As Virgin Australia slowly but surely comes out of voluntary administration (granted, with a few hiccups), affected customers will be glad to know that Future Flight Credits are now being issued for cancelled and changed flights.
Of course, a refund would have been nicer, but these are only available to those who had purchased a fare that specifically allowed for refunds. But bear in mind that with Virgin Australia falling into voluntary administration, there was a chance that ticketholders would become ‘unsecured creditors’ and left with practically nothing to show for it.
With the Future Flight Credits, Bain is at least preserving the goodwill of its customers for the relaunched airline, which is crucial if it is to succeed in the near future. With that out of the way, here’s how to use those credits to make a new booking.
What is the Virgin Australia Future Flight Credit?
The Future Flight Credit (FFC) is given to customers with cancelled Virgin Australia bookings. The full amount of the unused credit is now in a Travel Bank and ready to use online. Bookings have to be made by 31 July 2022, with travel up to 30 June 2023.
Take note that the FFCs can only be used on specific domestic fares, under the name of any passenger. Some flights will not be bookable for FFCs once availability runs out, even if cash tickets are still for sale.
Eligible domestic fares are:
- Getaway (Economy)
- Elevate (Economy)
- Freedom (Economy)
- Business Saver
In addition, FFCs can be used for Virgin Australia flight extras such as:
- Economy X (extra legroom) seating
- Prepaid excess baggage
- UpgradeMe bids
- Lounge experience passes (once available)
- Unaccompanied minor and pet travel bookings
How do I use a Virgin Australia Future Flight Credit?
Eligible customers should have received an email by now, which outlines your Future Flight Credit Travel Bank account number and username. You will need these details on hand when booking.
- Head to the Virgin Australia website. Ensure ‘Use points + pay’ is unticked, as you can’t use Velocity Points with an FFC.
- Enter your origin, destination and travel dates.
- Choose the number of passengers. On this same page, tick “I would like to use a Travel Bank to pay for some or all of this booking”. Click ‘Continue to flights’.
- On the flight selection page, eligible fares will show a red ‘Special fare’ banner if it’s able to be booked with a Future Flight Credit.
From this stage, choose your desired flight and check-out as usual. You will need your Travel Bank account password to continue.
Can I cancel a Virgin Australia Future Flight Credit fare?
Virgin Australia fares booked with Future Flight Credits generally share the same change and cancellation policies as normal. You can review these policies on the Domestic Fares page, which has special sections for FFCs in orange text.
In general, these rules apply:
- Getaway fares can’t be cancelled. Change fees may be waived depending on the current COVID-19 travel policy.
- Elevate fares may be cancelled with a $70 fee until midnight prior to departure. The remaining fare will return to your Travel Bank.
- Freedom fares can be cancelled with no fee prior to scheduled departure.
- Business Saver fares can be cancelled with a $50 fee until midnight prior to departure. The remainder will return to Travel Bank.
Summing up
Hopefully, our Point Hacks readers are able to make the most of Virgin Australia’s Future Flight Credits. It’s not an ideal situation to be in for anyone involved, but chances are domestic restrictions will start to lift in the foreseeable future, and make use of those credits to explore more of our backyard.
If you have a choice between using Velocity Points or Future Flight Credits for a booking, I would recommend consuming up your credit first if possible, as that was paid with ‘real money’ in the past.
Your Velocity Points may still be good for Business Reward bookings and upgrades down the track, as long as the new owners Bain fulfil their commitment to keeping Virgin Australia as a ‘hybrid’ airline.
Frequently asked questions
No. Unfortunately, you won’t able to combine your Points and Future Flight credit to make an initial booking.
Also no. Credits can only be used on Virgin Australia-operated domestic flights. Even Alliance-operated codeshare flights are excluded from usage.
If you’re not able to use your credit on your desired flight, then you’ll need to try alternate dates, routes or flights.
Trying to book flights with Future Flight Credits is impossible. Told I needed to book before the end of January 2023. No flights available. I live in New Zealand but have had lots of correspondence with Virgin Australia. Rang them yesterday to be told that it t not known when Virgin Australia will be flying to Rarotonga from Auckland, I therefore stand to lose AU$5886.46 and a holiday, I find it very unfair an feel that something should be done to help people like me.
I have come to terms with the act that I will not be receiving a refund but to end up with nothing from such a large corporation is unbelievable.
Hi Norma, just if it helps as you’re based in New Zealand – Virgin Australia now offers flights from Queenstown to Australia’s major east coast cities. While this may not get you to Rarotonga, and being based in Auckland means you’d have to separately get to Queenstown, this could provide an avenue to spend your vouchers on something rather than letting them go to waste. Virgin Australia’s partner Qatar Airways also offers flights between Auckland and Adelaide, but I unfortunately haven’t seen any VA codeshares on these services yet, which might otherwise provide a separate alternative if such codeshares were to commence.
Hi, my travel bank credit was transferred over to future credit when Virgin went into administration. It’s been a nightmare to try and locate the credit to book any flights and i have had no luck getting through to customer service about where to find them on my account as my travel bank says zero. I’ve scoured the internet but to no avail.
Virgin won’t let us use these credits. Always an excuse message at check out. “not available this flight” or “not enough credit in account” even though I have plenty to cover the cost of the fare. “Log out & try again”. Virgin refuse to answer their phones to help. My next step is to contact the Ombudsman as I haven’t been able to use any credit & I have tried several flights over several months.
Hi,
I’ve been caught up in the Tigerair debacle, advised we will receive Future Flight credit with Virgin but have still not received any info on how we access our account for these ‘credits’, any advice appreciated!
Like most people I had my initial Travel Bank balance transferred to Future Flight Credit. Tried to do booking but even though I used the FFC log in it would not accept my Velocity password. The helpline suggested I used my Velocity and login. Great I thought. It moved to the next part of booking but instead of accessing my FFC it went to the TB, which of course has a zero balance. I will now be spending more time and money phoning them again.
Just in process of booking flights to use travel bank credit. My credit doesn’t quite cover cost, but doesn’t seem to be an option to pay balance! Looks like my credit is not really a full credit??
Thanks Claire that is what I’ve got too. Half an hour on the phone with no answer, no response to messenger so I’ve sent an email to Jayne Hrdlicka. Not the most promising of starts for the new owners, Qantas must be happy.
Handy tip if you are struggling to find those ‘special fare’ flights.
Find the dates you want and select any flight, hit pay with travel bank at the payment page and log in to your new travel bank account. This will say ‘for future flight credits only’ then it will give you an option that says ‘show me all available future credit flights’ and it will show all the available alternatives.
How long does it take to receive the email after cancelling the flight?
How do I know how many Travel Bank points/credit I have. Like everyone else I can’t find a flight I can use it.
Hi C, you should have received an email on how to access your Travel Bank and see how much is in it.
Just tried to use my Travel Bank Credits to book a flight to Broome only to be informed the date and fare selection was ineligible. How are we supposed to find a flight, date and time that is eligible. This is feeling like a con and they want to keep their money.
Also, Virgin advertise direct flights to Canberra but impossible to find.
Hi Carol, it’s been 1.5 months since these credits first came out, so it’s likely people have snapped up the ‘eligible’ fares already. Unfortunately I can’t offer much advice apart from being flexible with your travel dates and routes. Best of luck.
Only flights offered through Travel Bank were all one stop in Sydney. Never done that flying from Melbourne to Coolangatta. Always travel direct. Not sure if I have to disembark and change planes in Sydney,
If so, Just too risky with so many more people around & more chances of catching Covid. Very disappointed.
Hi Kate, Virgin will start flying Melbourne-Gold Coast direct 3 times a week from today, ramping up to five times daily from 21 December. More details are here. Hopefully, you find a Travel Bank option that suits you!
I recommend you check back often as Virgin are always adding new flights to the schedule, which have a higher chance of Travel Bank fares. In answer to your other question, most of the time you will need to disembark and change planes for domestic connection.
Impossible to find a flight available to use Travel bank credits on.
Have searched January to early February and even though they have $99 fares can not book any Travel Bank fares. Seems like they want to hold on to money longer
Went to check my balance and make a booking but wasn’t able to log on. The next day I was able to access this but it said my balance had been transferred to another account. Where this account is I have no idea and after hours on phone to customer service I’ve had no success. Not a great start for the program and for Virgin 2.0
Hi Andrew. I have the same issue. Had a Virgin Travel Bank account and went in there today and says nil and balance transferred. I cannot locate an email for the new account either and Virgin number says to call back – too busy etc. Did you have any joy and if so, can you share?
Hi Andrew & Claire,
Same problem – no email with new account details received. I gave up chasing in DEC & JAN due to lengthy waiting times. Successful today on the usual reservations number in under 10mins (Platinum status may have helped). The representative was quick to assist and rectify, apologising and advising: “many customers did not receive the email with their new account details, it’s a common problem”. I hope that helps you.