How to Change Your Name on Velocity After Marriage

Changing your name on your Velocity Frequent Flyer account after marriage is a simple document-based process. Velocity typically completes this within five working days, and your Points, Status Credits and tier all stay exactly where they are. The key is everything around the account. Your travel ID, your existing bookings, and how you earn your points all need to align with whichever name you choose. Getting the order of operations wrong is what actually costs people points.

Decide which name you will travel under first

Before making changes to your Velocity account, decide which name will appear on your passport and driver’s licence, as that decision drives everything else. On any international trip, the name on your booking must match your passport. Velocity generally only credits Points and Status Credits when the name on the booking matches the name on your account.

That creates a simple sequencing rule. Update your travel documents first, then your Velocity account, then make new bookings in the new name. Velocity only requires your account, booking and travel ID to match.

The documents Velocity accepts

Velocity accepts any of the following as proof of a name change:

• A marriage certificate
• A divorce document
• A deed poll certificate
• Other reasonable supporting documentation

For a post-marriage change, the document you want is the official marriage certificate issued by your state or territory’s Births, Deaths and Marriages (BDM) registry. The decorative certificate signed at the ceremony is generally not accepted as proof of identity, so the BDM-issued version is the safer upload. If you did not order one at the time, apply through your state registry and have it in hand before starting the Velocity request.

Have a clear, legible scan ready. A blurry phone photo can cause your submission to be returned.

Step by step: changing your name in My Velocity

Changing your name works differently from other personal details. You can change your address, phone number and email yourself through the website. However, the Velocity terms and conditions require supporting documents before you change your name, sex and date of birth. Here is the process:

1. Log in to My Velocity at velocityfrequentflyer.com using your membership number and password.
2. Click the drop-down menu in the top right corner and select Account Details.
3. Look for the purple information box that asks “Need to update your name?” and click the “Request an update” link.
4. Follow the prompts and upload your marriage certificate (or other supporting document).
5. Submit the request. Velocity advises that it will update the name within five working days.
6. Log back in after five working days to confirm the change has gone through. Velocity suggests checking yourself rather than waiting for a confirmation email.

If you get stuck, or you cannot log in because your email has also changed, call the Membership Contact Centre on 13 18 75. The phone team cannot usually change your name on the spot, but they can walk you through the document submission and resolve login problems.

Once the change is confirmed, update your digital membership card in the My Velocity app and re-save your Velocity details anywhere they are stored. This could include your Virgin Australia traveller profile or a corporate booking tool.

Your Points, Status Credits and tier are safe

A name change is an update to your existing account, not a replacement of it. Your Velocity Points balance, your Status Credits, and your current tier carry straight across. And the change doesn’t affect any existing expiry or qualification periods. Your Points remain subject to the usual activity rules, so if the wedding and honeymoon have kept you away from earning, read our guide to Velocity Points expiry to keep your balance active.

This is also why you should never solve a name mismatch by opening a second Velocity account in your married name. A new account starts with no tier, no Status Credits, and no earning history. That last point matters more than it used to because Velocity’s Forever Gold lifetime tier counts every Status Credit earned since 1 February 2013, and that tally is tied to a single account. Splitting your flying across two memberships permanently undercounts your lifetime progress. For how the tiers and thresholds work, see our Velocity status guide.

One final point for couples, Velocity Family Pooling does not require matching surnames. It only requires the same residential address, so a name change has no bearing on your ability to pool Points and Status Credits.

Existing bookings do not update automatically

Changing the name on your Velocity account does nothing to flights you have already booked. The booking remains in Virgin Australia’s reservation system under whatever name you booked at the time. It will stay that way unless you correct it directly with the airline.

For Virgin Australia bookings, contact the airline before check-in with your marriage certificate and photo ID and ask for a name correction. Virgin Australia permits corrections where the same person’s legal name has changed. Transferring a ticket to another person is not permitted, and corrections must be made before check-in.

Reward bookings on partner airlines are where things get complicated. When you redeem Velocity Points on a partner carrier, the ticket is issued against the partner’s systems. Some partners will not amend a surname on an issued reward ticket at all, leaving cancellation and rebooking as the only fix. If you have partner reward travel booked and a name change pending, this is the approach we’d recommend. Fly that booking under the name it was issued in, using ID that still matches, and change your Velocity name after the trip.

Finally, if a mismatch has already cost you Points, lodge a missing Points claim with Velocity. Wait 14 days after your flight before submitting a claim, then do so within six months. Virgin Australia claims take up to seven days to process, and partner airline claims take four to six weeks.

Summing Up

A surname change can affect multiple accounts, and your frequent flyer memberships belong on the same checklist as your bank and your licence. If you hold a points-earning credit card, tell your bank so the name on your card matches your other records. Or if you are reviewing your cards anyway, our guide to the best Velocity Frequent Flyer credit cards covers the current options.

Note that Velocity’s Membership Pause protects your status during parental leave. Our Velocity parental leave guide explains how it works. For everything else about the program, start with our Velocity Frequent Flyer guides.

Frequently Asked Questions