At least three AFF members, as well as their family members, had their Velocity accounts suspended last week. These members all received emails from Velocity Frequent Flyer stating that unusual activity had been detected on their accounts, and that they would be suspended for up to 30 days while an audit is conducted.
The affected members all say they have done nothing wrong. They are unaware of why Virgin has accused them of breaching the Velocity Frequent Flyer terms and conditions. Yet, in the meantime, they are unable to log into their Velocity accounts and have no access to membership benefits.
Given that relatives of the affected members have also had their Velocity accounts suspended, some believe this may be related to family pooling. Virgin Australia allows up to 2 adults and 4 children living at the same address to pool their Velocity points and status credits into a single account.
A Virgin Australia spokesperson confirmed that the emails are legitimate, and that accounts may be suspended if they are under investigation. This could happen for a range of reasons, including if Velocity Frequent Flyer suspects accounts are being misused. That could include abuse of the family pooling scheme, or any other breach of the program terms & conditions. It’s possible that this could occur without the member realising.
If Velocity members are found to be guilty of breaching the program terms and conditions, they could have their accounts terminated and points forfeited. But if these members have done nothing wrong, they should have access to their accounts again once the audit is completed.
This is not the first time Velocity members have had their frequent flyer accounts suspended. In 2016, Velocity sent emails to numerous members accused of transferring points to non-family members. In this case, the members were given 14 days to prove the transactions were legitimate.
Join the discussion on the Australian Frequent Flyer forum: Velocity Accounts being suspended for investigation
