UPDATE 17 SEPTEMBER 2021 | Virgin Australia’s Velocity Frequent Flyer program today reaffirms its commitment to its loyal Velocity members. The program announced a suite of Velocity Status retention and bonus offers, along with a much-anticipated update on international flight redemptions. We cover all this below!
With freedom of travel being tantalisingly close, it’s a great time for Velocity to launch these offers.
Velocity was making it easy for loyal members to retain their coveted tier benefits, ready for the skies to fully re-open.
Many of our loyal members have earned their highly sought-after Velocity Status memberships over many years and so we’re guaranteeing that eligible members will hold onto their tier benefits with more flying opportunities on the horizon.
Loyalty works both ways and this is our way of reaffirming our commitment to Velocity members who have remained loyal to us. We want to thank them for their ongoing support and we look forward to welcoming them onboard soon.
Acting Velocity Frequent Flyer CEO, David Marr
What are the offers?
Velocity today announced a quartet of offers that are sure to please Velocity members. So strap yourselves in and get excited everyone. There is an offer to please everyone, whether you’re an elite member or not.
Status extension until February 2023
First up, a generous status extension! Eligible Velocity Platinum and Gold members will automatically receive a further extension of their membership until 28 February 2023. You qualify if you booked an eligible Virgin Australia flight by 28 March 2021 under Velocity’s 2020 Status Rewards Program. We’ve provided details of this offer at the end of the article.
Unfortunately, you are not eligible for a February 2023 extension if you failed to qualify for last year’s status extension offer. An easy way to check if you qualified last year? If you see a 30 September 2022 review date for your Gold or Platinum status.
For Velocity Silver members, and ineligible Gold and Platinum members, don’t despair. Velocity didn’t forget you! Those members with a review date between 30 September 2021 and 30 April 2022 will automatically see their status extended by 8 months, until at least 1 June 2022.
Holding Velocity Gold or Platinum status comes with many benefits, including complimentary access to Virgin Australia lounges. Velocity Silver members also get a complimentary lounge invitation once per year. Other benefits include complimentary upgrades, Fly Ahead, higher checked-baggage allowances, priority boarding and preferential seating.
Bonus Status Credits on flights
Next up, bonus Status Credits on flights. If you fly on an eligible Virgin Australia service from 12:01 am AEST 1 October 2021 to 11:59 pm AEDT 31 March 2022, expect to receive a significant boost to your Status Credits tally!
The retrospective offer, valid for all existing and new bookings, will see you earn up to double Status Credits for Economy bookings and up to 45 per cent bonus Status Credits for Business Class bookings.
The updated Status Credit earn rate is shown in bold.
| One-way Miles (zone) | Lite | Choice/Groups | Flex | Business |
| 1 – 750 (1) (e.g. Sydney to Melbourne) | ||||
| 751 – 1,500 (2) (e.g. Melbourne to Sunshine Coast) | ||||
| 1,501+ (3) (e.g. Brisbane to Perth) |
You will receive the bonus Status Credits automatically after travel, without the need to activate the offer.
Status Credits on Reward Flights
Also on offer is Status Credits on Reward Flights. This offer isn’t only exciting – it’s a first for Velocity in over a decade.
For the first time in almost a decade, Velocity will reward members with Status Credits on redemption bookings making it even easier to bank those Status Credits.
Acting Velocity Frequent Flyer CEO, David Marr
For the first time in almost a decade, you will earn Status Credits on Reward Seats. This offer applies to eligible Virgin Australia domestic flights for travel from 1 October 2021 until 31 March 2022. The offer is retrospective, applying to all existing and new Economy and Business Class Reward Seat bookings. You will receive the Status Credits automatically after travel.
The number of Status Credits you will receive on Reward Flights is as follows.
| One-way Miles (Zones) | Economy Reward | Business Reward |
| 1 – 600 (Zone 1) | 5 | 15 |
| 601 – 1,200 (Zone 2) | 7 | 20 |
| 1,201 – 2,400 (Zone 3) | 10 | 30 |
International partner redemptions
And finally, the long-awaited announcement on international partner redemptions is here! Well, almost here. While Velocity hasn’t provided specific details, they have announced that they are gearing up to re-open international redemption bookings on their partner airlines.
If you have been building a Velocity Points balance during the pandemic, you’ll soon be able to redeem your points with Velocity’s host of international carriers directly on the Velocity website.
These redemptions have been paused since March 2020, so this is definitely welcome news.
This announcement comes hot on the heels of Virgin’s commitment to a premium lounge offering in Sydney, Melbourne and Brisbane. These lounges were formally known as The Club and were only open to VIP guests by invite only.
The original article on Velocity’s 2020 Status Reward Program is below.
Status extended to September 2022 after booking one flight
Most Velocity Gold and Platinum members will be interested in maintaining their current status for another year. Velocity answered the call with a challenge: simply book or fly one eligible Virgin Australia flight before 28 March 2021, to qualify. At the time of writing, this offer is now finished, but has been kept here for reference.
The good news is those who participated have now received an 18-month status extension up to 30 September 2022. This is 6 more months than what was previously promised, which is a pleasant surprise. Velocity says the status update will initially show a 31 March 2022 end-date, before being later updated to 30 September 2022.
It’s particularly good news for Platinum Frequent Flyers who have been issued with a new batch of 4 complimentary fare upgrades if they were eligible. As we discuss in the next section, these free upgrades can potentially be used on any paid fare (even the discounted Getaway fare or the free Amex return flight) if certain conditions are met.
Summing up
With the scent of travel freedom wafting in the air, the announcement today of these Status Credit offers by Velocity is welcome news. And it’s also a smart play by Virgin Australia, who understand that people are beginning to refocus on travel in 2022, and will need a reason to keep Velocity top of mind when making their bookings.
The fact that Velocity have confirmed international partner redemptions will soon return is likely a relief for many Velocity members. Especially after the setbacks of 2020, there was always a cloud hanging over Virgin’s international ambitions. Many wondered if they would simply become a domestic-only airline. I think these concerns can now be put to bed.
There is always a dawn after the dark, and for loyal Velocity members, the light is clearly beginning to shine through today.
Originally written by Brandon Loo.
1) What happens to my status credits after the status extension. Hopefully they will still be valid for the following renewal. I’m already 75% there for my Plat renewal and it was a lot of hard work.
2) I took up the recent double status credit offer and next flight is early October. Will I still get the bonus status credits … or maybe a bonus on the double status credits 🙂
Now if they would just start up the transfer to SQ again, I’ll never speak ill of them again.
I had booked an eligible business class saver ticket MEL-ADL for next weekend to collect the double status credits offer, however due to recent lockdown, it is unlikely we will be able to fly.
Will I still receive the double status credits if I end up having to move this flight to a later date?
Do you know if flying MEL – PER via ADL , on a single ticket, will count as 2 eligible flights?
Cheers
cheers
I have 2 flights booked early Jan. I plan to use these to get the bonus points and March 2022 status extension. I may have a few more flights over 2021, but nothing like my past flying that got me to Platinum.
My husband has 2 flights booked for late January. He will then have a lot more flights than me over 2021 due to a change in job.
Our son (under 18) has 8 flights booked for late Jan/Feb 2021 (after my anniversary date).
We will no doubt have at least one family holiday flying Virgin in 2021, with all 4 of us earning status. Plus I get status credits from FlyBuys.
I’m thinking that the best course of action will be to keep the family pool until after my early January flights and my status anniversary. Then switch the status pool to hubby before his and son’s late Jan flights so he picks up status credits from himself and our son, also from me and our daughter for any future flights in 2021. He should be able to hit Gold some time during 2021.
The only downside to this is that I’ll probably lose Platinum in March 2022, but if I’m flying way less than hubby I guess that doesn’t really matter in practical terms, but the thought doesn’t thrill me.
Any advice about what we should do to maximise family pooling given our changed circumstances and all these offers? Is there any benefit to not changing the arrangement after my anniversary?
They snuck that change in didn’t they? Using future flight credits (i have many) but it’s all very unnecessary isn’t it? So hard to get them on the phone.
They promised to keep stsff too….haha!
I want my unused fare refunded. I cant ever use it… No one at Virgin answers airmails!!!
Or is that all null and void now. Guess I’ll find out in a couple of months. Felt a bit guilty doing the QA status challenge but now kinda glad 🙁