Family Pooling is your fast-track to Virgin Velocity status

Joining any airline loyalty program is a long-term commitment. Earning points and collecting status credits to jump up the tiers takes time, patience and dedication, but there is a handy shortcut, at least on Virgin Australia.

It’s called Family Pooling – and it’s a game changer if you’re serious about status. Unlike other frequent flyer programs that only let you transfer points, Virgin Australia Velocity members can automatically send all their points and status credits to an eligible family member.

Whether earned from flying on Virgin Australia and partner airlines, or through purchases made on the ground with the likes of Flybuys or Sixt car hire, family pooling could be the key to achieving Velocity Gold and all the value-added rewards that come with it. 

Why are we calling out Velocity Gold? Because that's where the best and most practical business travel perks kick in – such as lounge access, priority checkin and boarding, extra checked luggage and a decent serve of bonus points each time you fly. 

Why it’s cool to pool 

Family pooling is simple to set up and even easier to use – with tangible benefits.

As an example, a return flight between Melbourne and Brisbane or the Gold Coast on an Economy Choice fare will earn 40 status credits per passenger. 

For a family of four, that’s 160 status credits – almost a third of the way to the 500 needed to earn Velocity Gold for a single flyer. With all of those points flowing to your account, you could be enjoying those Gold-plated perks a lot sooner than you would without the pool.  

In a couple of trips, you could even go Platinum, unlocking lounge access for up to three guests, and four upgrades from Flex to Business on short domestic/international flights per year.

From there, if you fly often enough to earn an additional 500 credits above the 1000 needed for Platinum, you could even gift Gold status to a companion of your choice. 

How to set up Virgin Australia Velocity family pooling 

To set it up, have each family member log into their Velocity Frequent Flyer account, select the My Velocity tab and in the Quick Links sidebar, click on Family Pooling and then follow the instructions. 

They can choose to have just their frequent flyer points sent to your account, or points and status credits.

it's easy to set up Family Pooling in your Velocity account.

You can have up to five family members sending their status credits into your account, provided you all share the same street address. 

Velocity also limits the age of family pooling members: up to two members can be 18 years or over, and up to four members can be under 18 years of age.

Does Qantas offer family pooling?

Qantas doesn’t have family pooling as such. While you can share your Qantas points with other frequent flyers in your family, only Virgin Australia lets you share those all-important status credits. 

Instead, Qantas ‘family transfers’ allow you to give a portion of your points to an eligible family member, with a minimum of 5,000 up to 600,000 points within a 12-month period. It’s worth noting these don’t count as activity on your account or prevent points from expiring. 

Velocity family pooling tips

If you encounter any issues setting up pooling, double-check the mailing address on each account is identical: pooling requests are automatically declined unless this matches up.

Unlike manual family transfers – which are limited to frequent flyer points – family pooling automatically moves points or points and status credits across to your account as soon as they're earned.

These earnings aren’t subjected to the annual limit imposed on points transfers, making it easy to keep everybody’s points in a central account and ready to use on that free 'reward seat' when the moment strikes.

Although family pooling may not be for everyone, depending on individual circumstances and travel needs, it does present a neat shortcut for many to achieve Velocity’s premium perks.