Booking international (USA) virgin velocity economy reward seat

mcsere on 24/07/2019 - 12:55
Last edited 24/07/2019 - 12:56

Hi,

Looking to book one way flights with velocity points to US (Denver) next year via Syd (approx mid July but flexible). Velocity cost looks much better than QFF but availability appears scarce. I couldnt find any but did call through and found the latest possible date (May 2020) so there are seats on the route. I was told flights are avialble upto 331 days in future (so seats already 'sold out' for June)

Questions are:
1) any tips on getting the reward seat as they become avilable? are they made avilable at midnight for example?

2) Is it possible to search for just Economy REWARD seats on virgin. That way I dont have to manually click through each day. As there are always seats available with points. Just not reward seats.

Any information greatly appreciated.

Travel

Comments

  • lewislardboy on 24/07/2019 - 13:10

    You'll probably find more availability booking SYD>LA, then handling internal flights in the US with cash. When you rely on VA's Delta partnership for connections, you'll sacrifice some of the Reward seat options for the main flight.

    Just what I've noticed from experience on multiple VA AUS>US reward bookings.

    • mcsere on 24/07/2019 - 13:53

      Yep good point. I would do if it was for me but booking for mum, so much prefer connecting flights.

  • 87percent on 24/07/2019 - 13:22

    call them up, thats how i booked my flights for the end of the year using my virgin miles

  • p1 ama on 24/07/2019 - 18:35
    +1

    This is a common issue with VFF, they have quite poor availability compared to Qantas.

    If you want to book reward to the US from Sydney, the best way is with Qantas, but on an American Airlines flight. They don't have fuel surcharges, so the cash amount you pay is much lower vs. either Qantas or Virgin flights.

    Whether you should be using points on an economy seat is another matter altogether given there are deals all the time from SYD to the west coast for less than $1,000 on Qantas or Virgin. Don't forget that with Qantas or Virgin, you'll already be paying around $500 in fees if you get a rewards seat (it's around half that if you go with an American Airlines flight). At that rate, you're better off just selling your points and buying a regular sale fare.

    • Love a bargain on 25/07/2019 - 13:12

      Note that OP wants to get a one way ticket, which is often close to the price of a similar return ticket, whereas an one way reward ticket only costs half of a return. This makes it potentially worthwhile to use points instead of cash.

      • p1 ama on 25/07/2019 - 20:54

        That's true actually!

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