The PROs and CONs of switching your allegiance - any advice?

[justcallmeryan]

Hi everyone, would just like to take a minute to thank everyone for their time and effort on these pages - I've really enjoyed and learned lots over the years.

So here's my (very very first world) predicament... I am a VA Plat and have been so for the last 5 years, in fact I will re-qualify next week with two months before my review. In the last 12 months I have had some access to QF J and Y flying after many years away and really enjoyed the experience. I am also very underwhelmed by VA's current management and a bit at my wits end with their website problems. I find myself considering jumping ship and moving my flying over to QF for the next year to see if I can qualify for Gold or Platinum - I don't fly enough to even dream of P1. In the process of this I've compiled a bit of a pro's and con's list for each which I've outlined below and would appreciate your thoughts on the matter, particularly as I don't have any experience traveling with QF status, so am not aware of the finer 'perks' so to speak. Note: these pro's and con's reflect ME personally and what I value in flying, and in no way are intended to offend anyone, or any airline.

Before I go in to the list, here's my flying life in a nutshell. I'm SYD based and my travel is about 80% for work and 20% personal (sad but true). When traveling for work I am mostly stuck in Y or Y+, but when in Y I can usually get away with buying a pricier fare bucket which helps with SCs and upgrade potential. My work travel is mostly golden triangle day trips, PER 2 x per year, NZ 1 x per year and USA/Canada 1/2 x per year. I don't go to Asia and may go to Europe once every 3 years or so. My personal travel is almost exclusively overseas and spread out across the globe - usually 2 x per year and often purchased on the back of a work o/seas trip. I can't afford int'l J tickets but have been known to take a good Y+ deal and use points for upgrade requests, or bid for cash upgrades with airlines that allow this. So here goes the list:

My pro's of staying with VA.

• It's easier to maintain status then starting from scratch with someone else.
• Fly-Ahead which I think is just brilliant and use a lot. (This is probably the main reason I've stayed!)
• I like challenger brands and often send my business to companies that are anti-establishment. This was what attracted me to Virgin in the first place, but I feel it has lost that shine under Borghetti, particularly recently.
• Confirmed J upgrades for PER and LAX, although LAX now very hard to come by.
• I love premium lounge entry and exit and use it extensively in SYD, MEL and BNE.
• Row 3 for domestic Y.
• I prefer Delta over American for internal US flights, seems to me anyway, to be the best of a bad bunch.
• I prefer Etihad over Emirates for Europe.

My con's of staying with VA

• I'm a bit ho-hum about the whole experience. It's not bad, but it's not as shiny as it was.
• Long haul confirmed J upgrades which I used extensively in the past are now very hard to obtain.
• Staff morale from cabin crew seems to not quite be what it was. Crew were always quite the highlight for me, and have been less so lately.
• I am going to miss the Star Alliance Lounge at LAX....

My pro's of moving to QF (and this is where I need help from some of you guys and girls!)

• Much better network internationally.
• Status to strive for - I could try and obtain P1 even though unlikely, and lifetime SG sounds nice.
• Business lounges domestically and First lounges internationally.
• The potential for First class seats on A380.
• Something different, I like trying different things so appeals to my sense of adventure to have new experiences.
• Being part of a proper international alliance is appealing, avoiding having to explain to lounge dragons overseas that YES I can come in....
• I still have 12 months ahead of me as VA Plat and likely another year as SG with soft landing, so wouldn't lose benefits quickly.

My con's of moving to QF (also need help here!)

• Most have to do with starting at the bottom (no priority check in or lounge being the main issues).
• I would be a smaller fish in the sea as QF has significantly more high value flyers than VA. I wouldn't likely obtain P1 so again many more people ahead of me in the queue.
• If I decide halfway through the process that I prefer VA, I would be behind the ball, so to speak for re-qualifying.

Would very much value your feedback and thoughts on what I may be missing, particularly on the QF side as I don't have experience there. And if anyone else has made the switch in either direction, I'd very much appreciate learning from your experiences.

Happy travels all.

 

[24601]

Domestically I don't really see that much difference between the two except that VA is usually slightly cheaper to fly. Has "fly ahead" been cut back recently? I have used it but not this year. Internationally QF/One World gives access to a better network and recognition of benefits has seemed ok.

But a 'con' you've left of your list is that loyalty to an airline or a group of airlines can be very expensive compared to loyalty to the best fare of the day. If you fly J then status doesn't matter so much anyway. Flying J on BFOD internationally might be cheaper than maintaining status- no data, just a hunch.

You could always do what I did and blow a lot of money on getting WP on VA and QF. It was fun but honestly not all the flying was strictly necessary. I'm now considering what to do: stay with just one or the other, or both, or neither. More experienced people here will have more useful comments than me. Cheers.

 

[JohnK]

Don't have much to add other than say you can also try to aim for Gold on both airlines (or Platinum on one and Gold on the other) and that way you can pick and choose your airfares and still have your benefits. Although in saying that the new VA fare structure has me totally stumped.

 

[mmchow]

Have you consider requesting for a status challenge with QF? If accepted, you can try/ compare and see which one suit better.

 

[Lionel Hutz]

But a 'con' you've left of your list is that loyalty to an airline or a group of airlines can be very expensive compared to loyalty to the best fare of the day. If you fly J then status doesn't matter so much anyway. Flying J on BFOD internationally might be cheaper than maintaining status- no data, just a hunch.

Maybe you should consider this idea given your list of pro's and cons for QF and VA that seems to be fairly equally weighted.
How valuable is Platinum to you compared to Gold? Would you be able to obtain and maintain gold on both?

 

[bsb]

As mentioned go for a status match. The First Class lounges are addictively, you'll quickly forget the Star Alliance LAX lounge and domestically QF terminals in Sydney and Melbourne are way more pleasant experiences than the VA ones and you get J lounge access (which is nice but probably not a deal maker). Once you've made your status match, which will be quick, you can the decide what floats your boat more and leave the loser behind.

 

[Deleted member 29185]

I think you've summed up my thoughts about VA pretty comprehensively.

I'm not sure it will help, but I've decided to go through the pain of starting at the bottom and I'm firmly now of the opinion that either no status or mid status (gold) with both is the best option.

There is only one thing that I miss about VA and that is priority luggage. That seemed to be about the only thing that VA does better than QF (well, I shouldn't really say that as I don't get it yet with QF). I am lucky enough to no longer have an attraction to a lounge and with the automated bag drop there's usually no queue there and if I really wanted to avoid the QF screening queue, I guess there is nothing stopping me using my VA plat to use the VA priority screening (at BNE anyway) so having bugger all status has really been most noticed with waiting at the luggage belt. Even that is not too bad.

My advice is give it a go. Remember if you decide you don't like it, you can always go back to VA and a soft landing will see you retain most of your VA benefits anyway.

 

[Melburnian1]

I'm firmly now of the opinion that either no status or mid status (gold) with both is the best option.

swanning_it, are you suggesting that 'not having any status' is one of the two best options because if any of us acquire 'status' for the sake of it, we tend to personally 'pay through the nose' for flights (particularly personal ones) to chase that 'status?'

 

[Deleted member 29185]

swanning_it, are you suggesting that 'not having any status' is one of the two best options because if any of us acquire 'status' for the sake of it, we tend to personally 'pay through the nose' for flights (particularly personal ones) to chase that 'status?'

I think many people (me as well) fall into the trap of paying too much for a devaluing status.

No status and "obtain" J or have 2 x status rather than 1 are both real contenders. I must admit, I advised that with my own considerations in mind. It seems many people obtain J (international especially) via points purchase/CCs. I obtain J due to a nice client who gives me an OK travel budget. As it turns out, with the latest J sales, I'll do both, obtain J (via sale fares) which will also attain QF gold for me and requal VA plat for one and a half years at least.

 

[JohnK]

I think many people (me as well) fall into the trap of paying too much for a devaluing status.

Not just about paying too much. The time wasted would also be a factor?

 

[Dannyism]

I'm currently platinum with VA and status challenging for gold with QF. I think maintaining gold on both will be the sweet-spot for me.

Flight patterns usually one big (NA or EU) trip (J/F on points every second year), one short asia trip a year for pleasure and I fly maybe a dozen times a year with work in the ANZ region.

My pro's with VA are the family pooling, priority checkin, boarding and lounge access with SQ AirNZ and VA.

My anticipated perks with QF are priority boarding, checkin and lounge access with the oneworld network.

 

[Lemon_Party]

I'm a comfortable repeat year VA WP. I like the lounges, priority boarding, premium entry, priority baggage, all of which VA does well.

I try to fly VA and SQ to maintain status where possible, but with SQ travel often have to expect no lounge access in Asia.

Without family pooling and the extra SQ credits that head to VA (vs Malaysia to QF for example) id be struggling to meet gold some years on QF so my decision is made for me really.

From status matching I have Sky team elite plus and an Air Berlin one world sapphire card. After a recent trip to PVG via HKG on CX I think the one world status is worth far more than VA platinum based on excellent lounge access.

If i only flew domestically I'd have a different opinion, but if you have to fly beyond AU I think oneworld has much better perks/lounge access.

The benefits for VA are the ease of gaining high status, and the ease of accruing points with partners like SQ. But the global lounge access is disappointing...

I personally think having status with one of the big alliances is the best position if you can maintain it.

 

[tomo69]

Personally I went down the path of SG for bot QF and VA. I have been racking up approximately 1000 SC with QF and falling well short of obtaining WP so I split the difference so to speak and take advantage of not only the cheaper of the fares but I increase flexibility with more flights to choose from. Having said that doing this will significantly delay obtaining LTG with QF, which is definitely on my bucket list.

 

[serfty]

Most of my travel these days is as a hobby and I do make efforts to earn WP in both programs.

What I do find is that domestically VA are cheaper for similar service - I generally fly at off peak/non meal times.

However, I do find I miss the Qantas Domestic J lounges, but that is neither here nor there when it come to $$$.

 

[Deleted member 29185]

Personally I went down the path of SG for bot QF and VA. I have been racking up approximately 1000 SC with QF and falling well short of obtaining WP so I split the difference so to speak and take advantage of not only the cheaper of the fares but I increase flexibility with more flights to choose from. Having said that doing this will significantly delay obtaining LTG with QF, which is definitely on my bucket list.

My magical SC figure is also around 1000 (excluding J sales when that works). So in future years, I'm thinking the best for me will be both gold 400+600 SCs to requal. If the J sales work again, like they have this year, I think I'll likely swap my current VA WP for an QF WP for One World status as well as the extra SCs going toward LTS. Not having a life time status ability with VA must cost them a lot of business and frequent flyers.

 

[NZflygirl]

My pro's of staying with VA.

• It's easier to maintain status then starting from scratch with someone else.
• Fly-Ahead which I think is just brilliant and use a lot. (This is probably the main reason I've stayed!)
• I like challenger brands and often send my business to companies that are anti-establishment. This was what attracted me to Virgin in the first place, but I feel it has lost that shine under Borghetti, particularly recently.
• Confirmed J upgrades for PER and LAX, although LAX now very hard to come by.
• I love premium lounge entry and exit and use it extensively in SYD, MEL and BNE.
• Row 3 for domestic Y.
• I prefer Delta over American for internal US flights, seems to me anyway, to be the best of a bad bunch.
• I prefer Etihad over Emirates for Europe.

My con's of staying with VA

• I'm a bit ho-hum about the whole experience. It's not bad, but it's not as shiny as it was.
• Long haul confirmed J upgrades which I used extensively in the past are now very hard to obtain.
• Staff morale from cabin crew seems to not quite be what it was. Crew were always quite the highlight for me, and have been less so lately.
• I am going to miss the Star Alliance Lounge at LAX....

My pro's of moving to QF (and this is where I need help from some of you guys and girls!)

• Much better network internationally.
• Status to strive for - I could try and obtain P1 even though unlikely, and lifetime SG sounds nice.
• Business lounges domestically and First lounges internationally.
• The potential for First class seats on A380.
• Something different, I like trying different things so appeals to my sense of adventure to have new experiences.
• Being part of a proper international alliance is appealing, avoiding having to explain to lounge dragons overseas that YES I can come in....
• I still have 12 months ahead of me as VA Plat and likely another year as SG with soft landing, so wouldn't lose benefits quickly.

My con's of moving to QF (also need help here!)

• Most have to do with starting at the bottom (no priority check in or lounge being the main issues).
• I would be a smaller fish in the sea as QF has significantly more high value flyers than VA. I wouldn't likely obtain P1 so again many more people ahead of me in the queue.
• If I decide halfway through the process that I prefer VA, I would be behind the ball, so to speak for re-qualifying.

.

Well here's my first world answer:

I'm not a VA fan because I've had a lot of things go wrong with them and I just find things aren't as functional as I'd like to make my life easy!!
In saying that I still fly them mainly because of connections from NZ and I needed somewhere else to credit points.

I don't use fly ahead but I'm sure you can find something productive to do with the time in the lounge or really try and nail your flight times down. I don't use premium lounge entry either because I struggle to pack HLO properly
I hate that you have to buy a flexi ticket to use the VA plat upgrades. ie a benefit I am unlikely to use.
VA have row 3 but QF has row 4 - true there are probably more QF plats.... but there's still a row 4!
You can keep flying delta in the US and keep your VA account active and keep points from expiring.
I did see a Withers Hill NZ sav blanc in the VA lounge the other day so that works in their favour for me

What I do value about VA is the ability to transfer points to SQ
Although VA partner with EY, QF partner with QR. I'll try EY later this yr and early next yr but I suspect that my QR experience is going to beat out EY which is very much a revelation for me. So you still don't have to fly EK. QR have some very good sales on too!
I don't see any significant differences between crews being happy or not.
I have no idea what to make of VAs new changes ..... just going to fly it and see what happens.


I prefer QF over VA - life is just easier with them.
QF you can check in on the app on the way in, with your QF bag tag go straight to machine and drop bag, use phone to check in or qantas card then off to security. It's really quite painless. I'm sure not as good as VA premium entry but still very good! I don't like lining up at a VA check in counter even for priority.
Never had to chase up points yet!!!!! Well the flying ones anyway, missed out on car, maybe an activity etc.
Both have cough websites but QF is less cough.
QF have loyalty bonuses between the status tiers to aim for (every 500sc gets 8000 bonus points)
QF will connect baggage through even on separate tickets eg QF to QF or EK etc, VA won't even connect VA to VA!!!
QF have an app that I think is still improving. But I've booked QR and BA flights directly with these airlines but I put in my QF number and they show up in the QF app - handy when someone asks what you're doing.
QF have more A330s - great for a red eye back from Perth. And since you fly Perth you'll be able to try Per Dom J lounge - my favourite domestic lounge in Oz. Yummy pizza in the evening.
On departure upgrades are easy (can't remember if VA have this but have never used with them)
A con would be the fuel surcharges for points redemptions
LTG would be nice for when retired. But really there's only the security queue it speeds up at the major ports due to their efficient check in and bag drop service.
Lots of ways to earn QF points. I book activities on their site also and airport transfers which are super useful in another country.
Even if you wanted to upgrade on QF and were silver you could still do so when flying international (although of course the likelihood of coming through is less due to P1, Plat and golds ahead) but at least that's possible. I don't like that VA doesn't let silvers have a go at upgrading on long haul.
QF aren't necessarily generous to other partners in terms of sc earn or QF points so you'd be wise to look at the earning tables before booking partner airlines or figuring which port to fly out from.

You can do the QF status challenge and have at least gold in no time. I think timing it right is key. Get your VA plat status requal so you have status for 2yrs, then go for QF gold or up to plat and see what you think. If you hit 200 sc in a few weeks (you can take 3 months though) then your gold status should come through in a couple of weeks - you don't have to wait the whole year! So you'll have 2 yrs of VA up your sleeve and if you complete the QF challenge you'll have a number of months to see if you enjoy QF gold at least especially if you go for this early in your QF membership year.

You've already mentioned lounges etc.

I think gold on both is a good place to be mainly for flexibility. And with family pooling this should make reaching 400 sc quite doable for VA requal. If I had to choose between plat with either airline I would go for QF platinum if attainable and leave VA as gold due to the minimal differences between the 2 tiers with VA.

 

[JohnK]

I try to fly VA and SQ to maintain status where possible, but with SQ travel often have to expect no lounge access in Asia.

Why is that? For me the only airport to date without lounge access was CGK.

 

[Deleted member 29185]

Why is that? For me the only airport to date without lounge access was CGK.

Any SQ partner lounge is excluded for VA status, aren't they? We certainly couldn't use the partner lounge in CMB and the lounge even in SIN (on a Y reward tix) was pretty pitiful, although I don't for one minute discount the fact we may have been in the wrong lounge!

 

[MarkD]

Any SQ partner lounge is excluded for VA status, aren't they? We certainly couldn't use the partner lounge in CMB and the lounge even in SIN (on a Y reward tix) was pretty pitiful, although I don't for one minute discount the fact we may have been in the wrong lounge!

Nah mate you were in the right lounge. Silverkris gold LOUNGE in SIN is not the that flash. Cant get into the good one unless F or their version of platinum

 

[juddles]

First up, I totally agree with all those who have said that attempting a status match with QF is the way to go for you.

I also believe that in general (there are always exceptions to the "rule", personal preferences, etc) One World lounges are a better option.

But lastly, and obviously this is my own humble opinion, but I truly believe that Virgin is on a long-term downwards slide. I just don't think in the competitive environment that airlines work in, that Australia has the long term ability to support two major, first-rate airlines. I am LTG with QF, and although there is a chance that one day that will be meaningless, it is still something nice to work towards. I am far more confident that QF will still be here in 10 years than I would be with Virgin.

I predict that within 5 years Virgin will be effectively just a tad above a true Low Cost Carrier, with services and perks to match. QF may not be perfect, but I would bet with them rather than Virgin.