Virgin Australia and All Nippon Airways (ANA) have launched an expanded partnership, offering Velocity members additional benefits.
Under the partnership, the airlines will offer codeshare flights and some reciprocal frequent flyer benefits. For Velocity members, this includes the ability to earn Velocity Points and Status Credits on ANA flights.
On the downside, reward seats are not available. At least not yet, the two airlines are expecting to announce this at a later point.
Earning Points and Status Credits
From July 18, Velocity members are able to earn points on ANA-operated flights. This not only applies to the codeshare flights (with a VA flight number, but to NH coded flights as well. Having said that, the earnings rate between the VA and NH flight numbers differ. In addition, members will receive their usual status bonus when on the VA flight numbers.
For VA-coded flights, the following table shows the earn rates that members will receive:
| Fare Type | Virgin Australia (VA) Fare Class |
Points Earn Rate Per Mile |
|---|---|---|
| Business | J, C, D | 2 |
| Flex | Y, B, W, H, K, L | 1 |
| Choice | R, E, O, N, V, P, Q, T, I, S | 0.5 |
The status credit earn table looks like this:
| One-way Miles (zone) |
Choice |
Flex |
Business |
|---|---|---|---|
| 0 – 750 (1) | 15 | 20 | 40 |
| 751 – 1,500 (2) | 20 | 30 | 60 |
| 1,501 – 3,000 (3) | 25 | 50 | 80 |
| 3,001 – 5,000 (4) | 35 | 60 | 120 |
| 5,001 – 8,000 (5) | 45 | 80 | 160 |
| 8,001 + (6) | 55 | 100 | 200 |
In the case of NH coded flights, the table are a bit different. In the case of earning points:
…and for status credits
Frequent Flyer Benefits
Earnings aside, the two airlines have introduced some reciprocal benefits when flying on each other’s networks. While this is a bit of good news, the bad news is that, for the moment, these benefits do not extend to lounge access. In addition, the following benefits are restricted to ANA-operated flights from Australia to Japan with a VA or NH flight number, and ANA-operated flights within Japan with a VA flight number.
The benefits that are on offer include:
- Priority check-in on ANA flights (For members that hold at least Gold status).
- Priority baggage on ANA flights (For members that hold at least Gold status).
- Increased luggage allowance on ANA flights (For members that hold at least Gold status).