 VFF points per Aud$1 spent, but no SC.
QF Points plus Pay will earn QF SC no matter what, but not on the VFF side.
Lesson learn from one of my past VA bookings.

 

[Bagpuss]

I received my Platinum renewal notice last month as my cycle is at the start of September. I replied back querying as I had retained Platinum in early January and just renewing gave me no extra benefit, with handing out 1 year’s extension to all members. They confirmed back that I have retained Platinum until September 2022, so there’s no point me chasing any status until after September 2021.
Though, with no expectation of much real travel until late 2021 at best, mid 2022 more likely, I think they will conduct another 12 month extension. No way will any airline want to loose a lot of it’s premium members.

 

[ozstamps]

No way will any airline want to lose a lot of it’s premium members.

They'll all be flying Qantas or REX by 2021 ... especially if QF does a status match.

... Tiger#2 will be flying planes containing mostly folks frantically burning up travel credits, and points, before both disappear.

Discretionary travel from those who fly a lot will near all jump ship.

They announced today ''enhanced snack packs" for Biz travellers - it is like they have half trained Chimps in there making these decisions.

They get ONE shot at this or else BAIN loses Billions when they pull the plug.

No lounges, no WiFi, no wine on some flights, and if you ask nicely, another Muesli Bar to entice the bizoids .. they are dreaming.

 

[knagelli]

You can tick the box, use Points plus Pay, on the first page of the VA booking page.
This means you are using majority of your points to pay for the fare, but you do not earn any SC from this.
You might still earn 5 VFF points per Aud$1 spent, but no SC.
QF Points plus Pay will earn QF SC no matter what, but not on the VFF side.
Lesson learn from one of my past VA bookings.

Points plus pay does earn you SC unless it is a reward seat. I am not sure if there was a change in recent times but I have had SCs posted when I booked my international long haul flights using Points plus pay option.

 

[Bagpuss]

They announced today ''enhanced snack packs" for Biz travellers - it is like they have half trained Chimps in there making these decisions.

They get ONE shot at this or else BAIN loses Billions when they pull the plug.

No lounges, no WiFi, and another Muesli Bar to entice the bizoids .. they are dreaming.

Starting to go off topic.
Again what was forgot is that Virgin currently state water and a snack across all cabins. So the fact they served alcohol (for a while) was above and beyond what they said they were offering.
If noodles aren't a snack, it would be an interesting defintition.
The noodles were probably more expensive than the bars they were handing out.
Simply put, it wasn't a great look.

 

[knagelli]

Got my letter in the mail too. I have $1000s in future flight credits and half a million vff points.

You might as well transfer the points to Krisflyer atleast as it is one of viable and safe options. Yes there might be other factors like the frequency of your travel and the sectors you travel most.

 

[knagelli]

Again what was forgot is that Virgin currently state water and a snack across all cabins. So the fact they served alcohol (for a while) was above and beyond what they said they were offering.

The bar they have set for themselves in the past with their offerings is letting all the premium members down with current offerings. They need to maintain consistency.

 

[Bagpuss]

They'll all be flying Qantas or REX by 2021 ... especially if QF does a status match.

No idea why QF qould do a status match. With no international travel and limited domestic travel it would be hard to maintain. More so after the annoucement today from QF reducing status credits. With their lounges open, I can't see them making any money or customer loyality. A status match is simply that, you don't close your Velocity account and lose status.

Post automatically merged: Oct 20, 2020

The bar they have set for themselves in the past with their offerings is letting all the premium members down with current offerings. They need to maintain consistency.

I don't think you will find any consistency in the airline industry and especially not whilst in Voluntery Administration. Anyway there has been an annoucement about this today, so Noodlegate is over.

 

[Bagpuss]

You might as well transfer the points to Krisflyer atleast as it is one of viable and safe options. Yes there might be other factors like the frequency of your travel and the sectors you travel most.

That ship sailed a long time ago.