Velocity Frequent Flyer members can now use their points to book Air Canada flights between Sydney and Vancouver, as well as across the rest of the Air Canada network.
When Virgin Australia’s frequent flyer program reinstated partner airline redemptions last week, it said (and still does say) that “the ability for Velocity members to book Reward Seats between Australia and Vancouver is currently under review”. Initially, this meant only Air Canada flights on other routes, such as flights within North America and trans-Atlantic routes, were available for Velocity members to book.
But AFF members have discovered that Air Canada has quietly reopened award bookings on its Sydney-Vancouver route over the weekend. Air Canada will resume Boeing 777-200LR flights on this route from 17 December 2021.
There is currently no reward seat availability on Air Canada’s other Australian route from Brisbane to Vancouver.
It costs 56,000 Velocity points + $115.60 for a one-way Economy Reward seat from Sydney to Vancouver on Air Canada. In Business Class, the price is 104,000 Velocity points + $115.60.
Award availability on Air Canada’s Sydney-Vancouver flights is somewhat limited, particularly for travel within the next seven months – although you can still find some Economy availability.
There is more award availability for bookings made 8-11 months in advance. Many flights from July 2022 have up to 9 Economy Reward seats available and if you book well ahead, there are even some flights with 1 or 2 Business Reward seats.
You can also add on connecting flights from Vancouver to other destinations across the Air Canada network onto the same Velocity reward ticket.
Air Canada reward seats are generally available to book on the Virgin Australia website. However, for some reason, the Virgin website doesn’t currently seem to be showing Air Canada award availability on some trans-Atlantic routes where seats should be available. If you’re having trouble booking online, you could also try calling the Velocity Membership Contact Centre.
As Air Canada is part of Star Alliance, you can also redeem miles with any Star Alliance airline to book Air Canada reward seats including Singapore Airlines KrisFlyer miles, United MileagePlus miles and – of course – Air Canada Aeroplan points.
Velocity members still do not have access to any reward seats on Singapore Airlines, which has not yet resumed releasing award seat inventory to any partner airlines.
Join the discussion on the Australian Frequent Flyer forum: VA2.0 International Partners
