That’s what Virgin Australia founder Richard Branson once said.

Well, sorry Branno, that’s not true about your Velocity Frequent Flyer program. Over 12 million Aussies are actually finding it pretty easy to earn points in your program and use them for free stuff every day.

This guide will show you everything you need to know about Virgin Australia’s rewards program, including how to maximise your points so you can travel in style and shop for free.

First, a quick overview of Velocity and how it works.

Velocity is Virgin Australia’s frequent flyer program. You can earn Velocity Points using certain credit cards or shopping with affiliated retailers in-store or online. Points can be redeemed for travel, accommodation, merchandise, gift cards and more.

Anyone can join Velocity and earn points for free.

How to earn Velocity Points

You can earn Velocity points 3 ways:

• Bonus points on your credit card
• Earning points on everyday spending on your credit card
• Buying from retailers who offer Velocity points, including flights with Virgin Australia and its partner airlines

Let’s look at each one.

Earning with bonus points: some credit cards come with bonus points when you sign up as a new customer. You’ll earn a lump sum of rewards points when you spend a certain amount on your new card within the first 2 to 4 months. Some cards can offer up to or even more than 100,000 bonus points.

👉 You can find cards with Velocity bonus points here.

Earning points on what you spend: Virgin has teamed up with certain credit card providers that earn Velocity points directly when you use your card for everyday purchases.

For instance, you might use a Virgin Australian Velocity Flyer credit card, which earns an uncapped 0.66 points per $1 spent on eligible purchases and comes with a Virgin Australia travel voucher each year.

👉 You can find cards that earn Velocity points here.

The other way to earn points is to purchase from flights and Velocity’s 300+ retail partners.

Earning points from flights: You’ll earn 5 Velocity Points per $1 spent on eligible domestic fares, flights to New Zealand and International short-haul flights with Virgin Australia.

You can also earn points with partner airlines, such as Etihad, Singapore Airlines, United Airlines and Hong Kong Airlines. You can earn between 0.25 and 5 points per $1, depending on the airline, type of travel and class.

Earning points from Velocity partner stores: Velocity has partnered with 300+ retail stores and services. For instance, you can earn points by buying petrol at 7-11, shopping online at Myer, and buying from Country Road, David Jones, The Iconic and The Good Guys using the Velocity e-Store.

You can also earn points from several banks and insurers, such as Medibank and Cover-More.

The big payoff comes when you double-dip. You can earn points on a purchase from your credit card and points from the retailer in the same transaction.

💡 You can use the Shop & Earn Google Chrome extension to notify you when an online store earns Velocity Points.

Transferring points from other programs

Other credit cards and retail reward programs allow you to convert your points into Velocity Points.

Converting Flybuys into Velocity Points

Velocity’s largest partner is Flybuys. You can sign up for Flybuys free and link it to your Velocity Frequent Flyer account. Then, scan your Flybuys card to earn points at partner stores like Coles, Kmart, Target, Bunnings and Officeworks. 2000 Flybuys Points is equal to 500 Velocity Points.

💡 If you also have a credit card that earns Flybuys, like the Coles No Annual Fee Mastercard, you can earn extra points by using your credit card to pay and tapping your Flybuys card in the same transaction.

Converting other rewards points into Velocity Points
These are the rewards programs that you can convert into Velocity Points:

💡 You can set up an auto-transfer feature to have points converted into Velocity Points once you’ve reached the minimum amount or at different time periods. For example, if you earn ANZ Rewards points, you can set up an auto transfer every 3 months via your ANZ account. You can manually transfer points anytime as long as you’ve reached the minimum transferable amount.

Earning and using Velocity Status Credits

The Velocity program has 4 levels of membership. Your starting membership level is Red, and you can progress through to Silver, Gold and Platinum levels which come with greater perks. You earn Status Credits by:

• Flying on an eligible Virgin Australia flight
• Flying with an eligible partner airline
• Pooling your Status Credits with family
• Earning with Flybuys
• Earning with Velocity credit cards

Status Credits are earned separately from Velocity Points. For instance, if you shop at Coles you can earn Status Credits by scanning a Flybuys card that’s linked to your Velocity account. You can earn 1 Status Credit for every $100 spent, at a maximum of 10 per month.

⚠ Status Credits are valid for 12 months. To maintain your membership level you need to keep earning Credits. If you miss the minimum Credits required to renew your membership, your status will drop to the next-lowest level.

💡 Some credit cards earn bonus status credits every year. You can see what’s available here.

Here’s what each Status Credit level offers (remembering Red is entry-level and has no perks beyond earning and redeeming points):

How to use the Velocity Frequent Flyer program for travel benefits

You can redeem your Velocity Points to more than 500 destinations within the Virgin Australia network and partner airlines across the globe. Flights can start from as little as 6,200 Velocity Points.

There are 3 ways to use Velocity Points for airfares:

• Covering the entire fare with points
• Using Points + Pay, which allows you to offset some of the cost with points
• Upgrading your seat to Economy X or Business using points

Buying a fare with points

If you want to cover the cost of your flight with points, you must choose a “Reward Seat”. These fares are allocated seats on each flight specifically for points redemption.

If you hold a Gold or Platinum Status you may be able to choose seats outside of the allocated Reward seats.

Just note you won’t earn Velocity Points or Status Credits on Reward seats.

Reward seats come with a complimentary 23kg checked baggage allowance, seat selection and inflight entertainment, which you can connect to your device.

If you’re a Silver, Gold or Platinum member, you can also tap into any benefits like priority check-in and boarding, preferential seat selection, and additional baggage allowances.

Using Points + Pay on Virgin Airlines
Points + Pay lets you pay a portion of your airfare with Velocity Points and the remainder with cash. Every 2500 points you redeem reduces your fare by $15. You must redeem at least 2500 points per person on a one-way flight, or 5000 minimum if you’re booking a return flight.

You’ll still be eligible to earn Velocity Points and Status Credits if you use Points + Pay.

⚠ To avoid booking fees, it’s best to book your flight online. Using the Virgin Membership Centre will cost around $40 per person.

Upgrading your fare to Economy X or Business class

Economy X seats are a step up from regular economy fares. They offer up to 40% more legroom, priority boarding and preferred overhead lockers, and priority check-in on international flights.

You can use Velocity Points to upgrade your fare using a service called UpgradeMe. If you’re a Platinum member, you can request an Economy X upgrade free of charge for you and up to 8 travel companions.

Business class travellers get a more luxurious experience with large leather seats, a greater incline, plated meals and lounge access before your flight.

How to redeem Velocity Points for hotels and car hire

Velocity is partnered with over 400,000 hotels worldwide that can be booked using Velocity Points or Points + Pay. Some hotels offer free cancellation for Velocity members.

Car hire with Points or Points + Pay is available via Rocket Travel, which connects you to the biggest brands across Australia and New Zealand. Brands include Europcar, Thrifty, Hertz, SixT and Dollar Car Rental.

How to redeem points for e-store partners

The Velocity online Rewards Store is home to thousands of products from big Australian brands. You can shop for merchandise, gift cards or experiences.

It’s easy to search for products by name or category, or sort products by points value.

Velocity is also partnered with Myer, but you’ll need to shop directly with Myer online to redeem your points.

How many points do you need?

Points values can change, so you’ll always need to check on the Velocity website for the most up-to-date redemption values. But, to give you an idea, here’s an example of the points you might need:

Flights & Travel 9,400 Velocity points = one-way flight from Melbourne to Sydney	Shopping 9,149 Velocity points = Apple Airtag	Gift cards 10,250 Velocity points = $50 Bunnings gift card

Everyday perks of being a Velocity Frequent Flyer

The Velocity program has some great features that give you more flexibility with your points.

For instance, you can use Family Pooling to combine points and Status Credits between family members living at the same address. Points can be pooled into one account to boost your total and reach your points and status goals faster.

You can also pause a Silver, Gold or Platinum membership if you’re expecting a baby. That means you can put your status on hold for 6 months and avoid losing your membership level while you spend time with your new addition.

Do Velocity Points expire?

Yes, your points will expire if you don’t use your account for 24 months. That means you don’t earn or redeem any points at all for 2 years.

Once points have expired they’re gone forever, but your Velocity account will stay open.

Just note: earning Status Credits and using Family Pool or Family Points Transfers doesn’t count towards your account activity. Only earning and redeeming points does, even if it’s just 1 point.
 

Finding credit cards that earn Velocity Points

You can find and compare cards that earn Velocity Points on our Velocity cards comparison guide.

Cards that earn points in other programs can be found on our rewards cards comparison guide, but remember to check that they can be converted to Velocity Points.