Last year, Velocity shook things up with some pretty big changes to how you earn, and hang on to, elite status. For a lot of members, the new setup has made it noticeably harder to keep their tier.
I’ve just hit my own review period, and under the old rules I would’ve been fine. But with the new requirement to earn a certain number of status credits on VA‑coded flights, I came up short. I’d already resigned myself to dropping down a level. Then Velocity surprised me with a lifeline: an offer to use points to keep my status for another year.
Velocity Retention Offer
The offer to retain status by using points seems to be a new offer from Velocity. It is certainly something that I had not seen before. As such, the exact mechanics of the offer aren’t known. That said, the offer has started popping up, so I’ll take a look at what I have seen.
It would seem that if you enter your review period a bit short of status, Velocity might send you an email with an offer. The email basically lets you know that your status is up for review and gives you the option to lock in your current tier for another 12 months by using Velocity Points.
If you want to take them up on it, you’ll need to call the Velocity Membership Contact Centre. They will then specify the number of points it will cost to extend your status. How they calculate the number is a mystery, but it seems to depend on how many Status Credits you’re short of renewing. There may be other factors, but we don’t know.
If you decide not to go ahead, your account will simply drop down to the next tier, the usual soft landing. On the other hand, should you take up the offer, the points will be deducted from your account. While you see the points deduction, there is no other indication that you have taken up the offer. While they hinted that there was a deposit of status credits, this doesn’t show up anywhere.
How many points do you need?
That is, of course, the 64,000 question. As it seems to be a new offer, there are not a lot of datapoints around. In my case, I was 44 status credits short and was offered the chance to extend my tier for 37,000 points.
I have seen a report on a Facebook group of a member being offered an extension for 11,000 points when 14 status credits short.
Final Words
After last year’s changes, many Velocity Elite members were expected to miss requalification. So it’s interesting to see Velocity roll out a status buyback, even if it’s unofficial.
Velocity hasn’t really done this before, but status buybacks aren’t new in the loyalty world. For example, Qantas has quietly offered them for years.
The two airlines take different approaches. Qantas usually charges a flat 80,000 points to keep Gold and 120,000 points to keep Platinum. Simple, but not very flexible.
Velocity’s version looks more tailored. You pay based on the Status Credits you’re short. With only a few datapoints, it’s hard to know what other factors might influence the offer, but the structure is promising.
For anyone who just missed the mark and wants to hold onto their tier, this could be a handy safety net.
