Virgin Australia unlocks Singapore Airlines first class rewards
By Chris C., July 13 2017
EXCLUSIVE | Virgin Australia's Velocity Frequent Flyer members can now book Singapore Airlines Boeing 777 first class and Airbus A380 'Suites Class' flights using their Velocity points, with Singapore Airlines premium economy reward flights also being made available to Velocity members from August 31 2017.
For SQ first class and Suites Class, the number of Velocity points required is the same as to book Etihad Airways first class flights of the same length, being 203,000 Velocity points one-way from Sydney or Melbourne to London (via Singapore), or 406,000 points for a return trip.
You could also book a first class jaunt between either Sydney or Melbourne and Singapore for 95,000 Velocity points one-way, or 190,000 Velocity points return.
Further back in premium economy, a Sydney-Singapore or Melbourne-Singapore leg will set you back 52,500 Velocity points each way (105,000 points round-trip), while flying from the same cities through to London requires 112,500 Velocity points in each direction.
Compared to 139,000 points for business class and 75,000 points for economy on the same routes, that pegs the premium economy reward cost closer to business class than economy.
In Australian skies, Singapore Airlines offers Suites Class, first class and premium economy on selected flights from Sydney and Melbourne only, with all services from Brisbane, Canberra, Adelaide and Perth having only business class and standard economy.
Singapore Airlines premium economy reward flights can be booked through the Velocity Frequent Flyer website from August 31 2017, when these rewards become available to Velocity members.
First class and Suites Class flights can instead be booked right now using Velocity points, but as with Etihad Airways, these can only be secured over the phone by calling Velocity on 13 18 75 between 7:30am and 10:30pm Sydney time, seven days a week.
In all cases, applicable taxes and fees are payable in addition to the Velocity points required, although Velocity's current 'Reward Seat Carrier Charge' of US$300 per first class flight sector – adding A$1,560 to the cost of a return Australia-Europe reward booking with Etihad Airways – will not apply to Singapore Airlines first class bookings.
Chris is a a former contributor to Executive Traveller.
06 Jul 2017
Total posts 18
65k VFF points for J as opposed to 95k for F, that's pricey. I guess one can always do it to experience SQ suites occasionally, but not sure its worth doing on regular basis, considering that the service and food in J is just as good. So what you are paying the extra 30k points is for privacy.
That I am not sure one can put a price on.
10 Jul 2017
Total posts 32
is it better value to book singapore airlines flights through velocity or transfer from velocity to singapore airlines and book directly from there?
24 Apr 2012
Total posts 2432
The difference is pretty marginal on long flights: Sydney-London requires 203,000 Velocity points or 148,000 KrisFlyer miles for a one-way first class flight.
You can convert Velocity points into KrisFlyer miles on a 1.35:1 basis, so the same 203,000 Velocity points would fetch 150,370 KrisFlyer miles - advantage being that you can book online, but the disadvantage being that if availability changes before you can book, your points are stuck with SQ and can't be reversed to Velocity at the same rate (your points take a haircut again) - so by keeping them in Velocity, Etihad first class remains a back-up option for using your points.
On Sydney/Melbourne-Singapore, you could fly first class for 95,000 Velocity points or 80,000 KrisFlyer miles. Convert those 95,000 Velocity points to KrisFlyer and you'd get only 70,370 KrisFlyer miles (about 10,000 miles short of the goal), in which case it's best to book through Velocity if you already have Velocity points.
Virgin Australia - Velocity Rewards
24 Jul 2016
Total posts 1
How does it work with upgrading flights with velocity points? Is it best to book Prem economy with SIA then transfer points to krisflyer and then upgrade?
24 Apr 2012
Total posts 2432
You can only use Velocity points to directly upgrade Virgin Australia flights. Transferring Velocity points to KrisFlyer to upgrade on Singapore Airlines flights instead isn't a topic covered by this article, so this is a question best-asked in our dedicated Community area.
13 Sep 2016
Total posts 55
Fantastic scoop, Chris and ABT, always good to have another way to burn my Velocity points and a stint in SQ first or even A380 suites can't be argued with!
05 Jan 2014
Total posts 25
Is the availability going to be the same as they would be for KrisFlyer members? If so won't have to lose 35% every time I transfer velocity to KF!
20 Sep 2012
Total posts 76
You might 'lose' 35% of your points, as you say, but as has been highlighted above, it is less points, in KrisFlyer equivalent, to book the same. So the loss is in part due to the different value/point currency of each programme.
Qantas - Qantas Frequent Flyer
14 Sep 2012
Total posts 382
Mmmm....you watch those seats show 0 for Velocity but miraculously be confirmed for KF members. Reason I dropped Velocity and moved to KF and book SQ proper now.
Virgin Australia - Velocity Rewards
27 Mar 2013
Total posts 6
Hi Guest, join in the discussion on Virgin Australia unlocks Singapore Airlines first class rewards