Best FF - Qantas or Virgin

LPixieNCharlie on 22/07/2018 - 13:05

Hi all,

Need to make sure I am making the correct decision here. My partner needs to select which airline he will be flying back and forwards to work to - it can either be Virgin or Qantas. Im leaning towards staying with Virgin.

He has an existing Virgin Velocity status which we've just cleaned out the points to bring his parents over on business class flights from the East Coast (we are based in Perth), but he is already a Gold member. He also has a new Qantas FF account but that still brand spanking new and doesn't have any benefits yet, only a few points from the flights he has just taken.

Now we don't travel all that much, and if we do, its to Bali where neither of these airlines fly to but I know I can use Qantas FF points to redeem flights on Jetstar (but flights are so cheap anyway, and we never prebook our Bali trips, they always seem to be very last minute which might not work with point redemption?), but I feel like we would get most value out of saving Virgin points to upgrade flights to East Coast or friends/family flights when they come to visit us or if we head to East Coast/NZ. I do want to head to New York with my little sister next July so Virgins Family Pooling will be helpful there but Etihad no longer has a direct Perth to Abu Dhabi which leaves us with Singapore where as with Qantas we could go with Emirates (splitting hairs here for a trip that might not happen).

We have no preference between the airlines, the one terminal is slightly closer to home than the other but that isnt a huge issue. I shop at both Woolies and Coles but Im not a dedicated user of Flybuys or Everyday Rewards so can go either way. He takes two flights atleast every 3 weeks, and it might be increasing to a flight a week so I really want to make the most of the points.

So basically is there any bonuses to changing to Qantas that I havent thought of? I feel like we are better of sticking with Virgin as we already get that bonus points loading from being a higher tier.

Poll Options

  • 26
    Stay with Virgin
  • 3
    Switch to Qantas
Travel Frequent Flyer Qantas Virgin

Comments

  • griffy on 22/07/2018 - 13:28

    Do you use a credit card with reward points? I find Qantas credit cards rarer and also earns at a lower rate. Virgin on the other hand frequently does bonus transfers.
    Unless Qantas is doing a status match, I don't see why you would forgo the Gold tier benefits.

    • PixieNCharlie on 22/07/2018 - 13:32

      We don't have credit cards but have talked about getting one for the points benefit. Since we haven't really have a trip in mind/working towards one, we have not looked into them a great deal but glad to hear Virgin does lots of offers.

  • Randxyz123 on 22/07/2018 - 13:45

    My partner needs to select which airline he will be flying back and forwards to work to

    Where is he working? FIFO? Does one fly more often than the other? E.g if the flight is canceled will he be stuck overnight or are there multiple flights a day

    Now we don't travel all that much, and if we do, its to Bali where neither of these airlines fly to

    Qantas does. You might have to fly to Sydney first but they do fly to Bali

    I'd stick with Virgin and possibly get a credit card each to get bonus points.

    See https://www.pointhacks.com.au/credit-cards/#velocity for offers.

    • PixieNCharlie on 22/07/2018 - 14:08
      +1

      FIFO out of the Pilbara (not sure if PH or Karratha as he has just changed sites). Both airlines fly multiple times a day and he is usually on the first flights of the day so hopefully wont be an issue with delayed/cancelled flights to both centres I believe.

      Sydney is a fair flight from Perth, its hard enough convincing him to fly the 3 hours to Bali from Perth when he lands home, than to fly via Sydney. Strangely enough Virgin has direct flights from Port Hedland to Bali, just not Perth. Maybe it'll be in the pipeline?

      • wicklow on 22/07/2018 - 14:52

        You could do Perth to Darwin, Darwin to Bali.

  • wicklow on 22/07/2018 - 14:51
    +2

    Not sure if it’s relevant, but I find Virgin points upgrades (i.e. buy economy and do on departure upgrade to business) easier to come by on the domestic routes I travel. I also found Virgin business class better than Qantas in terms of meals (deconstructed moussaka deliciousness) and the Virgin lounge in Melbourne is certainly better than the Qantas lounge during the long reno.

    In general I prefer Qantas but think Virgin is upping its game.

    It might be worth checking the status credit thresholds to gain entry to the business lounges rather than standard lounges which get very busy during peak periods.

    Don’t forget that Qantas and Virgin points and credits are different - ie you earn different amounts of points/credits on the same route between the airlines, and the thresholds for silver/gold etc also differ.

    Highly recommend a high points credit card swapped out regularly after you’ve received the bonus points for extra flexibility.

  • tanksinatra on 22/07/2018 - 14:59
    +1

    Have a look at the exact status earn for the individual flight and fare class your partner is taking. I know that for discount east coast flights (e.g. Syd->Bris), Qantas provides twice as many status credits as Virgin. This rebalances many of Virgins benefits (e.g. family pooling, lower thresholds). Qantas also provides 'life time' status recognition and their in-flight product is slightly better.

    Virgins international partner network is next to useless and Etihad charges extremely high fees on reward bookings.

    • Thrawn on 22/07/2018 - 15:16

      I found award availability on Virgin's partner network to be much better than QF. And generally lower points as well

      QF has more partner options yes.. but that's not terribly useful unless the award tickets are actually available

  • smuggler on 22/07/2018 - 16:41
    +3

    Qantas if you're more of an international flyer.

    Virgin for domestic flyers.

  • try2bhelpful on 22/07/2018 - 16:43

    We are currently a foot in either camp, at the moment. What we did find is my man managed to get to Platinum Virgin with a couple of international business flights, which I don’t think works with Qantas; happy to be enlightened though. The advantage of keeping Platinum/ Gold level is you can use the lounges even if you are flying economy class.i would be checking out the lounge aspect as flying regularly is much nicer with lounge access and priority checkin. If he is a Monash Alumni he can buy Qantas lounge access at a discount.

  • Choc83 on 22/07/2018 - 19:16

    If you contact Qantas directly, they will likely match his existing Virgin status (upon proof of status being provided) so that would even up the baseline for your decision making.

    Personally, I prefer QF, but VA might be more fit for your purposes. Can't hurt having status across two airlines in any case.

  • SydneySwan on 23/07/2018 - 07:58

    I would stick with Virgin. Their points are easier and cheaper to use for flights / upgrades than Qantas.

  • 123cheese on 23/07/2018 - 12:03

    Family pooling with Virgin is way better since you can transfer the status credit, so easier for staying with Virgin to gain Gold status.

    For Qantas, neither points nor status could be used that easy.

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