Virgin Australia’s Velocity Frequent Flyer program and Luxury Escapes launched an exclusive partnership on 22 August 2023. With this collaboration, Velocity’s 11.5 million members and Luxury Escapes’ three million Australian customers can earn and redeem Velocity points on discounted holiday packages.

Velocity Frequent Flyer CEO Nick Rohrlach said that “Velocity members will significantly benefit from the great value, choice and rewards on offer whenever they book a Luxury Escapes holiday or experience”.

To celebrate the launch of the partnership, Virgin Australia also launched a status match campaign targeting Qantas flyers which runs until 15 September 2023.

Luxury Escapes’ previous partnership with Qantas Frequent Flyer ended on 30 June.

What is Luxury Escapes?

Luxury Escapes is an Online Travel Agency (OTA) offering a range of packages, experiences and tours as well as flights and hotels.

The company is known for offering heavily discounted accommodation packages in popular holiday destinations such as Bali, Hawaii, Phuket and around Australia. By booking through Luxury Escapes, you can stay at a luxurious hotel or resort – often with extra inclusions added – for a fraction of the regular price!

You can also book experiences such as fine dining, museums or day tours via Luxury Escapes.

They offer a best rate guarantee, although the terms and conditions are quite strict. Luxury Escapes will only match rates from other OTAs (not the hotel’s website), and only if the inclusions are the same – which they often are not.

How does the partnership work?

Velocity members can earn 1 Velocity point for every $1 spent on eligible bookings through Luxury Escapes. This includes luxury holiday packages, hotels, cruises and tours.

Some bookings on Luxury Escapes may not be eligible to earn Velocity Points. You can see if the product is eligible to earn Velocity points if there is a banner stating “Earn & Use Velocity Points”.

You also have the opportunity to offset costs by using Velocity Points to partially or entirely pay for your Luxury Escapes booking. The rate of redemption is 0.75 cents per point, so every 1,000 points you use for your Luxury Escapes booking takes $7.50 off the price of the booking. You need to redeem at least 5,000 points at a time.

To take advantage of the Luxury Escapes/Velocity partnership, you’ll first need to link your Luxury Escapes account to your Velocity Frequent Flyer account. You can do this via the Luxury Escapes website.

Is Luxury Escapes worth it?

If you want to enjoy a luxurious holiday but you’re on a budget, Luxury Escapes can offer some great value. This is especially true of the hotel offers, as you can access benefits such as room upgrades, late checkouts, spa treatments and food & beverage credits.

Hotels may offer some of these benefits to guests holding elite status with that hotel chain. But Luxury Escapes deals often include even more benefits than you’d get with status. And if you don’t have any hotel status, Luxury Escapes is a way to get extra perks on your stay.

While it pays to compare prices available elsewhere, you can often get a better price through Luxury Escapes – especially when you take all the extra inclusions into account. You can also access discounted experiences by booking through Luxury Escapes.

The ability to earn Velocity Points is icing on the cake! This is also an easy way to stop your Velocity points from expiring. However, redeeming Velocity points on Luxury Escapes isn’t necessarily great value.

The main downside to booking hotels through Luxury Escapes is that you cannot earn hotel loyalty points and these stays won’t count towards status with a hotel program. And if you happen to hold elite status with the hotel chain, you also can’t utilise your status benefits on Luxury Escapes bookings.

As an alternative to Luxury Escapes, if you have an American Express Platinum card, you may find that you can get good deals by booking accommodation through Fine Hotels & Resorts.

An example of the value of Luxury Escapes

For example, you can book seven nights in a “Deluxe Room Pool View” at the Mövenpick Myth Hotel Patong Phuket for $999 on Luxury Escapes. The same room booked via the hotel’s website, for the same dates, costs almost $300 more.

Booking through Luxury Escapes also entitles you to the following benefits at Mövenpick Phuket, which is an Accor hotel:

• Two three-course lunches or dinners at Átrio Restaurant
• One 60-minute massage per adult at A VIDA Spa
• Daily buffet breakfast at Átrio Restaurant
• One daily cocktail per person

These added benefits aren’t available when booking through the hotel’s website either!

You can also pay with a credit card that earns Velocity points to earn even more points.

Redeeming Velocity Points

Redeeming points via Luxury Escapes could be pretty poor value when compared to Reward Seats. But Luxury Escapes redemptions offer better value than gift cards or products from the Velocity Rewards Store, and this is slightly better value than redeeming on Points + Pay flights.

For example, if you were to book a 10-day South Pacific Cruise on P&O worth $899, you would need 119,867 Velocity Points. Alternatively, with the same amount of points you could fly between Sydney and Melbourne in Virgin Australia Business Class seven times, or once in First Class between Perth and Doha on Qatar Airways (excluding taxes & carrier charges).

Of course, this all depends on how you value your points. It’s always better to use your points than not at all!

Frequently asked questions (FAQs)

Wilson McTaggart

Wilson's love of travel started from a young age, but his love for points developed after figuring out ways to travel on a gap year for less - leading naturally towards Australian Frequent Flyer! Wilson's hobbies include skiing, cricket and planning trips, both with and without points.

Wilson posts on the AFF forum as @WilsonM.