Need a few more Virgin Australia status credits to reach the next tier with Velocity Frequent Flyer? The easiest way to upgrade to Velocity Silver, Gold or Platinum status is to take a status run.
In October 2024, Virgin Australia announced some major changes to its frequent flyer program. This will affect the way you earn status credits, and how they will count towards status qualification. But for now, you can still earn status credits under the old system.
You can check the number of status credits you’ll earn for Virgin Australia flights on the Velocity Frequent Flyer website. For flights on other partner airlines, see this page.
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How the Velocity program changes affect your ability to earn status credits
There are three major upcoming changes to the Velocity program that will affect how you earn status:
- Virgin Australia marketed flights booked on/after 2 April 2025 will earn 1 status credit per $12 spent (rounded up to the nearest status credit), except on Economy Lite fares which will earn 1 status credit per $24. This includes VA marketed codeshare flights operated by other airlines.
- Partner airline flights flown on/after 1 October 2025 will earn status credits at a reduced rate, but still based on charts which take into account the fare class and distance flown.
- From 1 October 2025, Velocity will add a requirement that at least 50% of the status credits needed to earn or retain a tier must come from VA marketed flights that you have personally flown (i.e. not from family pooling).
After these changes come into effect, most flights will earn fewer status credits than they did previously. However, any Virgin Australia flights that you book by 1 April 2025, even if you fly after this date, will still earn at the old rates. And for partner airline flights, you just need to fly by 30 September 2025 to earn at the current rates.
Once these changes take effect, it will eliminate many of the current Virgin Australia status runs featured in this article. Since you’ll earn Velocity status credits based on your spend, this removes a lot of the “gamification”. But there could still be some lucrative sweet spots with partner airlines.
Earning status credits without flying
In general, you’ll need to earn the majority of your Velocity status credits from flying with Virgin Australia or its partner airlines. But there are also a few ways to earn small amounts of status credits from Flybuys and certain credit cards.
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- American Express Velocity Platinum
- Earn
- 1.25
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- Annual Fee
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on everyday purchases
Velocity Frequent Flyer also has a generous family pooling scheme that lets you pool the status credits earned by the rest of your family into your own personal account. This can be useful if you travel as a family. However, from October 2025, status credits earned from family pooling don’t count towards the required 50% of status credits earned from VA marketed flights.
Our top Velocity Frequent Flyer status run picks
Looking for some Velocity Frequent Flyer status run inspiration? Here is our selection of the best Virgin Australia status runs for earning Velocity status credits under the current version of the program as of February 2025…
1. Cheap Virgin Australia domestic Business Class
When flying Virgin Australia domestically, you’ll earn status credits at the following rates:
As you can see, the number of status credits earned for Business tickets is considerably higher than the Economy fare earn rates. Plus, Virgin Australia’s domestic Business Class airfares are generally good value.
Although Virgin’s domestic Business Class fares are no longer quite as amazing value as they were a few years ago, you can still get some very good deals. For example, Canberra-Melbourne-Launceston starts from around $486 one-way in Business Class and earns 110 status credits (55 status credits for each individual flight sector). That’s before any discounts that may be available using a Virgin Australia promo code.
Of course, when Velocity has a Double Status Credits promotion running, you can get even better value!
Other examples of good, current Virgin Australia Business Class status runs include:
- Sydney-Melbourne-Launceston
- Canberra-Melbourne-Launceston
- Melbourne-Sydney-Sunshine Coast
- Melbourne-Brisbane
- Melbourne-Gold Coast
- Melbourne-Sydney-Ballina
- Canberra-Melbourne-Adelaide
- Newcastle-Brisbane-Adelaide
- Perth-Kalgoorlie
- Perth-Cairns
- Brisbane-Cairns
For more status run ideas, AFF member Milefest has posted a very helpful table on the Australian Frequent Flyer forum.
2. Virgin Australia Economy Choice & Flex fares
If you’re looking to maximise your status credits, it would not make sense to book an Economy Lite fare. That’s because Economy Choice tickets earn triple the number of status credits and typically only cost around $20 more. Plus, Economy Lite fares do not count towards the eligible Velocity sectors you need (in addition to status credits) for Silver, Gold or Platinum status with Virgin Australia.
That said, you can get some good deals on Economy Choice and Economy Flex fares on Virgin Australia domestic flights.
Some examples of good Economy status runs on Virgin Australia can include:
- Melbourne-Canberra-Gold Coast in Economy Flex
- Hobart-Melbourne-Gold Coast in Economy Flex
- Cairns-Melbourne-Perth in Economy Flex
- Sydney-Ballina in Economy Choice
Economy Choice tickets can also be good value during Virgin Australia Happy Hour sales from 4-11pm (AEST) on Thursdays. The prices advertised during Happy Hour sales are usually for an Economy Lite ticket, but you can pay around $10-20 more to book Economy Choice and earn triple the status credits.
3. Virgin Australia Business Class to Bali (with domestic connections)
This isn’t quite as good an earner as some of the domestic itineraries available on the Australian east coast. But if you’re planning to book a Virgin Australia Business Class flight to Bali, it’s often not that much more expensive to add one or two domestic connections.
For example, you could fly Gold Coast-Sydney-Melbourne-Bali for around $2,573 return and earn 500 status credits. (That’s enough to earn Velocity Gold status!)
4. Hawaiian Airlines Inter-Island First Class
Hawaiian Airlines First Class fares within the Hawaiian islands are relatively inexpensive, and you’ll earn 40 status credits per sector!
The flights are short so don’t expect a meal on board. But you will get a larger seat, complimentary baggage allowance and lounge access. The difference in price between Coach and First Class is minimal, so it’s often worth paying a little more for the extra status credits.
5. Domestic First Class on United Airlines
Thanks to its new partnership with Virgin Australia, you can now earn Velocity status credits on United Airlines flights.
A “sweet spot” here is domestic First Class flights, particularly on connecting itineraries, which are often well-priced.
United Airlines Business & First Class flights earn Velocity status credits at the following rates, based on the distance flown:
- Up to 750 miles: 40 status credits
- 751 to 1,500 miles: 60 status credits
- 1,501 to 3,000 miles: 80 status credits
6. Air New Zealand Business Class sale fares to Auckland
Since December 2024, Virgin Australia has a limited trans-Tasman codeshare partnership with Air New Zealand. On selected trans-Tasman routes, you can book VA-marketed codeshare flights through Virgin Australia which are operated by Air New Zealand.
In general, when booking through Virgin Australia, you should be able to get the same price as you would booking directly with Air New Zealand. But if you book on the VA code, you can earn Velocity points and status credits.
When booking Air New Zealand Business Class from Melbourne, Sydney or Brisbane to Auckland, you’ll earn 95 status credits each way under the current system. If you book during a sale, this might not be the worst value.
However, when booking on or after 2 April 2025, the earn rate will revert to 1 status credit per $12 spent. So, from that date, the above itinerary costing $1,357.60 return would earn 114 status credits instead of 190.
7. Etihad Airways Business Class from Manila to Europe
Etihad’s Business Class fares from Manila in The Philippines to certain European destinations such as Madrid, Barcelona, Munich, Geneva, Dublin and Athens are often very well priced at around $2,500 return. On a Business Class return trip from Manila to Barcelona (via Abu Dhabi), for example, you would earn 480 status credits.
If you’re looking for a cheap way to get to Europe in Business Class, consider booking a positioning flight to Manila.
For example, you could book a ticket to The Philippines using Velocity points to fly Singapore Airlines, or Qantas points to fly Qantas. From there, you could fly Etihad for a fraction of the price that you’d pay booking a Business Class ticket all the way from Australia to Europe!
Please note that Etihad will no longer be a Velocity partner from 1 June 2025. You will no longer be able to earn Velocity points or status credits when flying Etihad Airways from this date.
8. Singapore Airlines Premium Economy to the USA
Singapore Airlines has reasonably competitive pricing on its Premium Economy fares from Australia to destinations in the USA including Los Angeles, San Francisco and New York (via Singapore). But the Premium Economy pricing from Asian departure points like Kuala Lumpur or Bangkok to the USA can be especially good (often under $2,000 return). Note that the intra-Asia connector flight will generally book into Economy Class.
A return Kuala Lumpur-Singapore-San Francisco flight in Singapore Airlines Premium Economy would earn you at least 320 status credits.
