Using Velocity Upgrades
 

I, like many, have taken advantage of the status match that Virgin Australia were offering recently. I'm just wondering what the best value way to use my 4 complimentary upgrades would be?

To use the upgrades for the majority of Virgin's flights, it looks like it will just upgrade my fare from a Flexi fare to a Premium one, but most of the Premium benefits are ones that Platinum members receive anyway, aren't they?

It also looks like the best value would be to use the upgrades to go to Business Class, however, the only Business offering appears to be for flights to/from Perth. At least that's the only ones that I can find for Australian domestic flights.

Keen to hear people's thoughts as to how they use their upgrades? Also, am I correct in assuming that I can gift upgrades? I thought I read that somewhere.

I have not yet attempted to use mine, but you are correct in it is an upgrade from Flex to Premium/Business. At this time the only Business routes are MEL/SYD/BNE-PER (RT), although more are supposed to be coming.

I thought you can only gift for someone flying with you - but I may be wrong.

I agree, at this moment the trans-Australia connections to/ from PER give you an excellent saving/ burning ratio. The fare difference for my particular dates in October were 798 for Flexi (the fare you need to get in order to be able to request an upgrade) comparing to the standard business fare of ~ 2600. I ended up not booking a flight to PER, but I will go to Brisbane tomorrow using 2 of the 4 complimentary upgrade vouchers.

About two weeks ago, I made the booking through the phone and I requested an upgrade to premium right at the moment of booking. The process couldn't be any easier.

The route is SYD-BNE-SYD, so it's no doubt not the best burning ratio, but I had to book a flexi fare anyway, so it seemed to be reasonable to take the chance...

Personally i am holding off using my upgrades until business class rolls out fleet wide.

That's a smart idea - I would do the very same if I could. However, I am going back to Europe in the near future and I'm not sure if my upgrade voucher would simply just expire as I had no chance to use them at all within the next 12 month.

I looked yesterday, and lowest fare SYD-PER is $169 each way. Somewhat different from $798. :p

From what I understand Platinums can enquire at lounge for upgrades within a 3 hour time frame from flight, and if lightly booked they are done for $50 to $100 or so - no cert needed.

Very wise, I might take your advice.

is that benefit still available since the 4 comp U/G certs came into play? I know I used it as a Gold before Plat came out but was not aware it remained after the latest program enhancements. It would be great if it was still there, there always seems to be PE availability between OOL and anywhere...

"The Taster" has gone the way of the Dodo and is no longer available.

To use the complimentary upgrades you need a Flexi fare, which for SYD-PER starts at $389 one-way.

For best benefit on SYD/PER you need to look for the 330 aircraft - be careful with this, check and re-check when booking.

Agree with others. Flew BNE-PER in J using an upgrade. Nice meal service. The new J seats on the 737s aren't very comfortable, unfort. Hard and almost no recline. Great service tho, with a few kinks to be worked out (warm beer, and flight ran out of ice after a few hours).

that is what I had understood to be the case, I was wondering if ozstamps had different information.

Sure, but the saver fare won't be eligible for the upgrades. To request an upgrade, you need to book a flexi fare which costs ~ 390 AUD each way. I haven't heard about those lounge / cash upgrades, but some weeks ago I realized that another Platinum member was upgraded from Y to Y+ upon boarding (by the purser "as a valued platinum frequent flyer I would like to offer ... ").

Anyway, I flew SYD-BNE today and I was pleasantly surprised when I entered the aircraft: the 737 already had the new business class style Y+! So no red Y 3-3 seats with an empty seat in between, but two rows each having four (2-2) American domestic first class style seats. These seats were very comfortable and don't compare to the previous Y+ I experienced three weeks ago on DJ...

Correct on requirement of flexi fare. And as a reminder to all, the upgrade is good for one sector/segment. So, if flying BNE-SYD-PER-SYD-BNE, that would take all 4 of one's upgrades.

Would anyone know if I can use the complimentary upgrades on MEL-NAN ?

No at this stage no international sectors are available to use with the comp upgrades....which is changing...hopefully not too far away!