October's here...as of this morning, the new Elevate upgrades to the website are live. Can now select 'display as points / dollars' in the Book a Flight section of the site.

The important info:

Minimum point spend for transcon is 6,930 each way Main Cabin, and 48,558 points each way for First.

Short haul trips start at 2,279 Main Cabin each way, and 9,721 points each way for First.

Seattle to LA clocks in at 3,674 Main, and 12,512 First each way.

More details: Points go up on a graduating scale as the availability goes down, in the same way as fares. (i.e., transcon main cabin $149 fare equals 6,930 pts; when the fare goes up to $209, the points needed to redeem goes to 9,721) You can mix and match, by purchasing as separate one way tickets. You can use points to purchase for other people, but points are not transferable. You can upgrade a points ticket the same as a purchased ticket within the 24 hour window before flight. Changes and cancellations are subject to a $75 redeposit fee per itinerary, per guest on Main Cabin fares, after the first 24 hours. First and Main Cabin Select are not subject to change/cancellation fees. (Which also says something about future purchased MCS fares.) Still no elite status, aside from Founding membership, which has a new logo. No capacity controls or blackouts. Credit card (coming soon - if we still have credit in general ) will be a no annual fee Virgin America Visa Signature. (What's been released so far: Earn should be normal 5 points per dollar on tickets, plus 3 points per dollar on VX tickets/on-board/Red, and 1 to 1 for everyday purchases, plus bonus Elevate points for getting the card.) Everything regarding the card is still subject to change. (Phew!)

In addition to points redemption, there's also a new, expanded Elevate home page info-box and My Account section, as well as a slightly redesigned Elevate main page.

The additions to the site are still beta, as they make sure everything works properly. Note also, the (future) Enjoy Your Rewards tab of the My Account section is not the same as points rewards for seats. Partners are still not up yet, either.

Couple other items of note: eleVAte is now Elevate. No, I don't know, either.

and

All points earned through Sept 30, 2008 will not expire until March 30, 2010, due to the delays.

Cool! ^ It appears that eleVAte points currently have a redeemable value of ~$0.0215

Does anyone know if VX plan to integrate eleVAte with Red sometime down the track? It'd be nice to be able to order a meal using eleVAte points ...and earn them for credit card purchases.

Planned, yes. When it can/will be implemented, don't know yet. Not only to earn points for on-board spend, but also to link the entertainment preferences to your Elevate number, so you can do things like customize playlists and keep them linked to your Elevate account for future travel. Right now, focus is still on making sure Red is stable before adding additional functionality.

I'm extremely disappointed that there's no way to redeem for a confirmed upgrade. I think I'm the only person in the world with enough elevate points to redeem for a F/C transcon...

Do you do any leisure travel? You could buy an F ticket for that and use the money you save to upgrade future flights.

Confirmed upgrades would be nice. Perhaps they will let you mix points and cash as the points appear to have a consistent value... being able to use points for a 24 hour upgrade would be nice as well.

I understand how you feel. The program looks to be a hybrid FF program, modeled in most part like the other LCC FF programs, though, where points are given - in this case, based on fare - and then can be used for (free) flight "purchase" in return. I know SW and B6 don't have a F cabin to upgrade too, but I also consider VX doesn't have that many F seats to deal with, and in many cases, a lot of the F cabins go out near full. Possibly they think the upgrade program is a good compromise for not offering confirmed upgrades using points. Or maybe they'll add it based on feedback. Also, VX does have a habit of separating out fares from everything else, ie, fees/upgrades, which might factor into why the program is concentrated - for the moment - on fares only. Send an e-mail re: upgrades, and give it a little time. They're going to shake out the program for a bit and see what works and what doesn't. Plus, we'll see additions to it as it gets going and partners are added. The Elevate management is actively soliciting feedback via the link on the My Account page.

And yes, I think you ARE one of the few who has all the points...

I think that the way they've structured the program, they would "make" more money by having people use points than having them use dollars (at a given dollar cost for a ticket). The economics of FF points is complicated, and I don't pretend to understand it. However, if they have to keep points on their books at some value (liability), then it's to their advantage to have them used. I think they should have a points+cash option for first class tickets, and I suggest that everyone who agrees should let them know.

I agree. Do you have the feedback link handy?

I also would love a "purchase first class on day of flight" option.

I wonder why they changed from eleVAte to elevate "its' different up here"

I liked how VA stood out in the name of the loyalty program.

--Russ

Like has been said before, Rapid Rewards with mood lighting.

Well, eventually they'll add international carriers to it, and it'll be better- though I suspect it will never have the sweet, sweet opportunities to cash in using milage runs, like old-school legacy programs do.

I've been playing with the site and like the toggle between paying with points or cash. Looks good so far. I just wish VX has this in place a long time ago, to build even more loyalty.

This doesn't seem like such a good deal at all. The yield is a bit over 10% based on dollar spend, right? That doesn't seem so bad for short-haul reward redemption, but for the premium cabin on the transcons it pretty much sucks. A $10,000 spend to redeem for the cheapest one-way F seat on a transcon is pretty bad. Compared to a traditional program the top end rewards are still pretty out of the ball park in terms of the competitive landscape.

http://www.wanderingaramean.com/2008...ion-rates.html

Good article. It's good to see the math, compared with legacies. Cash+Points would be really helpful!

Well, yeah. That's sort of what I've been driving at in the forum: VX transcon F is going to be priced low compared to the legacies, comparatively speaking, but they just aren't going to give it away, period, unlike the legacies- it's cash on the drumhead or back to Y with you. From everything I've seen, VX really, REALLY does not want the "upgrade party" other airlines have had in their F product as a result of FF programs and elite status, which has really downgraded the quality of the F product they offer (go look at the UA forums for many, many examples of that).

Whether or not that's advisable or something they'll have to abandon is up in the air, but it certainly seems to be their approach, and I think they may have a point- market your luxury product to people who can afford it at a consistent price point that maximizes return, instead of charging a great deal more to some people so you can give it away to other people.

I do wonder, though- can you use cash to do a day-of-flight F upgrade on an award ticket in Y? That would SORT of be what you're asking for (though on the popular VX's transcon routes, F tends to sell out, so it's less than what you'd want, ideally).