10 Ways Virgin Australia Could Make Platinum Plus More Appealing

Virgin Australia introduced its long-awaited Platinum Plus status tier last month. Sitting above Platinum status, earning this new “VIP” tier requires a considerable amount of flying – and more importantly, spend – on Virgin Australia.

To reach the heights of Velocity Platinum Plus status, you would need to earn 2,000 status credits within a year. At least 1,500 of those must be from Virgin Australia marketed or operated flights. Based on Velocity’s new model where you earn 1 status credit per $12 spent on airfares, that assumes a nominal spend of around $24,000 annually.

According to our analysis, this is still significantly less than the typical cost of earning Platinum One status with Qantas. However, by taking advantage of good Qantas status runs, it is possible to earn Qantas Platinum One for less than $24,000. And the general consensus among frequent flyers – at least at this early stage – is that Qantas Platinum One status is much more valuable.

Virgin Platinum Plus benefits

Platinum Plus comes with some nice new benefits when you fly with Virgin Australia. These include Fly Later, more flexibility when using the four annual Platinum upgrades, direct access to an Australia-based call centre, and a much higher baggage allowance.

A Platinum Plus card will also get you into the Singapore Airlines SilverKris Business Lounge in Singapore, when flying with that airline in Economy or Premium Economy.

You can read the full list of benefits in our guide to Velocity Platinum Plus status.

Velocity says that its new top tier is designed to reward and recognise its most frequent flyers. So, do Virgin Australia’s Platinum Plus members think the new benefits are worth it?

What Platinum Plus members say about the new benefits

So far, the number of Platinum Plus members is likely in the hundreds. But these are some of Virgin’s highest-spending customers, so it’s very much in the airline’s interests to look after them.

So far, the feedback on the Australian Frequent Flyer forum has been mixed.

AFF members with Platinum Plus status have reported some great experiences, especially with the dedicated Australian call centre.

But others say they’ve noticed very little difference, compared to flying with Platinum status. Given the high bar for earning Platinum Plus, that’s a bit of a problem.

Here’s what a few AFF members have had to say about Platinum Plus so far…

I was upgraded to P+ as part of the trial and so far the only difference I’ve noticed is VIP on my boarding pass and the (very welcome) Australian call centre.

nutwood on the AFF forum

Another few VA domestic flights completed – still zero noticeable difference as a P+ 🤷

Sequel on the AFF forum

If the Beyond Lounges & Singapore first class lounges are officially added as a Plat+ benefit, that would be well worthwhile IMO, and really, I think it should be offered given the yearly spend required.
Other than that, the other benefits really are minimal for the extra dollars.
For those chasing it, you’d definitely want to take advantage of any DSC or TSC offers, which can significantly reduce the yearly spend required.

simmomelb on the AFF forum

It’s hard to think of any aspect where Qantas Platinum One (or even Platinum) doesn’t beat VA Platinum Plus…. Except for P+ 5x32kg baggage allowance (which I’ll never use).

For me the big disappointment is lounges. The fact that P+ use the same lounge as a red member with an (eligible) Amex is very disappointing

aus_flyer on the AFF forum

How could Virgin improve its Platinum Plus offering?

If it wanted to, there are plenty of little things Virgin could do to make its Platinum Plus proposition more competitive against Qantas Platinum One. Some of these things would require Virgin to spend money, which it generally seems reluctant to do. But surely that’s a worthwhile investment if it attracts some of the highest-spending domestic flyers over from Qantas.

And we know that Velocity wants Platinum Plus to be competitive, as it recently held focus groups on this topic.

Since Virgin Australia isn’t part of an alliance, it’s fairly limited in the extra benefits it can offer to its top-tier frequent flyers when they fly with partner airlines. It would need to negotiate each benefit directly with each partner airline. The reality is that Virgin is a relatively small airline by global standards, and its bargaining power in these kinds of negotiations reflects that.

That’s not to say Virgin couldn’t negotiate a few extra benefits with its closest partner airlines for its highest-spending customers. As it already has with Singapore Airlines, in securing Business Lounge access for Platinum Plus members departing Singapore.

But Velocity absolutely can control the benefits it offers when its frequent flyers fly with Virgin Australia. This is where Platinum Plus can have the biggest impact.

So, what could Velocity actually do to make Platinum Plus more competitive? Here are 10 suggestions inspired by this discussion thread on the Australian Frequent Flyer forum…

Beyond Lounge access

The Beyond Lounge is Virgin Australia’s answer to the Qantas Chairman’s Lounge. Virgin currently only has Beyond Lounges at three airports – Sydney, Melbourne and Brisbane – but they’re lovely, quiet spaces with elevated service and dining.

During the initial trial period, some Platinum Plus members were able to access the Beyond Lounges. Sadly, this was either a limited trial or an error, and that access has since been removed.

Many AFF members feel that Platinum Plus would be a lot more competitive if it came with Beyond Lounge access. That doesn’t necessarily have to be on an “unlimited” basis – Virgin could, for example, offer four invitations per year. Or, it could follow Qantas’ lead in sending occasional, unexpected, one-off invitations to its top-tier members to visit the Chairman’s Lounge when flying during a quiet period.

Lounge access for Virgin Australia short-haul international flights

If you have Platinum Plus status, and fly Virgin Australia to Queenstown, Bali, Nadi, Port Vila or Apia, you are not currently entitled to lounge access at all. When we’re talking about the segment of the market that spends over $24,000 per year on airfares, that is just totally uncompetitive against Qantas, which welcomes Platinum and Platinum One flyers into its excellent First Lounges when they fly overseas.

Even though Virgin Australia doesn’t have its own international lounges, surely it could just pay a third-party lounge operator for access at the relevant airports for its very top-tier flyers…

Better on-board recognition

Virgin Australia is printing “VIP” on the boarding passes of Platinum Plus members. This is nice, but so far many AFF members have commented that they didn’t actually notice any difference on board their flights.

It would be nice if Virgin Australia cabin crew, and in particular the cabin managers, were incentivised to better recognise Platinum Plus members on board. For example, if they have a bit of spare time – and I realise that’s a big “if” on shorter domestic flights – they could offer Platinum Plus members a personal greeting or welcome on board. Or even just slip them a hand-written card thanking them for their loyalty.

A free drink when flying Economy

Any personal on-board greetings would be more effective if Virgin’s cabin crew were also empowered to offer an extra “freebie” or two. This could be simply something they’re able to offer at their discretion, or could even be a published benefit. For example, Virgin could offer a free drink to Platinum Plus members flying in Economy.

First meal choice when flying Business

A common complaint when flying Virgin Australia Business Class, if you’re sitting in the last row, is that one of the meal choices will often run out before you get to make your selection.

One way that Virgin could reduce disappointment is to allow Business passengers to pre-order a meal. But failing that, a really simple thing Virgin cabin crew could do is to offer the first meal choice in Business Class to Platinum Plus members.

Exclusive invitations and gifts that are meaningful

Qantas regularly sends its Platinum One members invitations to events, including Qantas-run events but also things like last year’s Taylor Swift concert. It also sends out some quite nice gifts around Christmas time each year.

Frequent flyers appreciate these kinds of gestures a lot. Heck, one AFF member even still fondly remembers when Velocity sent them some nice headphones for Christmas a decade ago for being one of their top flyers!

Priority access to reward seats

If you’re a Qantas Platinum or Platinum One member, and you can’t find a Classic Reward seat on a Qantas flight you want to book with points, you can call the airline and ask them to release a seat. Qantas also reserves some of its international long-haul reward seats in premium cabins for its frequent flyers.

Some AFF members would like to see Virgin Australia release extra reward seats in Business Class for its Platinum Plus members. Or, at the very least, give Platinum Plus members the option to request their release.

Ability to roll over annual upgrades

Velocity gives Platinum members four annual Business Class upgrades, which can be used with a few strings attached.

Virgin has removed some of those strings for Platinum Plus members, who can also use them on Economy Choice tickets. Nonetheless, many AFF members say they struggle to use these before they expire each year. For this reason, some AFF members suggest that Platinum Plus members should be allowed to roll over unused upgrades into their next membership year.

In the same vein of the suggestion above, I’m sure Platinum Plus members would also value the call centre being able to exercise more discretion in releasing Business Class seats for upgrades, even if there are no Business Rewards available.

Better lounge options in Doha when flying Qatar Airways

Qatar Airways has a lot of different lounges in Doha. If you’re a Velocity Platinum Plus member flying from Doha on Qatar Airways or Virgin Australia, you won’t get anywhere near the best ones. Instead, you’ll be sent to the Qatar Airways Platinum lounges.

Access to the Al Mourjan (Business) Lounge when departing Doha would be a nice Platinum Plus benefit, if Virgin can somehow negotiate this with the airline that owns a 25% stake in it.

Singapore Airlines First Lounge access

This one might be a bit tricky to get, as Singapore Airlines is quite restrictive of who can access its First Class lounges. But if it could be arranged, access to the Singapore Airlines First Lounges at airports like Sydney, Melbourne and Singapore when flying with Singapore Airlines would be a welcome addition to the suite of Platinum Plus benefits.

Even if Singapore Airlines restricted this to Platinum Plus members flying in Premium Economy or Business, it would still be a nice gesture.