QF Vs VA Premium Economy to LAX

[ICUDr]

Hi guys

I have a trip coming up in June to LAS (BNE-LAX-LAS) and will likely fly on PE

I have never tried Premium Economy and was wondering what your experience/review/ comparison of these 2 products might be..

I'm PS with both QF and VA and have a paid QP/VP membership with both airlines too.. i'm also 200SC short with both airlines to get SG

At the moment (16/03/16 @ 1500hrs) price Vs SCs looks like these:

	VA	QF
BNE-LAS	1643.73	1635
LAS - BNE	1572.86	1564
Total $	3216.59	3199
SC	300	200

I was surprised about the difference between the amount of SCs...
The SCs calculation is based on their websites: VA does show PY numbers for BNE-LAX-LAS while QF PY BNE-LAX and no option LAX-LAS on PY..

Any preferences?

Thanks heaps!

KP

 

[drewbles]

QF over VA anyday for hard and soft product. I've found the crew on VA generally tend to be better, but food and drink is not.

VA are pretty generous with their SC's (120 for BNE-LAX) and it's easier to earn status. If I had to choose, i'd select QF unless VA was $400-500 less.

Depending on when you're going, check out NZ too as they can have some good fares (BNE-AKL-LAX-LAS, so an extra hop, but more SC's on VA).

*edit* Also, when are you travelling? That's very high for VA unless they've recently jacked up prices (can typically get it for around $2600).

 

[ozjuice]

Are you flying alone?

 

[mole]

I definitely prefer Qantas PE over Virgin, for me the leg rest on the Qantas seats is big draw card.

 

[Milefest]

VA currently has PE flights BNE-LAX rt. starting at $2750 in June as part of their "Midweek Magic Sale", you may want to have a look.

 

[ICUDr]

Are you flying alone?

Might be flying with my 4yo.. Their IFE better be awesome!

 

[ozjuice]

Might be flying with my 4yo.. Their IFE better be awesome!

So VA offer family pooling which will be a bonus

 

[SuzieQ68]

I've tried both, but that was some time ago. Didn't mind either product, but I personally found the service (for my particular flights) on VA a little better than QF.

PE in either will definitely be better than Y and given the pricing, maybe might come down to whether you want the extra SC's or if the flight times work better for you. I'm aligned with VA, so would choose them myself regardless.

 

[ICUDr]

VA currently has PE flights BNE-LAX rt. starting at $2750 in June as part of their "Midweek Magic Sale", you may want to have a look.

BNE-LAX is $2750 on PE Vs BNE-LAS is still $3140

Is that a good price or an average price?

 

[bsb]

QF every time. VA gives more SCs because it's an inferior product and they are buying loyalty

 

[Milefest]

BNE-LAX is $2750 on PE Vs BNE-LAS is still $3140

Is that a good price or an average price?

Pretty average for a sale price. During happy hour they can get below the 2.5k mark. But as usual, it can be a gamble relying on a sale that may not occur for the dates required.

 

[ICUDr]

Pretty average for a sale price. During happy hour they can get below the 2.5k mark. But as usual, it can be a gamble relying on a sale that may not occur for the dates required.

Thats a PE saver fare, I put in the discount code too..

The only attractive part is the extra SCs as both QF and VA tickets on PE are roughly the same

 

[Milboo]

I'd go VA but book a flexi fare and use points to upgrade to J.

I've flown their PE several times and found it quite comfortable, service great and food fine.

 

[Denali]

I'd go VA but book a flexi fare and use points to upgrade to J.
I've flown their PE several times and found it quite comfortable, service great and food fine.

I thought only SG & WP could use points to upgrade on long haul, or am I confused - too may programs in my head.

 

[Milefest]

I thought only SG & WP could use points to upgrade on long haul, or am I confused - too may programs in my head.

That's correct:

International Long Haul Flights

Gold and Platinum Velocity members booked on a Flexi, Premium Saver or Premium fare can use Points to request an upgrade to Premium Economy or Business Class on international long haul flights to Los Angeles and Abu Dhabi operated by Virgin Australia with a VA flight number.

 

[ICUDr]

That's correct:

That's stupid.. Why only SG and WPs?!

 

[Milboo]

I thought only SG & WP could use points to upgrade on long haul, or am I confused - too may programs in my head.

You are correct - my apologies - I misread the original post and had it in mind that the OP was Gold.

 

[drewbles]

That's stupid.. Why only SG and WPs?!

Us WP's and SG's have to have something over the PS's Seriously though, there's even less of a differentiation between SG and WP on VA than there is on QF.

 

[Jurahn]

We've flown VA PE several times to the US and found it quite good - it will be interesting to see what the revamped PE will be like when the 777 refurbishments are completed later this year.

However there has been a change to the SC earn for international PE itineraries which includes domestic flights - living in Perth, we would book PE all the way to LAX and in previous years always received PE SCs for the PER-East Coast sectors (60 SCs each way, as per the Velocity earn table for PE). This apparently changed early last year and it was confirmed by Velocity that as PE fares book into Flexi fare classes for the domestic sectors, you now only receive Flexi SCs (i.e. 40) for those sectors, even if the booking class is "O" or "W" for all flights, which is a bit disappointing.

 

[serfty]

I have traveled on both across the Pacific several times.

F&B is similar. Seating is similar.

Everything else being equal I would choose VA every time.

The main reason. In my experience's VA FA's treat you like a special guest, VA seem to have two dedicated to PE. QF FA's seem to have the attitude ... "unghh.. I've gotta do PE", they do the minimum then disappear (I have not been able to discern if QF have any dedicated to PE or not).