Velocity Frequent Flyer has just reduced the minimum number of points required to book domestic Economy Reward Seats on Virgin Australia.
But it’s not all good news. From 21 January 2025, Velocity will increase the maximum number of points required for Virgin Australia reward seats. It will also raise the cost of partner airline redemptions on some routes, as well as increasing the carrier charge on Singapore Airlines reward bookings.
Here’s an overview of the changes to Velocity redemptions that were announced today as part of the broader changes to the Velocity Frequent Flyer program…
Contents
An increased range of domestic Economy reward seat rates
Last year, Velocity Frequent Flyer introduced three different tiers of domestic Economy reward seat pricing. This effectively ties the number of points required for available reward seats to the demand for each flight, within a designated price range.
From 21 January 2025, Velocity will create even more different price tiers for Economy reward seats, with more range between the lowest and highest values.
This table compares the range of points that Velocity may charge for domestic Economy redemptions before and after these changes:
| One-way miles | Previous price range | From today until 20 January 2025 | New price range from 21 January 2025 |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 – 600 | 6,200-9,900 | 5,900-9,900 | 5,900-12,900 |
| 601 – 1,200 | 9,400-14,900 | 8,900-14,900 | 8,900-18,900 |
| 1,201 – 2,400 | 14,100-21,900 | 13,500-21,900 | 13,500-26,900 |
| 2,401 – 3,600 | 17,600-27,500 | 15,900-27,500 | 15,900-29,900 |
| 3,601 – 4,800 | 21,000-33,900 | 19,900-33,900 | 19,900-39,900 |
Velocity has also mentioned changes to Virgin Australia international short-haul Economy redemptions from 21 January 2025.
There are no changes to Virgin Australia Business Class reward seat costs.
See the Velocity website for more details about the changes to reward seat pricing.
A million extra reward seats for the next 4 days
To celebrate the reduced lead-in reward pricing launched today, Virgin Australia has today released a million additional domestic Economy reward seats which are available to book from today until Sunday, 20 October 2024!
These extra seats are available for travel dates until 30 June 2025.
Increases to selected partner airline reward seat costs
Unfortunately, from 21 January 2025, Velocity will also increase the number of points required to book selected reward seats on partner airlines. In addition, it will create separate new reward charts for travel on United & Virgin Atlantic, as well as for travel on Singapore Airlines, Etihad or Qatar Airways.
For example, a one-way United Business Class redemption from Sydney to Los Angeles will increase from 95,500 to 102,000 Velocity points (plus taxes). Notably, this is still lower than the 108,400 points that Qantas charges for an equivalent Business redemption.
Other examples of changes to international partner reward seat pricing include:
- Sydney-Vancouver in Air Canada Economy increasing from 56,000 to 61,000 points
- Sydney-Tokyo on ANA increasing from 78,000 to 82,000 points in Business Class
- Sydney-London on Qatar Airways increasing from 75,000 to 80,000 points in Economy, and from 139,000 to 158,500 points in Business
You can see a full list of new reward seat prices on the Velocity Frequent Flyer website.
Luckily, these are all fairly modest increases. And some redemption costs, such as shorter flights in Economy, aren’t changing.
After these changes, Velocity will still (just) offer more competitive redemption rates than Qantas Frequent Flyer on most long-haul routes in Business Class. But Velocity long-haul redemptions remain more expensive than Qantas in Economy.
Higher carrier charges on Singapore Airlines redemptions
Velocity will unfortunately increase its carrier charge on Singapore Airlines redemptions from 21 January 2025. For example, the carrier charge on Economy reward seats between Australia and Singapore will increase from USD30 (~AU$45) to USD40 (~AU$60).
There are no other changes to Velocity carrier charges.
Changes to existing reward seat bookings not possible after 20 January 2025
With some reward seats becoming more expensive from 21 January 2025, there’s one final thing to be aware of.
You can continue to redeem Velocity points at the current rates until 20 January 2025. However, if you book before the price increases, it will not be possible to make voluntary changes to your redemption booking after 21 January 2025. Instead, you’ll be required to cancel your booking for a refund and then book a new reward ticket at the higher points cost, if applicable.
If you cancel a reward booking on a partner airline, beware that the seat might not be released back into reward inventory. So, there is a risk you might not be able to rebook the same flight.
