Your essential guide to the Virgin Australia, ANA partnership

Virgin Australia’s partnership with Japan’s All Nippon Airways has seen multiple tweaks and adjustments since its expansion in July. The latest? Velocity frequent flyers can finally book reward seats flying ANA on the Virgin Australia website.

This applies to all ANA flights to and from Australia, including Sydney to Tokyo-Haneda and the recently-restarted Perth to Tokyo-Narita, not to mention over 130 destinations across Japan and around the world.

For example, flights from Tokyo to Frankfurt – delivering a new way for Velocity members to fly to Europe – and Tokyo to Sapporo or Naha (Okinawa) are also available via the Virgin website.

Once booked, Velocity Gold and Platinum members can enjoy priority check-in, priority baggage and additional checked baggage allowance on selected ANA flights. However, Velocity access to ANA lounges is not included in the Virgin-ANA alliance at present. 

The Virgin-ANA partnership unlocks flights to 130 destinations.

Here’s a brief rundown of the Virgin-ANA partnership so far:

Earning Velocity Points on ANA flights

Earning Velocity frequent flyer points on partner airlines is a highly appreciated perk. The bolstered Virgin-ANA partnership now allows travellers to:

• Earn Velocity Points when flying on ANA-operated flights with a NH or VA flight number, when flying to Japan, Asia, Europe and all other destinations in the ANA network.
• Supercharge their rewards balance with Bonus Points on top of base earnings. Silver members earn 50% bonus, Gold 75% and Platinum members 100%.

ANA flies twice daily between Sydney and Tokyo.

The exact number of points earned varies according to fare class and flight number, as well as your Velocity status. Here’s the earning table for hoovering up Velocity Points on a VA flight number.

To put that into perspective, a VA-coded business class flight between Sydney and Tokyo would earn you 9,726 Velocity Points, versus just 4,863 if you paid for a Flex fare. 

For comparison, this is how many points you’ll earn on an NH flight number:

Using Sydney to Tokyo as an example, an NH-coded flight in business class J would earn 7,294 Velocity Points, while a seat in premium economy G would nab you 4,863 points. With that in mind, booking your flight with a VA code is definitely the way to go. 

Virgin notes points cannot be earned on the following:

• Reward Seat bookings
• Charter Flight bookings
• Fare classes other than as specified in the tables above
• Codeshare flights (other than an ANA operated flight with a VA flight number or a Virgin Australia operated flight with an NH flight number)
• Upgraded fares: Members travelling on upgraded fares that were purchased with Points or by bidding for an upgrade will earn as per the rules of the original fare class purchased.

Earning Velocity Status Credits on ANA flights

Looking to bolster your Velocity Status Credits tally on an ANA-operated flight? You’re now well placed to do so. The exact rates are as follows on tickets with a VA flight number:

And the below for ANA operated flights featuring a NH code:

Jetting between Sydney and Tokyo in business class on a VA-coded flight would earn you 160 status credits, the same as travelling with an NH flight number. 

Status credits cannot be earned on all flights. See the Points section above for exclusions.

Booking Velocity reward seats on ANA flights

All Nippon Airways follows the same Velocity partner reward table as Etihad Airways, Air Canada and Singapore Airlines, in addition to Qatar Airways: 

Based on the above, a one-way flight between Sydney and Tokyo – a distance of 4863 miles – narrowly falls inside zone 6, meaning you’d need a minimum of 78,000 Velocity points for a seat in business class. Taxes, fees and carrier charges are on top.

Using Tokyo as a springboard, a one-way business class flight up to Frankfurt would require at least 92,000 Velocity points, with the 5,831-mile journey sitting within zone 7. 

Alternatively, if you’re after a little intra-Japan exploration, you’ll find reward seats such as Tokyo to Sapporo (CTS) for just 10,000 plus taxes. 

Tip: while you won’t be able to select Frankfurt or Sapporo from the main Virgin Australia search page, you can edit the search later to include other international destinations. 

Velocity status benefits when travelling on ANA

Hold a shiny Velocity Silver, Gold or Platinum frequent flyer card in your wallet?

You can now enjoy several status benefits – such as priority check-in, boarding and increased luggage allowance for Gold and Platinum members – on the following ANA flights:

• ANA-operated flights between Australia and Japan with a VA or NH flight number
• ANA-operated flights within Japan with a VA flight number

More details can be found on the Velocity website.

Gold and Platinum Velocity members are the biggest winners.

Velocity access to ANA airport lounges

Lounge access is currently excluded from the Virgin Australia-ANA partnership for Velocity Golds and Platinums, although it may be added at a later date.

If it does eventually come through, this will likely cover ANA-operated locations in Narita, Haneda, Kansai and Honolulu.

ANA doesn’t have its own lounges in Australia, relying on the lounges of fellow Star Alliance members such as Air New Zealand Singapore Airlines, so this doesn’t change the loungescape for Velocity Golds or Platinums heading overseas.