Complimentary Virgin Status Upgrades

It’s relatively well-known that Qantas will occasionally renew a frequent flyer’s status, even if the required number of status credits is not earned. But it seems Virgin Australia is also now upgrading its members’ status levels, even if they haven’t quite flown enough.

One member recently had their status upgraded from Gold to Platinum, even though they had only earned 985 status credits over the previous year. To earn Platinum status, Velocity members are normally required to earn at least 1,000 status credits and take at least 8 Virgin Australia flights within a year.

I just got upgraded to WP status (for the first time) but i’m currently on 985 SC (which I understand shouldn’t happen until 1000SC)? Is this right? All the benefits have come through (i.e. can book economy x for free & get the 4 free upgrades etc.) and review date has changed to today next year….

This member did have an upcoming booking that would have pushed them over the 1,000 status credit threshold. But even before taking this flight, they already have access to all of the Platinum member benefits. These include access to Economy X seats and complimentary Business class upgrades.

Two other members have had similar experiences with their Velocity memberships being upgraded from Silver to Gold. This normally requires 500 status credits. One member was on 492 status credits; another had earned 485.

I was pooling to the wife to get her to SG, and she was on 485sc. She needed the extra 15sc by her review date of 15th April, so the plan was to get her ticked over to SG as close as possible to that date. However, VFF upgraded her to SG 2 months earlier on 485sc.

But not everyone has been so lucky. One member says that they did not receive a status upgrade, even though they were only one status credit short of Platinum status. There have also been cases of members earning well above the required number of status credits, but not being bumped-up as they had failed to fly the minimum number of “VA” flight sectors.

Lucky you!!! I was on 999 and didn’t get the upgrade to WP.

There doesn’t appear to any real rhyme or reason behind the complimentary status upgrades. But it seems that they have been given to frequent flyers that are very close to the required number of status credits and have upcoming Virgin Australia bookings.

This is not common but happens occasionally, esp. if you have flights booked in the near future already.

It’s important to remember that Virgin Australia does not have fixed “membership years” in the same way that Qantas does. To earn status with Virgin, you just need to have earned the required number of status credits over any 12 month period. In that sense, Virgin status credits can be thought of as a bucket with a hole in the bottom. Flying will fill the bucket, but those status credits will leak out of the bucket exactly 12 months after being earned.

Share your experience HERE.

The editor of Australian Frequent Flyer, Matt's passion for travel has taken him to over 70 countries… with the help of frequent flyer points, of course!
Matt's favourite destinations (so far) are Germany, Brazil & Kazakhstan. His interests include economics, aviation & foreign languages, and he has a soft spot for good food and red wine.

You can connect with Matt by posting on the Australian Frequent Flyer community forum and tagging @AFF Editor.
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