Velocity has announced a wide-ranging set of changes across the program to be rolled out over the next 12 months. These changes sweep across the program in areas related to earning and burning points, earning status, and even the perks on offer.
As always with a large set of changes, there are both winners and losers in all of this.
What’s Changing?
Well, lots of things, and the changes are spread out over the next year. The timeline for the changes is as follows
- 17 October 2024 – Domestic Economy Reward points reduced.
- 18 November 2024 – Business Class UpgradeMe Points increase.
- 21 January 2025 – Virgin and Airline Partner Rewards increase.
- 2 April 2025 – Base points earn rate on Virgin flights decrease.
- 2 April 2025 – Status Credit earning moves to spend-based model.
- 1 October 2025 – Platinum Plus and Forever Gold status tiers.
- 1 October 2025 – Eligible Sectors removed, 50% requirement for VA flights.
- 1 October 2025 – Status Credit earn on partner airlines reduced.
- 1 October 2025 – Minor changes to Velocity Status benefits.
In all that, there seems to be two really big changes. Firstly, the two new Status Levels – Forever Gold and Platinum Plus, and secondly the changes to the way Status Credits will be earned both on Virgin Australia flights, and their partner airlines. As these changes were significant in their own right, I have split them out into separate articles.
That leaves us largely with changes in the way points are earned and redeemed. As such, this article will focus on the changes to earning and redeeming points.
Earning Points
Velocity is reducing the number of points you can earn when flying on a Virgin Australia flight. This change will kick in for bookings made from 2 April 2025 and will see the number of points you earn reduce to 4 points per dollar on eligible flights. This is a decrease of 20% from the current 5 points per dollar.
There is an exception for members that hold an eligible Velocity Points earning card. These members will continue to earn 5 points per dollar. While you do not actually need to use the card to pay for the ticket, you will need to have earned at least one point on that card in the 12 months prior to the travel.
Redeeming Points
Domestic Economy Redemption
On the Domestic Economy Reward front there are a couple of changes coming through. An immediate change sees the number of points required for a ‘Tier 1’ Economy Reward seat reducing by about 5%. For example, a Tier 1 Reward seat between Sydney and Melbourne has required a minimum of 6,200 points. From today, that number of points has been reduced to 5,900 points.
The good news is short lived, with an expansion of the range of points required for a domestic Economy reward. This will see an increase in the number of points required for what Velocity currently call a Tier 3 reward. The points needed for international shorl haul flying will also increase.
Interestingly, while the current table specifies 3 different price points (Tier 1, Tier 2, Tier 3), the new tables are just specifying a range. While there are still price points within the range, this could be a further step towards more dynamic pricing.
UpgradeMe Points redemption
Velocity is combining the UpgradeMe Points cost into a single rate. At present, there are different rates depending on whether you are upgrading from a Flex or Choice fare.
- Upgrade requests for Virgin Australia Domestic routes will now start from 10,000 Velocity Points;
- Upgrades requests for Virgin Australia Trans-Tasman and Short-Haul International routes will now start from 8,000 Velocity Points.
In essence, the discounted rate you received when upgrading a Flex fare no longer exists.
Airline Partner Award Pricing
From 21 January 2025 you’ll generally need more Velocity Points to book Reward Seats with Virgin’s Airline Partners. This is pretty much across the board affecting most partners, routes and cabins.
