Recent changes to the Velocity Frequent Flyer program have shaken up the way Status Credits are earned from flying. From 1 October 2025, at least 50% of Velocity Status Credits must be earned from Virgin Australia-marketed flights. But there are still other means of contributing to your Status Credits balance, including earning through the Flybuys program.
While Status Credits earned from shopping at Coles, Liquorland and First Choice Liquor won’t amount to much on their own, they will come in handy if you find yourself just short of reaching or requalifying for your Velocity status.
Want to learn more about Status Credits? Check out our video below:
Maximising Velocity Status Credits earn by grocery shopping
Flybuys is the loyalty program used by Coles, Coles Online, Liquorland and First Choice Liquor. Other retailers in Australia participate in the Flybuys program, but only these four retailers offer the ability to earn Velocity Status Credits.
By linking your Flybuys and Velocity Frequent Flyer accounts, you’ll earn one Status Credit for every $100 spent on eligible purchases at Coles, Coles Online, Liquorland and First Choice Liquor. Exclusions apply, such as gift card purchases, tobacco products and charity donations.
At the end of every month, your total eligible spend across the shops is tallied up. You will earn one Status Credit for every whole $100 spent (no partial credits are awarded). Individual transactions do not need to be above $100 – they will all be added together.
A limit of 10 Velocity Status Credits per month applies. If multiple people in your household use the same Flybuys account, Status Credits will only be awarded to the Velocity account linked to the primary account holder.
Over the course of 12 months, you could earn a maximum of 120 Velocity Status credits from a $12,000 spend. This figure is definitely doable for a large family.
Velocity usually posts the Status Credits within two weeks after the end of the month. You’ll see the entry appear in your Velocity account as ‘Flybuys Status Credit earn’.
As usual, you’ll continue to earn one Flybuys point per dollar spent at these stores when scanning your Flybuys card. Every 1,000 Flybuys points can be converted to 500 Velocity Points.
Boost your rewards at the checkout with a points-earning credit card!
American Express Velocity Platinum
- Sign-up Bonus:
- Up to 100,000 bonus Velocity Points¹
- Rewards Earn Rate:
- 1.25 Velocity Points earned per $1 on all eligible spend except for government bodies⁵. 2.25 Velocity Points per $1 spent on selected Virgin Australia purchases⁵. 0.5 Velocity Points per $1 on Government spend⁵
- Annual Fee:
- $440 p.a.
- Offer expires
- 30 April 2026
- The American Express Velocity Platinum Card has 70,000 bonus Velocity Points on offer for new American Express Card Members who apply, are approved and spend $5,000 on eligible purchases within the first 3 months of approval, plus an additional 30,000 Velocity Points when you spend a minimum of $1 on your Card within 90 days of paying your second year annual Card Fee¹. (Offer ends 30 April 2026. New Amex Card Members only. T&Cs apply.) Includes several perks such as Virgin Australia Lounge Access² every time you fly domestically with Virgin Australia, 2 VA Guest Lounge Passes³ each year and a Complimentary Domestic Return Virgin Australia Flight⁷.
Why should I earn Velocity Status Credits at Coles?
Topping up your Status Credits balance by shopping at Coles can help you bridge the gap if you’re trying to earn or retain Velocity Silver, Gold or Platinum status. There’s no way to earn Velocity status without flying at all. In fact, once the new Velocity Frequent Flyer changes come into effect, you’ll need to earn 50% of your Status Credits from Virgin Australia-marketed flights. So, Status Credits earned from Flybuys will only contribute a fraction, but it could be enough to get you across the line.
For example, a couple who spends $115 per week on groceries at Coles and $40 per month at Liquorland and scans their Flybuys card on every transaction can expect to receive five Status Credits for that month. If they keep that up for a whole year, that’s already 60 Status Credits just from their standard monthly shop.
To put it into perspective, under the new Velocity Frequent Flyer changes you’d need to spend $720 on Choice, Flex or Business fares (or $1,440 on Lite fares) to earn 60 Status Credits.
The only other way to earn Velocity Status Credits without flying is with an eligible credit card that awards Status Credits. Otherwise, you could also build your balance by flying with partner airlines (note that from 1 October 2025, Velocity will reduce the number of Status Credits earned flying on partner airlines) or through Family Pooling.
Also read: The top 5 ways to earn Velocity Points without flying in 2024
How to earn Velocity Status Credits by shopping at Coles
- Sign up for Flybuys – it’s free to join.
- Also join Velocity Frequent Flyer for free if you do not yet have an account.
- Link your Flybuys and Velocity accounts.
- Scan your Flybuys card whenever you shop at Coles, Coles Online, Liquorland or First Choice Liquor.
Watch this video to learn more about Flybuys:
Summing up
If you don’t already shop with Flybuys and you want to achieve or maintain Velocity status, then it could be worth switching some of your shopping to Coles, Liquorland or First Choice Liquor, assuming prices are similar to what you’re currently paying. The important thing is to not drastically change your spending habits just for the sake of chasing Status Credits. It’s a nice bonus on the side, but shouldn’t be your main objective.
The Velocity Status Credits earned through Flybuys can add up over a year. Remember, you’re limited to 10 Status Credits per month, or 120 over 12 months. This can be useful in getting you over the line when earning or retaining status, provided you also spend enough with Virgin Australia to earn the required Status Credits from flying.
And if earning Status Credits from grocery shopping isn’t a priority, you’ll still earn Flybuys points when scanning your card at the checkout. Here’s how you can get the most out of your Flybuys points.
This article was originally written by Evin Tan Khiew.
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Not any more.
Ceased from 1 July 2025.
Refer Flybuys partner page, not even mentioned by Velocity!!
Hi G, we can see what you mean, with the addition of a tile to the Flybuys website. We’ve looked into this, and have been advised it was published in error, so there is presently no change. Statement from Flybuys: “The information that appeared on the Flybuys website earlier today was incorrect and published in error. There is no change to the Status Credit earning arrangement between Flybuys and Velocity Frequent Flyer.”
Can you earn status credits at Coles fuel station purchases?
In particular for fuel?
Hi Team, I called Flybuys today as my status credits still haven’t been credited for Dec and Jan, they told me status credits applied for each individual transaction over $100 and not for each $100 spent in any given month like before. I can’t see any change in the Velocity T&Cs, do you have any info?
I also have not had any Status Credits applied 30th June 2023. How often should they be credited? Anyone know?
Hi – this kind of relates to the double status credit offer. I have just achieved the 800 SC to retain my platinum status with 1 month still to run before review. Ultimately this means any SC I earn in the next month are worthless as they do not get rolled into the new year which is frustrating when there is a double SC offer. My question is can I pool them to a family member and then switch the pool to revert back to me once my new year starts?
Hi David
Yes, it is definitely possible to do this. Just make sure to be strategic and select a family member that will qualify or be set up to qualify for a higher status level within their qualifying period.
This is a great perk of FlyBuys, especially when combined with the 100 SCs you can get for spending $50k/yr on the AMEX Velocity Platinum. It’s actually changed our grocery and booze shopping habits from probably a 50/50 Woolworths/Coles mix to 99% Coles/LiquorLand/1StChoice. So 220 SCs/yr – essentially guaranteed Silver renewal – effectively for free.