Have you received a Virgin Australia Travel Bank or Future Flight credit? You’re not alone.

Tens of thousands of Australians ended up with Virgin Australia Travel Bank credits – wanted or unwanted – after their flights were cancelled or they were unable to travel during the COVID-19 pandemic. Virgin also continues to issue Travel Bank credits if you need to cancel a non-refundable flight booking for any reason.

The conditions of your Virgin flight credit – and how to use it – will depend on the type of credit.

About Future Flight credits

If you originally booked a Virgin Australia or Tigerair flight before Virgin entered voluntary administration on 21 April 2020, you would have received a Future Flight credit.

Virgin Australia has extended the validity of Future Flight credits a few times. These are now valid until 31 December 2023. You can redeem your credit to travel up to the same date (i.e. the end of 2023).

There are some limitations on the use of Future Flight credits, which do not apply to Travel Bank credits. For example, you cannot necessarily use Future Flight credits on all flights, nor for flights operated by Virgin’s partner airlines.

If you wish to use a Future Flight credit, the redemption process is also different to that of standard Travel Bank credits. Specifically, when searching for flights on the Virgin Australia website, ensure you select “I would like to use Travel Bank to pay for some or all of this booking” and enter the Travel Bank username holding your Future Flight credit/s. This username should have been sent to you in an email from Virgin Australia and is different to your Velocity Frequent Flyer number.

See our article on how to use Virgin Australia Future Flight credits for more information.

About Travel Bank credits

If you have received a Travel Bank for a cancelled Virgin Australia flight originally booked after 21 April 2020, you can redeem this for any Virgin Australia marketed flight across the airline’s network. This includes codeshares with a “VA” flight number that are operated by partner airlines.

Virgin Australia operates an extensive domestic network and currently offers international flights to Nadi, Queenstown, Bali, Port Vila and Apia. It will additionally start flying to Tokyo in late June. You can also book “VA” coded flights to & from Australia operated by Qatar Airways or United Airlines.

In addition, you can use a standard Virgin Travel Bank to pay for:

• Fare and tax differences on new flight bookings,
• Change fees,
• Checked baggage, and
• Seat selection fees on Economy Lite tickets.

If your Travel Bank credit was issued on or after 15 May 2020, you can also use it to pay for Economy X seat selection fees, excess baggage fees, carbon offsets and single-use lounge passes.

Travel Bank funds cannot be used towards Business Class upgrades, gift vouchers, Reward Seat bookings, unaccompanied minor fees, service fees or on-board food and drink purchases. Full terms & conditions are available on the Virgin Australia website.

When do Virgin Travel Bank credits expire?

Normally, Virgin Australia Travel Bank credits expire after 12 months. You must redeem your credit before it expires, but may travel beyond the credit’s expiry date. Virgin Australia flights can be booked up to 11 months in advance.

As an exception, Travel Banks issued on or before 31 July 2022 have been extended until 31 December 2023. These credits can be redeemed for travel until the end of 2023.

You can check the balance of your credit by logging into the Virgin Australia Travel Bank portal.

Alternatively, log into your Velocity Frequent Flyer account on the Virgin website and select “My Bookings” – your balance should be shown in the dashboard. Note that Future Flight credits are not attached to your Velocity account and therefore won’t be shown here.

How to redeem Virgin Australia flight credits online

To redeem Virgin Australia Travel Bank credits issued after 21 April 2020, you can book a flight on the Virgin Australia website as you normally would. When you get to the final page, select “Travel Bank” as the payment type.

If you are a Velocity Frequent Flyer member, your Travel Bank credit should be linked to your Velocity account. If this is the case and you are logged into your Velocity account, your Travel Bank details should appear automatically.

Otherwise, enter the username and password sent to you in the email you received from Virgin Australia when your Travel Bank was created. This email generally is sent from “[email protected]”. If you’re unsure (and it’s not a Future Flight credit), your username and password could be your Velocity Frequent Flyer number & password.

You’ll then be asked to enter the amount of the Travel Bank that you wish to use towards the new booking. You can use the slider to choose how much of the booking you want to pay for using your travel credit.

If the funds in your Travel Bank are lower than the amount required for the new ticket, you’ll need to pay the remaining amount by credit or debit card. A card payment fee will apply (even though Virgin doesn’t provide an alternative payment method)…

There are some further instructions on the Virgin Australia website.

If there is still value remaining in your Travel Bank after you’ve completed your booking, you will be able to use the residual value towards another future booking using the same method.

Beware that if you pay for part of your booking using a Travel Bank, and part using money, the entire amount would be refunded back to your Travel Bank account if you subsequently cancel your booking! For example, if you use a $10 Travel Bank towards a $500 booking, then you cancel your flight, you may end up with a $500 credit.

Matt Graham

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 aviation, economics & 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.