American Express® Velocity Platinum Card

Why we like the American Express Velocity Platinum credit card

The American Express Velocity Platinum Credit Card is one of the highest Velocity Points-earning cards in the Australian market. With an earn rate of 1.25 Velocity Points per $1 spent on all eligible purchases excluding government bodies^~ – plus additional Velocity Points for every $1 spent on eligible Virgin Australia services – you’ll supercharge your Velocity Points balance in no time!

The $440 annual fee can be offset by a complimentary annual return Virgin Australia domestic flight^$, Virgin Australia Lounge Access^{^} for the Primary Card Member and two single entry Virgin Australia Lounge Passes⁼ for friends and family when travelling with you each Membership year.

This card can also help you to achieve a higher Virgin Australia status tier, by rewarding you with up to 100 Bonus Velocity Frequent Flyer Status Credits⁺ each membership year.

Sign-up bonus

Apply for an American Express Velocity Platinum Card by 21 January 2025 to earn 60,000 bonus Velocity Points!^*

A minimum spend of $3,000 on eligible transactions on your card within the first 3 months from the approval date is required to receive the bonus.

This offer may be changed or withdrawn at any time and is not available to existing Amex Card Members, or if you have been the primary Card Member of an Australian Amex Card in the past 18 months.

What you could do with Velocity Points

To give you an idea, it would cost 71,000 Velocity Points + around $235 for a return Virgin Australia Business Class flight from Adelaide to Bali!

Alternatively, with 75,000 Velocity Points, plus taxes & carrier charges, you could fly one-way from Sydney to London in Economy Class with Virgin’s partner airlines Etihad Airways, Qatar Airways or Singapore Airlines.

Travel benefits

Here’s an overview of the travel benefits you can expect…

Free return Virgin Australia flight

You can redeem the complimentary domestic return flight with Virgin Australia^$ to selected cities each Card Membership year and is redeemable after making a purchase on your Card.

This offer can be used to fly on selected domestic routes, as outlined on the online flight route table on the Amex Website. Note that, while you can’t use this free flight to travel from the Australian east coast to Perth, you can use it to fly from Perth to the east coast and back. 😉

You can redeem this free flight using Velocity’s dedicated online booking portal or by calling Virgin Australia on 1300 153 006 (instead of the usual Guest Contact Centre phone number).

To use this benefit, there must be availability in the fare classes “T” or “Q” on the flight/s you wish to book. Note that some flights might not have any seats available in these fare classes.

You can also check the full terms & conditions of this and other card benefits on the Amex website.

Airport lounge access

Your American Express Velocity Platinum Card gives you access to Virgin Australia lounges^ at select domestic airports, every time you fly Virgin Australia domestically. Slip away from the crowds, sample an array of complimentary food and beverages, and take a load off before you take off. Available to Primary Card Members only. Enrolment in the VA Lounge Access benefit required.

Lounges can be accessed up to two hours prior to any Virgin Australia flight when you’re departing from a domestic airport with a Virgin Australia Lounge available. You’ll also receive two complimentary Virgin Australia Guest Lounge Passes each membership year to treat friends or family to VA Lounge access, when travelling with you on a domestic Virgin Australia flight.

Complimentary Travel Insurance

This credit card comes with complimentary domestic and international travel insurance, including some cover for COVID-19. The insurance is underwritten by Chubb and is available when you pay for your return trip using your American Express Velocity Platinum Card. Terms, conditions and exclusions apply (such as maximum age-limits, pre-existing medical conditions and cover limits)

Before using this insurance, we’d encourage you to read the Card Insurance T&Cs here.

This card also comes with complimentary Card Purchase Cover & Card Refund Cover.

Bonus Velocity status credits

The Amex Velocity Platinum is one of the few credit cards that allows you to earn status credits! This could be helpful if you’d like to upgrade your Virgin Australia status tier – or renew your existing status.

Earn up to 100 Velocity Status Credits each year⁺. Status Credits help you jump Velocity tier status and escape the crowds and skip the queues. Be awarded 50 Status Credits⁺ when you spend $25,000 on eligible purchases each membership year and a further 50 Status Credits when you spend another $25,000 in the same membership year. Once you’ve met this target, your status credits will hit your Velocity account within two weeks.

To attain or renew Velocity status, you’d still need to fly a minimum number of eligible Virgin Australia flights each year in addition to earning the required status credits.

Earning points

With the American Express Velocity Platinum Card, earn 1.25 Velocity Frequent Flyer points per $1 spent on eligible transactions (excluding government payments)^~.

Plus, you’ll earn an extra Velocity Point for every dollar spent (bringing the total to 2.25 Velocity Points per $1) on eligible Virgin Australia purchases^~.

There is no monthly or annual point-earning cap. You can earn an unlimited number of points at the full rate.

Velocity Points may expire if there is no activity in your Velocity Frequent Flyer account for 24 months. But earning Velocity Points with your credit card will keep your account active.

Earning points for ATO & government payments

Payments made directly to the Australian Tax Office (ATO) or other government bodies in Australia with your Amex Velocity Platinum card will earn points at a reduced rate of 0.5 Velocity points per $1^~.

However, you can use a payment service such as pay.com.au or Sniip to pay tax and other bills with this card, and still earn points at the full rate!

Amex Offers

From time to time, American Express Card Members receive exclusive offers of bonus points or cashback when spending at specific retailers. These Amex Offers can be quite lucrative.

Amex also runs Shop Small promotions from time to time, giving rewards for shopping at participating small businesses.

Using Velocity Frequent Flyer points

There are many ways to redeem Virgin Australia Velocity Points, both in the air and on the ground.

If you don’t want to use your points for flights, Velocity Points can be redeemed for wine, hotels, car hire bookings and products or gift cards from the Velocity Rewards Store.

But you’ll generally get the best value for your Velocity Points by redeeming for UpgradeMe Points upgrades on Virgin Australia or reward seats.

You can book reward seats on any of Velocity’s partner airlines. In addition to Virgin Australia, these include Singapore Airlines, Qatar Airways, United Airlines, Etihad Airways, Air Canada and Hawaiian Airlines.

You can check the number of Velocity Points you’d need to book a reward seat on the Velocity Frequent Flyer website.

It’s also possible to convert Velocity Frequent Flyer points into Singapore Airlines KrisFlyer miles! You’d just need to transfer at least 5,000 Velocity Points at a time, and the conversion rate is 1.55 Velocity Points = 1 KrisFlyer mile.

Note that taxes & carrier charges are payable in addition to the points on reward seats. The availability of reward seats may also be limited, particularly in Business Class on popular international routes and during peak travel periods.

See our Overview of Virgin Australia Redemptions for more information.

Summary

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)

Terms & Conditions

Cards are offered, issued, and administered by American Express Australia Limited ABN 92 108 952 085, Australian Credit Licence No. 291313.

American Express income and credit approval criteria applies. Subject to Terms and Conditions. Interest rates, fees and charges apply. All interest rates are quoted as an Annual Percentage Rate. All information, including fees, charges and interest rates are correct as at 30 October 2024 and are subject to change.