V-Flyer

We’ve got brilliant news. Together with our partners Air France-KLM and Delta, we’re improving our corporate loyalty offering and joining bluebiz. Bluebiz is so easy to join, and now it’s even easier to earn and spend rewards on Virgin Atlantic flights. Every flight your business travellers take on bluebiz member airlines will earn blue credits and now from 4th of June you can earn and burn on Virgin Atlantic flights too. Blue credits are worth £1, and can be spent just like cash to cover the cost of future flights providing instant travel budget savings.

As a valued member we’d like to invite you to join, and as a welcome gift, if you enrol in bluebiz and take a flight before 31st December 2019, we’ll give you a bonus of 50 blue credits. Just enter the promotional code VS19 when you register.

We’ll be saying farewell to Flying Co on 1st July 2019. Any flights booked before this date will still earn Flying Co miles, and any bookings with ground partners before 31st December 2019 will earn miles too, as long as travel has been completed by this date. You can continue to exchange Flying Co miles for rewards until 31st December 2020.

In no particular order:

1. I guess this means the end for the Flying Co staff? A shame if so, they're superb to deal with.
2. Does anyone have any experience of Bluebiz?
3. I'd assume any miles not used can't be converted to Bluebiz and must be spent before 31/12/20?

Just received this also, not impressed that they have given less than a months notice, but heyho, it was a great perk while it lasted --- roll on Bluebiz, hopefully it will proof beneficial

Am I right in assuming Bluebeiz is just for business/corporate travel?

Bluebear wrote:Am I right in assuming Bluebiz is just for business/corporate travel?

Yes, correct.

mikethe3rd wrote:In no particular order:

1. I guess this means the end for the Flying Co staff? A shame if so, they're superb to deal with.
2. Does anyone have any experience of Bluebiz?
3. I'd assume any miles not used can't be converted to Bluebiz and must be spent before 31/12/20?

In answer:
1. I spoke with a staffer at FlyingCo when the news broke yesterday and a couple of them will be staying on to sunset the department (closing for good in December 2020) After 1st July they will only be handling FlyingCo mileage redemption and retraining in BlueBiz along the way. After the department closes for good next year they will be moving along to the BlueBiz service desk.
2. No, but I have looked into it a fair amount. From the company perspective the programme is not as rewarding as it currently is and there is also a potential tax issue that crops up from any redemption of Blue credits that have an assigned cash value. I will need to consult the HMRC Employment Income Manual to be sure but as things are currently structured, I believe that every time you cash in credits for an employee upgrade/redemption it creates a taxable event. As things currently stand I will not be signing my people up for this programme, too much hassle for not enough reward I am afraid.
3. Correct

I will genuinely miss FlyingCo when it's doors close as it was so much more to us than an additional mileage earning scheme. They were the primary point of contact for when things didn't go according to plan or when someone was stuck somewhere. If VS randomly cancelled out a booking last minute or if there was feedback to be given, good or bad, FlyingCo was there to help. They liaised with all of the various departments and middle managers, which we couldn't hope to navigate solo, and that is the asset that VS have just cratered for their company accounts who manage scores of people that never seem to stop being on the move.

FlyingCo, you will be sadly missed

Excuse my ignorance, is this the Flying Club you’re talking about? Or a separate club for Businesses?

gilly wrote:Excuse my ignorance, is this the Flying Club you’re talking about? Or a separate club for Businesses?

No, anyone with a Flying a Club membership account will be completely unaffected by this change.

VS are just shuttering their corporate frequent flyer program which is/was known as Flying Co.

Thank you.

I expect Flying Club to become Flying Blue in the future.

The BlueBIz website which is clearly based on airfrance.com is absolutely diabolical. It's like using a 20 year old website. Awful!