Your guide to Virgin’s Velocity Gold frequent flyer status

Gold status in Virgin Australia’s Velocity Frequent Flyer program isn’t difficult to achieve for regular travellers that zip between capital cities at home, fly in business class or take longer journeys abroad.

Among the list of perks for Gold-grade flyers: access to Virgin Australia’s lounges and those of its partner airlines, priority check-in and boarding, and 75% more points on eligible flights.

How to earn Virgin Australia Gold frequent flyer status

Having surpassed Velocity Silver, the next level up is Velocity Gold status, which is yours to enjoy after reeling in 500 status credits in a 12-month period.

To qualify, you must also have travelled on at least four flights over that same year with a Virgin Australia VA flight number.

In future years, only 400 status credits and the same four ‘eligible sectors’ are needed to keep the shiny Gold card in your wallet, which makes Velocity Gold considerably easier to achieve than Gold status in the Qantas Frequent Flyer program.

Velocity Gold is relatively easy to achieve, and many consider it the 'status sweet spot'.

Beyond Gold, keep going and even greater benefits can be yours once you reach Velocity Platinum.

Flights taken with Virgin Australia count towards that tally of status credits, as do those with VA’s partner airlines including Etihad Airways, Singapore Airlines and Hawaiian Airlines, as well as United Airline, Qatar Airways and ANA.

If flying domestically, 17 return trips from Sydney to either Melbourne or Brisbane on Choice economy fares would get you Gold status for the first time, as would five business class return journeys between the same cities.

It’s an easier task for international travellers – just two business class round trips from Australia’s east coast to Singapore with partner Singapore Airlines would almost do the trick, supplemented by the required four VA-coded flights to other destinations to get you over the line.

Or, if you’re continuing that journey onwards to London, you’ll have Gold status after just one trip, provided you’ve also travelled on at least four VA-coded flights in the same 12-month period.

Lounge access for Virgin Australia Velocity Gold members

Gold frequent flyers can use Virgin Australia’s domestic lounges before or after a VA flight with one in tow, plus three children aged between two and 17.

They can also enjoy streamlined access to the lounge without venturing into the terminal itself at Sydney and Brisbane Airports, courtesy of a Premium Entry lane with its own security checkpoint.

With that Gold card in your digital wallet, you'll be in the Virgin lounge in no time.

When jetting abroad with Virgin Australia’s airline partners, Velocity Gold members normally have lounge access with one guest (note that any accompanying children count as guests).

Through Singapore Airlines’ partnership, for example, Velocity Gold and Platinum frequent flyers enjoy access to Singapore Airlines’ airport lounges whenever travelling with SQ, even if stuck in economy.

Checked baggage allowance for Virgin Australia Velocity Gold

On domestic and short Virgin Australia international flights, Gold members can check two 23kg bags on economy tickets and a generous 64kg in business class, split over two bags of up to 32kg each.

 Higher baggage allowances are also available with Virgin Australia’s international airline partners. 

Pack that bag with the extra luggage allowance for Gold grade Velocity frequent flyers.

You’ll also be able to check an extra 15kg when flying with Singapore Airlines and Etihad on any fare type to most destinations, while Singapore Airlines gives you one extra bag when flying to America – where flights tend to use the ‘piece’ system rather than relying on the total overall weight.

Bonus points and perks for Virgin Australia Velocity Gold

More points on your purchases

Virgin Australia flights serve up 75% more Velocity points for Gold guests, as do journeys booked with a VA flight number but taken on United Airlines.

You’ll also earn 5.25 Velocity points per dollar spent on the ground with partners such as Hertz, Europcar and Thrifty for car hire in Australia and New Zealand, along with 25% more points on Etihad flights with an EY flight number.

Elite status with hotels, car hire companies

Beyond the airport, you can enjoy privileges like free breakfast and room upgrades at hotels like Conrad, Hilton and DoubleTree by Hilton by requesting a Hilton Honors Gold card, or more basic benefits like priority check-in and a free newspaper via IHG One Rewards Gold Elite.

Your Velocity Gold card helps you score perks on Hilton and IHG hotel stays.

There’s also a choice between Europcar Privilege Executive and Hertz Gold Plus Rewards Five Star for similar benefits of car category upgrades and express car collection: another chance to jump the queues and get you on your way.

Just choose wisely – even if you renew your Velocity Gold status in future years, you’ll only get one chance to pick your preferred hotel and car hire memberships, which are usually valid for just one year.

Our choice? Unless there are particular aspects of IHG One Rewards that really appeal to you, our pick of the Gold-level tiers is Hilton Honors Gold Elite – the room upgrades and breakfast inclusions make this a no-brainer!

Fast-track your airport experience

Once you’re at the airport, there’s also priority check-in, security screening and boarding with Virgin Australia and most of its airline partners, along with priority baggage delivery to get you on the road faster.

‘Fly ahead’ - your ticket to an earlier flight

Flown out for a meeting but finished up earlier than expected? Not to worry. With ‘Fly Ahead’, your ticket just got flexible.

Simply head to the service desk in any Virgin Australia lounge with your frequent flyer card or boarding pass and ask what’s available.

You and up to three guests will be moved forward at no charge, as long as there are seats available and you're travelling on a Flex or Business fare (or a Reward fare booked with points).

The big drawback: full catering isn’t guaranteed on your new flight, so if you booked a business class ticket to have dinner on the way home but jump onto something earlier, you might need to settle for just a snack or drink.

Business class upgrades for Virgin Australia Velocity Gold

Using Velocity points for upgrades to business class on domestic flights is another benefit for Velocity Gold members, who can nab confirmed upgrades from the moment the booking has been made.

That’s a significant advantage over the ‘Bid Now Upgrades’ system at Qantas, where better seats are only dished out closer to departure.

Upgraded business class is rolling out across the Virgin Australia fleet.

Gold members can use their points to upgrade to business class in Virgin Australia lounges and at the priority check-in desks in Hobart and Darwin, where lounges aren’t available.

As with all members of Velocity – including those new to the program – points can also be swapped for a better seat by calling Virgin Australia’s Guest Contact Centre before heading to the airport, or by upgrading your booking via the Virgin Australia website.

More Velocity Gold perks

Extra legroom Economy X seats still come at a charge for Velocity Gold members, although you’ll be able to sit as far forward as row six on domestic flights from the time of booking, with economy seats in front of the exits having up to one inch of extra legroom against those further back.

Virgin Australia also offers priority phone support to its Gold and Platinum Velocity members, so if you’re on the lookout for a business class upgrade or need to change your travel plans, be sure to punch in your membership number when calling the airline to side-step the queue. 

Finally, Gold frequent flyers can use their points to reserve economy seats for up to four passengers once a year on Virgin Australia domestic flights that don’t have award seats available.