Partner Booking Experience with VA
Feb 4, 2016, 1:01 am
#1
Original Poster
Join Date: Jan 2014
Programs: Amtrak Guest Rewards (SE), Virgin America Elevate, Hyatt Gold Passport (Platinum), VIA Preference
Posts: 3,134
Partner Booking Experience with VA
So, I did my first award booking on an airline on Monday...LAX-BNE on VA (yay) in Economy (not so yay). I've got a trip coming up at Christmas to Australia; unlike a previous incarnation of this trip which collapsed (spectacularly, with one of the other people involved losing several thousand dollars in non-refundable fares on a discount airline between Australia and New Zealand) a few years back, I made it clear this time that since I had piles of points which are either directly redeemable for travel (VX, VS) or which can be converted (Hyatt, IHG; there's an unrelated rant about Amtrak buried here as well) that I needed to be able to make my own travel arrangements. I also plan to take a few days to putter around on my own on one side of the trip or the other...I intend to go bungee jumping at Cairns and (though sadly the Sunlander has been replaced by a Tilt train) I want to take a few long-haul trains as well.
Thus I called the VX award desk. I want to say that the staff there did a wonderful job: The nice lady who I spoke with was helpful, friendly, and enthusiastic, and more than happy to do some convoluted searches for me and to make suggestions to give me the best shot at finding what I want, award-wise. My initial inquiry was LAX-SYD in December. There was availability, but not on the day I had hoped to travel (it was about three days off), so she asked if I was willing to look into LAX-BNE instead. I indicated I was, and lo and behold we found an award in my preferred travel date. The fact that this gives me an excuse to try out the Brisbane/Casino-Sydney train is...well, it's not something I'm too broken up about (I should be able to do that train overnight both ways as a result).
I indicated a preference for an upgraded-class award; she took note of my Gold status (I'd purposefully held off redeeming an award until I got said status) and suggested that I grab the award which was available to me now and then to check back with some regularity as fall and then winter (well, in the US) approach to see if there's any availability. She said that partners tend to let some availability out around a month out (and that yes, premium-class award availability DOES happen on VA).
For reference, the award in question is, thanks to being Gold, the functional equivalent of a $1832 refundable ticket which I got for about $30 and 25k points (it was a one-way award; I may look to convert to a round-trip award down the line). In terms of direct value-for-money that's about $0.072/point, or about 93.6% recovery on a regular booking on VX for me (5 base points, 5 points for status, and 3 for the credit card).
With that being said, I'm in a very flexible position at the moment regarding the "rest" of this trip. I've gotten a nod from some folks whom I consult with on big trips and the like to seriously examine coming home the "long way" (e.g. taking advantage of VS's award partnering to try and sort my return via Asia and Europe), though at some point visa matters will play a role. I'm also going to keep an eye on Hawaiian awards (though VA is cheaper, points-wise, if HA has availability that VA doesn't I may consider that; I might also break down and just pay for Hawaiian one way if I can manage all my other stuff for points).
The other thing I might consider is doing some prospective inquiries and, if I can get at least a one-way in Business on VA at some point in the next few minutes, going with that and popping off for a long weekend or a week.
Thus I called the VX award desk. I want to say that the staff there did a wonderful job: The nice lady who I spoke with was helpful, friendly, and enthusiastic, and more than happy to do some convoluted searches for me and to make suggestions to give me the best shot at finding what I want, award-wise. My initial inquiry was LAX-SYD in December. There was availability, but not on the day I had hoped to travel (it was about three days off), so she asked if I was willing to look into LAX-BNE instead. I indicated I was, and lo and behold we found an award in my preferred travel date. The fact that this gives me an excuse to try out the Brisbane/Casino-Sydney train is...well, it's not something I'm too broken up about (I should be able to do that train overnight both ways as a result).
I indicated a preference for an upgraded-class award; she took note of my Gold status (I'd purposefully held off redeeming an award until I got said status) and suggested that I grab the award which was available to me now and then to check back with some regularity as fall and then winter (well, in the US) approach to see if there's any availability. She said that partners tend to let some availability out around a month out (and that yes, premium-class award availability DOES happen on VA).
For reference, the award in question is, thanks to being Gold, the functional equivalent of a $1832 refundable ticket which I got for about $30 and 25k points (it was a one-way award; I may look to convert to a round-trip award down the line). In terms of direct value-for-money that's about $0.072/point, or about 93.6% recovery on a regular booking on VX for me (5 base points, 5 points for status, and 3 for the credit card).
With that being said, I'm in a very flexible position at the moment regarding the "rest" of this trip. I've gotten a nod from some folks whom I consult with on big trips and the like to seriously examine coming home the "long way" (e.g. taking advantage of VS's award partnering to try and sort my return via Asia and Europe), though at some point visa matters will play a role. I'm also going to keep an eye on Hawaiian awards (though VA is cheaper, points-wise, if HA has availability that VA doesn't I may consider that; I might also break down and just pay for Hawaiian one way if I can manage all my other stuff for points).
The other thing I might consider is doing some prospective inquiries and, if I can get at least a one-way in Business on VA at some point in the next few minutes, going with that and popping off for a long weekend or a week.
