rmac86

Hi all,

Due to the BA revelations today I have been looking towards alternative FF programs and the Virgin Atlantic club has caught my eye. Are there any members here who are in both clubs - if so, how do these compare i.e. is it easier/harder to accumulate miles and points and then redeem them?

I will have around 50K BAEC miles after a trip in April but it seems these are largely useless now in light of todays announcements so I'm considering not giving them any more of my time or money.

Any opinions?

UKtravelbear

I am in both but at the lowest tier.

I have more miles with VS but that's because I've had the VS credit card for a long time plus I had a spate of flying VS.

Flying wise I've always flown on the cheapest option - loyalty to my wallet is more important than trying to achieve and retain some status level or other with an airline. Plus I don't fly enough to get enough TPs

Yes I collect VS miles and Avios (and UA too) but my flying decisions are not based on miles or TPs but on price.

My flying is leisure and TATL. In the last 5 years I've flown in J on VS, BA, DL, LH and LX.

TBH they are all really much of a muchness no matter what cabin you are in.

VS might win with the CH and the bar in UC but LX had better food but DL had the better bed and BA had the CWLCY service.


As to redemptions I've not had any problems with getting then on VS when I want to fly but then again I fly solo and choose not to travel in peak holiday season to popular destinations. I've always been flexible too so Thursday to Wednesday trips if a Friday to Thursday redemption isn't available. I've found many people who say 'miles are useless' only look for a set date and aren't flexible. I've heard someone moan that redemptions weren't available on one particular flight to NYC but ignored the 4 other flights that day where they were.


Airlines are a means of getting from A to B that's all so go for price and comfort. If you earn miles, TPs and status then they are, to me, a bonus.

ratechaser

Yep... I'm in both, and I'm afraid it's a 'depends' answer - specifically on what you are looking to get out of it and also what your normal travel patterns are.

For my own circumstances (predominantly earning miles/status through business travel, only redeeming for personal travel with family in school hols), Virgin FC is great for easily maintaining status, has a strong soft product (lounges, heathrow DTCI etc), and has good miles earning potential either through direct flights, or the Tesco route. For me, the lifetime gold status is definitely achievable, and assuming I'm spared, will be a nice bonus for my later years when it's just me and the wife travelling.

Negatives are that I've failed to be able to spend any miles over the past 4 years of being Gold, because of my relative lack of flexibility of needing 4 seats together in the school holidays - no chance on the leisure routes I travel, where often there are only 14 UC seats on the whole plane, so no chance of redemptions! Also, the route network is contracting right now, so while it's good if you're a big traveller to the US, it's becoming more limited elsewhere. Plus there's no formal alliance that makes it easy to spend miles with other airlines.

Now, BA... The negative first which is the changes announced yesterday. Status and miles will become a scarcer commodity, although I intend to maintain silver, which will at least get me lounge access.

The positives though are significant (for me) - extensive route network, proper alliance which means I get benefits from flying Qatar etc..., and contrary to your experience, I have no real issue being able to redeem avios for short haul flights in the school hols (have saved thousands over the past 2 years, especially with the fixed reward flight fees). I will just qualify that with the fact that BA make more reward seats available to their Golds, so I may not be so lucky when I'm a mere silver.

So that's my own experience, and I'm lucky that I travel enough to be able to maintain both programs, which I think helps balance out the pros and cons of each. The question is, what are you actually looking for in terms of routes, soft product, hard product, future travel plans etc...

RC

Mwenenzi

http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/infor...help-here.html

The is not always greener over the fence
BA is part on the OneWorld alliance. Virgin is not in an alliance