- Joined
- Aug 21, 2011
- Posts
- 15,017
- Qantas
- Platinum
- Virgin
- Platinum
- SkyTeam
- Elite Plus
- Star Alliance
- Gold
When flying around Australia I generally prefer Qantas, and have held status with Qantas ever since I started flying regularly. But I've now had Gold status with Virgin for around 6 months and during this time I've done a fair bit of flying with Virgin, as well as its international partner airlines.
I've been thinking lately about whether or not I should work towards retaining Velocity status. I've decided to let my Velocity status lapse and to stick with Qantas & Oneworld.
Virgin does do some things well. I like that priority boarding always works, and I do like their premium lounge entry in Sydney. At the same time, there are lots of things that annoy me about Virgin... But I can live with things like their annoying in-flight entertainment App, their inferior lounges (to Qantas, anyway), lack of international network and their joke of a website.
But there are two things that make me struggle to take Virgin Australia and Velocity Frequent Flyer seriously:
1. (What) catering on Virgin Australia flights
When I fly Qantas at a meal time, I know that I can expect a decent hot meal... even if it does come in a cardboard box. I can also look forward to complimentary wine, beer and soft drinks. By comparison, Virgin's catering is an absolute joke. A small bag of pretzels on a 3 hour flight is not dinner. On my last Virgin domestic flight, the in-flight "snack" was a cookie the size of a 20 cent coin:
Last weekend I flew Virgin from BNE-DUD and no food was provided at all because I didn't pay an extra $50 for a "Getaway" fare. This is what I would expect of a LCC - not an airline that claims to be "full service".
I also don't understand why alcoholic drinks - and even soft drinks - are only free for 10 hours per week. Why should I have to pay for a wine on a flight leaving at 7.05pm?
I don't necessarily need to eat on every flight, but if Virgin isn't going to take its catering seriously then I wish they would stop advertising the "free food and drinks" available on all flights. Such a claim inevitably leads to disappointment.
2. Virgin's clunky international partner airline network
My experience when flying with Oneworld airlines has been great. I know that my Qantas status will be recognised and I can access any Oneworld lounge when flying a Oneworld airline.
My experience flying with Virgin's partner airlines as a Velocity Gold member has been quite the opposite. Lounge access is not a given, and many partner airline employees have never even heard of Virgin Australia.
I've done a bit of flying with Singapore Airlines. On a couple of flights I ended up in a middle seat as I couldn't pick a seat and my Velocity status did not provide access to better seats. And then there's the issue of lounge access - when departing Singapore Airlines from Wellington, for example, Velocity members are not allowed entry into any lounge.
The lounge access problem applies to many airlines - for example, I've never understood why you don't get lounge access when departing Perth on SA, or why you can't use the lounge when flying Hawaiian Airlines (unless you're departing either SYD or HNL - only - on a VA codeshare ticket).
I've also had several experiences where I've checked in for a flight on a partner airline and showed my Velocity card, only to be told that they've never heard of Velocity. On multiple occasions I've been unable to add my Velocity number to the booking at check-in, because the agent was either unwilling or unable to do so. (I still had to wait 2 weeks before I could even submit a missing points claim!) At least the Velocity membership card now has the name of the airline on it!!
And then there was the time I tried to credit an Air Berlin flight to Velocity - only to discover that Air Berlin flights do not earn status credits. With Alitalia about to go out of business, Virgin Australia will not have a single partner airline within Europe where status credits can be earned. And don't get me started on the other gaping holes in Virgin's partner network, such as the entire continent of South America...
Now, I don't necessarily think Virgin Australia is a bad airline. They have some great people working for them, and I find them considerably more reliable than the likes of Jetstar. I will continue to fly Virgin domestically where it makes sense to do so - but I won't bother chasing status with them. I will also be sticking to Oneworld when flying overseas.
I've been thinking lately about whether or not I should work towards retaining Velocity status. I've decided to let my Velocity status lapse and to stick with Qantas & Oneworld.
Virgin does do some things well. I like that priority boarding always works, and I do like their premium lounge entry in Sydney. At the same time, there are lots of things that annoy me about Virgin... But I can live with things like their annoying in-flight entertainment App, their inferior lounges (to Qantas, anyway), lack of international network and their joke of a website.
But there are two things that make me struggle to take Virgin Australia and Velocity Frequent Flyer seriously:
1. (What) catering on Virgin Australia flights
When I fly Qantas at a meal time, I know that I can expect a decent hot meal... even if it does come in a cardboard box. I can also look forward to complimentary wine, beer and soft drinks. By comparison, Virgin's catering is an absolute joke. A small bag of pretzels on a 3 hour flight is not dinner. On my last Virgin domestic flight, the in-flight "snack" was a cookie the size of a 20 cent coin:
Last weekend I flew Virgin from BNE-DUD and no food was provided at all because I didn't pay an extra $50 for a "Getaway" fare. This is what I would expect of a LCC - not an airline that claims to be "full service".
I also don't understand why alcoholic drinks - and even soft drinks - are only free for 10 hours per week. Why should I have to pay for a wine on a flight leaving at 7.05pm?
I don't necessarily need to eat on every flight, but if Virgin isn't going to take its catering seriously then I wish they would stop advertising the "free food and drinks" available on all flights. Such a claim inevitably leads to disappointment.
2. Virgin's clunky international partner airline network
My experience when flying with Oneworld airlines has been great. I know that my Qantas status will be recognised and I can access any Oneworld lounge when flying a Oneworld airline.
My experience flying with Virgin's partner airlines as a Velocity Gold member has been quite the opposite. Lounge access is not a given, and many partner airline employees have never even heard of Virgin Australia.
I've done a bit of flying with Singapore Airlines. On a couple of flights I ended up in a middle seat as I couldn't pick a seat and my Velocity status did not provide access to better seats. And then there's the issue of lounge access - when departing Singapore Airlines from Wellington, for example, Velocity members are not allowed entry into any lounge.
The lounge access problem applies to many airlines - for example, I've never understood why you don't get lounge access when departing Perth on SA, or why you can't use the lounge when flying Hawaiian Airlines (unless you're departing either SYD or HNL - only - on a VA codeshare ticket).
I've also had several experiences where I've checked in for a flight on a partner airline and showed my Velocity card, only to be told that they've never heard of Velocity. On multiple occasions I've been unable to add my Velocity number to the booking at check-in, because the agent was either unwilling or unable to do so. (I still had to wait 2 weeks before I could even submit a missing points claim!) At least the Velocity membership card now has the name of the airline on it!!
And then there was the time I tried to credit an Air Berlin flight to Velocity - only to discover that Air Berlin flights do not earn status credits. With Alitalia about to go out of business, Virgin Australia will not have a single partner airline within Europe where status credits can be earned. And don't get me started on the other gaping holes in Virgin's partner network, such as the entire continent of South America...
Now, I don't necessarily think Virgin Australia is a bad airline. They have some great people working for them, and I find them considerably more reliable than the likes of Jetstar. I will continue to fly Virgin domestically where it makes sense to do so - but I won't bother chasing status with them. I will also be sticking to Oneworld when flying overseas.
? 
