I tried finding a Business Class seat to LAX from BNE for the middle of next year. I searched EVERY SINGKE day from 1 February until 11 July (2019) the last day they have on sale. Not one seat was showing available. the only way I could see to LAX was on 12 June via MEL , naturally for a hight cost in points. I was prompted to look at this as each morning (around 5am) for the past few days I have searched for the latest day to come on line and each time it has said "sold out". Boy there must be some people out there with even less of a life than I have. Of course they have the "any seat" option but seriously, who would waste one and a half million points one way? Anyone have any clues on this? VA used to be terrific for seat availability.
I have found it near impossible to find one way redemption on the LAX route. So for instance, from MEL to LAX if I look for one way, there is no availability on the 18/11. But if I look for a return I will see a PE seat on the 18/11 and one PE for the return on the 25/11. If I look for availability on the 26/11 for coming back, the seat on the 18/11 disappears. If I select the seat on the 18/11 add that to my booking and select a day that is not the 25/11 I get an error around not being able to return on the same day.
My experience of Virgin redemption is that it is highly random, they dont seem to release seats 350 days out as per other airlines, and seem to release limited space at random times. So my redemption have mainly come from unexpected finds. Its not a great situation to be fair, and the points that i am currently accruing will likely get used on SQ partner redemptions.
Was lucky enough to get a J on the overnight HKG MEL flight at a time that I needed it. Would be near on impossible to organise a convenient return trip both ways in points.
Agreed. VA redemptions international are a joke. Trying to use one of my upgrade vouchers for a flight to ZQN and nothing available however not one seat in J has sold. It’s disgusting.
I see plenty of J seats for flights BNE to LAX for the next 2 weeks. I'm waiting for one to open up on the day I want.
Every day there Economy reward seats available, you would have to be seriously unlucky not to get one of those.
Roll the dice and wait for a J a week or so out, or if you are conservative book a Y as the backup, and then it will cost you $60 if you have to cancel it, or buy Y seat and put youself on standby for upgrade. Every man and his dog knows that J seats on AU to LAX are notoriously hard to get. Plenty of articles online, including this site how to deal with it. No sense whinging about it.
VA actually have unpublished (externally) velocity business class award seat black-out dates for LAX flights (and presumably other routes) which tend to coincide with school holidays (including all of December and January).
I’ve had success 3 times in getting J SYD and BNE to LAX return. I find mid week to be most accessible and also by (bizarrely) adjusting the return leg date too. For example when searching Wednesday to Wednesday I might get no results but moving the search Wednesday to Tuesday both legs appear! Good luck!
I’ve literally got upgrades on my last 12 flights. The last trip included my wife and 2 kids. Availability almost always opens up in the week before the flight.
I really only find myself able to use velocity points on Sing Air flights, which always seem to have excellent avail
Have you had any luck lately? I used to constantly book SQ flights through velocity site with great availability however since the website 'upgrade' all the SQ coded flight options have disappeared from the search with only the VA codeshare showing which never has availability.
The lack of award availability to LAX in J is the reason I’ve drifted from Platinum back to Gold and soon to be Silver with velocity. The only use for VA points is domestic redemptions or international with SQ KrisFlyer transfer, which is very good. I’m burning through my velocity points and have moved my spend and future flying back to QF it’s just a much better operation IMHO.
You will never be able to get seats a long way in advance. I've never had trouble getting seats to LAX 1-2 days before traveling. Remember frequent flyer points are intended solely for Airlines to get rid of their unsold seats, not for people wanting to book a whole family in business class 6 months in advance.
readosunnycoast
readosunnycoast
Member since 05 Oct 2011
Total posts 117
I tried finding a Business Class seat to LAX from BNE for the middle of next year. I searched EVERY SINGKE day from 1 February until 11 July (2019) the last day they have on sale. Not one seat was showing available. the only way I could see to LAX was on 12 June via MEL , naturally for a hight cost in points. I was prompted to look at this as each morning (around 5am) for the past few days I have searched for the latest day to come on line and each time it has said "sold out". Boy there must be some people out there with even less of a life than I have. Of course they have the "any seat" option but seriously, who would waste one and a half million points one way? Anyone have any clues on this? VA used to be terrific for seat availability.
tomJ
tomJ
Member since 02 Nov 2017
Total posts 15
VA award space to LAX in J is notoriously tight. Probably even tighter than QF J availability to LAX, with seats almost never being released.
mcglynp
mcglynp
Virgin Australia - Velocity Rewards
Member since 20 Jan 2016
Total posts 48
I have found it near impossible to find one way redemption on the LAX route. So for instance, from MEL to LAX if I look for one way, there is no availability on the 18/11. But if I look for a return I will see a PE seat on the 18/11 and one PE for the return on the 25/11. If I look for availability on the 26/11 for coming back, the seat on the 18/11 disappears. If I select the seat on the 18/11 add that to my booking and select a day that is not the 25/11 I get an error around not being able to return on the same day.
brettepi
brettepi
Member since 10 Jul 2017
Total posts 86
velocity are a disgrace. push you to use their cards and earn their points and then dont let you spend them. highway robbery
jch
jch
Virgin Australia - Velocity Rewards
Member since 15 Nov 2017
Total posts 143
Was lucky enough to get a J on the overnight HKG MEL flight at a time that I needed it. Would be near on impossible to organise a convenient return trip both ways in points.
msport2012
msport2012
Delta Air Lines - SkyMiles
Member since 14 Apr 2013
Total posts 294
Agreed. VA redemptions international are a joke. Trying to use one of my upgrade vouchers for a flight to ZQN and nothing available however not one seat in J has sold. It’s disgusting.
Blake
Blake
Member since 03 May 2017
Total posts 39
I see plenty of J seats for flights BNE to LAX for the next 2 weeks. I'm waiting for one to open up on the day I want.
Every day there Economy reward seats available, you would have to be seriously unlucky not to get one of those.
Roll the dice and wait for a J a week or so out, or if you are conservative book a Y as the backup, and then it will cost you $60 if you have to cancel it, or buy Y seat and put youself on standby for upgrade. Every man and his dog knows that J seats on AU to LAX are notoriously hard to get. Plenty of articles online, including this site how to deal with it. No sense whinging about it.
vantage03
vantage03
Member since 13 Aug 2015
Total posts 2
VA actually have unpublished (externally) velocity business class award seat black-out dates for LAX flights (and presumably other routes) which tend to coincide with school holidays (including all of December and January).
docsimonm
docsimonm
Member since 29 Mar 2017
Total posts 34
To be fair - Velocity is pretty good for reward seat redemption, with the exception to LAX. And much better value than QF.
thomasindo
thomasindo
Virgin Australia - Velocity Rewards
Member since 04 Oct 2017
Total posts 6
I really only find myself able to use velocity points on Sing Air flights, which always seem to have excellent avail
Richrrrd
Richrrrd
Virgin Atlantic Airways - Flying Club (Gold)
Member since 24 Jul 2013
Total posts 19
I’ve had success 3 times in getting J SYD and BNE to LAX return. I find mid week to be most accessible and also by (bizarrely) adjusting the return leg date too. For example when searching Wednesday to Wednesday I might get no results but moving the search Wednesday to Tuesday both legs appear! Good luck!
Blitzna
Blitzna
Member since 17 Feb 2018
Total posts 2
I’ve literally got upgrades on my last 12 flights. The last trip included my wife and 2 kids. Availability almost always opens up in the week before the flight.
Doubleplatinum Banned
Doubleplatinum Banned
Qantas - Qantas Frequent Flyer Platinum
Member since 07 Feb 2013
Total posts 431
Have you had any luck lately? I used to constantly book SQ flights through velocity site with great availability however since the website 'upgrade' all the SQ coded flight options have disappeared from the search with only the VA codeshare showing which never has availability.
starship
starship
Qantas - Qantas Frequent Flyer
Member since 08 Aug 2012
Total posts 1
The lack of award availability to LAX in J is the reason I’ve drifted from Platinum back to Gold and soon to be Silver with velocity. The only use for VA points is domestic redemptions or international with SQ KrisFlyer transfer, which is very good. I’m burning through my velocity points and have moved my spend and future flying back to QF it’s just a much better operation IMHO.
antkleve
antkleve
American Airlines - AAdvantage
Member since 15 Feb 2013
Total posts 18
You will never be able to get seats a long way in advance. I've never had trouble getting seats to LAX 1-2 days before traveling. Remember frequent flyer points are intended solely for Airlines to get rid of their unsold seats, not for people wanting to book a whole family in business class 6 months in advance.