Ola Waves Goodbye to Velocity Partnership

Matt Graham
Ola rideshare
Ola customers will no longer earn Velocity points. Photo: Paul Hanaoka on Unsplash.

Velocity Frequent Flyer members will no longer be able to earn points with rideshare service Ola from 28 May 2023.

Velocity and Ola originally launched a partnership in 2019. Currently, Velocity members can earn 1 Velocity point per dollar spent on any Ola ride. That doubles to 2 Velocity points per dollar when riding to or from selected airports in Australia and New Zealand. Points are not earned on GST or toll charges, but Velocity Silver, Gold and Platinum members can earn bonus points.

This will soon come to an end, with the following notice now appearing on the Ola website:

From 28 May 2023, Velocity Members will no longer be able to earn Velocity Points on Ola rides. Any Members who were eligible for points made on Ola rides prior to 28 May 2023 will receive their Velocity Points in accordance with the offer Terms and Conditions.

You can still earn Velocity points with Ola until 28 May 2023, including earning 1,000 bonus Velocity points for your first Ola ride.

Velocity Frequent Flyer does not currently have another rideshare partner, although you can earn Velocity points with the Flexicar car share service.

Meanwhile, Qantas Frequent Flyer has a partnership with Uber. This allows Qantas Frequent Flyer members to earn 1 Qantas point per dollar when riding Uber to or from selected Australian airports. However, the ability to earn Qantas points on all Uber rides ended last year when Uber Rewards closed down.

Join the discussion on the Australian Frequent Flyer forum
Matt Graham
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.
Matt Graham
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Rangalad May 14, 2023 #1

View image at the forums


Virgin Australia’s Ola rideshare partnership coming to an end

Velocity frequent flyers will no longer be able to earn Points when using the rideshare platform.

View image at the forums


www.executivetraveller.com

Partnership ends 28 May.

Bit disappointed as I genuinely liked Ola over Uber, usually always got 20/30% off rides and getting Velocity points was always a bonus. Ah well!

Ditto

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SeaWolf May 14, 2023 #2

Bit disappointing. It was never a big points earner for me but was a good option. Hoping they'll add in an alternative soon, I'll be curious to see what it is.

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a antycbr May 15, 2023 #3

Noting that QF don’t give you Uber points unless going to and from the airport, I’d be surprised to see any alternative.

Ride share will probably be consolidated as venture capital will be drying up with better investment options around thanks to higher interest rates.

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BRIS_VA_HAWK May 16, 2023 #4

View image at the forums


Virgin Australia’s Ola rideshare partnership coming to an end

Velocity frequent flyers will no longer be able to earn Points when using the rideshare platform.

View image at the forums


www.executivetraveller.com

Partnership ends 28 May.

Bit disappointed as I genuinely liked Ola over Uber, usually always got 20/30% off rides and getting Velocity points was always a bonus. Ah well!

No disappointment here, as Ola's service (bayside Brisbane and Brisbane Airport) has been shabby to say the least. Drivers accepting trips and then driving in the opposite direction before cancelling (I assume driving for Uber/Didi and then getting a better fare), or drivers calling you from the holding zone to ask where you're going (when at BNE) and then cancelling the trip when you're not worth enough $$ - I gave up on Ola after a few too many of those.
It's now Uber from home to airport, and either Uber or a cab when arriving back into BNE.

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o odysseus May 16, 2023 #5

No disappointment here, as Ola's service (bayside Brisbane and Brisbane Airport) has been shabby to say the least. Drivers accepting trips and then driving in the opposite direction before cancelling (I assume driving for Uber/Didi and then getting a better fare), or drivers calling you from the holding zone to ask where you're going (when at BNE) and then cancelling the trip when you're not worth enough $$ - I gave up on Ola after a few too many of those.
It's now Uber from home to airport, and either Uber or a cab when arriving back into BNE.

I had the same experience with Uber (as well as Ola) in Brisbane.

Makes sense, if they're going to switch to Uber they would apply the same behaviour on Uber (unless there are extra restrictions, which clearly there aren't).

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BRIS_VA_HAWK May 16, 2023 #6

I had the same experience with Uber (as well as Ola) in Brisbane.

Makes sense, if they're going to switch to Uber they would apply the same behaviour on Uber (unless there are extra restrictions, which clearly there aren't).

I've found Uber to be more reliable in both ends of my journey, and their quantity of drivers to be better on the home to airport run. Ola's customer service in responding to poor/cancelled service has been sadly lacking.

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X XWu May 21, 2023 #7

Probably not directly relevant to the actual news but sufficien comments here reflect quite a few ride share drivers maximising the independent contractors arrangement being on call for multiple platforms at the same time, so i don’t see how drivers and unions can even claim otherwise (I know FWO had ruled against their claim but doesn’t stop them from trying again post pandemic)

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MooTime May 23, 2023 #8

Used Ola few times & liked them, but just far too may times like mentioned by @BRIS_VA_HAWK they were just far too unreliable.
So many cancellations I had, I gave up using them, deleted the app, absolute hopeless they were.

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AIRwin May 26, 2023 #9

Ola has sent the notification overnight:

View image at the forums

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Quickstatus May 26, 2023 #10

It's now Uber from home to airport, and either Uber or a cab when arriving back into BNE.

I just drive myself, park at SYD T1 P7 and still cheaper than Uber/Ola/dodo/taxi/limo

I posted in another thread, I can park at SYD T1 P7 for 5 weeks to breakeven with the rideshares price (to and from airport(

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