Virgin Australia has launched an interesting promotion for their Velocity program. They are giving members the chance to win packs of Velocity points if they promote the benefits of the Velocity program the best through their social media networks.
Continue reading: Virgin Australia Velocity Offering Points To Members To Promote (Recently Devalued) Program
Share your questions, experiences, and thoughts below.
Try to listen to your ethical core. Think of it like this. Would you promote buying Alaska miles a day after writing that they have become impossible to use? Put it in that category.
What @Stvr said x 2
I have also had some great redemptions (4 x Bus flights to LA and NYC), but now can never find redemptions I want.
I wouldn’t touch this promo con spin with a 10ft barge pole.
Remember they have advertising agencies they usually pay real money to for this sort of social media content.
Its a bit dishonest to say "Velocity wants members to promote devalued program" your making it sound like they are forcing their members to or they are trying to trick you. In my opinion a more neutral title should read "Velocity is offering bonus points to members who promote (devalued) program". I know this is a bit ridiculous though when I read the post title I thought velocity was doing something wrong and unethical.
FYI Qantas has been imposing those carrier surcharges for years. And I still think Velocity and Qantas are pretty equal with maybe velocity still coming out slightly on top (depends on how much you value Oneworld)
"Virgin Australia has launched an interesting promotion for their Velocity program. They are giving away free packs of Velocity points to members who promote the benefits of the Velocity program the best through their social media networks"
Actually, no they are not. That is a very misleading statement because it suggests all you have to do is promote VA on social media to get a pack of free points.
In truth they are selecting a few chosen members who promote the benefits of Velocity to win one of a limited number of prizes (as the article later explains).
Ethics aside, the real question is why would you bother?
Well to answer that you need to know the number of prizes to determine the probability of a win and the size of the prize you might win.
These at a can be found on the Velocity website:
"...There is a share of two million Velocity Points (2,000,000) to be won. There is a maximum of 165 prizes to be won. The best valid entries, as determined by the judges, will win. The Prize consists of:
a. 20 x 1,000 Velocity Points;
b. 30 x 2,000 Velocity Points;
c. 40 x 3,000 Velocity Points;
d. 40 x 5,000 Velocity Points
e. 10 x 20,000 Velocity Points
f. 10 x 40,000 Velocity Points
g. 10 x 50,000 Velocity Points
h. 5 x 100,000 Velocity Points
17. Average total prize value is $74,000 AUD (excluding GST). The prize is not exchangeable and cannot be taken as cash..."
Using the points valuation from VA (which comes out as $0.027 per point) there are:
20 prizes worth $27.00
30 prizes worth $54
40 prizes worth $81
40 prizes worth $135
10 prizes worth $540
10 prizes worth $1080
10 prizes worth $1350
5 prizes worth $2700
Taking a position that prizes at the $135 and below are too trivial to be worth the time and effort, that leaves a total of 35 prizes.
If the promotion is a disaster and only attracts a participation by 1000 members then the odds of winning a decent pay back are 35/1000 or around 1 in 30.
The promotion is still a budget black hole at participation by 10,000 members since it will have cost $6.76 for VA to get each promo post: the odds of winning a decent pay back are then 35/10000 or around 1 in 3000.
Once the promotion becomes even remotely successful (say 100,000 members participate) the odds of pay back for participation are so low (now 1 in 30,000).
IF VA has pumped the numbers correctly to make this promo cost effective your odds of winning anything of real value are very remote!
So unless you believe in the frequent flyer fairies, or deploy your own highly paid ad agency creative team to shorten your odds, you don't even have to trouble yourself debating the ethics of the promotion - it's a total waste of your time!
Your'e better off finding one person for an AMEX recommendation for a guaranteed points boost!
(PS. Enjoyed the Morocco tour article!).