Best Virgin Australia Velocity credit card sign-up offers

With up to 150,000 bonus Virgin Australia Velocity Points to be had from a single application, now could be the perfect time to re-assess your points strategy – and potentially, grow that points pool even further through a new credit card. 

We've crunched the numbers to uncover the 15 most rewarding Velocity credit card sign-up offers in Australia, including direct-earning Velocity credit cards, as well as 'indirect earning' products, where points are manually converted from a bank loyalty program to Velocity Frequent Flyer.  

15 best Virgin Australia Velocity Frequent Flyer credit card sign-up offers

1. Citi Prestige Mastercard

Sign-up Bonus: You could unlock 300,000 bonus Citibank Rewards points when you apply and spend $7,500 on the Citi Prestige Mastercard within 60 days of approval. When converted into Velocity Points at a 2:1 rate, that's equal to 150,000 bonus Velocity Points.

When applying for this card, you also have the option of requesting a Linked Diners Club Card: however, spending on the Diners Club card doesn't count towards that $7,500 tally to earn your bonus points: for this, only Mastercard spends are counted.

Rewards: When using the Mastercard overseas, and in Australia with major airlines, chain hotels and restaurants, you can earn 3 Citi Points (1.5 Velocity Points) per $1 spent. At major Australian supermarkets, petrol stations and national retailers, you'll get 2 Citi Points (1 Velocity Point) per dollar spent, and on all other eligible purchases in Australia, the earn rate is 1 Citi Point (0.5 Velocity Points) per dollar spent.

When using the optional Linked Diners Club Card, you'll earn a flat 2 Citi Points (1 Velocity Point) per dollar spent, both in Australia and overseas – so be sure to use the Mastercard when dining, staying in hotels and booking flights to earn the most points. All government-related spend earns no points on either card, however.

Annual Fee: $350 in the first year, $700 thereafter. The fee remains the same whether or not you opt for the Linked Diners Club Card, and whether or not you have additional cardholders.

2. Westpac Altitude Black Mastercard

Sign-up Bonus: Eligible new customers can earn up to 120,000 bonus Velocity Points via Westpac's Altitude Black Mastercard and its Altitude Velocity rewards path.

Simply apply and spend $6,000 or more on eligible purchases within 120 days of card approval to receive an initial 90,000 bonus Velocity Points. Then, earn an additional 30,000 bonus Velocity Points after your first eligible purchase in the second year of your card account being active.

Rewards: Eligible purchases generate 0.75 Velocity Points per dollar spent, excluding certain transactions such as payments to the ATO, which earn no points.

Annual Fee: $250 card fee, plus a $50 per year 'Altitude Velocity fee'.

3. Virgin Australia Velocity High Flyer Card

Sign-up Bonus: Apply and you could earn 25,000 bonus Velocity Points per month for the first four months, when you spend at least $3,500 per month. That's up to 100,000 bonus Velocity Points.

Rewards: Collect one Velocity point per $1 spent up to $8,000 per month, and 0.5 Velocity Points per $1 spent thereafter: except on government and government-related charges, which don't earn points.

Annual Fee: $289, for which you'll also receive a $129 Virgin Australia flight voucher plus two Virgin Australia lounge passes every year.

4. Virgin Australia Velocity Flyer Card

Sign-up Bonus: Apply and spend at least $1,500 per statement period for the first four months. This provides 25,000 bonus Velocity Points per month, up to 100,000 bonus Velocity Points overall.

Rewards: 0.66 Velocity Points per $1 spent up to $1,500 per month and 0.5 Velocity Points thereafter, except on government and government-related payments which don't award points.

Annual Fee: $64 in the first year, $129 thereafter. Again, you'll also receive a $129 Virgin Australia flight voucher when making a retail purchase in the two months prior to requesting the voucher.

5. Citi Premier Mastercard

Sign-up Bonus: New customers who apply and spend $4,000 in the first 90 days from approval on the Citi Premier Mastercard can receive 200,000 bonus Citibank Rewards points, worth 100,000 Velocity Points following a 2:1 conversion.

Rewards: On eligible Mastercard spend, earn 2 Citi Points (1 Velocity Point) per $1 charged overseas, and in Australia when shopping online. All other eligible transactions within Australia earn 1 Citi Point (0.5 Velocity Points) per dollar spent. A cap of 200,000 Citi Points (100,000 Velocity Points) applies per 12 month period.

Separately, the optional Linked Diners Club Card generates a flat 2 Citi Points (1 Velocity Point) per dollar spent on eligible purchases at home and abroad, without capping. As with Citi's other cards, points aren't earned on government and government-related transactions.

Annual Fee: $150 in the first year, and in each subsequent year if you spend $48,000 on eligible purchases or cash advances in the previous year – otherwise $300. The Linked Diners Club Card is available at no extra charge.

6. St.George Amplify Signature Visa with Amplify Points

Sign-up Bonus: Apply online for the Amplify Signature with Amplify Points card and spend $12,000 on eligible purchases in the first year to unlock up to 150,000 bonus Amplify Points.

With Amplify Points once again converting to Velocity at a 2:1 rate, that's a reward of up to 75,000 bonus Velocity Points.

Rewards: Earn the equivalent of 0.75 Velocity Points per $1 spent on eligible purchases, uncapped: further boosted to 0.825 Velocity Points per dollar spent via St.George's 'birthday bonus', being a 10% bonus counted on all the points earned via the card over the past year (or part-year, for new customers), except on the already generous sign-up bonus.

Bank disclaimer: Eligible purchases do not include interest, fees and charges, cash or ATM cash advances, cash equivalent transactions, gambling transactions, a purchase from or payment to a local, state or federal government or government related agency, BPAY or similar transactions (such as Post Billpay), refunds and balance transfers debited to the card account.

Annual Fee: $199 first year card fee ($279 card fee thereafter), with no additional cardholder fee.

7. ANZ Rewards Black

Sign-up Bonus: Receive 150,000 bonus ANZ Reward Points and $150 back to your new card when you apply and spend $3,000 on eligible purchases in the first three months from approval.

Converted to Velocity at a 2:1 rate – as is once again possible from ANZ Rewards – that's 75,000 bonus Velocity points.

Rewards: Earn 2 ANZ Reward Points (1 Velocity point) per $1 spent on eligible purchases up to and including $5,000 per statement period, and 1 ANZ Reward Point (0.5 Velocity points) per $1 spent above $5,000 per statement period.

Annual Fee: $375, although taking into account the $150 statement credit in the first year, the annual fee drops to $225 in the first year. There's also a $65 fee per additional cardholder per year.

8. AMEX Velocity Platinum Card

Sign-up Bonus: Apply, be approved and spend $3,000 on your new card within the first three months to earn 75,000 bonus Velocity Points.

Rewards: Take home 1.25 Velocity Points per $1 spent on most purchases, except at Virgin Australia where you'll earn a higher 2.25 Velocity Points per $1 spent, and at government bodies in Australia where you'll earn a reduced 0.5 Velocity Points per $1 spent.

Annual Fee: $375, with no additional cardholder fees, and a complimentary domestic return flight included every year.

9. AMEX Platinum Charge Card

Sign-up Bonus: Receive 150,000 bonus Membership Rewards points when you apply, are approved and spend $5,000 on the purchases with the first three months.

That's worth 75,000 Velocity Points when converted at a 2:1 rate.

Rewards: Most purchases accrue 2.25 Membership Rewards points per dollar spent (1.125 Velocity Points after conversion). However, government payments earn at a reduced rate of one Membership Rewards point per dollar spent (0.5 Velocity Points).

Annual Fee: $1,450, although the points you can earn are uncapped and can be converted to your preferred frequent flyer program as desired.

10. NAB Rewards Signature Card

Sign-up Bonus: Receive 100,000 bonus NAB Rewards points when you apply and spend $3,000 on everyday purchases within the first 60 days of opening your account, plus 40,000 bonus NAB Rewards points when you keep your card for over 12 months. Converted to Velocity at a 2:1 rate, that's worth up to 70,000 bonus Velocity Points.

Rewards: Earn 3.75 NAB Rewards points (1.875 Velocity Points) per $1 spent on overseas purchases and with Webjet in Australia; 2.5 NAB Rewards points (1.25 Velocity Points) per dollar spent at major department and hardware stores, and 1.25 NAB Rewards point (0.625 Velocity Points) per $1 spent on all other purchases.

Annual Fee: $295 (reduced to $195 in the first year), with no additional cardholder fee.

11. Westpac Altitude Platinum Mastercard

Sign-up Bonus: Apply, select Altitude Velocity as your loyalty option and spend $4,000 on eligible purchases within 90 days of card approval to earn 70,000 bonus Velocity Points.

Rewards: Earn 0.5 Velocity Points per $1 spent on eligible purchases, uncapped. Certain transactions, such as ATO payments, don't earn points.

Annual Fee: $99 card fee first year ($150 card fee thereafter), plus a yearly 'Altitude Velocity fee' of $50. No additional cardholder fee applies.

12. Citi Rewards Mastercard

Sign-up Bonus: Apply and spend $3,000 on eligible purchases using the Mastercard within 90 days of approval, to unlock 60,000 bonus Velocity Points.

An optional Linked Diners Club Card can also be added to this account, but only eligible purchases made using the Citi Rewards Mastercard are counted towards that spending tally for bonus points.

Rewards: Although the signup bonus is provided in straight Velocity Points, the rewards you'll earn from everyday purchases are instead served via the Citibank Rewards program, adopting a 2.5:1 conversion rate from Citi Points to Velocity Points.

On eligible Mastercard purchases, earn 1 Citi Point (0.4 Velocity Points) per $1 spent overseas (uncapped), as well as on eligible domestic spends up to $10,000 per statement period.

The optional Linked Diners Club Card instead provides a flat 2 Citi Points (0.8 Velocity Points) per dollar spent on eligible purchases at home and abroad. Neither card provides points on government and government-related charges.

Annual Fee: $99 in the first year and $199 in subsequent years, with no added fee for the optional Linked Diners Club Card.

13. Commonwealth Bank Ultimate Awards Mastercard

Eligible new customers can earn 100,000 bonus CBA Awards points when applying for the CBA Ultimate Awards Card and spending $5,000 on eligible purchases within 90 days of card activation.

Convert those points to Velocity at a 2:1 rate, and that bounty is worth 50,000 bonus Velocity Points.

Rewards: Earn 3 Awards points (1.5 Velocity Points) per $1 spent on international transactions; 2 Awards points (1 Velocity Point) per $1 spent at major supermarkets, department stores and petrol stations; and 1 Award point (0.5 Velocity Points) per $1 spent elsewhere, up to $10,000/month. Above this threshold, all eligible spends earn 0.5 Awards points (0.25 Velocity Points) per $1 spent.

Annual Fee: There's a monthly fee of $35, but its waived if you spend at least $2,500 in your statement period and receive statements electronically, with no fee for an additional cardholder.

14. AMEX Explorer Credit Card

Sign-up Bonus: Start your next adventure with 70,000 bonus Membership Rewards points when you apply, are approved and spend $4,000 on purchases within the first three months.

Given the 2:1 conversion rate that applies when shifting points from Membership Rewards to Velocity Frequent Flyer, that's 35,000 bonus Velocity Points on the table.

Rewards: Earn 2 Membership Rewards points (1 Velocity Point) per $1 spent on most eligible purchases, except at government bodies in Australia, where you'll earn a reduced 1 Membership Rewards point (0.5 Velocity Points) per dollar spent.

Annual Fee: $395, with no fees for up to four additional cardholders.

15. ANZ Rewards Platinum

Sign-up Bonus: Pocket 50,000 bonus ANZ Reward Points with your new ANZ Rewards Platinum card, when you apply and spend $1,500 on eligible purchases in the first three months from approval. Following the same 2:1 conversion rate to Velocity as ANZ Rewards Black, that puts your bonus at 25,000 bonus Velocity points.

Rewards: Collect 1.5 ANZ Reward Points (0.75 Velocity points) per $1 spent on eligible purchases up to and including $2,000 per statement period, and 0.5 ANZ Reward Points (0.25 Velocity points) per $1 spent above $2,000 per statement period.

Annual Fee: $95. There's also a $65/year fee per additional cardholder.

Ranking Order & Updates

Ranking Criteria

This page offers a list of the most rewarding Virgin Australia Velocity Frequent Flyer credit card sign-up offers in Australia, as available at the time of publishing, across both direct-earning Velocity cards, and indirect-earning cards, where spenders first earn points in a bank's own loyalty program and can then convert them into Velocity Points at a later date.

This list includes personal credit cards and general, public sign-up offers, but does not include business or corporate credit cards, or deals that are private, restricted or targeted, with the exception of any offers targeted to Executive Traveller readers, which may offer more points or reduced fees compared to a bank's standard public offering.

Credit cards listed above as part of this 'top 15' appear in descending order based on the total number of Velocity Points offered via the card's sign-up bonus.

Where more than one card is offering the same number of bonus points, other factors such as annual fees, minimum spend requirements, points earning rates for ongoing purchases and sign-up incentives such as statement credits are considered in determining rank.

Ranking Updates

These rankings were last updated on January 2023, and since the last update, we've seen a number of interesting changes.

AMEX has lowered the offer on its Platinum Charge Card considerably – down from 150,000 Velocity Points, to 75,000 Velocity Points – dropping from first place to ninth on the list.

Over at Citi, the New York-based banking giant tops this month's list with a 150,000 point offer on its Citi Prestige Mastercard.

Virgin Money continues to put its best foot forward with six-figure offers across both the Velocity Flyer Card and Velocity High Flyer Card.

Add to that, NAB has launched a new deal on its Rewards Signature card worth 70,000 bonus Velocity Points, with the ANZ Rewards Black also having a new 75,000-point deal.

What are Virgin Australia Velocity credit cards and how do they work?

As the name suggests, credit cards affiliated with Virgin Australia's Velocity Frequent Flyer scheme allow cardholders to earn Velocity Points from their everyday credit card expenses.

Some cards will automatically credit these points to a customer's Velocity Frequent Flyer account every month, while other cards will first provide points in the bank's own loyalty program, which the cardholder can later convert into Virgin Australia Velocity Points at a pre-set conversion rate.

Virgin Australia Velocity Frequent Flyer credit card FAQs

Can you combine frequent flyer miles and points?

In Virgin Australia's Velocity Frequent Flyer scheme, yes, eligible family members can transfer Velocity Points between their accounts at no charge. This can be useful in a household where both members of a couple are earning Velocity Points, as these can be combined in order to book a flight.

Can you link Velocity Frequent Flyer accounts?

Virgin Australia offers a 'family pooling' feature where eligible members of the same household can opt to pool all the Velocity Points they earn (and optionally, status credits too) into one person's nominated Velocity account. This is separate to manual family points transfers, which are also available.

Can I earn miles or points if I buy a ticket for someone else?

Yes. While the traveller may earn their own miles or points from the flight itself (depending on the airline and airfare), purchasing a flight is just like any other transaction, with the credit cards above offering a certain number of Velocity frequent flyer points per dollar spent on purchases, including airfares.

Can I use Velocity Points to buy a ticket for someone else?

Yes, and unlike Qantas Frequent Flyer, Velocity Frequent Flyer members can use their hard-earned points to book flights and upgrades for anybody, including not only family members, but also friends, colleagues, clients and more.

15 best Virgin Australia Velocity Frequent Flyer credit card sign-up offers

* Velocity Points earned per $1 spent is based on everyday eligible purchases on transactions within Australia. For cards that earn Velocity Points via a bank loyalty program ('indirect earn' cards), this figure considers the card's earning rate on spend and its conversion rate to Velocity, to display the equivalent number of Velocity Points earned per $1 spent. Some spending categories may also earn more, fewer or no points on each card than the standard earn rate indicated above, such as government transactions, overseas purchases, spend directly with Virgin Australia, etc.