How to Earn Lots of Velocity Points

Virgin Australia Boeing 737-800
Velocity Frequent Flyer is Virgin Australia’s loyalty program. Photo: Virgin Australia.

It’s easy for Aussies to earn lots of points with Virgin Australia’s loyalty program, Velocity Frequent Flyer. After accumulating enough, you can then redeem your Velocity points for valuable rewards including reward flights, upgrades and more.

You can of course earn Velocity points by flying with Virgin Australia and its partner airlines, but that’s not the only way! There are also lots of ways to collect Velocity points with credit cards and by shopping with program partners.

This guide explains the different ways to earn and maximise your Velocity points!

Earn Velocity points from flying

You’ll earn 5 points per dollar spent on Virgin Australia flights.

You can also earn points when flying on partner airlines. Although Virgin Australia is not a member of a global alliance like Oneworld, it does have a selection of its own handpicked partner airlines including Singapore Airlines, United and Qatar Airways.

Here’s the full list of Velocity’s partner airlines:

Velocity partner airlines: Air Canada, ANA, Capital Airlines, Etihad, FlyPelican, Hainan Airlines, Hawaiian Airlines, Hong Kong Airlines, Link Airways, Qatar Airways, Singapore Airlines, South African Airways, Tianjin Airlines, United, Virgin Atlantic, Virgin Australia.

When flying with a partner airline, the amount of Velocity points earned depends on the distance of the flight and your fare class, as per the tables for each airline on the Velocity website.

For example, Premium Economy “A” class fares on United Airlines earn 1 Velocity point per mile flown. If you booked a return flight from Sydney to San Francisco in United Premium Economy, you’d earn at least 14,834 Velocity points as this flight covers 7,417 miles in each direction according to Velocity’s Mileage Calculator.

United Boeing 777 Premium Plus cabin
United Boeing 777 Premium Plus (Premium Economy). Photo: United Airlines.

You can also earn 1-2 points per $1 spent on FlyPelican flights, and 2-5 points per $1 on Link Airways flights. No other Velocity benefits apply and status credits are not earned on FlyPelican or Link Airways, except for Link Airways codeshares with “VA” flight numbers.

Different earn rates apply to Virgin Australia flights flown as part of an international partner airline itinerary.

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Earn Velocity points on the ground

There are also lots of ways to earn Velocity points without flying, especially if you live in Australia.

Here is a selection of earning methods on the ground:

Best Virgin Australia Velocity Credit Card Sign-up Offers

Spending on or applying for Velocity Points-earning credit cards

Velocity 7-Eleven

Filling up at 7-Eleven petrol stations & convenience stores

Person using computer shopping

Shopping online through Velocity eStore partners

Shopping

Shopping at program partners including Snooze and Freedom

Transferring points from Flybuys

Qantas Wine bonus offers for red wine

Ordering wine from Virgin Wines

SMS text message on phone

Completing e-Rewards surveys

Palace Hotel, Broken Hill

Booking a hotel through Virgin Australia Hotels

Thrifty, Hertz and Europcar counters

Renting a car from Europcar, Sixt, Hertz, Thrifty or Dollar

You can now earn Velocity Frequent Flyer Points with DiDi

Booking a rideshare with the DiDi app

Car key in hand

Going for a drive with Flexicar

plastic bottles envirobank

Recycling with Envirobank

Airbnb

Switching to AGL Energy

carpark valet parking

Using Looking4Parking’s carpark finder

Retired couple of seniors at airport

Buying travel insurance from Cover-More

Shangri-La hotel Paris

Transferring points from a hotel loyalty program

Sydney

Booking a tour or attraction ticket with Experience Oz

Double Status Credits on Qantas Flights to Ballina

Staying at G’Day Parks across Australia

Virgin Voyages cruise ship Scarlet Lady

Booking a cruise with Cruisepilot

There’s a full list of partners on the Velocity Frequent Flyer website.

Velocity 7-Eleven
7-Eleven is a Velocity Frequent Flyer partner. Photo: 7-Eleven.

Transferring points from Flybuys

Velocity partners with Flybuys, another one of Australia’s largest loyalty programs. You can earn Flybuys points at Coles, Liquorland, Kmart, Officeworks, Bunnings Warehouse and lots of other retailers. Also, by taking advantage of Flybuys targeted bonus offers, your Flybuys points can really add up quickly!

Mackay, Queensland, Australia - June 2020: Coles supermarket signage in a shopping centre
You can earn Flybuys points by shopping at Coles. Photo: Adobe Stock.

You can then transfer your Flybuys points to Velocity at a rate of 1,000 Flybuys points = 500 Velocity points. From time to time, Velocity even gives bonus points when you convert Flybuys points.

Turbocharge your Velocity points with credit cards

Credit cards are another popular way to earn lots of Velocity points through everyday spend. You can accumulate Velocity points by spending on a co-branded Velocity Frequent Flyer card (offered by American Express or Virgin Money), or also by transferring your credit card reward points to Velocity.

Most Australian bank-operated loyalty programs offer the option to convert your points to Velocity points. If doing this, wait until May or November as Velocity usually gives at least 15% bonus points on transfers from credit card programs during these months!

You can also earn lots of bonus Velocity points by taking advantage of credit card sign-up offers. For example, one current offer will get you up to 120,000 bonus Velocity points!

Great Credit Cards for Earning Virgin Australia Velocity Points

American Express Velocity Escape
Earn
0.75

Velocity Frequent Flyer Velocity Points on everyday purchases

Signup Bonus

No current signup bonus

Annual Fee
$0 p.a.
Read the guide
American Express Velocity Platinum
Earn
1.25

Velocity Frequent Flyer Velocity Points on everyday purchases

Signup Bonus

60,000 bonus Velocity Points

Annual Fee
$375 p.a.
Read the guide

Velocity Points Booster

If you’re just a few Velocity points short of a particular redemption, you can buy them directly through Velocity Points Booster.

Buying points this way can be quite expensive, with prices starting at $36 for 1,000 points. The average cost decreases as you buy more points. But we generally wouldn’t recommend buying large amounts of Velocity points using this method as it’s unlikely you’ll get back more value than what you paid for them.

Keep your Velocity account active to prevent points expiry

Velocity Frequent Flyer points will expire if your account is inactive for 24 months.

The good news is that all you need to do to prevent your Velocity points from expiring is to earn or redeem at least one point every two years. Even buying a $2 coffee from 7-Eleven is sufficient!

The editor of Australian Frequent Flyer, Matt's passion for travel has taken him to over 90 countries… with the help of frequent flyer points, of course!
Matt's favourite destinations (so far) are Germany, Brazil & Kazakhstan. His interests include economics, aviation & foreign languages, and he has a soft spot for good food and red wine.

You can connect with Matt by posting on the Australian Frequent Flyer community forum and tagging @AFF Editor.
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