There was an ad in The Sunday Times here, which had a table listing Their Bad Points versus Our Good Points. One of these comparisons was a bit strange

Their Bad Points - Points expire before you get to use them
Our Good Points - No points expiry

Now while they don't actually say who they are comparing them against, the T's and C's of the Virgin Blue Scheme says this:


So it seems the points do expire, and under the same basis of the QF points.

Interesting, Virgin Blue seem to have the same PR team as Virgin Atlantic in the UK... they are currently running here a double page colour ad with bullet points of what you get in Virgin Upper Class that you don't get in BA Club World.

The 'we are great, our main opponent is crap' approach has been a Virgin PR tactic for years of course, so nothing new, just interesting to see the approach replicated in Oz by one of their associates (or what ever they officially are in relation to Virgin Atlantic).

A common international approach to marketing is fine so long as the market research shows the markets are identical. For example, an ad that appeals to the Australian sense of irony may be completely lost in theat vast market just south of Canada.

Comparative advertising is a fine thing, especially when you get to choose the features you widh to compare. But, you should at least get the comparisons correct (marketing spin and weasel words notwithstanding). So, if your points expire in the same way as your competitor, its a bit rich to say it is a plus for you and a minus for them.

Got an email today on the new credit card. no big deal at all. This will not have QF quaking at the knees:


-----------------


Great news! The Velocity National Credit Card is now available.

A Velocity National Credit Card is the only credit card that earns you Velocity Points on the ground. So now just by flying in and out of the shops, you can accelerate your Velocity Points!

Here are some more reasons to act fast and apply today.

• Choice of two cards:

- Velocity National Visa Card. Earn 1 Velocity Point for every $2 you spend on purchases

- Velocity National Gold American Express® Card. Earn 1 Velocity Point for every $1 you spend on purchases



• 5,000 Velocity Points if you apply and are approved by 31 January 2006

• No annual card fee for your first 12 months on either card

• No points cap

To apply for your Velocity National Credit Card, visit national.com.au/velocity

Agreed, the options are pretty underwhelming. In fact, QF's credit cards offers are definitely better, especially when you consider that the Woolworths Mastercard offers 1 QF point per $ spent (make that 1.25 if you're using it at Woollies, Big W, Dick Smith, etc.), and the annual fee is only $39.

Still, a bit of competition (even as weak as this program) should at least keep QF from reducing the FF program even further, I hope... :rolleyes:

I think that we will find that the launch of both the Velocity FF program and CC's are simply Stage 1 of Virgin's push to get some level of loyalty from the market (both flying and non-flying).

If I know Brett Godfrey and his team (crazydave98 over on AFF - don't think he's posted here yet but I'm sure he reads), expect further stages to be unveiled in the future where additional benefits will be added and others tweaked.

They know (as do QF), that standing still means they might be going backwards in comparison to their competitors. Something I very much doubt Brett would leave to chance...

Some will be interested in reading this current thread from crazydave98 over on AFF.

Hawaiian Airlines - New Velocity Partner
 

Earn Double Velocity Points with Hawaiian Airlines
Velocity's new airline partner

When you fly on Hawaiian Airlines between Sydney and Honolulu from 16 August to 31 October 2006, you will receive double the standard points. That’s,

• 2 points per mile for Coach (Economy ) Class*
• 3 points per mile for First Class*

Find out more about earning points of Hawaiian airlines.

To check availability and book seats, go to www.hawaiianairlines.com.au

Check your accounts, as the 250 points for the Velocity survey should have posted...

Thanks DJ for an easy 250 points :D ^

There is some good information on Virgin Blue's recent addition of Malaysia Airlines to the Velocity program here.

Two new airline partners should be announced before year's end.

Rumours suggest that Virgin Blue will make changes to its Velocity program within the next 6 weeks to include status levels and associated benefits:

http://www.qfbuzz.com/showthread.php?goto=newpost&t=9

I have heard there will first be some training with staff and FF members.

I'd expect we'll see premium check-in, bonus points etc.

Rgds

Hi there

https://www.velocityrewards.com.au/c...sBenefits.html

Silver & Gold status levels now added to Velocity.

Silver Members: Simply earn 20,000 Status Credits in your 12-month Qualification Period.

Your earning power of 6 Status Credits plus 6 Velocity Points per dollar spent on your Virgin Blue fare makes this easier than ever.


Gold Members: Earn 50,000 or more Status Credits in your 12-month Qualification Period.

You can achieve this even faster with you increased earning power of 7 Status Credits and 7 Velocity Points per dollar spent on your Virgin Blue fare.

Cheers
vflyer

Once again, spot on QF NB. ^ Well done for the heads up!

All content relating to the new tiers and the updated Member's Account information has now gone missing from the site.

Was it released accidentally? Some kinks need sorting out first? Website issue with older content returning/failed over to another server with older content? Sneak Peek to get everything talking about it? Something else?