Japan in February booking via VA site Hi everyone, I'm traveling to Japan from Melbourne in February and looking at the best way to book.

Japan in February booking via VA site

Hi everyone, I'm traveling to Japan from Melbourne in February and looking at the best way to book.

I'm a Velocity FF and from my research it seems the best option is MEL>SIN>HND on Singapore Airlines, however, when booking through the Virgin website it's more expensive than what's shown on even Webjet and it doesn't offer me online seat selection.

What's the best way to overcome this? Seeking options where Velocity points are earned and if possible online seat selection.

Thanks!

Best option: ditch Velocity and become a member of an airline that actually flies to international destinations and doesn't rely on a "virtual network". Virgin International is a joke. LA and Abu Dhabi? Wow. The options are endless.

Thanks aklrunway. I have considered that in the past but the membership is through work and I usually only travel short trips domestically so haven't beem hamstrung by VAs network.

Why not ANA? Fares are direct cheap atm

Hi S, I didn't think you could earn Velocity FF points on ANA. Does that match your understanding?

You are correct newbieADL.. no Velocity FF on ANA

Not entirely correct. You can credit points from your ANA flight into a Krisflyer account (both *A airlines), then swap those for Velocity points. Earn rate won't be optimal, and certainly no status credits earned. 

Just on one of your points, if you book a Singapore Airlines flight via Virgin you will never get the ability to select your seat (as they use different booking systems).  Have you tried to look at price etc via Singapore Airlines website, then you can use your Velicity number during your booking? (is what I do now)

Thanks AnthonyvB I didn't realise that was an option! If I do a dummy booking on the SQ site the fares are $400+ cheaper than the same flights via the VA site.

Is there any difference in how FF points or status credits are applied if I book direct with SQ? If there isn't it seems like a no brainer to me.

I am getting the same VA status points - however I am Platium with VA but don't get the bonus miles when booking direct with Singapore (ie if I booked via Virgin (Adelaide to Singapore), I would get 3359 + 3359 miles however with direct booking with Singapore I only get 3359)

But miles you earn does depend on class of ticket.  Gets as bad a 0.1 FF miles per mile flown on V or K class tickets

Here is a link to the table of what you earn on Singapore Airlines

https://www.velocityfrequentflyer.com/content/Earn/Airlines/PointsEarn/

Great link thank you! 0.1 for discount economy...ouch haha

As an above reply mentioned, VA has a piddly international arm. I wouldn't bother booking VA codeshares on SQ, EY, etc because it costs more. I book direct through the partner airline to save money and earn the same status credits, knowing full that I may be taking a huge hit to my points earn (this varies from airline to airline and your status with VA - for example, points earn on first class SQ is terrible, while points earn on first class EY as VA platinum is cha-ching!) 

When I travelled to Japan in Jan I went via Singapore with SQ to obtain Velocity status credits/points. I would just book directly with SQ as you will be able to select seats and you will get the same number of status credits. Wont count as eligible sectors and you won't get any bonus points if you don't bpok as a VA floght number.