If starting from scratch, which program should I join? Here's the skinny...
Someone booked me to fly SAN-LHR in March on Virgin (via JFK), in Premium Economy. After being ticketed I discovered that the Delta/Virgin tie-in concludes as of March 1, so I won't be able to earn the miles in my Delta account as I'd expected. I don't want to lose the credit, but I am not a Virgin Flying Club member, nor do I belong to any of the other airline programs Virgin is allied with (though I occasionally fly Air New Zealand, Air Jamaica and South African).
So, I can join Flying Club, or I might join OnePass, a program I haven't generated miles in for years. At this stage it is unlikely I would fly Virgin in the future more than once every year or two. Currently, when I fly Continental (which is a couple times a year, usually domestic), I register my ticket with a Delta number to earn SkyMiles. If I started a OnePass account from scratch would I even be able to earn my first chunk of miles on another carrier?
For the record, I have status with AA and Delta, and I also have miles on United. Any recommendations? (I'll also post this to the OnePass board)
One advantage of Virgin over Continental is the ability to earn a greater number of miles from hotel and rental car partners. A Hilton stay earns 1000 Virgin miles, but usually only 500 miles with other carriers. An Avis retail-rate rental also earns 1000 Virgin miles, and because Virgin is a foreign airline, there is no frequent-flyer tax charged by Avis for the miles. If you elect to join Virgin and need a referral, send me a PM: we'll both earn bonus miles.
Still not sold on Virgin. I rarely log car rental or hotel stays, so at most I expect to log no more than one flight on Virgin a year. But I might credit Continental, Air NZ or South African flights to Virgin account.
The AmEx offer is great, but there are a few important caveats in the terms and conditions for those of us who are US-based:
1. To qualify for the instant Flying Club Silver and bonus Membership Rewards points offer you must a) become a UK based Flying Club member, b) join Flying Club via the specified URL ONLY between 30 January and 29 February 2008 (inclusive), c) have booked and flown with Virgin Atlantic in a qualifying class between 30 January 2008 and 31 August 2008 inclusive (“Qualifying Class”) and d) be a UK resident aged 12 years of age or over (“Qualifying Member”). (I'm US-based)
6. In order to be eligible for this offer, you must join Flying Club via the specified URL ONLY before 29 February 2008 and before you make your Qualifying Booking. Qualifying Booking must also be made on your American Express Card. (my booking is already made and not on my AmEx card)
9. Qualifying Flights can be made to any Virgin Atlantic destination but must originate from the UK. (It would be rare for me to originate travel in UK)
The offer is intended for American Express Platinum Card ($450 annual fee) holders, but others report success enrolling even without the card. Silver status is of no practical benefit if you do not intend to credit the flight to Flying Club or fly on Virgin again in the next year or so.
If you belong to (or join) Hilton HHonors you could transfer the Flying Club miles to HHonors points, but the minimum transfer is 10,000 miles = 10,000 HHonors points. If you are interested in this option it is probably better to credit the flight to Hawaiian Airlines, because their miles transfer 10,000 = 20,000 HHonors points. (Note that Hawaiian will not transfer miles to Hilton if they were transfered in from another program. I do not expect miles earned by flying on VS would be subject to this restriction.)
Programs: CO Plat, AA Plat, VS Silver, SPG Plat, Marriott Silver, Hilton Gold, AMEX Plat, Hertz Gold 5*
Posts: 345
Some things to think about re: Continental.
Yes, you can earn CO miles (and elite miles without the dreaded 50% EQM deal that exists on other partners), but, if you're elite, you sacrifice your elite bonus (which if you're platinum or gold and flying TATL, can be substantial).
You will not earn any bonus elite miles on Continental for your flights in PE (you only get the extra elite miles for upper class), whereas on Virgin, you will get some extra bonus towards elite status from a trip in PE.
I guess the real question to you is who do you fly and what can you earn on? If this is your only VS flight, you probably won't earn enough to do much of anything with it in VS, whereas if you put it on CO, you can at least fly any SkyTeam and earn there. You mentioned you have Delta--not sure when you're flying, but if you can sneak it in before the conclude the relationship, at least you have the points back in your DL account where you might accrue enough to use them.
I fly VS UC (full fair) for business enough every year to get VS Gold. I fly CO for various intercontinental flights and vacation.
Would it make more sense to use onepass for the VS flights to get CO Plat and be eligible for CO upgrades?
VS rarely upgrades and most flights are UC anyhow, I don't get much out of VS FC except for miles that I rarely use.
thanks
VS Gold does not get you much other than
a) clubhouse access if not flying UC
b) extra luggage allowing when flying SQ.
c) extra milage on the VS Flying Club card if you interested to accumulated points for redemption purposes.
If you fly Continental and other Skyteam airlines regularly, getting CO Plat and that would be the better option as it would get you lounge access when flying Skyteam along with priority boarding and check-in.
The original Op already has Delta status so it would be pointless to get status with another SkyTeam airlines
Can Virgin Blue (Australia) flights be credited to Virgin Flying Club?
Does Silver status mean anything toward possibility of an OpUp from Premium Economy in the event of an oversold flight?
I wanted to respond to at least one of your two questions.
Question one: Yes, you can get mileage credit from Virgin Blue flights to VS FC. The VS website does not list this in the usual Airline Partners location but somewhere else on their site. Question two: Most likely not based on reading other posts.
On another note, I have been part of FC for a number of years yet I fly with VS probably once a year. Ironically, most of my miles go to VS because of my travel situation and preference but that's just me. (Last year, for example, I flew VS, NH and SQ, yet all the miles and points went to VS, which was rather hefty). I think it does not hurt to have VS FC just to give you flexibility in terms of mileage being available for use with an international carrier in case you need or want them someday. IMO, having VS FC and One Pass (SkyTeam) would be great.
Same basic question, slightly different situation.
I've just moved to London for work and will be flying back to ORD twice a year. Company booked me on Virgin UC and most flights will be this way. Should I continue on CO Onepass and get silver or start with Flying Club and get silver there (after the next flight)? My CO miles are mostly from visiting family in Houston and I'll continue going on my own dime once a year.
Things I've learned from reading FT:
(1) "Free" tickets on Virgin are more expensive because of taxes and fees. A negative for VS.
(2) UC gets 150% miles on CO, but only 100% EQM vs. 200% miles on VS. A positive for VS.
(3) A friend can sign me up on VS and we both get a bonus. Already taken care of.
Questions:
(1) I have no idea how difficult it is to redeem on either airline. Any opinions?
(2) Which silver status is better, if any?
(3) Any other comments from the vastly experienced FT community?
Programs: AS MVPG, UA 1K, NW Gld, AA Gld, PC Plt/RA, SPG Gld
Posts: 2,766
Quote:
Originally Posted by zerovector
Questions:
(1) I have no idea how difficult it is to redeem on either airline. Any opinions?
(2) Which silver status is better, if any?
(3) Any other comments from the vastly experienced FT community?
1 - redeeming for VS award flights seems broadly similar, though CO only seem to offer 2 UC awards on each flight, even when VS has more. AFAIK there is no way to upgrade a VS flight using CO miles. One of the best features of FC is that you can UG from PE to UC at the airport without capacity controls (if there is a seat in UC open they will let you UG).
2 - If you travel domestically in the US, then CO. CO silvers get free domestic F UGs (also on NW for a little while longer); depending on the route, day of the week and time of day these are more or less easy to clear, but many CO silvers report high % success when avoiding popular flights.
3 - VS status is not much use if you fly paid UC, and CO status is probably much more useful to a US resident than VS status. Also, CO is moving to *A, so assuming the VS/CO codeshares survive that, so you should consider the usefulness of *A status in your calculations.
