[morbo]

Has anyone had experience in redeeming flights with virgin atlantic and/or their partnered airlines using Virgin Atlantic Flying Club?

I checked their website and it seems that their virgin atlantic flights from syd to hk/london are pretty competitive. Surprisingly, their partnered airline offers are pretty impressive too. With Amex offering a 1:1 transfer, I'm seriously thinking of dropping Qantas forever.

[FlyFirst]

Hi Morbo

I have been a Flying Club member for about 5 years. Have redeemed flights with VS on the routing LHR-LAX/SFO-LHR. No worries with getting availability (about 3 months out) over Easter (this was in Upper Class). Also redeemed partner award (x2 on the same flight) from MEL-AKL on Air NZ (in economy). Again - no problems, came back confirmed within 24 hours.

The beauty of the VS programme is that you can redeem one-way flights, useful if you personally only have enough miles to purchase one way and have a partner/friend purchase the other way.

Worthwhile checking the terms and conditions - buried in the small print are things like 'no upper class reward travel on Fridays' - but I have redeemed an award on a Friday and I think these T&C's are just there 'in case' they have very heavy demand (in fact the VS call-centre said at the time they weren't aware of the restriction!).

VS has an office in SYD which makes payment for tickets very easy.

Regards

FlyFirst.

[ozstamps]

Originally Posted by morbo

With Amex offering a 1:1 transfer, I'm seriously thinking of dropping Qantas forever.

You actually get a 20% bonus.

==================

Your Tier Points Claim Missing Miles


DateActivity descriptionMileageTier points21 Nov 2005Welcome to Flying Club. Your opening balance is:0021 Nov 2005Your Flying Club account is now registered online.0022 Aug 2006 American Express Bonus Miles.69,000 22 Aug 2006American Express, Asia Membership Miles Transfer 345,0000
Your Tier Points Claim Missing Miles

[jad01]

I am not a Virgin Atlantic Flying Club member as yet, but do have Amex to rolll points over from.....so considering joining.

I know you can buy additional miles up to a limit in blocks of 1,000.
Does anyone know how much it costs as I cant find it on their website

JASON

[JohnK]

Originally Posted by ozstamps

You actually get a 20% bonus.

I thought the 20% bonus ended 30th September and then reverts back to 1:1 transfer.

[ozstamps]

Originally Posted by JohnK

I thought the 20% bonus ended 30th September and then reverts back to 1:1 transfer.

My calendar only says September 15, so not sure what your point is?

Clearly you need to do it now using your existing MR bank to get the bennie.

1000 miles costs £30 to buy IIRC. My recent transfer bonus of 80,000 miles saved me £2400 = $A6,000 using that cost base!

[alexbs]

I just transferred some spare points to Flying Club to give them a try. I rung to enquire about redeeming on partner airlines, and was told you have to ring and ask for a specific date, they then ask the partner airline, and advise you in 24 hours a yes or no.

These seems a really bad system. Can anyone who has has some experience redeeming partner airline awards advise is it as bad as that ? If Qantas was like that, it would take a year of trying to redeem anything.

Advise appreciated.

[auriga]

i would be interested in that too.

i cant even check the availability of reward flights online for virgin atlantic flights, even though i understand from v-flyer that you are meant to be able to do so. dont know whether it is some sort of bug in the system.

[jasonja3]

I have had a really positive experience booking on VS. I did not have enough points in my account, they took my booking, and reserved my seats and did not charge the taxes until the points that I transfered from AMEX came thorugh.

I have called a couple of times in the past to check availability and they have always been helpful, and very good availability. I must admit though, an online interface would be preferable. They told me that the web site does not have that functionality yet, and they did not know when it would be completed. I really did not mind calling a couple of times to get the itinerary right.... ..... much better than having a web site to check for flights and no availability!!

[brightdoc]

Originally Posted by morbo

Has anyone had experience in redeeming flights with virgin atlantic and/or their partnered airlines using Virgin Atlantic Flying Club?

I checked their website and it seems that their virgin atlantic flights from syd to hk/london are pretty competitive. Surprisingly, their partnered airline offers are pretty impressive too. With Amex offering a 1:1 transfer, I'm seriously thinking of dropping Qantas forever.

Dear Morbo and all:

I have just returned from a round-the-world trip flying Singapore Airlines in First Class (Mel-Sin-LAX then JFK-FRA-SIN-MEL) using Virgin Atlantic Points acquired by 1:1 transfer from AMEX. Unlike Qantas, there was seat availability (booked Sep 06, travel Jan 07!), and the points used for this trip totalled 315000 (vs 500000+ on QF - if you could get it). In addition, the staff at Virgin were very helpful in booking flights for me. A last interesting point is that the total "taxes and charges" on this ticket were $AU109.00. Imagine what Qantas would add on for a "free" award ticket to these destinations in this class!

In summary, while I will continue to use QFF domestically for award travel I think that the Virgin ATlantic Program is the best in the world for rewards given the low points required, the availability, and the great choice of airlines inc Air NZ, Singapore, Malaysian etc. It goes without saying that the Virgin program is free to join on-line.