miles for flights

I've never really thought about this before, as everyone knows the rules but :

I paid £95 for an amex gold card and received 20,000 miles
£25 into virgin casino and received 10,000 miles
£55 for a box of wine and received 750 miles
£48 for a night at a hilton and received 1000 miles
etc.

And if I pay £1,260 to Virgin Atlantic to fly the family on Virgin I will recieve 0 miles.

I know its a discounted fare and is not eligable for miles but shouldn't all generally available fares ( IE non reward, MpM etc. ) have some sort of mileage award, even if it is heavily discounted (25 - 50%).

I would guess many travellers first experience of Virgin is a discounted economy fare and it would would be a great opportunity to tie people into FC ( and we know how addictive that can be[:w])

It's also frustrating to sell the benefits of FC to people ( with no thought of refer a friend bonuses, honest[:I] ) only to find that when they book their flight they find they are not eligable for any miles ( Once you start trying to explain fare classes you know you've lost the battle[:#])

DD

[Pete]

I guess the rational from Virgin's point of view is that their N class fare is the one bucket they can offer at seriously low pricing because they strip away any extras. Obviously the miles they offer for flights do have a notional cost somewhere along the line, probably about 1p-2p per mile (although it depends how you redeem them). If you're flying to the east coast & back, that's about 7000 miles (give or take), with a value of about £70-£140. When the product is price-critical, then that's a significant amount of cost you can take out of the equation.

Pete

[RichardMannion]

It is annoying yes, especially when some routes do earn miles on N class fares with VS. Pete has hit upon the reason why.

Is worth bearing in mind that VS gives 100% of mileage for the other classes (well 125% if you are Gold, or flying in L, B or Y) unlike a carrier like BA or BMI where you get zilch, 25%, 50% etc unless you are flying full fare.

I fly quite a bit, but I would say the majority of my VS mileage comes from other sources.

Thanks,
Richard

Originally posted by RichardMannion
It is annoying yes, especially when some routes do earn miles on N class fares with VS. Pete has hit upon the reason why.

Is worth bearing in mind that VS gives 100% of mileage for the other classes (well 125% if you are Gold, or flying in L, B or Y) unlike a carrier like BA or BMI where you get zilch, 25%, 50% etc unless you are flying full fare.

I fly quite a bit, but I would say the majority of my VS mileage comes from other sources.


Thanks,
Richard

Yeah, thats a good point - VS are much better than most airlines.

My addiction to collecting FC miles has expanded ( thanks V-Flyer ) just as my amount of actual travel has dramatically reduced. It still seems strange that my Milage balance is increasing faster than ever but I have very few miles credited for actually flying....

Still, they all spend the same:D

DD

[Scrooge]

Just to expand this a little,what you have to figure on is a 2 cent per mile cost or 2 penece is your in the UK..

So using that

Amex is a great deal at.475 pence per mile
the casino is amazing at .00025
the wine sucks at 7.33
and the hotel at 4.8 is not so good

now of course with the last two you are paying for a service and getting the miles for free,kind off,but what us mile whores look at is,can I get a better deal for the miles.

What I mean is this.

My fav wine is a Monchhof Riesling...it's not on VS wines,but lets say a case would cost 100 pounds,well if you can get a case for say 55 pounds your 750 miles is costing you 45 pounds...not a good deal..

So in being a mile whore you ahve to pick and choose..

Living in the USA we have a far more limited choice..Sprint has a good deal which is free (you do have to pay a tax on the miles,but it's fractions of a penny) and my personal fav is Avis

$18 for 1000 miles...1.8 cents per mile...meaning a PE to UC upgrade(if you can ever get one[n]) costs $720..of course that is on top of your S ticket,but your still looking at just over half a a Z fare.

[Pete]

[:?] Hmmm... There might be an interesting angle for a V-Flyer feature or tool in here...

The wine's not too bad to be honest. Averaging £5 a bottle and if you regularly drink it, any miles are an added bonus....
Whilst on the subject of the miles, how long do Virgin Wines generally take to add them to your account?

[preiffer]

Originally posted by xenole
Whilst on the subject of the miles, how long do Virgin Wines generally take to add them to your account?

Unfortunately, it really does vary.

My last case was credited in 12 days - the one before was the next morning... [:?]

Originally posted by xenole
The wine's not too bad to be honest.

Wine is always, but always, a good idea[y]

[Scrooge]

Originally posted by sailor99

Originally posted by xenole
The wine's not too bad to be honest.

Wine is always, but always, a good idea[y]

Spoken like a true sailor[y],guess you've been stuck on the Hamble waiting for the tides to change as well have you?

[RichardMannion]

Yeah but it is when the 'Wine Advisors' at VirWin phone you up, and you have to explain you don't drink wine, you was buying it as a gift and 'to earn miles'...[:w]

Thanks,
Richard

Originally posted by RichardMannion
Yeah but it is when the 'Wine Advisors' at VirWin phone you up, and you have to explain you don't drink wine, you was buying it as a gift and 'to earn miles'...[:w]

Thanks,
Richard

[ii] Yeh sure! [ii]

[Scrooge]

Originally posted by RichardMannion
Yeah but it is when the 'Wine Advisors' at VirWin phone you up, and you have to explain you don't drink wine, you was buying it as a gift and 'to earn miles'...[:w]

Thanks,
Richard

LMAO though they do make good x-mas presents...next time they call ask if they have diet coke?[:$]

Originally posted by preiffer

Originally posted by xenole
Whilst on the subject of the miles, how long do Virgin Wines generally take to add them to your account?

Unfortunately, it really does vary.

My last case was credited in 12 days - the one before was the next morning... [:?]

Well, my order was on the 4th Oct, so they've obviously forgotten about me. Can't say they've phoned either.

Originally posted by sailor99

Originally posted by xenole
The wine's not too bad to be honest.

Wine is always, but always, a good idea[y]

Can't argue with that!