Velocity (Finally) Allows Online Redemptions for Hong Kong Airlines Business Class

Written by Arun AA
Hong Kong, China – September 20, 2019: Hongkong Airlines Airbus A330-300 airplane at Hong Kong airport (HKG) in China.
Hong Kong Airlines flies its Airbus A330 to Melbourne and Sydney. Photo: Adobe Stock.

Velocity Frequent Flyer has quietly made a positive change to its partner airline redemptions. Business Class redemptions on Hong Kong Airlines are now bookable through the Virgin Australia website.

Velocity redemptions on Hong Kong Airlines

In 2017, Virgin Australia launched a reciprocal partnership with Hong Kong Airlines. This was part of its wider partnership with the HNA Group, which owned Hong Kong Airlines. When Virgin Australia went into voluntary administration in 2020, Velocity suspended all its partner airline redemptions.

It was only in June 2025 that Velocity Frequent Flyer brought back the ability to redeem points again on Hong Kong Airlines. But until recently, only Economy Class redemptions could be booked online. You needed to call to book Business Class redemptions.

Why this is good news

Until now, if you wanted a Hong Kong Airlines Business Class seat, you had no reliable way to see what was available before calling up the Velocity call centre. You could get a rough idea of the loads by searching for reward seats directly on the Hong Kong Airlines website with a free Fortune Wings Club account.

That guesswork is now gone. You can log in to the Virgin Australia website and search the same way you would for any other partner airline redemption. Third-party websites like seats.aero are also now displaying Hong Kong Airlines availability.

Note: Business Class reward seats on Hong Kong Airlines flights between Hong Kong and Vancouver still need to be booked by calling up the call centre.

Redemption Costs

Hong Kong Airlines currently flies to both Sydney and Melbourne. Both redemptions cost the same 32,500 Velocity Points in Economy Class and 75,000 Velocity Points in Business Class.

Example pricing of Hong Kong Airlines redemption with Velocity Points. Screenshot from Virgin Australia website.

The good news extends to fees and taxes as well. Velocity charges around $120 each way for Hong Kong Airlines redemptions, which is very reasonable compared to what Velocity Frequent Flyer charges for its other partner airline redemptions.

Better still, at the time of writing this article, the availability is good. There are two Business Class reward seats on many dates over the next few months. You can also redeem Velocity Points for Hong Kong Airlines flights across its network.

Seats.aero now displays Hong Kong Airlines availability with Velocity Points. Screenshot from seats.aero website.

Hong Kong Airlines operates its Airbus A330-300 aircraft on Australian routes. The onboard product is a little dated. Nevertheless, it is a lie-flat Business Class seat with 1-2-1 layout and direct aisle access. Additionally, Velocity Gold, Platinum and Platinum Plus members receive priority check-in, priority boarding and extra checked baggage on Hong Kong Airlines flights.

Hong Kong airlines uses Airbus A330 aircraft with lie-flat seating on its flights to Australia
Hong Kong Airlines Business Class Seat. Source: Point Hacks
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Avatar of AIRwin AIRwin Jul 24, 2025 #1

2. Is it possible to redeem all HX routes, or only between Australia and HK? e.g. HX have some flights from HKG to Japan, can I redeem those?

Velocity members can redeem Points for flights across the Hong Kong Airlines network:

View image at the forums


Frequent Flyer - Velocity | The loyalty program of Virgin Australia

Earn Points with Hong Kong Airlines when you travel in an eligible fare class with a HX flight number and operated by Hong Kong Airlines or Virgin Australia. You can also earn Status Credits and redeem Reward Seat. Learn more now.

View image at the forums


www.velocityfrequentflyer.com

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A Ansett Nostalgic Jul 25, 2025 #2

Velocity members can redeem Points for flights across the Hong Kong Airlines network:

View image at the forums


Frequent Flyer - Velocity | The loyalty program of Virgin Australia

Earn Points with Hong Kong Airlines when you travel in an eligible fare class with a HX flight number and operated by Hong Kong Airlines or Virgin Australia. You can also earn Status Credits and redeem Reward Seat. Learn more now.

View image at the forums


www.velocityfrequentflyer.com

Thanks for confirming. But how to search for availability?

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H Hadun Sep 03, 2025 #3

Thanks for confirming. But how to search for availability?

Did you end up finding anything? Just had a quick look on the website and couldn't see anything for either last minute or a year out. Does that mean you have to call up to check available dates as well as to make a booking? Hope they're not also clicking and scrolling day-by-day in that case lol.

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Avatar of AIRwin AIRwin Sep 03, 2025 #4

Thanks for confirming. But how to search for availability?

"Reward Seats on Hong Kong Airlines must be booked through our Membership Contact Centre."

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Avatar of prelude prelude Sep 04, 2025 #5

Very weird situation, I called yesterday just to check availability on HX, they had availability across the three days I was looking at, I called again this afternoon to book, they said they had availability but were unable to confirm the tickets and to try call again later. I called this evening and they said that there was no availability across all three days.

The contact centre suggested that all the award seats have been snapped up, but looking at the EF seat maps, there has been no changes in J cabin at all. I'm wondering if the loads on these flights are poor and they're considering some changes... They're already planning to cut back to 4/week in late October.

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Avatar of ElizaB ElizaB Sep 13, 2025 #6

I just booked 2 seats with Hong Kong Airlines (YVR-HKG), the first time I called the lady knew what she was doing, said there was 9 seats avaliable, the second time a few days later the man was very confused and said he couldnt tell me seats (he said try online). Just hang up and call again until you speak to someone who knows whats happening. After you book confirm seat selection via their live chat.

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Avatar of prelude prelude Sep 13, 2025 #7

An addition data point on the above, I had the same exact experience. I called a total of 5 times:

1st time - guy knew exactly knew he was doing, was a call to just get availability and taxes
2nd time - clueless lady, said she could see availability and couldn't book, asked a supervisor (not sure if this was true) and said seats were unconfirmed and not bookable
3rd time - guy said couldn't see any availability
4th time - guy was very very good, understood exactly what I wanted, got to taxes but unfortunately call disconnected
5th time - clueless lady, initially insisted on the call centre booking fee, I explained HX is not bookable online, she asked me what I saw when I entered on the booking portal, I had to explain that the website specifically says HX is not bookable online, half-way through booking, asked again why I couldn't book online, by some miracle completed the booking

I should also note that once booked, you have to call the HX call centre to assign seats as you cannot use a VA assigned ticket number to manage the booking online.

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Avatar of tassie6 tassie6 Sep 13, 2025 #8

Great data points. Do you mind noting the taxes/fees you paid and on what routes?

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Avatar of ElizaB ElizaB Sep 13, 2025 #9

Yes sorry I meant that I confirmed seat selection via online chat because I didn't want to be randomly assigned a seat. You can use the WhatsApp Chat to talk to Hong Kong Airlines and it was super easy, the lady was fantastic to chat to and let me know all my seat options. My husband and I like a window seat each rather than sitting together in the middle haha.
Our flights were 100,000 points each (14hr 15min flight) YVR-HKG, there was 7 - 9 seats available for every day I asked about. Taxes were $67.70 each. A pretty good deal I think.
I asked about some HKG to YVR flights which also had amazing availability. Sadly I was charged the call centre booking fee of $70 each, didn't know I could avoid it, as I said the guy that booked them in the end was clueless.

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Avatar of prelude prelude Sep 13, 2025 #10

Sadly I was charged the call centre booking fee of $70 each, didn't know I could avoid it, as I said the guy that booked them in the end was clueless.

I would push for a refund directly though Velocity - it says explicitly on their website that the call centre booking fee doesn't apply for partner airlines unavailable via online booking.

View image at the forums

Great data points. Do you mind noting the taxes/fees you paid and on what routes?

I booked HKG-SYD in J - $122.53 in taxes. Although HX isn't exactly the most desirable airline, the availability during peak season and low taxes make it worth it in my opinion.

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