Why we like the American Express Velocity Escape Card

The American Express Velocity Escape card is a no-frills co-branded credit card that lets you earn uncapped points with Velocity Frequent Flyer, the loyalty program of Virgin Australia.

This card has $0 Annual Fee and you can earn 0.75 Velocity points per $1 spent on this card (with a reduced earn rate for government payments). You’ll also earn a bonus Velocity point for every dollar spent with Virgin Australia.

If you’re looking for an entry-level credit card that earns Velocity points, and don’t want to pay an annual fee, Amex Velocity Escape could be a suitable option. That said, some people may prefer to pay the annual fee of the American Express Velocity Platinum card and receive extra benefits such as a free annual return flight, airport lounge passes, travel insurance and a higher points earning rate.

Earning Points

With the American Express Velocity Escape card, you’ll earn 0.75 Velocity Frequent Flyer points per $1 spent on eligible transactions (excluding government payments).

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

Plus, you’ll earn an extra Velocity point for every dollar spent (bringing the total to 1.75 Velocity points per $1) on eligible Virgin Australia purchases.

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 Escape card will earn 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.

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 in the air, 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 use Velocity points to book reward seats on Virgin Australia or any of its partner airlines. These include Singapore Airlines, Qatar Airways, United Airlines, Etihad Airways, Air Canada, Hawaiian Airlines, South African Airways and Virgin Atlantic.

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 are payable in addition to the points on reward seats, as well as carrier charges when booking reward seats on Virgin Australia, Etihad, Qatar Airways or Singapore Airlines. The availability of reward seats may also be limited, particularly in Business/First Class on popular international routes and during peak travel periods.

See our Overview of Velocity Frequent Flyer Redemptions for more details about using Velocity points.

Sign-up bonus

There is currently no sign-up bonus available on this card.

If you would like an American Express credit card that offers bonus Velocity points when you apply, you may wish to consider the Amex Velocity Platinum credit card. You could also choose a card that comes with bonus Amex Membership Rewards points, such as the Amex Explorer card, and then transfer those Amex Membership Rewards points into your Velocity Frequent Flyer account.

Note that American Express does not generally award sign-up bonus points to customers who already have an Amex card or have held one in the past 18 months. Therefore, be aware that signing up for this card may exclude you from accessing sign-up bonus point offers on other Amex credit cards in the short term. However, American Express does from time to time offer bonus points to card members who upgrade to a different card on an invitation-only basis.

Card Purchase & Refund Cover

Unlike many other American Express credit cards which have annual fees, the American Express Velocity Escape card does not come with complimentary travel insurance.

However, you can benefit from complimentary Card Purchase Cover which covers stolen or damaged items purchased using your card. There’s also Card Refund Cover, which covers the cost of eligible items purchased with your card if a store refuses a return.

Read the full card insurance PDS here.

You can also access American Express’ Fraud Protection Guarantee, emergency card replacement and choose pay off your card using Plan It instalments.

Summary

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)