Virgin Australia, Delta partnership comes to an end
This weekend sees Virgin Australia bring down the curtain on its 11 year relationship with Delta Air Lines.
By David Flynn, June 10 2022
Breakups are never easy, but the time has come for Virgin Australia and Delta Air Lines to go their seperate ways, in the wake of Virgin’s new alliance with United AIrlines.
D-day for Delta is Sunday June 12; as of the following day, Virgin loyalists will no longer be able to earn and use Velocity points on Delta flights, or make changes to existing Reward bookings.
For its part, Delta Air Lines has stated it will continue connecting Sydney and Los Angeles without Virgin’s support, revealing plans to boost flights up to 10 per week by the end of the year.
The SkyTeam member currently employs its flagship Airbus A350-900, featuring sleek Delta One Suites with privacy door and fully flat bed in business class, on the trans-Pacific leg.
It also features Premium economy, branded as Delta Premium Select, providing a comfortable reclining seat with a sturdy leg-rest, ample legroom, high-definition entertainment and more, not to mention complimentary inflight messaging via Delta WiFi.
But now is not the time to dwell on the past. Instead, it’s a chance to embrace new beginnings, with passengers eager to enjoy the perks of Virgin Australia’s new United partnership.
Among them, frequent flyers will be able to earn points and status credits on United flights, as well as enjoy status-based benefits such as access to United Club lounges plus priority check-in, security clearance and boarding.
United has also opened Velocity point redemptions on its flights, with its upgraded Boeing 787-9 Dreamliners – sporting the airline’s latest Polaris business class suites and Premium Plus premium economy seating – now flying from Sydney and Melbourne to the US, with Brisbane-San Francisco coming in October.
There’s a lot to take in, as our handy guide will explain, including accessing priority perks on United and the airline’s ‘triple gateway’ approach of Los Angeles, San Francisco and Houston, which gives Virgin travellers significantly greater access to the US.
The United partnership is just one aspect of Virgin’s 2022 resurgence, which has seen it unveil a new Business Flyer rewards program, rebrand its invite-only airport lounges to Beyond, and even ink a surprising strategic partnership with Gulf carrier Qatar Airways.
Additional reporting by Chris Ashton
05 Apr 2012
Total posts 31
The question for me is: If I book on Delta thru Virgin, will I earn Velocity Status Credits as well as points?
Virgin Australia - Velocity Rewards
30 Oct 2015
Total posts 61
I've noted that you will earn Velocity points, but no mention of status credits?
Was hoping to use my credits with Delta to top up my status credits next year since plans were canned on COVID's account.
24 Apr 2012
Total posts 2424
Hi both - status credits remain on the table, so we've tweaked the article to highlight this.
05 Apr 2012
Total posts 31
Thanks, Chris :-)
Qantas - Qantas Frequent Flyer
04 Nov 2017
Total posts 351
Sounds like there may be a bit more to the story as things can change within the next 12 months - 2 years, however won't be welcome news for the "Star Alliance" folk and/or UA flyers wanting VA to "dump DL" in the short term.
Probably safe to say Alliances (in general) are off the cards for the next 2 years at least.
17 Jun 2020
Total posts 235
Hi Chris more out of curiosity, but using the same logic does this technically mean the AA Qantas joint venture is paused at the moment too?
Not that it means much given both are in oneworld but I think QF said they are not flying to USA until end of 2021 but AA are starting again soon.
Qantas - Qantas Frequent Flyer
14 Sep 2012
Total posts 382
I would say Qantas (and AA) has simply made a temporary schedule variation to its USA services in response to CV19 and has the capacity to reinstate flights once they deem it viable, and this is aimed at mid 2021, so no change to the QF/AA JV. The situation with Virgin is very different, they no longer have the capacity to operate flights to USA with the permanent withdrawal of 777 (and 330) from their fleet so a JV on the route is not realistically feasible.
24 Apr 2012
Total posts 2424
KW72: That would be a business decision for Qantas and American to make, just as this was a business decision between Delta and Virgin Australia.
09 Sep 2020
Total posts 13
Can anyone advise if and when Virgin Australia honestly look like resuming Long Haul (Los Angeles etc) flights, 2021,2022 ,2023 or are they whistling "Dixie" in the wind, can they please be upfront with the public especially with those who remain loyal to them and await fervently to fly with them especially on long haul flights , as they were great experiences and the crews are second to none.
Etihad - Etihad Guest
19 Mar 2018
Total posts 68
I have reliable sources saying they will have the same allegiance as Virgin Atlantic, except to balance things out, Virgin Atlantic will join SkyTeam while Virgin Australia will join Star Alliance.
This means, expect all SkyTeam airlines and those leaning to SkyTeam, to switch from Qantas to Virgin Australia. This switch will allow Qantas to behave like a real oneworld member, aka JV American, JAL, Cathay Pacific, Qatar Airways, IAG plus Finnair, and hosting China Southern and Emirates.
This changes Singapore Airlines, who has been faking it as the SkyTeam airline to Australia (they take CZ, MU, CA, CX, AF, KL etc because who's gonna fly Qantas or Etihad or Emirates when you've got SQ as a choice), and they will finally have a chance to become a real Star Alliance airline.
Virgin Australia's goals aside from returning to its Virgin Blue NWC roots, is towards Southeast Asia and India/ Pakistan. I doubt they will fly transpacific (because Virgin Atlantic is supposed to do London Melbourne Paris to Brisbane, Melbourne, Sydney, Perth nonstop, and via Hong Kong and Los Angeles, and eventually, connecting the dots with Virgin Atlantic's network. Cathay Pacific was supposed to turn into Virgin Pacific, but I'm not sure if they're still part of the plan.
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