Virgin Australia flights to earn more Velocity points, status credits

Velocity is boosting the number of frequent flyer points and status credits earned on Virgin Australia international flights to Hong Kong, Tokyo and Los Angeles, as well as on codeshare services operated by eight of the program’s partner airlines including Delta, Etihad, Singapore Airlines and Virgin Atlantic.

The changes centre on making Virgin Australia’s semi-flexible Elevate fares more rewarding, with the number of Velocity frequent flyer points earned on these tickets increasing by 20%, and status credits bumped up by as much as 50%, depending on the journey.

Here’s what you need to know.

Virgin Australia flights to Hong Kong, Tokyo

In the Virgin Australia ranks, Elevate fares sit in between standard economy Getaway tickets and the fully-flexible Freedom fares: offering a little more wiggle room when plans change for an increased price, but without the higher cost as comes with full flexibility.

On Sydney-Hong Kong and Brisbane-Tokyo (Haneda) flights booked on or after January 23 2020 and flown from April 23 2020, the number of Velocity points earned on these fares rises by 20%, with your haul of status credits also nudging up by 15%.

Here’s what that looks like on return trips made by entry-level Velocity Red members, as well as for Velocity Platinum cardholders, factoring in the 100% points bonus given to these top-tier flyers.

However, as the revised earn rates only apply to new bookings made from January 23 2020, passengers with existing bookings ticketed prior to this date – even for travel beyond April 23 – will earn points and status credits as per the current rates.

Virgin Australia flights to Los Angeles

Mirroring the increase on flights to Hong Kong and Tokyo, Virgin Australia journeys to Los Angeles will also serve up 20% more points on Elevate tickets, with an approximate 12% boost to status credits.

These revised rates apply to new bookings made on or after January 23 2020 for flights departing on and from April 23 2020 – here’s how that shapes up per return trip:

Again, flights booked prior to January 23, including for travel after April 23, will earn Velocity points and status credits at today’s rates.

Virgin codeshare flights on partner airlines

Booking an Elevate fare on Virgin Australia codeshare flights operated by eight of its partner airlines – Alitalia, Delta, Etihad, Hainan Airlines, Hawaiian Airlines, Singapore Airlines, South African Airways and Virgin Atlantic – will also unlock more Velocity points and status credits.

Across the board, these tickets will again provide 20% more Velocity frequent flyer points than are earned today, plus 10 extra status credits per return trip regardless of the length of the journey, bringing the biggest wins for passengers taking lots of short flights, but gains for long-distance travellers too.

Here’s how that looks on a variety of Virgin Australia’s codeshare routes, based on a return journey.

As with the other routes, these increased earning rates are given to passengers who book flights on and from January 23 2020 for travel from April 23 2020.

Passengers who’ve already booked Virgin Australia codeshare flights operated by partner airlines for travel after April 23 will earn Velocity points and status credits at today’s rates.

There's no change to earning rates on other Virgin Australia codeshare fare types, or when travelling with partner airlines on anything other than a VA flight number: such as with Singapore Airlines on an SQ-coded flight.

On long-range flights operated by Virgin Australia and on selected codeshare services operated by partner airlines, Virgin Australia is also introducing a new Economy Light fare from the same dates which earns fewer Velocity points and status credits than today’s lowest-level tickets, reflecting the lower price tag.

Community discussion: Virgin Australia introduces Economy Light

Chris C.

Chris is a a former contributor to Executive Traveller.