Velocity: Are you taking the emergency exit yet?

Are Gold and Platinum members of the Virgin Australia Velocity Frequent Flier program rushing for the emergency exit yet?

I’ve had Velocity Platinum status for many years, but it has to be said that the future now looks bleak for top tier frequent flyers at Virgin. The prospect of cutbacks has not been discounted by the new owners, Bain Capital, who’ve chosen not to be transparent with customers about the shape of their remade airline.

Indeed, I have made my first Qantas booking in more than a decade simply because I don’t trust the new Virgin Australia. I don’t trust the company to provide me with an adequate business class service, nor do I trust it to recognise my loyalty.

Once trust is lost it’s not easily regained.

So I’m keen to know how others feel. Are you adopting a wait and see attitude, or are you already considering a move to Qantas?

Well, I'm Velocity Gold and I have a ton of Velocity points, so in the absence of a Qantas status match I'm not rushing for the exit yet.

However, I'm definitely more inclined to fly Qantas particularly on longer flights (ie. longer than MEL-SYD) where service actually matters. I'll also probably ditch the Velocity-earning credit cards in favour of Qantas-earning credit cards, so once I've used up my Velocity points I'll be in no hurry to earn more.

So "rushing for the emergency exit"? No. Putting in long-term strategies to move from Virgin to Qantas in an orderly way? Definitely.

Will probably hold off until Bain clarifies their direction for Virgin Australia and their offering for Business travelers. Seems to be some speculation by industry commentators that they may adopt a JetBlue style of offering. I imagine once the new CEO officially takes the reins her first job will be to 'set direction'. So wait and see I guess. I trust ET will give us the full rundown once the information comes to hand.

It is very clear that Bain direction to the new VA is more towards LCC than a full service airline. Currently it is so bareboned that you can argue that JQ is better (at least you can buy food). I just flew a rt with them to Darwin in business class, 2 minute noodle is all you get (or some other snack bar) and one choice of drink. This is an almost 4 hour flight.

Bain has also made it very clear that they won't be focusing on top corporate travelers but more on self funded small business, so I don't think there will be much perks in retaining status with VA.

Anyway, just my opinion.

I too recently flew Business from Darwin to Adelaide via Brisbane,I had all the red wine I could consume from Darwin but only a 'breskfast' bar to eat then only water and soft drinks from Brisbane because apparently no wine had been loaded. Cost cutting indeed on the horizon. Surely a pkt of cheese and biscuits and some nuts wouldn't be too much to ask for!

I am currently VA Platinum and just flew QF for the first time in years and took advantage of the status match with Qatar for lounge access.

No offence but are people on here really that ignorant. BAIN HAS NOT COMPELTED OWNERSHIP OF VIRGIN. Until they do there won't be more then a basic offering of what they have in their supplies. Once the sale is completed they can finalise deals and finalise what they will offer - I'm sure their strategy is being worked out now and ready to be put into place. Even if they go low cost then you can just by on board but they cant do that until everything is sorted. So just chill. Its fortunate you are flying for leisure if you are these days, the fact that you can pick between 2 airlines for a best value fare regardless of food is a bonus for your bank account. If you really care about food you just buy a better quality made meal beforehand and bring on board for now. Most likely still cheaper then Qantas.

I'm Plat. Waiting and seeing. My travel schedule has been smashed. I flew VA exclusively in past due to the family perks (I'm one of the 3 kids in the lounge peeps). I'd happily jump ship, just need to know as a QF gold can I take the wife and 3 kids into the lounge?

I'm prepared to. I have status on both anyway at the moment, so not super concerned. However I'm loving Qantas at the moment - they usually stick Dash 8s on the routes I fly in regional QLD and the last couple of times I've got one of the nice 717s with business class, full food and wine service etc.

Virgin's service is still way too far pared back from peak COVID. Virgin do usually operate jets with business class and in flight entertainment, which when put up against a Qantaslink Dash 8 in normal times is the clear winner (faster too, and never uses remote gates). However if Qantas keeps jet/business class service up here and Virgin's service does not improve then I will switch to Qantas.

I have ditched my Velocity credit cards though and consolidated to just Qantas ones.

Many VA Golds might struggle to meet QF Gold requirements - Gold with Virgin (which was a great sweet spot) was very easy to achieve with their partner airlines and a few cheap domestic flights.

In saying that I will might still use VA if the route is direct and others are not (although they have just cut some of the regional routes I used them for before....) and the time is more suitable but the days of chasing VA status to sit beside my QF status are over.

Yes. You can guest one adult (your wife) and Qantas doesn't count kids as guests, you can just take them in (provided they are not adult children).

One of the things that made Velocity status so easy to get is Family pooling. With a trip or two to Asia with the family and a family trip across the pond was enough for Gold. Still, I don't like where they are heading, might fly more Qantas after taking advantage of the Qatar status match a few months back

VA platinum flown 3 return with Qantas in the past two months. VA Platinum for 8yrs.

Thank God for the Qatar match.

Bain will have to do a lot to win me back - 4 x USA per year (normally), double digit domestic return business.

I feel forgotten, unwanted & used (thank God for travel insurance otherwise I'd be worse off).

I have been velocity gold for years, i wouldnt say i flew it exclusively but mostly. I was very worried at the start of administration so i spent all my points on an iPad, good value? Not really but i was worried it would disappear so i was happy. I still have credit from cancelled flights, big issue from me is I have already been told my travel budget is going to be cut next year which means i probably wont retail gold for 2022. May aswell hear back to qantas at that stage.

Not exiting yet but I am watching carefully. I've got a flight to CNS with them at Christmas and to be honest, had it not been a travel bank credit, I probably would have flown QF - the costs were comparable. I will however use up my VFF points in rapid succession early next year and have started moving my credit card purchases over to a QF aligned earn. I'm not sure what I am going to do with my FlyBuys points balance yet - just going to let them sit there for the minute I think

I just can't see anything to keep me there I am afraid - the loss of the LAX flights and reciprocal benefits on DL was what we kept me there with 3 to 4 trips to New York per year and that J Class on the 777 was amazing. Additionally and considering most FF earn is not as a result of flying at the moment, why would I want to continue to build up points now when I am doubtful of what the future holds.

VA really need to bring out some positive news about their intentions - the last few weeks have been pretty average

Since we can't get on a plane currently, I see no need to rush towards it's exit.