Silver?

New to this site, so apologies if it’s a topic that’s been done to death...Am I alone in finding the Flying Club Silver membership a non-event?

I fly VS with reasonable frequency, always in PE class, almost always for business, and generally therefore on flexible fares at the more expensive end of the scale. I.e. enough to get Silver effortlessly, but it would probably be a stretch to reach Gold (a lot of my flying is to destinations that Virgin doesn’t serve).

As yet, after a couple of years of this on a range of routes, I'm yet to: see the inside of a CH, notice any material difference on upgrading from Red, or for that matter ever be upgraded. All fair enough, but in contrast to my experience on BA. Silver FC membership brought...erm, oh yes, the tags! On the other hand Silver with BA (which I hold) brings the significant benefit of lounge use.

Don't get me wrong, there is a number of things I prefer about Virgin: crew attitude and cabin décor spring to mind. But I can’t help concluding I’m just in a category that Virgin doesn’t try particularly hard to keep – and surely I can’t be alone?

[Nottingham Nick]

A very warm welcome to V-Flyer londonj

I don't think you will get much argument about this. It is a well discussed topic.

Silver is very easy to attain and retain if you are even a semi regular Y class flyer (like me). The main benefit for me is use of the PE check ins.

If you are a premium class traveller, then you don't start getting any real benefits until you hit gold.

I can't comment on the comparison with BA, I wasn't aware that BA silver gave lounge access. How many transatlantic trips do you have to make to get BA silver? bearing in mind that you attain VS silver with 4 round trips.


Nick

Thanks for the welcome Nick. Yes - I can see Silver gives some benefit to economy travellers. But here's the thing: in my view in the days of online check-in it's got to be considered an increasingly marginal benefit.

With BA, 4 return transatlantic flights will get you to Silver. That is within 'your membership year', which is a less forgiving concept that Virgin's calculation. But then it is arguably easier to earn points when they have the European network and when internal US flights can count.

But yes, Silver gives lounge access, plus access for one guest.

Originally posted by londonj
Thanks for the welcome Nick. Yes - I can see Silver gives some benefit to economy travellers. But here's the thing: in my view in the days of online check-in it's got to be considered an increasingly marginal benefit.

With BA, 4 return transatlantic flights will get you to Silver. That is within 'your membership year', which is a less forgiving concept that Virgin's calculation. But then it is arguably easier to earn points when they have the European network and when internal US flights can count.

But yes, Silver gives lounge access, plus access for one guest.

4 return business class transatlantics earn you silver in BA 240*4, but 4 return business class transatlantics on virgin earn you gold...

cheers
sky

Ah...I was meaning like-for-like though: 4*PE flights on BA gets you Silver = 4*150. 4*PE flights on Virgin doesn't get you gold, or I'd be gold...

Originally posted by londonj
Ah...I was meaning like-for-like though: 4*PE flights on BA gets you Silver = 4*150. 4*PE flights on Virgin doesn't get you gold, or I'd be gold...

Sorry, I was getting confused there for a momen, my brain told me you need 800 TPs to be silver, but it is 600.

Cheers
sky

You need 4 return flights on VS to get Gold in one year
You need 2.5 return long-haul flights on BA to get Silver

Both get you lounge access. VS Gold only gets you VS (and some but not all SQ lounges). BA Silver should get you into BA Terraces (not BA First) and most OneWorld partner lounges.

If you get VS Gold, look out for the annual Star Alliance status match offer and you should be able to get a Star Alliance partner Gold card as well which gets you lounge access. BA Silver only get you a Star Alliance Silver card which does not give you lounge access.

VS Silver as note is not worth a lot. You can get to VS Gold from VS Red with 40 points in one go so it is possible to do this in a year.

You have to qualify for BA Silver from BA Blue and get all your points reset to zer0 to get to BA Gold, so this is a lot more spend. BA Gold gets you lounge access even if you do not fly BA.

Got to admit just lost silver and can't say I am really gonna miss it. Only used the card once and that was when i got ushered to the UC check in instead of the Y appart from that and possibly being further up the pecking order on Op-Ups i have to say its pretty useless...

Agreed with above, Silver is only good for:

1) economy class flyers, it does help to get PE check in , and get your baggage tagged as PE.

2) Train enthusiasts who value the hex/gex upgrade vouchers (they are of no worth to me at all).

However, if you only fly PE/UC anyway, then it is essentially worthless.

I'd love to see an extra 10% bonus miles for silver membership, this would give the card some value between red and gold.

Agree with all the comments - if you fly BA Club it is much quicker to get to Silver than VS Au. And the benefits between BA Ag and VS Au are in my opinion broadly similar (I have both oops) except in one regard: the club house is immeasurably superior to BA's offerings (even First lounges). I'd like to see VS offer something above Ag, like Platimum however to get really personal service like you do with BA Gold.

If like me you use BA Club Europe it takes for ever to get Silver and much more money than 2 1/2 Club returns to New York. There's swings and roundabouts all over in these schemes and more than enough to keep the fire burning.

I think we're all awaiting VS strategy to differentiate PE and Ag more than currently. I thought someone (VS staff) posted a note not so long ago that there was some forthcoming news about PE, I hope that extends to Silver FC terms too ... like bonus miles which to me have more impact than upgrade vouchers or other stuff.

We did have a thread on this and talked about the hope that VS would create a sort of Silver Plus (or Gold Minus?) card for those of us who regularly, and with little effort, well surpass our 10 renewal TP's but don't quite make gold.
I think suggestions were:
Plus mileage accrual somewhere between silver and gold
a couple of lounge access passes a year (thankyou but I for one can do without the first class train ride and as US Silver receive no parking credits)
Fast Track!
Companion PE ticket?
One J upgrade per year?
UC Bar access?

cheers,
RR

if you fly BA Club it is much quicker to get to Silver than VS Au. And the benefits between BA Ag and VS Au are in my opinion broadly similar (I have both oops)

I got my Au card post 911 so only required 30tps the same as requalification.So almost the same as BA Ag, 3 J trips for each on transatlantic.Agree they both offer the same kind of thing,BA card has the advantage of OW lounge access very useful on AA internal flights.

UC Bar access?

This has got to be a total no no if you give access to Ag then you also have to give access to Au, think it would be very crowded[:0]

I wouldn't normally post just to agree BUT this is the one issue that really anoys me about VS - I am just about to complete my third year of silver earning 30TP each year! - I fly for work only and I'm lucky in that they send me UC - so silver is usless to me

The miles are nice - but the benefits are usless (and no party this year[:#] )[:(!]

Come on Virgin - I make an effort to 'taylor' my travel palns to stay on VS routes - reward my loyalty.[i]

Come on Virgin - I make an effort to 'taylor' my travel palns to stay on VS routes - reward my loyalty.

look at doing a mileage run for the other 10tps,Once you have the card you only need 30tps to keep it. But to be honest if you fly on business in J you get all the benefits of an Au card anyway.

Originally posted by jaguarpig
But to be honest if you fly on business in J you get all the benefits of an Au card anyway.

Mostly - all except the 25% bonus

I think JohnD sums it up well: the benefit in return for loyalty in this case is effectively nil, and it's one area that could be improved a lot.

But I have a question regarding jaguarpig's point: what is a 'mileage run for the other 10tps'?

Originally posted by londonj
But I have a question regarding jaguarpig's point: what is a 'mileage run for the other 10tps'?

A milage run is a flight taken purely to earn miles and/or status points, in the context JP is using it is to earn TP's of course. There are some specific routes where the fare is low and the flight short, so it make them worthwhile to use just to earn TP's, and therefore get/retain FC status. The strategies of using these milage runs have been discussed in the Clubhouse. However you need to have purchased V-flyer membership to access them. I am afraid it is one of those things that is held back as a benefit to members.[:#]

Thanks for the info...I thought it might have meant a special offer or something, or trading miles for tier points (in itself not a bad idea). But it sometimes feels like I spend half of my life on planes as it is so that particular strategy is one better left to the truly insane

Originally posted by jaguarpig


look at doing a mileage run for the other 10tps,Once you have the card you only need 30tps to keep it. But to be honest if you fly on business in J you get all the benefits of an Au card anyway.

Yep - I have considered it BUT the existance / possibility of a MR actually highlights the issue - I imagine / guess that the revenue from my 3 J class flights may well exceed a more canny Vflyers AG renewal strategy (come on you number cruncers - is that likley)

Anyhow I have a window between the end of December and 31st of March to get those last 10 TP's so all is not yet lost.[}:)]

[Scrooge]

As someone who makes only 1-2 trans-atlantic flights a year being silver or gold to me makes no difference,at one point I was gold,but living in LAS with no clubhouse or doing most of my flying out of LAX also no clubhouse not being gold makes no difference.

Now most of my flights are booked in the PE/WT+ class,so im able to use the PE check in anyhows..In the early days it was always a nice bonus to be able to use the PE checkin at LHR,but as i've grown(both in age and size[:I])and my spending power has increased,well im booking PE class flights anyhows,so silver/gold isn't in my sights...saying that there is avery good chance I will be gold again next year due to some upcomping flights[y]

Whether or not being Au or Ag affects you largely depends on your normal class of travel e.g. If you normally travel in Y, being gold helps a lot, whereas if you normally travel in J being gold would not make such a huge difference.

Cheers,
VS045

Jumping in here as my site navigation skills suck........

I'm likely to get silver next year.

Looking at a PE flight to Las Vegas in say March, so 6 tier points for the outbound and return legs.
Then, if I can afford it, UC to Hong Kong and then on to Sydney before going back to the UK, so 18 tier points (5 to HKG, 5 from HKG to SYD and 8 from SYD to LHR I believe)
That gives me a total of 24 for those flights.

Since I need 15 to go from red to silver, when exactly do I get the upgrade?
Also, I assume I keep the extra 9 tier points that can go against the 40 I need to go from silver to gold?
Finally, at what point does the 13 month period for upgrades start? As soon as I get the 15 tier points or on completion of the return leg (SYD-LHR) or what? i.e when I land in SYD, I'll have 16 tier points, 24 when returning to the UK

Originally posted by xenole
Jumping in here as my site navigation skills suck........

I'm likely to get silver next year.

Looking at a PE flight to Las Vegas in say March, so 6 tier points for the outbound and return legs.
Then, if I can afford it, UC to Hong Kong and then on to Sydney before going back to the UK, so 18 tier points (5 to HKG, 5 from HKG to SYD and 8 from SYD to LHR I believe)
That gives me a total of 24 for those flights.

Since I need 15 to go from red to silver, when exactly do I get the upgrade?
Also, I assume I keep the extra 9 tier points that can go against the 40 I need to go from silver to gold?
Finally, at what point does the 13 month period for upgrades start? As soon as I get the 15 tier points or on completion of the return leg (SYD-LHR) or what? i.e when I land in SYD, I'll have 16 tier points, 24 when returning to the UK

You get up-graded on the next computer run by VS, after earning 15 TP's. Your silver pack will get posted to you very shortly after this.

So tehnically, this could happen whilst you are in Australia, with a new pack, containing the new Ag flying club number (beginning 008) could be posted to your home address whilst you are in Australia.

VS run a rolling 13 month period for TP's, so yes all TP's earned in any 13 month period can be counted to Ag or Au membership.

After getting back from Oz you will have 24 TP's, meaning that if you earn another 16 TP's within 13 months of your first TP earnt (presumably your PE outbound flight to LAS) then you will get gold.

Finally you need not worry about flying home on the red card from Australia, as VS will automatically link your old red number to your new silver account, so all miles/TP's will get credited correctly.

Hope this answered your questioned - it is a bit complex, and if any thing is not clear then feel free to ask!

Originally posted by Gelding
Got to admit just lost silver and can't say I am really gonna miss it. Only used the card once and that was when i got ushered to the UC check in instead of the Y appart from that and possibly being further up the pecking order on Op-Ups i have to say its pretty useless...

Agree - I just lost my silver status and in many ways felt it didn't bring any benefits anyway. Am a bit miffed though - the reason I lost my status was because I'd have the temerity to fly to places Virgin has no hub.....

I thought I'd post a coda to this issue, since a few minutes ago I just completed my latest booking to the US.

Despite my much preferring many aspects of VS, and despite the fact that this admission may well get me kicked straight out of V-flyer moments after I arrived [:0], the booking is on BA. As I mentioned, the main reason is that the lounge access makes too big a difference - even at the cost of a more expensive ticket. Anyone who's waited in EWR will know what I mean.

A little frustrating, because I'd really rather be flying Virgin, but hopefully at some point they'll beat BA on this loyalty thing, as they do in most other areas.