As Virgin Australia powers ahead with its application to form deeper interline, codeshare and loyalty ties with Qatar Airways, fellow Middle Eastern carrier Etihad Airways will ‘conclude’ its partnership with Virgin Australia in the coming days, citing ‘a divergence in the strategic direction of the respective airlines.’
This article was originally published on 17 November 2024 and has been updated as a reminder.
To book flights on Etihad, you can use Etihad Guest miles. These can be earned by transferring points from eligible credit card programs, such as American Express Membership Rewards.
American Express Platinum Card
- Sign-up Bonus:
- 200,000 bonus Membership Rewards Points¹
- Rewards Earn Rate:
- Earn 2.25 Membership Rewards points per $1 on all eligible purchases, except for spend with government bodies, for which you will earn 1 point per $1 spent
- Annual Fee:
- $1,450 p.a.
- Offer expires
- 25 August 2026
- Enjoy 200,000 bonus Membership Rewards Points¹ when you spend $5,000 on eligible purchases in the first 3 months. (Offer available to new American Express Card Members only. Offer ends 25 August 2026. T&Cs apply.) Unlock premium perks including unlimited airport lounge access, international travel insurance, Amex Hotels and Resorts benefits, up to $400 in Global Dining Credit¹⁰, and a $450 Travel Credit⁵ each year. Earn up to 2.25 Membership Rewards Points per $1 on eligible spend. The annual fee is $1,450.
No more codeshares or perks with Etihad
From 1 June 2025, Etihad’s customers will no longer be able to book Virgin Australia-operated flights through Etihad booking channels. Velocity Frequent Flyer and Etihad Guest members will also no longer be able to redeem or earn points or miles on the respective partners. However, existing bookings under the partnership will be unaffected.
At the time of writing, there is still Etihad First Class availability on routes such as Singapore to Paris (via Abu Dhabi) on the Airbus A380. Velocity Points offer the easiest way for Australian travellers to book Etihad First Class.
Although Etihad offers Velocity Platinum members First Class lounge access in Abu Dhabi – one of the most generous perks of any Velocity partner – Qatar Airways has become Virgin Australia’s preferred partner in the Middle East. It also doesn’t help that Velocity members (along with other partners) can only book Etihad Business and First Class reward seats 30 days before departure.
What’s next with Virgin Australia and Qatar Airways?
New VA flights to Doha on the drawing board
Virgin Australia and Qatar Airways are launching new daily international flights between Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane and Perth to Doha and return from mid-2025. This would initially start as a ‘wet lease’ with aircraft and crew supplied by Qatar Airways, but could (and hopefully, would) graduate to Virgin Australia-operated services.
Singapore Airlines loyalty perks to be largely unaffected
There have been some initial concerns and questions over the impact of the proposed deeper partnership with Virgin Australia’s other partners that cover Europe and Africa, specifically Singapore Airlines, South African Airways and Virgin Atlantic. From a submission dated 13 November 2024, it appears that if approved:
- Virgin Australia will no longer offer Singapore Airlines codeshare flights to Europe, the Middle East and Africa. However, there will be no change to loyalty arrangements for Velocity members.
- Members will still be able to earn Velocity Points and Status Credits, and redeem Velocity Points, on all Singapore Airlines routes, including throughout Europe, the Middle East and Africa.
This news will be a relief for Velocity members who might already earn and use points on Singapore Airlines.
Although the application confusingly states that Virgin Australia will not offer any points or loyalty benefits to any airline headquartered in Africa or Europe, the recent 13 November submission also includes the following:
- There will be no change in the relationship between Virgin Australia and South African Airways.
- There will be no change in the relationship between Virgin Australia and Virgin Atlantic.
We imagine the latter direct statement is the one to follow, indicating that although the existing partnerships will be largely unaffected by the proposed submission, the door remains closed to new ones from those regions.
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I’m confused. Qatar is part of the One World alliance but will also own part of Virgin. Is that right?
That’s correct. Qatar Airways and Virgin Australia are already partners, while Qatar is also a member of oneworld.
I need to add that finding a Kris Flyer Reward seat is pretty easy compared to some others, and the pricing per point is ok as well.
It seems that all Etihad points flights have disappeared form VA’s website
I’d say there’s a better chance of Velocity/Krisflyer transfer being replaced with the ‘new’ Velocity/Avios transfer before Bain (or QR for that matter) considers changing the transfer rate of the Velocity/Krisflyer program.
Under the new system of points earning customers will lose 20% of the current points value per flight with VA, how many astute people will then transfer velocity points or should I say avios (Cryptocurrency) to kris points at the current rate of 1.55? The transfer rate needs to change to around 1.36 to even consider burning points with Singapore Airlines.