Will you still earn/retain Velocity status beyond 2025?

[History]

I've retained silver until December 2nd, 2027.

 

[Steven of Bali]

But was flying via SIN - 20 or so hours vs 14 hours in QF nonstop - plus extra costs with VA codeshares etc, worth the $450 annual lounge pass for VA lounges?

That’s the thing I reckon with chasing VA status… the benefits are so limited it’s hardly worth it?

Better off using Amex Velocity Platinum - velocity lounge access is complimentary. There are so many on the Priority Line these days, who cares.

 

[PERLHR]

Better off using Amex Velocity Platinum - velocity lounge access is complimentary. There are so many on the Priority Line these days, who cares.

I never really understood the value of reducing the status collections in one hand then on the other get the Plat card for a few hundred dollars , gain points and get lounge access. Sometimes I do wonder who makes it all up...and what they get paid! And worse ...who signs it all of.

 

[odysseus]

I never really understood the value of reducing the status collections in one hand then on the other get the Plat card for a few hundred dollars , gain points and get lounge access. Sometimes I do wonder who makes it all up...and what they get paid! And worse ...who signs it all of.

Sadly, all about the money. Cutting their own member numbers was sold as boosting the returns on providing membership, and likely even exclusivity = desirability. But AmerEx is via partnerships, and since an external party is paying, that's just seen as pure revenue, so not something they want to cut, but rather as great and sacred.

Group A is seen as a cost centre, so something that can be managed down, whereas Group B is seen as a revenue source, so to be promoted. And they don't see any inconsistency in that, despite Group A and B sharing the same resource.

 

[QF WP]

Surprisingly, I'm 156 SC's away from Plat from my travel since 1 March - mostly due to DSC trips.



But I'm losing some SC's soon and no travel on the horizon

 

[straitman]

I still need 285 SC by 12 Nov to maintain VA Platinum.

Unless my maths is incorrect I have bookings that will cover all of this and retain Platinum.

 

[Tooner]

Very similar for me:

I’ve had to use the straight DSC offer earlier this year + the 2 Virgin Holidays DSC offers. My upcoming Hobart trip will cover Gold, I think.

It would also cover attaining Platinum if I didn’t have a lot of Canada flights dropping off in October. I’m considering crediting my AC premium economy YVR - YYZ flight to VA to see if that helps (rather than Aeroplan).

 

[HS-TQE]

According to VA Group's FY26 financials for Velocity in it's first full financial year of its 'controversial' Velocity changes.

* $143 million EBIT (up 12% on FY25)
* $487 million revenue (up 8.1% on FY25)
* 800k new members (since FY25)
* 9.0% growth in active members (since FY25)

* 29.4% EBIT margin (up 110bps from FY25)
* 12.4% External Billings growth (since FY25)

Source (Page 8): https://cdn-api.markitdigital.com/a.../1.0/file/2924-03127795-2A1692994&v=undefined

Considering the earlier 'over-the-top' predictions of Virgin losing "hundreds of millions" or "billions of dollars" from the Velocity changes from the amount of members leaving the program over the changes, it's safe to say that Bain and/or Qatar Ariways will likely dismiss the earlier complaints as a "Vocal Minority" and will continue to adjust Velocity FF if they feel the need to do so.

 

[levelnine]

Absolutely no sign whatsoever of a downturn in those numbers. That EBIT margin is huge.

 

[serfty]

it's safe to say that Bain and/or Qatar Ariways will likely dismiss the earlier complaints as a "Vocal Minority" and will continue to adjust Velocity FF if they feel the need to do so.

That was always the case with the changes.

Much of AFF is about sweet spots where maximum benefit can be obtained for the least outlays. This reduces profits for VA.

With the changes, many of those sweet spots have been closed or reduced in value significantly. This has sent the "vocal minority" looking elsewhere.

 

[serfty]

Absolutely no sign whatsoever of a downturn in those numbers. That EBIT margin is huge.

Those numbers are to the benefit Velocity, not the punter.

Looking at figures in the report, points redeemed versus points earned has decreased by 1.4 (b) even though points earned increased by 3.1 (b).

 

[Falcs]

The engine of the velocity program is the money they make from selling points to partners

A bunch of frequent flyers who dropped in status and left Velocity (if that happened) won't impact the profitability much.

 

[odysseus]

No mention of their 8.1% increase in liability growth of outstanding issued Velocity points. That revenue doesn't come in without a cost, even though they present it as such. In fact, it's inflation like that that increase the likelihood of pending devaluations and worse outcomes for frequent fliers thanks to flooding the market with the currency and not managing it adequately with supply.

Certainly a good financial result but not indicative of any increase in loyalty. As for the increase in points sold and members, that's just a reflection on increased popularity in the market, thanks to even going on mass market tv aside from all the points promoters online.

 

[levelnine]

Those numbers are to the benefit Velocity, not the punter.

Looking at figures in the report, points redeemed versus points earned has decreased by 1.4 (b) even though points earned increased by 3.1 (b).

That's what I meant. No downturn for Virgin.

Not sure what you mean about points. Earn and burn both increased by broadly similar percentages:


I haven't read every page of the report, but from a brief look I can't see any downturn in passenger numbers, NPS, RASK, EBIT, etc. So if people have left Virgin, it's hard to see them in the numbers anywhere.

 

[serfty]

Not sure what you mean about points. Earn and burn both increased by broadly similar percentages:

That table is where I obtained the information. I was not referring to any percentages.
In 2025 points earned less points redeemed was 17.2 (b); in 2026 the figure was 18.6 (b). This means that 1.4 (b) less earned points earned were redeemed than the previous year.

Bain love this!

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I haven't read every page of the report, but from a brief look I can't see any downturn in passenger numbers, NPS, RASK, EBIT, etc. So if people have left Virgin, it's hard to see them in the numbers anywhere.

It is nothing to do with those numbers. Those who like to maximise their opportunity from Velocity are those who's numbers are likely to have reduced. They don't really care about passenger numbers, NPS, RASK, EBIT, etc. There are no figures I can see regarding the number of Elites and I would be surprised if that has not reduced at each of the various levels. I suspect the are many who last year were WP and could select Economy X at no cost now have to pay having soft landed to SG.

 

[levelnine]

In 2025 points earned less points redeemed was 17.2 (b); in 2026 the figure was 18.6 (b). This means that 1.4 (b) less earned points earned were redeemed than the previous year.

If that's an indication that people are leaving the loyalty program by disengaging at the point of redemption, Qantas suffered the exact same phenomenon: the delta between earn and burn in FY26 was 40M while it was 37M in FY25.

It is nothing to do with those numbers. Those who like to maximise their opportunity from Velocity are those who's numbers are likely to have reduced.

If you lost a huge number of customers, that would show up somewhere in the numbers, especially passenger numbers, which continues to grow.

What it appears to show is that you can turn the screws on the most savvy users of a loyalty program and suffer no consequences, despite the loud protestations of those users.