Is it Time to transfer/withdraw points from Velocity?

[Bibendum]

Hi All,

I need some advice from the brains trust on this forum.

I, like many on here, have hundreds of thousands of points sitting with velocity. With the current COVID-19 situation and virgins financial position I’m concerned that if the airline was declare bankruptcy points may disappear..

What’s the likelihood of this happening and should I withdraw my points by purchasing gift cards to get some cash value at what I have..?

am I making a mountain out of a mole hill.. or is there a real threat to my velocity points been wiped out..?

 

[knagelli]

Yes. First attempt I got the error message, but I clicked their refresh link and my account appeared as expected.

Well I am also in velocity portal but not onto their rewards portal. Are you able to check the status of any of your pending orders ?

 

[Thibault]

GRR, I tried 50+ times yesterday to redeem my points for an Apple product but could not complete the purchase - always time out or back to the shopping basket.

Oh well, we just need to stay positive and optimistic - it's only points after all.
I hope Virgin will be able to survive - my favorite airline in Australia.

 

[knagelli]

GRR, I tried 50+ times yesterday to redeem my points for an Apple product but could not complete the purchase - always time out or back to the shopping basket.

Oh well, we just need to stay positive and optimistic - it's only points after all.
I hope Virgin will be able to survive - my favorite airline in Australia.

I hope that turns out to be true but it's very faint right now .... Is the statement officially out ?

 

[clarkkent]

shop.velocityfrequentflyer.com now redirects to experience.velocityfrequentflyer.com

 

[holdenmg]

It's not just you! shop.velocityfrequentflyer.com is down. shop.velocityfrequentflyer.com down? Current problems and status. - DownFor

 

[Scr77]

As just reported on the other thread, VA are now officially under administration. Statement released to ASX.

 

[blueturkey]

So there's basically no way to get your points out now? I'm glad i did the Kris transfer when i did.

 

[Rob.au]

As just reported on the other thread, VA are now officially under administration. Statement released to ASX.

Worth noting however that the ASX release says "Velocity Frequent Flyer, while owned by the Group, is a separate company and is not in administration."

 

[Denali]

I can log in and see transactions, points balance ect but can only Shop to Earn, no longer any redeem option.

 

[serfty]

As just reported on the other thread, VA are now officially under administration. Statement released to ASX.

Interesting bit in the announcement.

Interestingly, it states "Velocity Frequent Flyer, while owned by the Group, is a seperate company and not in administration"

 

[Rob.au]

The "Shopping online" menu now only has "Shop to earn points" on it. The wine store and Velocity store are no longer there.

 

[blueturkey]

Yep, it's a deliberate removal to stop people redeeming.

 

[alita_b_angel]

Site completely down...

Managed to redeem 1 westfield $100 voucher 11:45pm and waited 15 min to redeem one after midnight. Not even sure those giftcards are coming to me at this point but it's better than nothing I guess.

Still sadly got 110K points sitting there so I'm hoping someone can save velocity otherwise what a wasteeee.

 

[Left_Hand_Drive]

If you have the confirmed order - should be okay but it also depends on when you purchased the item

I burned through 40% 30 mins before the confirmed news! And the rest 60% post the news yesterday. Managed to burn though all before the store was shut down. Don’t know if the orders will be honoured. Especially if Deloitte freezes their accounts, Harvey Norman / Coll may not fulfil their orders.

 

[jakeseven7]

Worth noting however that the ASX release says "Velocity Frequent Flyer, while owned by the Group, is a separate company and is not in administration."

... But we will shut it down anyway because we own it and we don't want people using their points and spending their money!

 

[Rich]

Worth noting however that the ASX release says "Velocity Frequent Flyer, while owned by the Group, is a separate company and is not in administration."

Interesting, but what does that mean? I can only assume that means the administrators will look to sell the program to secure money for creditors. But would it actually be worth anything with a huge points liability and no airline to redeem flights on? The income from credit cards, flybuys etc would be high but would it offset the points liability?
Otherwise they could try to re-launch a cut down Virgin with the FF program, but surely the points will have to be devalued in some way.
I can't see much hope here, but it's only points. Jobs and airline competition are more important.

 

[jakeseven7]

Interesting, but what does that mean? I can only assume that means the administrators will look to sell the program to secure money for creditors. But would it actually be worth anything with a huge points liability and no airline to redeem flights on? The income from credit cards, flybuys etc would be high but would it offset the points liability?
Otherwise they could try to re-launch a cut down Virgin with the FF program, but surely the points will have to be devalued in some way.
I can't see much hope here, but it's only points. Jobs and airline competition are more important.

There were some rumours that Flybuys were interested in buying into VFF which would be an interesting turn of events

 

[nickfromeastryde]

Interesting, but what does that mean? I can only assume that means the administrators will look to sell the program to secure money for creditors. But would it actually be worth anything with a huge points liability and no airline to redeem flights on? The income from credit cards, flybuys etc would be high but would it offset the points liability?
Otherwise they could try to re-launch a cut down Virgin with the FF program, but surely the points will have to be devalued in some way.
I can't see much hope here, but it's only points. Jobs and airline competition are more important.

I think it means that it is off limits to the administrators which is good. However your points (excuse the pun) about its future worth are pretty much on the mark

 

[Rich]

... But we will shut it down anyway because we own it and we don't want people using their points and spending their money!

Correct, because we are not spending money, only points. If Virgin have $75 in the bank it is better to use it to pay outstanding employee entitlements or other debts than transferring the money to the Good Guys to cover the cost of them sending me a $150 toaster. This is what any administrator has to do.

 

[Rich]

I think it means that it is off limits to the administrators which is good. However your points (excuse the pun) about its future worth are pretty much on the mark

I have read in various threads that the FF program is a separate entity (suppported by the ASX annoucement) and that it has $750 million liability in points. What I don't understand is, does it have $750 million in cash to go with those points? If not, how can points be protected? The administrators could sell it for $1 million (new owners take the database and wipe the points) and it would be deemed better than nothing.