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#961387 by a339lover
25 Apr 2023, 21:30
Hey all - first time posting here and relative newbie to VS from BAEC.

Have a revenue return in PE coming up next week from LHR-JFK, so applied for the status match to FC Gold back in Feb - which was approved within a day or two. This is where things get tricky for me…

The website and signup form stated “ I understand that if I qualify, my status match will be applied within 30 days.” Whilst on my approval email, it said “ you will receive your status match 72 hours prior to your next valid flight with us”. Bit of a discrepancy here. Upon calling Customer Services today i’ve been informed that since my outbound flight from LHR is operated by Delta as a codeshare it is not a valid flight, therefore VS will only initiate the status match for the return leg of my trip. The agent agreed to email the status match team to ask if they could honour the initial terms and update my status immediately, but he seemed to think this was unlikely ! This has left a pretty sour taste as i’m feeling very misled - on no occasion was either the codeshare exclusion or 72hr period mentioned until after the purchase of tickets and approval of status match.

This means I would miss out on the LHR UC Wing and CH experience - am devestated to say the least :-O

Does anyone have any advice for getting CH access/status reviewed within one week ? Is it worth going to the CH manager and pleading my case ? showing my status match confirmation with the initial terms ? or should i try to keep on top of the customer services team this coming week ?
On the return leg, I believe my credit card grants me access to the JFK clubhouse - so i will effectively get no benefit on this trip. Dare i say it i would have been better off on BA.

Any help is much appreciated ! :-D
:-D
#961388 by CommanderB
25 Apr 2023, 22:49
The status match team are capable of clicking the button to make you gold in an instant. I know this for a fact.

So, plan A should be continue hammering customer service to get this resolved before travel. If it’s been ticketed as a VS ticket, I.e the e-ticket starts with 932, and the status match terms didn’t make any differentiation between operating and marketing carrier I’d be very clear with them that you’ve made good on your end of the bargain. Perhaps threaten to cancel the ticket and go back to BA. That will help them leverage the status match team. That team is responsible for moving revenue from other airlines to VS. If there’s a threat of that being undone because of their inflexibility, it should help someone see sense and just fix this.

Plan B, yes plead to the clubhouse staff. They too have some latitude but it really depends who you deal with. You can buy access to the clubhouse if you’re in Premium but that’s at their discretion and totally dependant on if it’s busy.

Good luck! Some of my colleagues have status matched to VS from BA and it’s been super slick. So you’ve clearly been caught by an edge case which is unfortunate.
#961389 by a339lover
26 Apr 2023, 09:53
Thank you for your help!

I’m not sure how to find the ticket number, but both flight numbers are VS and are presumably ticketed through them (i booked through them).

I guess as you said I should try my hardest with the Status match team this week. Only issue is there seems to be no direct way to contact them ? I’ve replied to my approval email but am still awaiting a response, and customer services seem to be acting as middle men here.
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#961390 by CommanderB
26 Apr 2023, 11:29
a339lover wrote:Thank you for your help!

I’m not sure how to find the ticket number, but both flight numbers are VS and are presumably ticketed through them (i booked through them).

I guess as you said I should try my hardest with the Status match team this week. Only issue is there seems to be no direct way to contact them ? I’ve replied to my approval email but am still awaiting a response, and customer services seem to be acting as middle men here.


E-ticket number is on the email you get when you make a direct booking. At the bottom, looks a bit like this:


Passengers
Mr CommanderB ( Adult )
eTicket number 932xxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Flying Club number **********
LHR - JFK : Seat 1A
LAX - JFK : Seat 1A

Fare Total
Fare Total: GBP 2691.81


Oh... and check your PM's ;-)
#961391 by a339lover
26 Apr 2023, 18:48
Thank you for the message - my account is quite new and it seems i’m not yet able to reply to PM’s.

I’ve reached out directly to the team and they have confirmed that they will be updating my status prior to my codeshare delta flight (not sure whether this was always the case & the CS agent got thungs mixed up). Regardless thanks again for the help!
#961392 by CommanderB
26 Apr 2023, 19:17
a339lover wrote:Thank you for the message - my account is quite new and it seems i’m not yet able to reply to PM’s.

I’ve reached out directly to the team and they have confirmed that they will be updating my status prior to my codeshare delta flight (not sure whether this was always the case & the CS agent got thungs mixed up). Regardless thanks again for the help!


Glad you got it rectified! Enjoy flying with VS. I switched from BA years ago and never looked back.
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