VIRGIN AUSTRALIA: EconomyFlex fares gain free same-day Fly Ahead feature

For those whose business meetings end early and want to get back home sooner, Virgin Australia is extending its Fly Ahead feature to eligible domestic Economy Flex passengers. This allows them to move to an earlier flight on the same day without paying a change fee or fare difference.

It is a genuinely useful improvement, particularly for business travellers who are back in Economy.

Virgin says it is the first Australian airline to offer this benefit to passengers simply for buying a Flex fare, rather than limiting it to high-tier frequent flyers. The feature had already been available to eligible Velocity members, but from 2 July it becomes available to Economy Flex passengers travelling on domestic Virgin Australia-operated flights.

Earlier flights without the usual fare sting

Normally, a Flex fare allows changes without a change fee, but travellers still pay any fare difference when changing flights. On a busy weekday, that can make moving from a late-afternoon flight to an earlier service quite expensive.

Under Fly Ahead, eligible passengers can switch to an earlier same-day Virgin Australia flight on the same route without that fare difference, provided there is availability.

Virgin says more than 44,000 passengers moved to earlier flights over the past 12 months. That is estimated to have avoided 143,000 hours of airport dwell time. An impressive number until one remembers just how much time Australians spend at domestic terminals willing their flight to begin boarding.

The feature should be most useful on the Brisbane–Sydney–Melbourne triangle, where there are several flights a day and business travellers often have some flexibility around meeting times.

There is still fine print

Fly Ahead requests must be made on the day of travel, either through the Virgin Australia app or at the airport. App requests must be made at least 60 minutes before the earlier flight departs. Airport requests need to be made at least 40 minutes before departure.

For Brisbane, Sydney and Melbourne services, passengers can request a flight departing up to two hours before their original booking. On other domestic routes, the option is limited to the first available earlier flight.

The biggest catch is baggage. Once a passenger has checked in a bag, Fly Ahead is no longer available. So, you need to decide before using bag drop.

The earlier flight is also subject to availability and operational requirements. That means a flight may have seats for sale but still not have a seat available for Fly Ahead. Passengers may also lose their original seat selection. There is no refund if the replacement seat is of lower value.

Group and team travel bookings are excluded. Up to three accompanying passengers on the same booking can be moved with the eligible Flex fare holder.

A practical point of difference

Virgin is pitching the change as a response to inflation and the cost pressures facing households and businesses. It’s really an inexpensive benefit they are offering, given they already have your or your company’s money. It also helps even out flight demand potentially.

For passengers already buying Flex fares, avoiding a last-minute fare difference is a real saving. It also gives Virgin a useful point of difference from Qantas. At Qantas, same-day changes remain subject to fare conditions and can still incur additional costs. That said, premium flyers are often granted a flight change, where fees would normally apply. That’s particularly true when Qantas foresees adverse flying conditions, or staffing issues.

2PAXfly Takeout

Virgin’s Fly Ahead expansion is a sensible passenger-friendly move. It costs the airline virtually nothing, and creates great pleasure with passengers, inspiring loyalty. Unfortunately, compared to Qantas, even on the triangle route Virgin Australia has relatively fewer flights that you can swap to.

Now, if Qantas adopted the same policy, that would be a real boon to passengers. Qantas has announced no plans to match this ability.