Flying Club improvements coming soon

[mitchja]

Sorry, just to clarify, I was referring to Flying Club feedback. I do get those rate us emails after calling or flying which I always do complete. Though I don't see the point or even understand why they give you the option to record a video response?

I completed the latest survey, but must say that I thought it was somewhat tone-deaf. The way that the questions were worded it seemed to be actively trying to persuade you that the changes were good when the whole reason for the survey is that they know they aren't! Given that these surveys go out to active, knowledgeable customers, surely they need to acknowledge ever so slightly that they aren't working?

I have also disengaged with Travel Talk, pointless reading those responses!

I completed the latest survey, but must say that I thought it was somewhat tone-deaf. The way that the questions were worded it seemed to be actively trying to persuade you that the changes were good when the whole reason for the survey is that they know they aren't! Given that these surveys go out to active, knowledgeable customers, surely they need to acknowledge ever so slightly that they aren't working?

I have also disengaged with Travel Talk, pointless reading those responses!

I felt much the same with the survey and the with travel talk, I left the group after that. Virgin are entitled to make the changes they want but don't gaslight us by saying we asked for these changes and we can't see the vaule in it.

My Avios Plus card arrived recently.

I still have a VA voucher to use, and I've just got silver tier membership, so I'll try and do one final hurrah on VA, but then I doubt I'll darken their door again.

Apologies if this is a duplication but I have today found out that reward vouchers can no longer be used for a split booking. ie book one way now and the return once the return date is available - so I have to wait until both dates are in play by which time points prices will doubtless have increased, and seat choice may be more limited in UC. The alternative is to use two vouchers - another retrograde step.

With this new system can reward flights still be held? ie if I find an outbound saver fare will they hold it for a few days and the saver fare stay in play or will it get "repriced" ?

Wow new flying club rewards, booked last year for January 2025 vouchers + points £4000 total UC inc taxes rewards to visit our daughter in Vegas 3 adults. Now May 2025 3 adults 1,053,000
+£3,136 tax I do not have those miles and my silver expires June 2025. Is it time to go to Avios for rewards credit card and suffer the BA lounge but have the better A350 aircraft? Virgin now pushing £5000+ for PE flights to Vegas Fasten your seat belts !!!

I’m not entirely sure the old system would have coped with your request much better.

What was the rationale? I’ve never actually booked a full J, but in your situation, I would have assumed I’d have been able to cancel the J, and then used points or cash at the days rate. The combination of cancelling and booking through the same transaction seems arbitrary. Surely it’s completely separate?

I needed to book a backup seat knowing that this new system was coming into effect and I really needed to fly that day. Based on the hype, I expected that the points pricing would be reasonable. In the prior system, if I cancelled a J seat and then rebooked it at the airport as G, it would be given a day-of-flight points price, which would be entirely reasonable, but in this new system, the airline was holding firm for a large amount of points as they now value every ex-SFO UC seat at over 500K points. I ended up choosing to buy a PE seat for day-of-flight pricing and then upgrade with points, which was a significantly lower amount of points/dollars to travel.

If some of you think the changes VS have made to Flying Club are bad, the changes made to BA Executive Club by closing it down and replacing it with a new programme that gives status based on spend is not going down well at all.

If some of you think the changes VS have made to Flying Club are bad, the changes made to BA Executive Club by closing it down and replacing it with a new programme that gives status based on spend is not going down well at all.

I was gonna start a new thread about this but probably best to keep it all together on here.

I’ve been reading about this since it broke and have been watching many videos on YouTube and it got me thinking about status, and miles.

It also made me realise that this year, for the first time in many years, I didn’t use shopsaway for any Christmas based shopping. That’s not to say I didn’t shop on some of the sites that “might” have given me miles, but having had so many taken away for spurious reasons which you cannot challenge, that along with the fact that reward flights now cost so much more (yes these are one or two exceptions) means that chasing miles bonuses doesn’t feel like fun anymore.

I genuinely don’t know if I will even boost miles anymore.

The status thing has never really filled my boots as flying Upper doesn’t really add any benefits for me. I don’t really need anymore luggage. I get to prebook my seat, use the lounge, board early and get a few miles that eventually I “might” be able to spend even on a lowly red or silver card.

The changes that both Virgin and BA have recently made, along with some of the on board changes both have made re food etc, have confused me as I firmly believe that the first half of this year will be absolutely brutal for non essential leisure travel. The costs of travel along with costs especially when you arrive in the USA have gotten totally out of hand in the last few years and it will be interesting to see if any slowdown in travelling might force some changes. I cannot believe, unlike some commentators, the BA or indeed VS donot want leisure travellers and only want high worth business travel as there are very few companies in this world that can be picky about their income.

Interesting times ahead for both companies.

David

I've not used Shops Away for many years. Partly because there wasn't much that was eligible for points that I was interested in, partly because it was pain in the backside going through the extra hoops to ensure the spend is captured and credited.

I must admit, give how little VS flying I've done in the last 5 years or so (three return flights, two of these as packages and one of these packages ended up being a BA flight one way due to a last-minute cancellation) and changing priorities in my own life, I'm wondering whether it's still worthwhile trying to gather miles, especially in light of the FC changes, and maybe consider just sinking what's left into part-payment towards a VH package in the future. I'm not turning my back on VS for travel needs where they are an option, but in light of my circumstances and needs I'm becoming less convinced of the value and worth of getting points even by having the VS Credit Card.

I've been figuring out the BA / Avios system over the past few weeks. I've already amassed almost 20k which is a good start.

I've been pleasantly surprised by the number of LHR > US flights available in business and first class. Las Vegas is a little sparse, but LAX and SFO have way more availability than VA ever did. Best of all, I know exactly how many points I need for each journey.

Had a great result today

LHR-SFO - November just before TG, UC - 40,000 points.
ATL-LHR - UC - 29,000 points
= 138,000 points for 2 adults and £1,375 taxes.
Normally this would have been 230,000 points and £2k.
If you are flexible, there are good deals to be had.

Having been very sceptical of the changes to FC (I jumped ship from BA to VS back in spring 2022 and have enjoyed multiple flights and my fair share of points upgrades over the last 3 years) I have to say I was pleasantly surprised earlier this week when I was planning two of my regular annual trips.

Trip 1: LHR-JFK / LGA-DCA / IAD-LHR in May (about £900)
Trip 2: LHR-LAX-LHR in September (about £1100)

I'm still VS Gold, and had a 'partially used' voucher in my account together with a full voucher. I couldn't really find much online about what you could do with a 'partially used' voucher (they don't exist under the new scheme) so I was interested to hear what my options were.

First of all I called up about Trip 1. Ideally I wanted to use my partially used voucher to upgrade the LHR-JFK outbound if possible. The lady said…"oh yes you can use a partial voucher, it just translates to 75k points not 150k." She then said the outbound would need 30k of those - because as there was a old-style standard reward seat available it would be the PE to UC difference (i.e. 17,500 to 47,500). I then asked… "would I be able to use the remaining 45k of the voucher towards the return?" (as I knew the return had no reward pricing available and was dynamically priced) and she said “yes, just let me check”. She came back and said…"due to dynamic pricing on the return, it would be a total of 105k for the round trip so you will need to use 30k from your account plus the partial voucher." So I jumped at that.

Later in the day I called up about Trip 2. I'd checked and UC seats on the flights I was booked into PE on were going for 120k each way (incidentally, my return in PE was showing as 250k one-way...!) After a bit of back and forth with the agent we established that to upgrade both sectors would be 185k (i.e. 240k for UC but minus the 55k to account for already holding a PE booking) so I would need the other voucher (worth 150k) plus another 35k from my account. Again I said go ahead, and all was ticketed in a couple of minutes.

I actually think this is a great result? 1.5 vouchers + 65k this year has got me - in theory - the same value as 2 old vouchers would have done last year *however* I have managed to upgrade every sector at the time of booking, most notably the LAX return. Last year, when I did the exact same two trips during the same weeks I could only upgrade the outbound of Trip 1 at the time of booking, the return for Trip 1 I had to do last minute when a seat opened up, and for Trip 2 I couldn't upgrade anything at all at any point because LAX is so premium heavy and (was?) so tight for award availability.

The only downside was £470 in taxes/fees for each round trip. Which I'm rationalising as £225 per sector for an upgrade.

So I am looking forward! Obviously each of the four sectors will be on a different aircraft (339, 333, 351, 789 respectively...for now), I get to try the IAD Clubhouse for the first time (be still my beating heart) and in September I will get to try both the Delta One Lounge at LAX and hopefully a new Virgin Clubhouse!

Having been very sceptical of the changes to FC (I jumped ship from BA to VS back in spring 2022 and have enjoyed multiple flights and my fair share of points upgrades over the last 3 years) I have to say I was pleasantly surprised earlier this week when I was planning two of my regular annual trips.

Trip 1: LHR-JFK / LGA-DCA / IAD-LHR in May (about £900)
Trip 2: LHR-LAX-LHR in September (about £1100)

I'm still VS Gold, and had a 'partially used' voucher in my account together with a full voucher. I couldn't really find much online about what you could do with a 'partially used' voucher (they don't exist under the new scheme) so I was interested to hear what my options were.

First of all I called up about Trip 1. Ideally I wanted to use my partially used voucher to upgrade the LHR-JFK outbound if possible. The lady said…"oh yes you can use a partial voucher, it just translates to 75k points not 150k." She then said the outbound would need 30k of those - because as there was a old-style standard reward seat available it would be the PE to UC difference (i.e. 17,500 to 47,500). I then asked… "would I be able to use the remaining 45k of the voucher towards the return?" (as I knew the return had no reward pricing available and was dynamically priced) and she said “yes, just let me check”. She came back and said…"due to dynamic pricing on the return, it would be a total of 105k for the round trip so you will need to use 30k from your account plus the partial voucher." So I jumped at that.

Later in the day I called up about Trip 2. I'd checked and UC seats on the flights I was booked into PE on were going for 120k each way (incidentally, my return in PE was showing as 250k one-way...!) After a bit of back and forth with the agent we established that to upgrade both sectors would be 185k (i.e. 240k for UC but minus the 55k to account for already holding a PE booking) so I would need the other voucher (worth 150k) plus another 35k from my account. Again I said go ahead, and all was ticketed in a couple of minutes.

I actually think this is a great result? 1.5 vouchers + 65k this year has got me - in theory - the same value as 2 old vouchers would have done last year *however* I have managed to upgrade every sector at the time of booking, most notably the LAX return. Last year, when I did the exact same two trips during the same weeks I could only upgrade the outbound of Trip 1 at the time of booking, the return for Trip 1 I had to do last minute when a seat opened up, and for Trip 2 I couldn't upgrade anything at all at any point because LAX is so premium heavy and (was?) so tight for award availability.

The only downside was £470 in taxes/fees for each round trip. Which I'm rationalising as £225 per sector for an upgrade.

So I am looking forward! Obviously each of the four sectors will be on a different aircraft (339, 333, 351, 789 respectively...for now), I get to try the IAD Clubhouse for the first time (be still my beating heart) and in September I will get to try both the Delta One Lounge at LAX and hopefully a new Virgin Clubhouse!

That’s great!! Clubhouse at IAD is great, friendly staff and enjoyed it more than at JFK.

I’m flying back from Boston soon so I’ll be trying out the Delta One Lounge there. Looking forward to it.

Was trying to upgrade my flight back from JFK, in May. Booked Premium, but very cheap flight in UC. By the time I got through on the phone the saver seat had gone and it was circa 200k points per person to change from Prem to UC. That’s the downside of dynamic pricing… waiting times on phone and chat have been ridiculous these past weeks.

It’s about time they upgrade there system and let you actually modify bookings online like Delta, BA, EasyJet, etc.

We fly London Heathrow to/from Montego Bay at least annually and have always found plenty of availability using points and vouchers. Under the new scheme, I can see 'saver' seats and some good deals LHR to MBJ but virtually nothing for return MBJ to LHR. Am I missing a trick?

We fly London Heathrow to/from Montego Bay at least annually and have always found plenty of availability using points and vouchers. Under the new scheme, I can see 'saver' seats and some good deals LHR to MBJ but virtually nothing for return MBJ to LHR. Am I missing a trick?

We fly London Heathrow to/from Montego Bay at least annually and have always found plenty of availability using points and vouchers. Under the new scheme, I can see 'saver' seats and some good deals LHR to MBJ but virtually nothing for return MBJ to LHR. Am I missing a trick?

The return element from any destination seems to be an issue - some of the prices in miles (and pounds) are eyewatering. In-fact the more I look, the more despondent I get about the whole system.

David

FYI- As of now: you can triple boost your points using points booster.

Seems that taxes on reward seats have increased yet again.
BOS - LHR 18 APR. UC - 29k points and $588 taxes, where taxes were half that the other day.

maybe us UK based people will have a chance of decent redemptions ,will happily pay £2k +110k+voucher for 2 people

If they are doubling the taxes, points need to come down massively regardless if in possession of voucher. However I’ve noticed on the website, save reward seats have been reduced to 28k/28,500 for UC saver reward seats.

[mitchja]

I was looking last week for reward flights to YYZ. I was plugging dates through July and August. G return rewards taxes/fees ranged from £1036 to almost £1600 .

Anyway I managed to find, what I think is a reasonable deal; 133,0000 points return and £1036 in tax for the end of July. Some dates where upwards of 450,000 points! The website booking engine didn’t quite match up with what the call centre showed (website showed 127,000) and the reward seat checker was a long long way out. It was a bizarre one where a G Upper Class reward fare was actually less points than a Premium reward fare!

Wednesdays seem to be a good day to fly on a reward to YYZ for some reason.

Worth mentioning , you can still put reward flights on hold for 24hrs before committing if you ring Flying Club, as that’s what I did as I needed to confirm I could get the time off from work. You can do this with voucher upgrades as well, however, you must have enough points for the upgraded cabin fare and not just the cabin you are upgrading from even though you don’t end up spending that many points.

I tried to put 2 reward bookings on hold. A full reward (the one I ended up booking) and an upgrade reward for a different date, however, because I didn’t have enough points for the Upper Class reward fare I was going into from Premium, Flying Club couldn’t put it on hold, though would have let me book it there an then.

You can see reward flights that are on hold in your list of flights on the VS website, however, until it’s confirmed , you access it or do anything with it.