Virgin Australia Pick Your Bonus Promo - Double Points or Status Credits - Ends 13 June 2025

[BGG]

For many years I have supported Virgin Australia to take up the fight with Qantas (even though I have Lifetime gold status with Qantas) - I have held Platinum Status with Virgin for many years but my support is now destroyed because of Virgin's latest Velocity changes and its inconsistent and uncompetitive Platinum member benefits with its partner airlines. I spoke with a Virgin Velocity consultant over 10 days ago and was assured that a management representative would call me to discuss my disappointment and to urge me to keep supporting Virgin - during the call I said that my patronage and loyalty was critically at stake - surprise surprise - I am still waiting for that call . Arrogance and complacency now seems to be alive and kicking in Virgin. Put simply. they have lost a good customer - and I will be directing all of our family's air travel dollars to their
competitors ( which dare I say it includes Qantas).
















competitors (including dare I say it Qantas)

 

[jase05]

A lot of people are threatening to go to QF but I don’t know if it’s just my travel pattern or not but I can hardly ever find a QF price that is anywhere near what VA offers and hence why almost all of my leisure travel is on VA and most likely will continue that way. I just can’t justify paying what often is double on a domestic flight

 

[Bolthead]

A lot of people are threatening to go to QF but I don’t know if it’s just my travel pattern or not but I can hardly ever find a QF price that is anywhere near what VA offers and hence why almost all of my leisure travel is on VA and most likely will continue that way. I just can’t justify paying what often is double on a domestic flight

I agree. However we have always flown Virgin and partners for the last 15 years and I have been WP for the past 13 years. I suspect with the new system that both my wife and I might be able to maintain SG. I am retired now (and have been for 13 years) and have had no major issue keeping Platinum. Time will tell however I think we will try to maintain SG domestically and then fly Star Alliance for International trips.

 

[ozstamps]

As MANY have stated, 'buying' Status at the absurd price Virgin has specified is their new price, they will simply now book the cheap LITE fares, or use points, for the times they need to use Virgin to get somewhere.

These DSCs others have posted here in past years used to inspire IMPULSE BOOKINGS - totally unnecessary travel etc, just to gain SC ... from which Virgin banked bucks. I and many others shared and benefited from those posts. We like others often booked paid Business Class flights to gain extra SC when we had automatic row 3 seating otherwise, which on the recent 'Shower Curtain' 737s are near the same!

Virgin got the extra bucks so WIN-WIN all round. THIS year none of that -- a huge YAWN from those here, and Matt Graham's AFF reports 30% less post engagement over last year. That is a fact that no Virgin spin can alter.

There has been NO=ZERO sharing of Juicy status runs etc as in the past, by members, as for most, now a totally wasted exercise. This is the junior national airline pretending somehow they are market leader, and re-inventing the wheel, and failing dismally to that end with a flawed and unpopular rendition of it.

Less money to Bain then, and for the Elites they have alienated, one retains the lounge, and check-in, and priority boarding benefit and row 3 for existing Plats etc, even on the dirt cheap LITE fares for another year - SC earn is a waste of money for many this year, that is crystal clear to all, except the boffins at Virgin HQ.

LOSE-LOSE for Virgin in all ways in those cases.

Those using the bosses dime will not change their plans that is obvious, and they as always will chime in on that stuck record, but a large slab of current Virgin elites are spending their OWN money. And are voting with their credit cards. And clearly have little or no interest in DSC as to many those are meaningless now.

 

[BGG]

A lot of people are threatening to go to QF but I don’t know if it’s just my travel pattern or not but I can hardly ever find a QF price that is anywhere near what VA offers and hence why almost all of my leisure travel is on VA and most likely will continue that way. I just can’t justify paying what often is double on a domestic flight

I totally understand your situation in an air travel world where $ and pricing is critically important for travellers- but I am just so over airlines who become arrogant and complacent - Qantas got that down to a fine art and now Virgin Australia is starting to retreat into that same world. What a shame but Virgin has lost its credibility as well now.

 

[SYD]

A lot of people are threatening to go to QF but I don’t know if it’s just my travel pattern or not but I can hardly ever find a QF price that is anywhere near what VA offers and hence why almost all of my leisure travel is on VA and most likely will continue that way. I just can’t justify paying what often is double on a domestic flight

You’re probably in the minority only flying J domestically.

Most people can’t justify paying J over whY on a triangle route.

 

[jase05]

Those using the bosses dime will not change their plans that is obvious, and they as always will chime in on that stuck record, but a large slab of current Virgin elites are spending their OWN money

All my OWN money for leisure and wife and I generally take about 20-30 J flights per year domestically and the price difference between VA and QF is stark. Only yesterday I booked a last minute trip to the AFL this Saturday and then up to CBR to visit my parents on Sunday and back to ADL Monday night

ADL-MEL was $395 each
MEL-CBR was $565 each
CBR-ADL was $453 each

So a total of $2826 for the both of us

QF for the same dates was

ADL-MEL was $927 each
MEL-CBR was $1368 each
CBR-ADL was $1169 each

So a total of $6928 for both of us

These discrepancies is what I see for about 80% of the flights I want to book and as such I just can’t justify moving my money over to QF just to spite the management at VA.

As long as VA’s prices remain competitive their planes will remain full and it may mean that some elites are lost along the way but only time will tell

 

[jase05]

You’re probably in the minority only flying J domestically.

Most people can’t justify paying J over whY on a triangle route.

I honestly don’t know the answer to that but from my POV it remains just easier to stick with BFOD and whoever wins the day gets my money

 

[SYD]

I honestly don’t know the answer to that but from my POV it remains just easier to stick with BFOD and whoever wins the day gets my money

Yes, booking sufficiently far enough in advance, VA will always be cheaper than QF in J (and probably whY some of the time but JQ would win a lot of the time - fortunately your travel policy excludes them with no J! ).

But even in VA J, you’re still in the same overcrowded lounge as the masses and your travel times are dictated by VA much more limited schedule. That was the thing that used to irk me the most as many years VA WP - “fly ahead” is great but academic when ADL-SYD flights are only every ~2hrs…

 

[jase05]

Yes, booking sufficiently far enough in advance, VA will always be cheaper than QF in J (and probably whY some of the time but JQ would win a lot of the time - fortunately your travel policy excludes them with no J! ).

But even in VA J, you’re still in the same overcrowded lounge as the masses and your travel times are dictated by VA much more limited schedule. That was the thing that used to irk me the most as many years VA WP - “fly ahead” is great but academic when ADL-SYD flights are only every ~2hrs…

JQ have been on my banned list for years and even if they had J seats and was half price I still won’t ever set foot on one again

I do agree about VA’s scheduling and it absolutely irks me that VA has such a poor schedule for ADL-CBR with only 4 direct flights per week currently

 

[Stuser]

JQ have been on my banned list for years and even if they had J seats and was half price I still won’t ever set foot on one again

I do agree about VA’s scheduling and it absolutely irks me that VA has such a poor schedule for ADL-CBR with only 4 direct flights per week currently

You think the ADL - CBR direct situation is bad, look the SYD - CBR flights… surely an important route, but only on Link prop planes.

And HBA - CBR: direct flight - no jets and limited baggage. This never bothered me before as I always took the double CBR - MEL - HBA flights for SCs on the two flights, but now that we only get the same number of SCs no matter how many flights we take, it’s a huge pain.

And no lounge at Hobart. Great benefits.

 

[BGG]

I totally understand your situation in an air travel world where $ and pricing is critically important for travellers- but I am just so over airlines who become arrogant and complacent - Qantas got that down to a fine art and now Virgin Australia is starting to retreat into that same world. What a shame but Virgin has lost its credibility as well now.

Qantas only changed its behaviour when enough of the travelling public and its employees called out Qantas's behaviour - Virgin is now comfortably fitting into the airline oligopoly in Australia and its arrogance is starting to mature. It will be interesting to see how Virgin shapes its arrogance and complacency after the IPO.

 

[FlyingKangaroo]

I just can’t justify moving my money over to QF just to spite the management at VA.

Likewise, I won't spite myself to spite VA, just as I've not spited myself to spite QF at times. I suspect most reasonable people spending their own money will be the same. What's lost is the loyalty factor that led me to still prefer VA over QF --- and at times, pay more for it, either by choosing an equal or slightly more expensive VA fare or almost always choosing a Choice fare over a Lite fare.

As long as VA’s prices remain competitive their planes will remain full and it may mean that some elites are lost along the way but only time will tell

Yes, except what's missing here is how much revenue may be left on the table due to people filling those planes at lower fares --- specifically, Lite over Choice.

Good luck to those who hopefully have more promising data than the anecdotal collection I've seen so far. I personally have already spent hundreds less than I would have choosing Choice solely for the SCs.

If VA isn't prepared to revisit the new status qualification requirements, they might find it wise to revisit their fare structure. For example, if they brought back the ability to make changes to Choice flights up to 14 days without an additional penalty beyond the fare difference, that might swing the needle back for me, notwithstanding the SCs no longer being material to me.

 

[Revenge]

I will continue to fly VA when the price is right, but credit to Air Canada Aeroplan instead of Velocity.

 

[Stealthflyer]

VA Platinum for 9 or 10 years here. I've just started my new Platinum year but likely won't get it (or probably even try) again as I previously contributed a lot of SC's from international partner flying and they now only count towards 50% of the total. If VA had their own bigger international network then I may give it a go but flying domestically in economy I'm unlikely to get the 400SC's required to put with the 400 from international partner flying for requalification. I'm also only a few thousand off LTG with Qantas but would still need over 5000SC's from VA only flying to hit that with VA. So concentrating on Qantas from now on I think.

I believe they’ve changed the partner rule. I got an email from Velocity last week saying

“Today, we are pleased to announce that from 1 October 2025, Eligible Sectors will continue to no longer be used, but we'll be expanding the minimum number of Status Credits qualification rule to include eligible Virgin Australia operated flights sold by our partner airlines as well.3

This means that from 1 October 2025, you'll be able to earn the minimum number of Status Credits to upgrade or maintain your Status on eligible Virgin Australia marketed and/or Virgin Australia operated flights flown by you.

So when you fly on a Virgin Australia aircraft, whether you are flying under a VA flight number or an airline partner flight number, the Status Credits you earn will contribute to the minimum Virgin Australia Status Credit eligibility requirement for your Status.

Refer to our website for more information and examples.”

Bit late though. Because I’ve earned 400+ with partner airlines this cycle, I’ve already booked the next 6 months of international flights with non-partner airlines due to the belief partner airlines wouldn’t count towards requalification. I may have chosen differently if they hadn’t announced the 400 credit cap. VA’s announcements are giving me whiplash. Who knows what they’ll change next.

 

[Must...Fly!]

Going back to the old system would be an announcement welcomed by all.

But anyway, back to the real world...just booked my first Jetstar flight in seven eight years and several international trips on non-Velocity partner airlines.

Good work on the changes, VA. Rusted on Platinum, well and truly checked-out.