Virgin Australia Velocity - BNE to LAX - V Australia/Delta code share - which to book?

Hi,

I am flying to from BNE to JFK in a few weeks and was wondering whether it is better to book a V Australia or Delta ticket? I am a gold Delta flyer as I used to fly from Sydney to JFK several times a year. Reflecting my status, I normally got to select an exit row but last time I used an economy comfort ticket on the Delta flight.

As the BNE to LAX flight is operated by V Australia, will I get to select my seat if I book it using the Delta website? When I looked at flights on Delta it wouldn't give me a seat map so I am guessing not. The prices on the Delta and V Australia sites are roughly ballpark. However, Delta's upgrade to their Economy comfort was only USD80 to 100 for that LAX-SYD leg. I assume that if I book on Delta that I won't have the option of upgrading to VA's version of premium economy? Nor be able to choose my seats? I am silver on Virgin. The "promo fares" booked by the V Australia website do allow for advance seat selection either.

I have never flown V Australia but I am guessing that service-wise it is better that Delta's SYD-LAX. As I am 6'3" I find regular economy seats a real pain. Is there decent legroom in regular economy? Or should I fly to Syd to get the delta service as I can generally get an exit row? Any thoughts?

Thanks

Hi,

I am flying to from BNE to JFK in a few weeks and was wondering whether it is better to book a V Australia or Delta ticket? I am a gold Delta flyer as I used to fly from Sydney to JFK several times a year. Reflecting my status, I normally got to select an exit row but last time I used an economy comfort ticket on the Delta flight.

As the BNE to LAX flight is operated by V Australia, will I get to select my seat if I book it using the Delta website? When I looked at flights on Delta it wouldn't give me a seat map so I am guessing not. The prices on the Delta and V Australia sites are roughly ballpark. However, Delta's upgrade to their Economy comfort was only USD80 to 100 for that LAX-SYD leg. I assume that if I book on Delta that I won't have the option of upgrading to VA's version of premium economy? Nor be able to choose my seats? I am silver on Virgin. The "promo fares" booked by the V Australia website do allow for advance seat selection either.

I have never flown V Australia but I am guessing that service-wise it is better that Delta's SYD-LAX. As I am 6'3" I find regular economy seats a real pain. Is there decent legroom in regular economy? Or should I fly to Syd to get the delta service as I can generally get an exit row? Any thoughts?

Thanks

Doesn't really make a difference and Virgin Premium Economy is a totally different class to DL economy comfort. In Sydney as a DL GM you get access to the Virgin lounge, I am not sure if its the same in Brisbane.

The following thread might also assist you:

http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/virgin-australia-velocity/1320705-syd-jfk-business-class.html

Hi.

I am flying JFK/DEN than DEN/SYD in a few weeks time. As a VA Gold, my preference was to book VA flight numbers where possible, as well as make the actual booking through the VA website.

Long story short:

1. Fare on the Delta site came in at approx. US $1,400, using the VA flight from LAX (but on a Delta flight number).
2. Couldn't book on the VA site because of the stopover.
3.Called very friendly and helpful lady at VA.
VA unable to book it either. Only thing they could do was book a full mileage fare, which cost several thousand $$$.
4. I booked it on the Delta site, and decided to use my thousands of saved $$ on a Pastrami sandwich when I get to NYC.

My concern was two things:

1. FF miles.
2. Seating - I'm a very happy Economy class traveller, so long as I get an aisle seat.

The result:

1. Same miles - Whatever booking code I used gets 100% miles on Delta, and 50% miles on VA. Since I'm Gold, the end result is exactly the same.
2. The aforementioned friendly and helpful VA lady told me that since I was a Gold, call them back and they'll assign a seat on the VA flight. I did, and they did. I was able to assign all Delta seats on their website.

It took a fair bit of research to end up with this satisfactory result...hope someone else can benefit from it.

Mark