Isaac
Years ago

BA gets Velocity Lounge access for WNBL

Basketball Australia Chief Executive Officer Kristina Keneally today confirmed Virgin Australia will grant access to Virgin Velocity lounges to Women's National Basketball League players for the remainder of the this season.

Ms Keneally and Virgin have also agreed that WNBL access to the Velocity program for the next season, including the lounge, will be considered as part of Basketball Australia’s sponsorship renewal discussions currently underway.

"I’m extremely pleased that Virgin Australia has stepped up to provide Velocity lounge access to our WNBL players," Ms Keneally said.

“Virgin have been great supporters of men’s basketball for almost a decade now, taking on the National Basketball League as their first partnership with a major sporting body in 2004.

“Importantly, Virgin has now stepped up and thrown their weight behind women’s sport - which is a very welcome move from one of our major national airlines.

“We can’t pretend that equality exists in any sport in Australia; but Basketball Australia will continue as it has begun under my leadership, working through these challenges with a clear-eyed focus on equality and valuing the accomplishment of all athletes equally.”

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PlaymakerMo
Years ago

"for the remainder of the this season." - the one that's two weeks from concluding..? HAH

Reply #406414 | Report this post

Anonymous
Years ago

Awesome! Free OJ and a newspaper!!

These lounges are over rated anyway.....

Reply #406415 | Report this post

Anonymous
Years ago

Excellent - now onto more pressing matters, find us a suitable Opals and Boomers coach please.

Just some small stuff there, not as big as getting the girls lounge access.

Reply #406416 | Report this post

Isaac
Years ago

Lounge access was obviously big enough to get some "inequality" media coverage and gripes from players, right?

Reply #406420 | Report this post

SMA
Years ago

Won't the Fire will be the only beneficiaries of this?

Unless Dandenong win the Prelim and chill in Melbourne Airport before their drive to Bendigo!

With great strides like this BA will no doubt continue as it has begun under KK.

The sport is getting no Punch from Judy...

Reply #406426 | Report this post

Mick
Years ago

What I don't understand is, with the amount these guys/girls fly, wouldn't they nearly qualify for entry on a personal level anyway?

Reply #406427 | Report this post

aristotle
Years ago

exactly mick

Reply #406438 | Report this post

Anonymous
Years ago

Do the points go to their names or BA?

Reply #406440 | Report this post

PeterJohn
Years ago

Anon - seats should be booked in the name of the traveller and points are allocated to the Frequent Flyer in whose name the seat is booked. All the players and staff need to do is to sign up to Velocity (free) and make sure their Velocity number is attached to teh booking. That happens automatically once they provide those details to the travel company/system that handles the bookings.

If you travel without your Velocity number attached to the booking, you claim the points retrospectively.

Once you get to gold status on Velocity, entry to The Lounge is free. I don't know how long that takes now, but it didn't take long 18 months ago, if you flew regularly (just under one return trip ADL-BRI a week for a couple of months was enough for me). I suspect the Townsville team members could get it after a couple of months of games.

Once you have gold status, it remains valid for 12 months and is reviewed then, based on your flying behaviour in the preceding 12 months. Basically, one a WNBL player or team member reached gold status, they'd keep it until they stopped playing, based on current schedules.

So Mick, I expect regular players and team members have gold status or higher. The problem would arise with a player or team member without free access to The Lounge (say - a new import, a rookie, an irregular player filling in for an injured player etc.). You would have to pay for them to go in with the rest of the team if everyone is relying on gold status for free entry, or they all hang around at the gate as a team.

Personally, it's a good look for Virgin or Qantas to have these teams turning up in their lounges. I always notice teams in their gear much more than the fellow travelers in civvies and it piques my interest. I go home and tell the kids - "Guess whom I saw in The Lounge today?". That sort of awareness raising is worth the piddling amount of OJ, peanuts and sandwiches it will cost Virgin to include it into the sponsorship deal.

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Anonymous
Years ago

Tickets are booked in the name of the club or BA with no names initially attached. As part of a sponsorship deal quite possible there arent even frequent flyer points allocated.

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