Virgin Australia and Link Airways have announced a new codeshare agreement which will expand Virgin Australia’s footprint in regional Australia. This expands on the current agreement that allows Velocity members to earn points on Link Airways flights.
Under the agreement, Virgin Australia will place its VA flight code onto 17 regional services. All up, the VA code will appear on more than 90 Link Airways flights per week. These include services to areas such as Wollongong, Inverell, and Biloela.
The expansion into a codeshare service is good news for Velocity members. For instance, they will now be able to earn points and status credits on the codeshare services. In addition, Silver, Gold, and Platinum members can look forward to an additional baggage allowance and bonus points on their flights.
Codeshare Services
The new codeshare services that will be available are as follows;
- Brisbane <> Coffs Harbour (BNE-CFS)
- Brisbane <> Bundaberg (BNE-BDB)
- Brisbane <> Biloela (BNE-ZBL)
- Brisbane <> Inverell (BNE-IVR)
- Brisbane <> Narrabri (BNE-NAA)
- Brisbane <> Dubbo (BNE-DBO)
- Brisbane <> Orange (BNE-OAG)
- Brisbane <> Tamworth (BNE-TMW)
- Brisbane <> Armidale (BNE-ARM)
- Brisbane <> Wollongong (BNE-WOL)
- Sydney <> Narrabri (SYD-NAA)
- Sydney <> Inverell (BNE-IVR)
- Melbourne <> Dubbo (MEL-DBO)
- Melbourne <> Orange (MEL-OAG)
- Melbourne <> Wollongong (MEL-WOL)
- Canberra <> Hobart (CBR-HBA)
- Canberra <> Newcastle (CBR-NTL)
Velocity Benefits
While Velocity members have been able to earn points on Link Airways flights, the codeshare agreement steps this up a notch.
When booking on the FC flight number, Velocity members can earn between 2 and 5 Velocity Points per dollar. However, by booking on the new codeshare services, this steps up to at least 5 Velocity Points per dollar. In addition to those 5 points per dollar, the status bonus will also kick in. This gives silver members a 50% boost, gold members a 75% boost, with Platinum members getting a 100% bonus.
As a result of being on the VA flight number, Status Credits will also be available. This will be earned at a rate of 15 Status Credits if you are on a Choice fare, and 20 Status Credits if you are on a Flex fare. Lite fares aren’t being offered under the codeshare.
The benefits also extend to the baggage allowance. On the VA codeshare services, this will be a standard 23 Kg allowance on both Choice and Flex fares. On top of that, an additional allowance will be available for Silver members and above. Silver and Gold members will be eligible for an additional 23kg, while platinum members get an additional 2x23kg.
Finally, on the positive side of the ledger, Velocity Gold and Platinum members will have access to the Virgin lounges before these flights. But you will need to be on the codeshare service to get this benefit.
On the downside, members won’t be able to redeem points for an Award flight on these services. Unfortunately, the partnership doesn’t extend that far.
