Tossa

Hi,

When taking a flight operated by one of Virgin Australia's international partner airlines (e.g. Singapore Airlines, South African Airlines etc..), to earn Velocity Status Credits and have lounge access with the partner airline do you need a Virgin Australia issued ticket (codeshare) or can the ticket be issued by the partner airline?

I am a Velocity Platinum.

Thanks !

flyabit

The answer to that is somewhat a ‘yes and no’

you will get points generally but depends on airline and flight number.

Please note that some flights including SQ do not meet ‘sector requirements’

Here is the table and web page:

Status Credits earned per one-way flight2with the following airlines:

Use the table to discover the number of Status Credits you can earn on eligible one-way flights with our airline partners. If you are unsure about what mile bracket your flight fits in to, use our Mileage Calculator

• Alitalia4
• Air New Zealand5
• Capital Airlines6
• Delta Air Lines
• Etihad Airways7

• Hainan Airlines6
• Hawaiian Airlines
• Hong Kong Airlines6
• Singapore Airlines
• Silk Air

• South African Airways8
• Tianjin Airlines6
• Virgin America9
• Virgin Atlantic

ZoneOne-Way MilesDiscount Economy
Full Fare Economy
Premium Economy
Business/
First
10-750
10
20
30
40
2751-1,500
15
30
45
60
31,501-3,000
20
40
60
80
43,001-5,000
30
60
90
120
55,001-8,000
40
80
120
160
68,001 +50
100
150
200


https://www.velocityfrequentflyer.co...StatusCredits/

serfty

In industry terms, a codeshare has no direct relevance to the carrier that issued a ticket. e.g. A VA issued ticket number begins with 795-, a DL issued ticket begins with 006- an SQ issued ticket begins with 618-

"Marketed by" or "Marketing Carrier" is the term used to represent the booked flight number. e.g. VA1234 is marketed by VA.

As for benefits, they generally depend on the operating carrier.

See here: www.velocityfrequentflyer.com/content/Status/PlatinumMembership/

As for SC earn it depends on the partner, segment distance and booking class.

http://www.velocityfrequentflyer.com...line-partners/

markis10

There are some gotchas with Velocity to watch out for, where booking a VA flight number operated by another airline will result in points and SCs not offered by booking with the operating carrier. Discounted J with HX comes to mind.

AustralianPoochie

Also important to note that not all classes of fares will earn you SC.
(Air)NZ being a partner of VA, only issues SC or VA/VFF only issues SC on some fares flown with (Air)NZ domestically in NZ.
On the VA/VFF website, under SC earn somewhere, it lists all the fare classes that will earn you SC with partners.
If the class of fare is not listed, you don't get any SC even if you have paid a cash fare!
So it pays to know which classes you are booked into, and which airline you are flying with, because not all airlines use the same codes.

CPMaverick

In terms of international lounge access, I don't think there is any difference between booking a VA flight numbered codeshare and booking the flight under the operating carrier's flight number.

Status credits can be earned for partner airline flights, you don't have to book the VA codeshare for those either. But it is subject to some terms, which has been covered. Sometimes it is better to book the VA flight, but sometimes it is worse (for example I find economy flexi-fare tickets booked directly with SQ often are cheaper than the lowest price VA codeshare.. and they earn TWICE the status credits!).

As long as the partner airline fare qualifies for SC, the only reasons to book the VA codeshare are for the additional points bonus for elite members, and for qualifying sectors.

foxyankee

I have a question regarding lounge access when holding a Etihard Partner Platinum Card (in my example it is a Topbonus Platinum).

Topbonus and Etihad tells me that the status within the Etihad network is still valid. Of course because of the bancrupcy of Air Berlin not anymore valid for the Oneworld-network.

But the membership of Virgin Australia towards the network of Etihard Guest Partner Airlines is a "little bit unsharp".
Do they grant access to the lounge when showing the platinum card with the ETIHARD PARTNER NETWORK sign on it?

Nothing really written on VAs homepage and the callcenter has to ask the next level supervisor....

CPMaverick

A partner with Etihad is not necessarily a partner with VA. I am not up to speed on what is happening with Air Berlin. But I don't think Topbonus is equivalent to Etihad status at all (outside of Etihad anyway). It's a separate program subject to its own rules. Whether or not it says Etihad on the card, it isn't the same as Etihad status. Just forget about Etihad, what you have is Topbonus status and from what I can tell it should still work.

https://topbonus.airberlin.com/web/tb/virgin

VA's homepage won't cover things like this. It's really Topbonus where you need to look. Your question should be to whoever is in charge of Topbonus now: Is the partnership with VA still valid? If the answer is yes, you should get lounge access.

foxyankee

Topbonus contiues to be an Etihad Partner in terms of frequent flyer status and benefits. This is confirmed.
I can use the status and all the benefits with all the Etihad Partner Airlines.

However on the website if VA there is in the meantime nothing written if they are still "Etihad Partner Airline" aka member of this little alliance.

CPMaverick

Unfortunately, this has nothing to do with benefits on VA.

Forget about 'Etihad Partner Airline'. It is not relevant to flying on VA. VA is a partner with Etihad, but this does NOT mean they have the same relationship with Etihad's partners. VA is not a member of any Etihad 'mini-alliance'.

My previous statement stands. Call whoever is in charge of Topbonus and ask them if they still have benefits on VA, or not.

perthite

VA is not and was not a member of the Etihad Partner Airline alliance.

markis10

Zol

Looking a purchasing a VA domestic sector out of SYD to connect to my EY international arriving from AUH in F, my questions are:

1) I am EY Gold, do I get the benefits of extra baggage allowance and lounge access? EY website indicates I do (https://www.etihadguest.com/en/earn-...australia.html) but VA are denying that when I asked CS. If so, is the 1x32Kg bag in addition to the 1x23KG on the domestic ticket already or does the allowance remain as 1 bag and only increase to 32 from 23.
2) Will I be allowed to use complimentary limousine service transfers at SYD, my guess is no since my domestic is in Y. So do I need to make my own way from T1 to T2?

Mwenenzi

So a separate VA SYD XXX flight after an EY flight AUH SYD? Have you done the SYD T1 T2/T3 shuffle before?
Airport info SYDNEY (SYD) - amenities, transfers, transport Click to open the wiki

If by "complimentary limousine service transfers at SYD" you mean the VA bus T1 T2 I think you will be eligible, as VA guest on the day. Or an EY limo? [a short ride]. 1000's of people every day fly on VA/QF domestic services after an international flight. Some will be on the same ticket/PNR and others will have separate tickets . You check in for the VA domestic flight in T1 (turn left exiting immigration)

Zol

That's helpful thanks and covers the International to Domestic seamless transfer. The question remains will I get the EY Gold perks for luggage and lounge?
I am on separate PNRs and know the interline will not work as have to clear customs.