In a move that, seemingly, no-one saw coming, Velocity has announced that it will be adding a Carrier Surcharge to redemption bookings on partner airline, Etihad.
The new surcharge is steep, to say the least. As per the Velocity announcement:
A charge of US$50 in Economy, US$205 in Business and US$300 in First Class will be applicable per flight sector for both adults and children. A reduced charge of US$5 in Economy, US$20.50 in Business and US$30 in First Class will be applicable per flight sector for infants not occupying a seat.
The change is set to take place from June 18, 2016, and will apply to all Reward Bookings made with Velocity points on Etihad Airways. This is a fairly short notice change, as the new surcharge will be applicable in only two weeks from the time of the announcement. It also comes in just after the new Velocity redemption charts kicked in, which saw Etihad move to a higher redemption rate table than it had previously been using.
The real sting with this change, is that the charge is being introduced per flight sector. A simple return journey consists of two flight sectors. A return journey (to Europe) via Abu Dhabi could consist of 4 sectors (if all on Etihad services), so you can see that the charges could quite quickly add up.
Of course, if travelling to Europe, a redemption on Singapore Airlines is still available without the cash surcharges.
Etihad do charge a Carrier Surcharge when making redemptions with Etihad Guest, and while the charge is the same for Economy redemptions, for Business and First redemptions, Velocity is charging twice the rate Etihad charges its own members.