VA retro points claim - put simply, it doesn't work and they don't care

I have run out of fingers to count the number of times I have completed the VA retro points claim, particularly for Air NZ flights, and received nothing. I decided to do something about it recently and emailed the VA retro claim people with my boarding pass scan and booking ref. Now they're arguing with me, wanting a copy of an e-tick incl. tick number and class. Surely they can work this out given they have been given the booking ref and the flight was booked on their website. They make it all too hard, far easier to throw their platinum card in the bin and us the QF card of the same colour; they usually have the points credited by the time I land!

Air New Zealand and Virgin Australia aren't friends at the moment. However, it really shouldn't affect the customer experience with this sort of stuff which isn't necessary.

if you think thats crazy, try booking via the VA business portal, providing your VA FF # and it not staying in the system. One has to manually log into VA's Manage My Booking to add your VA FF - and then you get the seating options relevant for status i.e. Gold. :-/

I totally am with you with this! QF would credit points & SC within hours. VA would normally take 3-4 days however of late, I haven’t seen my VA flight credited for 10 days by now. Did retro claim a few days ago & nothing has happened. Did SQ retro claim a year ago & man, it was a nightmare taking them a month as I had to prove this & that. It seems at times Velocity is too hard with ancient technology. I guess they don’t care because the major shareholder is a private equity whilst VA itself is struggling financially.

VA, QF, NZ etc all rely on you not having time to take legitimate claims further. I always find the time to do an online application to your local "small claims" tribunal. Once the airline see you mean business it's amazing how fast they'll settle up.

VA is by far the largest recipient by volume of retro-claims across my accounts. Even on VA ticketed VA flights, the points and SCs don't always go where they're supposed to. Like you, I've had points and even electronic retro-claims disappear into the ether--the only strategy I've had consistent success with is calling the premiums support line and having them process the claim manually with me on the phone.

The entire process can be frustrating. Last month my Eithad flights were credited with zero status / points, but when I double checked my ticket class, & all flights are eligible for points.

Went on line and loge a claim I received an instant rejection. I have just rang the premium support team who are very helpful, but I seem to be on the phone with the team at least once a month....

I had this same problem years ago in the early stages of the NZ/VA ALLIANCE.coming home from christchurch to adelaide via sydney it took them a month to credit the points.i had to send in references and online details but we got there in the end.never had the same problems on SQ.

Sadly, I too do not trust VA when it comes to points landing in my FF account. I have to keep a close eye on them and have had many issues across multiple partners - both airlines and retailers. The worst is BP when the technology at POS fails (which is too often IMHO) and there is no retro claim process. I played up a bit once and they gave me an ex-gratia points credit of 100 points. I fill up anywhere now. It is becoming a bit too hard as stated above my another poster. I hope they can sort it out - I am not a fan of the alternative....

do not remind me of the BP PROCESS.I Do that often and the one I fill up at sometimes going to work is clueless in that department.

Waiting for EY J retro-claim 5 months counting.. (despite booking directly through Etihad quoting Velocity number)..contact Velocity every 6 weeks for an 'escalation' ....and get a response like this:

All my retro claims have been processed even when flying Chinese airlines who put me on another carrier due to weather for the actual flight... But agree it takes a while.