Virgin Australia Velocity - Earning Points and Status Credits on EY flights

Hi

I am currently booking a flight which includes AUH - SYD in J and am trying to optimize my Status Credit earn.

Under the fare rules I can elect to travel on EY 470 AUH-BNE with a stop in SIN and then a DJ flight. Does anyone know if I would earn status credits for the AUH-SIN and SIN-BNE sectors separately even though the ticket only shows AUH-BNE. The velocity call centre were unable to answer this question.

Also, EY offers a bus AUH - DXB as part of the ticket. I had assumed this wouldn't earn points but then remembered an old bus Qantas ran from TPR - PBO (or somewhere similar). Is there any chance or earning points/status credits on the bus service?

Thanks in advance.

Since you're in J and assuming you're on an EY issued ticket, then you should be eligible for the chauffeur drive in the UAE. I'm assuming you're booked XNB(Dubai)-AUH-BNE.

If your fare is a VA fare then you're stuck with the bus service. And from memory the bus service does not earn you points/status (even with EY's guest program).

If you're stopping over in SIN for few days (currently a minimum of 48 hours as EY470 operates 3 times per week only) then you should earn AUH-SIN and then SIN-BNE separate. Otherwise it will be AUH-BNE earn rate.

Even if the AUH-SIN-BNE-SYD may lead to better points/status earn (I doubt it would as miles are calculated in a non-stop journey from origin to destination) I suggest you take the non-stop flight route (AUH-SYD) as the J service is better on the A345/6 being on demand dining and arrival time to SYD (specially the evening EY454) is much more civilised than an early afternoon, taking into the account the hassle in transiting from BNE International to Domestic.

QF_1020, I would be very interested to know how your booking of AUH-SYD via SIN and BNE went. Did you end up booking through VA or EY?

I am considering doing something similar later in the year, as I would like to stopover in Singapore, and while I assume the mileage will be the same as AUH-SYD point to point, my reading of the velocity status earn chart is that AUH-SIN and SIN-BNE are both 3,001-5,000 mile (zone 4) trips, while AUH-SYD would be a single 5,001-8,000 mile (Zone 5) trip.

Also would would get an additional set of zone 1 status credits for the BNE-SYD leg? If travelling Y on an EY ticket, would these credit as full economy rather than discounted economy given that EY doesn't have discounted economy earn on Velocity.

Any thoughts or advice would be much appreciated.

QF_1020, I would be very interested to know how your booking of AUH-SYD via SIN and BNE went. Did you end up booking through VA or EY?

I am considering doing something similar later in the year, as I would like to stopover in Singapore, and while I assume the mileage will be the same as AUH-SYD point to point, my reading of the velocity status earn chart is that AUH-SIN and SIN-BNE are both 3,001-5,000 mile (zone 4) trips, while AUH-SYD would be a single 5,001-8,000 mile (Zone 5) trip.

Also would would get an additional set of zone 1 status credits for the BNE-SYD leg? If travelling Y on an EY ticket, would these credit as full economy rather than discounted economy given that EY doesn't have discounted economy earn on Velocity.

Any thoughts or advice would be much appreciated.


I still haven't ended up travelling, however the fare I was booking did not allow stopovers in SIN unless my destination city was BNE.

My understanding is that if you have a stopover in SIN then they count as separate sectors for status credits, and the BNE - SYD also earns status credits (assuming its on DJ) however not sure if it will be in full Y or not (my ticket is in J).

My ticket was booked through an agent cause it was a very low fare and i didnt want to have a discussion about it with an EY rep in case they then pulled it. Flights are on EY though.

Something else to consider, if you are flying out of Europe to AUH you can chose routings that maximise status credits by ensuring the Europe - AUH flight is over 3000 miles eg. FRA, BRU, LON instead of MXP, ATH or similar.

I discovered this same issue, no stopovers allowed. A possible workaround would be to book SYD-SIN via BNE on EY, overnight in SIN and then SIN-AUH as a separate ticket (could well end up cheaper due to lower fares ex-SIN).

Thanks for the advice on flying to a 3000+ mile destination in Europe, may well fly to Brussels and eurostar from there.

Also, I should warn economy travelers that come of the ex-BNE fares on EY my travel agent found booked into 'T' class, which as far as I can see, earn no SCs or points on velocity.