Virgin Australia will extend the status of all Velocity Frequent Flyer members for 12 months. It will also gift its Silver, Gold and Platinum Velocity Frequent Flyer members with monthly bonus status credits for the next three months.
Virgin initially announced that it was only offering extra status credits for 3 months. But now that Air New Zealand and Qantas are giving away 12-month status extensions, Virgin has decided to do the same.
Virgin Australia says that Velocity members will not need to do any flying for the next 12 months to maintain their current status. Members that are eligible to receive the status extensions and status credit gifts will be emailed by the airline within the next fortnight. There is no need to register as this will occur automatically.
The Virgin Australia status extensions and status credit gifts are designed to help Velocity members to maintain their status at a time of travel restrictions and reduced flights.
Bonus Velocity status credits for 3 months
The bonus status credits will be awarded in 3 separate transactions during the first weeks of April, May and June, respectively.
The number of status credits you’ll receive will depend on your status tier. Platinum Velocity members will receive 70 status credits each month for the next 3 months, making a total of 210 status credits. Meanwhile, Gold members will receive 35 status credits each month and Silver members get 20 extra status credits per month until June 2020.
If you’re not flying, don’t forget that it’s also possible to earn up to 10 Velocity status credits per month by shopping at Coles and linking your Flybuys account.
Virgin Australia international flights grounded
Virgin Australia announced yesterday that it will ground all international flights from 30 March until at least 14 June 2020. It will also temporarily reduce domestic flights by around 50%, effective immediately.
It comes just days after the Australian government imposed mandatory self-isolation for all inbound international passengers, and as DFAT updates its travel advice for the entire world to “do not travel” indefinitely due to the COVID-19 outbreak. The Australian government has also now announced a temporary ban on non-Australian residents from entering the country.
Join the discussion on the Australian Frequent Flyer forum: Virgin Australia launches ‘coronavirus status extension’ plan