Virgin Australia has announced a major change to the way it calcualtes fares to the United States. Fuel costs are to be “treated in the same way as other operating expenses and incorporated into the base fare, rather than being charged separately as a fuel surcharge”.
This means that there will no longer be a separate fuel surcharge for fares to the U.S, thus aligning US fares with the rest of the VA network. At present, none of its other flights sold and originating in Australia are subject to fuel surcharges. In addition, VA has not been charging fuel surcharges on Reward Seats offered through its Velocity frequent flyer program.
Price Reduction
In addition to the fare restructure, Virgin have also announced that they will be reducing the overall fares to the U.S. Economy and Premium Economy fares will be reduced by $40, while Business fares will be reduced by $50. These reductions reflect the belief by Virgin Australia that the recent reduction in fuel costs is going to be sustained for the foreseeable future.
The reduced airfares will be effective from 23 January, 2015.