Flying Club improvements coming soon

When they say 'enhancement' I hear 'devaluation' !

I don’t think so at all.

Why would they devalue reward seats; when they are fighting to compete with the likes of BA etc?
They will not do standard reward seats lets say for Upper Class to JFK is 47,500, the base number of points isn’t going to double, because then they’re going to lose business, why would they double it? When BA will offer the same flight LHR-JFK for standard points?

Yes it will be devaluation if points required increase due to dynamic pricing , or depending on availability.

At the end of the day , now they only guarantee 12 reward seats per flight.
This way, it opens up more availability, yet will come at a price of more points if you don’t book early…

For example; on popular route they may only offer 2 saver reward seats in UC.

Well family of four , as of now you’d only have 2 UC reward seats . if you book early you’ll should be able to take advantage of the saver seat option. Then instead of buying 2x reward seat and 2xcash ticket (or 2x premium reward seats), you’ll be able to buy the other 2 seats as reserve seats yet might cost more in points…

I don’t think so at all.

You're literally describing a devaluation; more points required to buy the same thing.

Yes it reads like the opportunities to spend points will go up, but everyone's purchase power goes down.

I say this based on the average amount of points collected by VS per seat sold via points. Sure you might get lucky and find a saver seat if you plan way ahead but, on average, we will all be paying more miles for the same thing come Oct 30th.

Agreed. Let's see.

Just glad I managed to find my 3x Reward Xmas flights (Dec 22nd) before the changes took effect.
Pretty sure it would've taken a lot more miles, booking those ~3 months out!

Theres no doubt about it. This is a massive devaluation and more penny pinching from Mr Weiss.

I don’t think so at all.

You're literally describing a devaluation; more points required to buy the same thing.

Yes it reads like the opportunities to spend points will go up, but everyone's purchase power goes down.

I say this based on the average amount of points collected by VS per seat sold via points. Sure you might get lucky and find a saver seat if you plan way ahead but, on average, we will all be paying more miles for the same thing come Oct 30th.

No my point was that, VS currently guarantee 2 UC reward seats per flight. Yes they normally release more per flight, however at least 2.

If those 2 seats are now to become « saver seats » in Upper Class, at the same price as of now, then it’s not a devaluation of points.

Where you can be lucky and VS release more than 2 Reward seats in UC now; whether they cost more in points - we cannot consider it a devaluation. Because of now, any extra RS were not guaranteed at all.

So it comes down to, if those saver seats have gone, or if it’s a last minute booking, how much are you willing to pay for RS? Or you just book cash ticket.

It is giving more flexibility, knowing that any seat can be a reward seat.

Yes, we may end up paying more in points if you’re booking during peak season, or an a heavily demanded flight which is pretty much full (last minute booking) ; but unless VS released more reward seats than the guaranteed 12, you wouldn’t be able to book a reward seat in the first place.

But in reality, there are a lot more than 2 UC reward seats per flight at the standard rates.

It's a devaluation.

I think we’ve been spoiled a lot by VS and I can understand them doing this.

And yes, VS normally do release more reward seats than the guaranteed, but this is never guaranteed.
I was travelling with 3 others and had to book 2 UC seats on 2 LAS flights, checked everyday for 6 months just in case 2 more became available on same flight. They never did…

However, we need to wait for more a lot more details; who knows what the thresholds will be. They might sell 6/8 seats at normal rate in UC, before dynamic pricing kicks in.

Looks like booking early will be the way to go with dynamic pricing. No point playing the waiting game and constant checking to see if reward seats released later in the year for the routes / dates that suits best.

Should be more availability off peak and cheaper pricing. Peak routes and dates will see an increase on cost.

But will know better once get some real world data next month.

Looks like booking early will be the way to go with dynamic pricing. No point playing the waiting game and constant checking to see if reward seats released later in the year for the routes / dates that suits best.

Not quite. There has to be some correlation between cash and points fares. Fares upon initial release aren't exactly cheap.

Looks like booking early will be the way to go with dynamic pricing. No point playing the waiting game and constant checking to see if reward seats released later in the year for the routes / dates that suits best.

Not quite. There has to be some correlation between cash and points fares. Fares upon initial release aren't exactly cheap.

Exactly, there has to be some correlation between cash and point fares.
VS aren’t going to say cash fare LHR-JFK return £3.500 in UC for 2 adults, but points 300,000 (instead of 190,000) + taxes, as then it would make more sense to do cash+ points booking….

VS aren’t going to say cash fare LHR-JFK return £3.500 in UC for 2 adults, but points 300,000 (instead of 190,000) + taxes, as then it would make more sense to do cash+ points booking….

Why not? As a business you would surely want more cash? And this would a way of encouraging your customers to spend cash over points.

So then I would move my business to BA or another airline that offers me the same or if not better service…
Although, yes an company wants more cash and VS hasn’t made a profit since before the pandemic, say if they do increase RS by 50% ore more as a standard low
Price for the dynamic pricing, a lot of FF will change. I will for sure and I’ve been with them for 10+ years.

I don’t think VS is going to do anything drastic and demand let’s say 10-50% more points as a minimum for reward tickets . They’ve stated about these save seats.


From my view point , as I tend to book in advance. It shouldn’t affect things too much.

So then I would move my business to BA or another airline that offers me the same or if not better service…

If it's bad enough, so would I, we can agree on that. That is the risk VS are obviously willing to take. But they will have done their research, including analysing how such dynamic points pricing has turned out for many American carriers and decided it's a risk worth taking.

However, never underestimate the oligopolistic nature of this market and before too long there will be no alternative available in my opinion.

I also find it interesting that points no longer have an intrinsic value associated with them. It makes it more difficult to predict how many you need to save. Which in turn also makes it much harder to determine which products like credit cards are of most benefit.

I'm somewhat surprised they have the capabilities to implement this. Gives me a smidge of hope that BA will at least be a year behind.

OT: One of the better points redemptions of late has been 80,000 on a VV. That's excellent value when you consider that it doesn't even cover one fare to NYC.

Yes, I thought BA would be the first to go this way…

However, it does leave me thinking that the dynamic pricing is not going to be as volatile as cash fares (random amounts), I think they will stagger it … e.g 1st allocation (normal points) 2nd allocation , 10,000 more, 3rd allocation 20,000 more… I don’t think one day it’ll be 47,500 then the next day 130,000 for example

So then I would move my business to BA or another airline that offers me the same or if not better service…

Like they did their research on...

A350 seat - terrible and the aircraft is overweight
A350 loft & booth - nobody uses them and most agree its a waste of space
The Upper Class menus - see other thread, most people agree its terrible
How badly they treat and completely ignore MAN based customer requirements

I could go on, but lets just be clear - VS consistently ignore customers and do as their idiotic exec team says in executing plans that they know a lot of customers won't like.

So then I would move my business to BA or another airline that offers me the same or if not better service…

Like they did their research on...

A350 seat - terrible and the aircraft is overweight
A350 loft & booth - nobody uses them and most agree its a waste of space
The Upper Class menus - see other thread, most people agree its terrible
How badly they treat and completely ignore MAN based customer requirements

I could go on, but lets just be clear - VS consistently ignore customers and do as their idiotic exec team says in executing plans that they know a lot of customers won't like.

Indeed, they got the A350 totally wrong on all levels, probably one of the worst nighttime flights I’ve had.
A339 is a real contender but even the recently delivered ones are showing wear and tear after not so many flights…
That and A330 I’ve slept like a dream. What they should have done is refitted the A330 or 787-9 to A339 standards…

Totally agree with MAN. As I am from Yorkshire, would try and tie it in with seeing parents before or after vacation. But since : no lounge, older aircraft, and not so many flights, it’s quite poor and makes me cringe slightly when they say « Manchester is our home in the North »
Trying to stay positive, hoping they will do a buy points sale

Like they did their research on...

Haha, fair enough. I think I'm a bit of a unicorn in this forum because I have only flown the A350 once on a daytime flight, I turn up as late to the airport as possible and quite like the food onboard.

Like they did their research on...

Haha, fair enough. I think I'm a bit of a unicorn in this forum because I have only flown the A350 once on a daytime flight, I turn up as late to the airport as possible and quite like the food onboard.

You're like the mythical VS perfect customer

I cant say that I think this will be good for customers, does seem that they are going to make points worth less.
I really hope its reasonable, but Virgin do have a knack of timing things very badly, so I expect the economic slow down we might get next year will not align well with this.

Either way, I am not impressed. I am sure there are people on here who fly a lot more than me but I take 3-4 return trips a year with Virgin and almost always use points. I have the CC and spend £3-5k a month on average on it.

If this goes where I think its going then I will just use my last 2 companion vouchers and then look at alternatives.

Booked with points and a voucher last night over the phone.
Was advised that post end of October cancellation fee will go to £70 if the booking is made after this point.

Hello all,

Does anyone have any thoughts on if this will change how E-Select Vouchers are able to be booked??

Received 4 UC return anyone on the VA network last year when we were bumped on a flight. Of course despite their pledge at the time of 9 UC rewards being issued on each flight the destinations and dates we would like/able to travel they appear to have only released 2 on each so as a family of 4 we arent currently able to fly together.

Would this points based system be more beneficial to booking with these vouchers??

Thanks

Couldn’t see anything online, but with these changes will companion vouchers be available to book online, or will it still be a call to the call centre?

[buns]

Some interesting developments I have noticed when using third party apps:

1. Seatmaps not currently available on Expertflyer


2. Seatspy showing 15 UC seats available on a flight to MCO next week - same charges as before.


So obviously changes are starting to take place

Buns