Velocity dials back upcoming changes to Status Credits

Velocity Frequent Flyer is making some refinements to its previously announced frequent flyer program changes, and it’s welcome news for travellers who jet overseas with Virgin Australia’s partner airlines.

With Velocity set to scrap Eligible Sectors on 1 October 2025 and replace it with a ‘minimum 50% Virgin Australia earn’ requirement, international flyers would have found it far more challenging to qualify for elite status. The good news is that some of those changes will now be softened.

More ways to qualify for status under the new system

Under the initial changes from 1 October 2025, you would need to earn at least 50% of the Status Credits in each tier solely from Virgin Australia-marketed and operated flights. As Virgin Australia is predominantly a domestic carrier with a limited number of short-haul international routes, this can be quite limiting for long-haul international flyers.

In a welcome enhancement, Velocity has now confirmed that members will be able to qualify for or maintain Status through Status Credits earned on both Virgin Australia-marketed and/or operated flights they’ve personally flown.

This broader definition now encompasses Virgin Australia-operated flights booked through a partner airline. For example, let’s say you book Singapore to Hobart on the Singapore Airlines website. The codeshare sector SQ6444 from Sydney to Hobart, operated by Virgin Australia, will now be counted.

This is in addition to the following types of flights that were already going to count towards the requirement:

• Virgin Australia flights booked with a VA flight number,
• Partner airline flights booked with a VA flight number,

By allowing codeshare flights operated by Virgin Australia to count towards the 50% VA requirement, travellers now have more flexibility in booking with partners such as Singapore Airlines, Qatar Airways and United.

Higher Status Credit earn on select partner flights

Velocity is also adjusting the Status Credit earn rates on key international routes flown by partner airlines. These are still set to decrease from the current rates on 1 October 2025, but two categories will see a boost from the previous announcement when flying on a VA flight number.

From 1 October 2025, members will earn more Status Credits than originally announced when flying on:

• Singapore Airlines flights between Australia and Singapore, and
• United Airlines flights between Australia and the United States.

The new number of Status Credits isn’t significantly higher. For example, Perth-Singapore in Business will net 75 Status Credits one-way, instead of 70 as previously announced.

Updated status tracking is now in the Velocity App

Velocity has updated its website and app to display your progress toward the new tiers, Forever Gold and Platinum Plus. It’s also prematurely showing the ‘50% VA flights’ tracker instead of the previous Eligible Sectors tracker.

But don’t panic! The Velocity website clearly outlines that Eligible Sectors will still be considered for status qualification or renewal up to 30 September 2025. As of 1 October 2025, the new ‘50% VA flights’ rule will be in effect.