The Amex Velocity Platinum Card Includes Virgin Australia Lounge Access

If you’ve been thinking about getting an American Express Velocity Platinum credit card, now could be a great time. Not only do you get unlimited Virgin Australia Lounge access with this card, but for a limited time you could also earn 100,000 bonus Velocity Points when signing up!

The Amex Velocity Platinum card happens to be the highest-earning credit card in Australia for Velocity Points. It also comes with a complimentary annual return Virgin Australia domestic flight, as well as two annual VA lounge guest passes, making this card a keeper for Virgin Australia flyers.

The refreshed Amex Velocity Platinum card

American Express refreshed its Velocity Platinum card in late 2024. As part of these changes, it increased the annual fee on this card from $375 to $440. However, the new Virgin Australia Lounge benefit more than offsets this modest fee increase.

If you have this card, you can now use any of Virgin Australia’s domestic airport lounges when flying with Virgin Australia, as often as you like. This is in addition to two annual single-entry Virgin Australia Guest Lounge passes, which you can use to guest other people into the lounge who are travelling with you on the same flight.

Amex also improved the way you earn Velocity status credits with this card. Previously, you would have earned 100 Velocity status credits when spending at least $50,000 per year on this card. Now, you’ll earn 50 status credits at $25,000 of annual spend, plus another 50 status credits when you hit $50,000 in annual spend.

From 1 October 2025, these status credits count towards the up to 50% of your Velocity status credits that can be earned from activity other than Virgin Australia flights.

Unfortunately, since 24 April 2025, cardholders no longer receive two annual visits to the Amex Centurion Lounges in the international terminals at Sydney or Melbourne Airports.

But holding this card does now make you eligible to earn 25% more Velocity Points on Virgin Australia flights. (You’ll even continue to earn more points on Virgin flights for up to a year after you stop using your card.)

How lounge access works for Amex Velocity Platinum cardholders

As an Amex Velocity Platinum cardholder, you can enjoy access to Virgin Australia Lounges prior to Virgin Australia domestic flights.

This benefit is available at the seven airports where Virgin Australia operates domestic lounges:

• Adelaide (ADL)
• Brisbane (BNE)
• Canberra (CBR)
• Gold Coast (OOL)
• Melbourne (MEL)
• Perth (PER)
• Sydney (SYD)

There’s no limit to the number of times you can use this benefit. You just need to show your Amex Velocity Platinum card in conjunction with a same-day Virgin Australia boarding pass. There’s no guest allowance, but you do get the two annual guest passes that you can use to bring friends or family members with you into the lounge who are travelling with you on the same Virgin Australia flight.

Purchased separately, a Virgin Australia Lounge membership would cost $450 per year (plus a $99 joining fee). That’s more than the annual fee on the new American Express Velocity Platinum card!

However, one difference is that paid-up lounge members are entitled to bring one guest within them into the lounge (as are Velocity Gold members).

If you’re one of the many Virgin Australia flyers set to lose their status as a result of the upcoming Velocity Frequent Flyer program changes, this is a clever way to retain your lounge access.

The free annual return flight

Cardholders continue to receive a free annual return Virgin Australia flight each year. This benefit is available to use on selected domestic routes, depending on your departure city.

See our guide to using the Amex Velocity Platinum free flight for full details.

This is a great card for Virgin Australia flyers

If you’re looking for a great value credit card packed full of Virgin Australia perks, the refreshed Amex Velocity Platinum card is a seriously good option.

To sum up: For just $440/year, you’ll get unlimited Virgin Australia Lounge access, two annual lounge passes to give to friends or family, a complimentary annual return domestic flight, international travel insurance, and more. It’s also Australia’s highest-earning Velocity points credit card, and if you apply by 14 October 2025 you can get an extra 100,000 bonus Velocity Points as well!

Note that, to be eligible for the sign-up bonus points, you can’t have been the primary cardholder of an Australian Amex Card in the past 18 months. You would also need to spend at least $5,000 on eligible card purchases within 3 months of approval.

See our American Express Velocity Platinum credit card guide for full details.