No change to Virgin’s SAA, Virgin Atlantic partnerships

Virgin Australia’s new “integrated alliance” with Qatar Airways comes with major changes to Virgin’s partnership with Etihad Airways and Singapore Airlines.

But Virgin’s frequent flyers will still be able to earn Velocity Points and Status Credits on South African Airways and Virgin Atlantic, and also redeem their points on a Reward Seat.

In its interim authorisation for the VA/QR alliance, which gives the go-ahead for Virgin Australia flights – using Qatar Airways jets and crew – to and from Doha, the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission confirmed that “Virgin Australia’s arrangements with South African Airways and Virgin Atlantic would be unchanged.”

Star Alliance member South African Airways flies between Perth and Johannesburg, while of course maintaining an extensive network throughout Africa.

Virgin Atlantic, which joined SkyTeam earlier this year, is a popular choice for Virgin Australia passengers darting between London and New York.

However, there are still some changes on the horizon as part of a sweeping revamp of the Velocity Frequent Flyer scheme.

From 21 January 2025, the number of Velocity Points required to snare a Reward Seat is increasing across all partner airlines:

• a Reward Seat on a one-way business class flight with South African Airways between Perth and Johannesburg will rise from the current 114,000 Velocity Points to 120,000 Velocity Points
• a Reward Seat on a one-way business class flight with Virgin Atlantic between London and New York will rise from today’s 49,500 Velocity Points to 51,500 Velocity Points

As of 1 October 2025 there’ll also be a drop in the number of Velocity Status Credits earned on both airlines:

• a one-way business class flight with South African Airways between Perth and Johannesburg now earns 160 Status Credits, but that will fall to just 110 Status Credits
• a one-way business class flight with Virgin Atlantic between London and New York today earns 120 Status Credits, but from 1 October this steps down to 90 Status Credits.

On the upside, Virgin loyalists can look forward to lifetime Velocity status and a new Platinum Plus tier.

Also read: Velocity moves to spend-based status earning