This guide is worth reading alongside this piece on the best use of Qantas Points. Both programs have their own strengths and weaknesses which, in order to get the most from your points, are worth being aware of.
1. Redeem for Business Class on domestic Virgin Australia-operated flights
Redeeming Velocity points for Virgin Australia-operated flights represents the best value in the following situations:
- When travelling domestically in Business Class with multiple people: I have booked Business awards for four out of a total of eight seats in the Business Class cabin of some of Virgin Australia’s domestic flights
- On shorter domestic flights: where peak-time Economy fares are relatively expensive, you can often book a Business Class short-haul domestic redemption for 15,500 points
- Velocity can have better award seat availability than Qantas: Virgin generally has a greater supply of seats, at reduced cost in terms of points and cash, which means a more competitive point-per-point value than their main competitor. They have also priced their award chart at slightly less than Qantas’ for the same flight on the same route. For example, a Business Class seat on a Sydney-Los Angeles flight costs 95,500 Velocity points vs 96,000 Qantas points but accompanying taxes are also usually a fair bit lower, meaning a lower cash co-payment
Virgin Australia A330 Business Class
2. Transfer your points to KrisFlyer for better award space and/or a free stopover
Singapore Airlines releases more Saver award space to its own members, so sometimes it is worthwhile to transfer your Velocity points to KrisFlyer.
In addition, KrisFlyer no longer applies fuel surcharges to its own flights.
Whether you use Velocity points or KrisFlyer miles will depend on the specific Singapore Airlines redemption you have in mind, and you’ll need to compare the points and taxes in both Velocity and KrisFlyer to come to the best decision for your situation.
Singapore Airlines (old) A380 First Class
And if you transfer enough points and book a return ticket on KrisFlyer, you can get another perk, which Virgin does not offer: a free stopover.
For example, given that you currently have to fly from Australia to New York via Singapore and Frankfurt (although direct flights are back from October 2018), if flying on a return ticket, you can request a stopover (a stop in a city for more than 24 hours) in one of those cities for free. Or, if you’re on a one-way Saver ticket, you can just buy that stopover for US$100.
You could get a free/cheap stopover in Singapore or Europe on your way to the US
3. Fly Premium Economy to the US for 71,700 points one-way
With Business and First Class seats on nonstop flights to North America hard to come by, a good compromise is to look at Premium Economy.
On Virgin Australia, you’ll get superb food and a comfortable seat with less attentive customer service than in Business Class.
Redemptions from Sydney/Melbourne/Brisbane to LA cost 71,700 Velocity points one-way.
4. Plan your points transfers with Velocity’s bonus transfer promotions
Velocity are unique in our region in consistently offering the opportunity of transferring in from credit card programs with an additional 15-60% bonus.
This is, by far, the optimal time to transfer and book your Velocity reward seats for any of the above redemption opportunities.
On top of the cheaper pricing I explained above, you’ll then be able to gain even more value from your bank’s flexible points balance. Here’s to hoping this pattern of offers continues.
5. Fly in Business Class to the South Pacific for 71,000 points return
Virgin Australia flies direct from the East Coast to Vanuatu, Fiji and Samoa. These flights fall into Zone 3 (1,201-2,400 miles), meaning it costs only 35,500 miles for a one-way Business Class ticket, which is the same as a flight from the East Coast to Perth.
And you’ll save money on the ground being in a cheaper destination than Western Australia.
During select dates, Virgin Australia flies its A330 with fully-flat Business Class beds from Sydney and Melbourne to Nadi, where you can wake up to this view
6. Fly in a lie-flat seat to Honolulu from 65,000 points one-way
Whilst Qantas almost never releases Business Class award seats on its flights between Sydney and Honolulu, Velocity members have access to more ample Hawaiian Airlines availability from Brisbane (65,000 points one-way) and Sydney (78,000 points).
These routes enjoy Hawaiian’s newest Business Class seats, albeit without direct-aisle access for all passengers.
You’ll need to search for award space on the American Airlines website and then call Velocity to book, with more details in our using points to fly to Hawaii guide.
What’s not so good?
There are definitely weak points to Velocity. Specifically, these include:
- Carrier Charges added to all Virgin Australia and some Delta redemptions
- A very discouraging and heavy charge of US$205 per Business Class and US$300 per First Class sector flown on Etihad, with its new Etihad Airways Reward Seat Carrier Charge, making a return First Class ticket from Australia to Europe via Abu Dhabi US$1200 more expensive
- Virgin’s limited international network of their own flights means you have to redeem Velocity points for partners for most international travel. With two partner redemption tables, the more expensive partners (including Singapore Airlines, Etihad, Air New Zealand and Hawaiian Airlines) are not as affordable
- You cannot mix cabins or carriers on Velocity redemptions
Summing up
While there are a number of downsides to the Velocity program, it still offers good value for Business and First Class redemptions across its own network (flying on Virgin Australia-operated flights) as well as Singapore Airlines, for which you can book seats in all cabins.
And Velocity’s transfer bonus promotions are an added incentive to make sure this program does not disappear from your frequent flyer repertoire.
Looking for more inspiration for how to spend your hard-earned frequent flyer points?
Here is a comprehensive list of all of our Best Uses of Points guides. There may be some overlap but each guide has its own twist.
Qantas Frequent Flyer
- Best uses of Qantas Points
- ‘Ultimate’ uses of Qantas Points
- Best uses of 60,000 Qantas Points
- Best uses of 80,000 Qantas Points
- Best uses of 100,000 Qantas Points
- When it makes sense to use your Qantas Points for domestic travel in Economy (and when it doesn’t)
- Best uses of Qantas Points from the East Coast
- Best uses of Qantas Points from Perth
- Reader responses: what is the best use of Qantas Points?
- Seven of the cheapest Qantas Points redemptions for luxurious Emirates flights
- The cheapest ways to fly Cathay Pacific First Class with Qantas Points
Velocity Frequent Flyer
- Best uses of Velocity Points
- Best uses of 80,000 Velocity Points
- Best uses of 100,000 Velocity Points
- Five flight redemptions that maximise your Velocity points balance
American Express Membership Rewards
Asia Miles
KrisFlyer
Etihad Guest
- Best uses of Etihad Guest miles
- Etihad Guest vs Velocity for Virgin Australia flights comparison guide
Hi, in the article you state that “… a Business Class seat on a Sydney-Los Angeles flight costs 95,500 Velocity points…”
How do you get such a cheap flight? I can only see flights for 600,000 points – many times your example.
Am I looking in the wrong spot?
Hi Simon
No, you’re looking in the correct spot, however what you are viewing is the ‘any seat’ reward price rather than the much cheaper, but also more limited ‘reward seat’ flights. A reward seat in Business class between Sydney and Los Angeles costs 95,500 Velocity points, however these are not always available. The ‘any seat’ are always available so long as a Business class seat is available for purchase by cash. The number of points required for these seats is based on the cash cost of the seat and will fluctuate up and down. This is the reason why the number of points is so much more, and also highlights the excellent value you can receive when you do manage to find ‘reward seat’ availability.
I read a few articles here about the benefit of transferring the Credit cards points (i.e. ANZ Rewards) to Velocity first and then from Velocity to Krisflyer to get a better rates. After 1st Jan 2019, will this benefit still apply or better off transfering direct to KF whenever possible?
It really depends on the transfer rate from your particular credit card to Velocity and KrisFlyer. Can you provide that info?
i guess, the amex. platinum edge card will not get us into the plaza lounge in brisbane’s international – or the centurion lounge at Huston. !
You won’t get access to any Plaza Premium lounges with the Platinum Edge card but you can get a day pass for American Express Lounges for $50 USD.
From our guide to American Express Lounges:
“Access is free for Platinum Card and Centurion members, as well as either their immediate family (spouse or domestic partner and children under 18) or two other guests.
One-day passes can be purchased by other American Express cardholders for $50 USD subject to space availability and one child under 18 can enter with you for free.”
I am not able to find Sydney to Fiji @ 35K business. It starts at 140K… how far ahead should i be looking at?
Hi Joe,
You might get more responses if you post this in our Questions section where Keith and many others will be able to answer.
Hi Keith, you’re amazing! So helpful to so many people. I’m in Brisbane, trying to book a return trip to Europe (or UK) for me and my wife, and 2 kids (15 and 11), but our rather healthy Velocity Virgin points total of 550,000 doesn’t seem to be enough to even buy us 4 return economy seats. Perhaps I’m doing it incorrectly? But the points I’ve noticed quoted in other countries seem much better buying than what I can find here. I think also the practical side of the booking process is confounding me.. If you have a spare minute, could you please suggest the best practical workflow to turn this into a reality? We hope to go in September/October 2017, and I think already availabilities are very low on the Virgin website, but I’d love your advice, if you get a minute?
You have run across the problem where saver award availability is not available – this is the cheaper award redemptions that we all need to hunt for to get best value from your points. Best workflow is to start with say 2 passengers if you are hunting for a trip for 4 (as you may have to split your travel dates), and then work through the availability day by day on the Virgin website. The other option is using a (great) tool like AwardNexus which is paid, but makes things much faster.
Hi Keith,
I’m looking into using my Velocity points to redeem economy flight from Sydney to Hong Kong via Singapore. Is this possible to be done via Virgin Velocity, I.e. without converting the points into Krisflyer?
Cheers, J
Yes, this is totally possible… you can even look at availability and book online using the Velocity website (not for First Class though). You’ll pay more Velocity points than KrisFlyer miles but will pay much lower taxes when using Velocity points too, so there’s a useful trade-off to consider.
I was informed that booking flights within USA using Virgin FF points one has to go to Velocity website but I was unable to find any flights using FF points. I notice in one of your posts you have stated “call Velocity direct…” seems this is what I have to do? I may have to wait a little while as I was trying to book for June 2017 so to far ahead obviously.
You may be looking a bit far ahead, but I doubt that’s the issue. Only some Virgin America routes show on the Virgin Australia site, that’s the main reason you need to call.
If you want more specific help then go ahead and ask a question in the Questions section where more people will see your question and you should be able to get a detailed answer.
Hi there,
I am trying to investigate points required for a Business Class flight from Melbourne to London on Singapore Airlines via the Virgin Australia site. No matter how far ahead I’m looking – even as far as the calendar will allow – there seems to be no availability – other than business seats for 843,500 points which not only seems crazy, but contradicts what I read in this article about Business one way being 139,000 pts. What is the best way to look for flights? Am I looking too far ahead for Singapore Airlines to release seats?
You might be looking too far ahead, not sure exactly when SQ release their award seats to partners but that could be a factor. That said it has been a glitchy week for SQ space showing on VA website so worth picking up the phone to try and confirm either way.
Exactly how does one go about redeeming the Australia-Abu Dhabi-New York route, the online system does not seem to be able to bring up that flight
You can call Velocity directly to make the booking (and do some research on availability). Etihad will show availability in segments only – so you’ll need to search JFK-AUH and AUH-SYD independently. If you find flights that connect within 24 hours of each other you can book them as one award over the phone instead of two which the online booking system requires you to do.
I might write a separate post on this…
As a Platinum in both Qantas Frequent Flyer and Virgin Australia Velocity schemes for a fair few years running, I hands down give Velocity as the better scheme for both earning and burning points.
For premium class travellers, Virgin point earn (especially domestic Business earn for it’s Platinums) is fantastic and Virgin gives amazing availability for premium redemptions on it’s own metal. Domestic Business redemptions are so widely available that if coming back on an international leg, I can always redeem a domestic business connection flight on arrival to get me home.
Qantas is very stingy in comparison, even to its Platinums, and it’s only sweet spots in terms of point earn and burn are First Class tier credit earn (due to Virgin giving the same tier credits to both Business and First) and that you can search more partner awards online via it’s engine than you can compared to Virgin’s engine.
And going beyond just earn and burn respects, Velocity is a better program overall too. I just get so much back from the program.
Probably also worth mentioning the family benefit that comes once per year with status on Virgin. I’m not sure if Qantas would do this informally on request but the ability to lock in award redemption for one trip a year is appealing.
Very true, thanks!
I think this post is focusing on the best use of VA points rather than VA’s overall benefit cf QFF. Otherwise we could also mention family pooling including status credit, and maternity leave to retain status…etc, which is beyond the scope of this post.