Double Status Credits on VA Holidays: A Genuine Velocity Status Hack

Virgin Australia flight attendants in economy class on the Boeing 737
Virgin Australia cabin crew. Photo: Virgin Australia.

Since Velocity moved to spend-based status credits last year, there haven’t really been many “hacks” to earn Virgin Australia Velocity status cheaply.

When flying Virgin Australia, you now simply earn 1 status credit per $12 spent (or 1 per $24 on Economy Lite fares). To earn more status credits, you generally need to spend more – so there aren’t many opportunities to game the system.

But there’s an exception. As we wrote last November, you can still earn status credits based on your fare type and distance flown when booking Virgin Australia flights as part of a holiday package. And now, for a limited time, Virgin Australia Holidays is offering double status credits!

The current Virgin Australia Holidays promotion

As advertised on the Virgin Australia Holidays website, you can earn double status credits on the flight component when booking a Virgin Australia Holidays flight & hotel package between 20-27 July 2026.

You would need to travel between 25 August 2026 and 22 June 2027.

Here are the full T&Cs, as per the Virgin Australia Holidays website:

During the promotional period of 12:01am AEST 20 July 2026 until 11:59pm AEST 27 July 2026 (“Offer Period”), Velocity members will earn double Status Credits on the Virgin Australia Domestic and/or Virgin Australia Short-Haul International and/or Trans-Tasman flight components of an eligible Virgin Australia Holidays booking made with Hopper at https://www.virginaustralia.com/au-en/holidays, for travel between 25 August 2026 and 22 June 2027 (“Offer”). This is in addition to the standard base Status Credits earn on the fare type originally booked (i.e. Lite, Choice or Business) and the number of miles flown as part of the Virgin Australia Domestic and/or Virgin Australia Short-Haul International and/or Trans-Tasman flight forming part of the eligible booking.

Status Credits earned from Virgin Australia Domestic and/or Virgin Australia Short-Haul International and/or Trans-Tasman flights, including the double Status Credits under this Offer, are typically allocated within 2-3 days of completed travel, but timing may vary. All Velocity Members named on an eligible booking may be eligible to earn Status Credits for the booking, including the bonus Status Credits under this Offer, if they have submitted their valid Velocity Member number at the time of booking, or by contacting Virgin Australia prior to check-in. Status Credits are not awarded on any cancelled or un-flown bookings.

Remember, you need to book through the Virgin Australia Holidays portal to use this offer. Holiday bookings must be round-trips, and your package will include accommodation at your destination.

Status credits earned for flights as part of a holiday package

This chart from the Virgin Australia website shows the number of status credits you’ll earn for flights booked as part of a holiday package (before double status credits):

Status credit earn table for flights taken as part of a Virgin Australia Holidays booking
Status credit earn table for flights taken as part of a Virgin Australia Holidays booking.

This is a great deal

This is a genuinely useful deal if you want to maximise your Velocity status credits. We’ve found status runs available for under $3 per status credit, accounting for the double status credits you’d earn with this promotion.

However, bonus status credit offers from Virgin Australia are becoming more common – with the last one being just a month ago.

Since flights booked as part of a flight & hotel package earn based on distance and cabin, some of the best deals are for Business Class itineraries with multiple connections.

If you’re on track to lose your current Velocity status and looking for a cheap way to maintain it – or you want to upgrade to a higher tier – this is your chance!

Check out AFF’s Velocity Status Run Master Thread for more tips, optimal status run routings and to ask questions.

Happy booking! 😉

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Nice.

Stack with the current Amex offer ($200 statement credit for $2k spend).

For clarity here are the Virgin Australia Holidays terms and conditions relating to SC earn:

View image at the forums

Reply 2 likes

Thanks OP, but, I need 337 Status Credits (at least 200 from VA marketed and/or operated flights) by 7 Aug 2026 to keep Gold. Is this possible?

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There's no way this is back. My god. This is the 4th time VA have offered bonus status credits this year, 5th time they've offered bonus status credits.

We might as well call DSC the new norm and just hang around for triple.

Reply 3 likes

I always have trouble with Virgin Australia holidays. It'll be fine until I get to selecting the return flight and then usually I'll just be presented with a single option, even on MEL-SYD. That flight always seems to be first thing in the morning and that doesn't work for me.
I haven't find a way to get it to work properly yet. I'm guessing it's some issue/limitation of Hopper.

Reply 1 like

Thanks OP, but, I need 337 Status Credits (at least 200 from VA marketed and/or operated flights) by 7 Aug 2026 to keep Gold. Is this possible?

No, especially when you've only racked up 63 SC in 11 months.

It'll be fine until I get to selecting the return flight and then usually I'll just be presented with a single option, even on MEL-SYD. That flight always seems to be first thing in the morning and that doesn't work for me.

Can't say I've had this issue; was able to select my preferred 5 p.m. flights for the two Virgin Australia Holidays trips I booked from SYD to BNE and MEL during the last DSC promo in March

Reply Like

click to expand...

No, especially when you've only racked up 63 SC in 11 months.

Can't say I've had this issue; was able to select my preferred 5 p.m. flights for the two Virgin Australia Holidays trips I booked from SYD to BNE and MEL during the last DSC promo in March

This issue I often find is that there seems to be some sort of limitation on connecting flights.

If I try to book CNS-BNE-MEL-BNE-CNS then it (most times) only shows this option for the outbound OR the inbound, but not both.

If I select a direct flight outbound then I can select a connecting flight for the return or vice versa.

I did manage just once to book connecting flights both ways during the last VA Holidays DSC promo.
Flying in J that added 480 SC’s to my account for the one trip but even the direct flight is worth 160 SC each way with this promo.

Reply 1 like

click to expand...

I always have trouble with Virgin Australia holidays. It'll be fine until I get to selecting the return flight and then usually I'll just be presented with a single option, even on MEL-SYD. That flight always seems to be first thing in the morning and that doesn't work for me.
I haven't find a way to get it to work properly yet. I'm guessing it's some issue/limitation of Hopper.

Yeah I find the flight selections frustratingly limited, particularly when there’s a transit involved.

Reply 1 like

anyone know how flexible the return is? eg. can you book a 1 week holiday but put the return flight a month or two after the hotel stay?

Reply 1 like

anyone know how flexible the return is? eg. can you book a 1 week holiday but put the return flight a month or two after the hotel stay?

Pay for a month's hotel stay and you can.

Reply 3 likes

Pay for a month's hotel stay and you can.

So... not flexible then?

A month at a hotel isn't a bad idea if you want to stay put in the same spot for that long, but not such a great idea if you plan to move around

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