Virgin Launches First Double Status Credits Promo Since Program Changes

Velocity Frequent Flyer has launched its first major Double Status Credits promotion since changing the way it awards status credits on Virgin Australia flights.

Virgin Australia’s frequent flyer program announced major changes in October 2024. One of these was a switch from awarding status credits based on a flight’s distance and fare category, to instead simply giving 1 status credit per $12 spent on Virgin flights. This change came into effect in April 2025.

This change was partially designed to thin out the ranks of Gold and Platinum members in the Velocity program, by making status harder to earn. So, since April, some frequent flyers had been wondering if Velocity Frequent Flyer would continue running promotions offering bonus status credits. We now know the answer…

Velocity’s June 2025 “Pick Your Bonus” promotion

Between 3-13 June 2025, you can register for Velocity Frequent Flyer’s “Pick Your Bonus” offer to earn your choice of either double points or double status credits on eligible Virgin Australia flights. This is similar to recent Qantas promotions that have given customers a choice between either double status credits or points, but it’s the first time Virgin has given this choice.

After registering, you would need to book an eligible flight by 13 June 2025 and fly by 29 April 2026 to earn double Velocity points or status credits.

The fine print

Eligible flights for this promotion are Virgin Australia marketed and operated domestic and short-haul international flights. Virgin Australia flights between Australia and Doha, which are operated by Qatar Airways, are not eligible.

Virgin Australia has confirmed that Virgin Australia flights between Sydney and Canberra which are operated by Link Airways are eligible for this offer, although the T&Cs do not explicitly state this.

The lengthy offer terms & conditions also state that:

Tickets purchased on codeshare services marketed or operated by partner airlines or Virgin Australia operated flights combined in the same booking as a partner or non-partner operated flight are not eligible for this Offer.

If you choose double points, you’ll earn double on the base points (but not any status bonus points). The base earn rate is 4 points per dollar, or 5 points per dollar if you’ve earned points on an eligible Velocity credit card in the past 12 months. Virgin has confirmed that the bonus points will be earned on the higher base rate for eligible Velocity credit card holders.

After flying, the T&Cs say you should allow up to four weeks to receive your bonus status credits or points.

We believe that bonus status credits earned from these kinds of promotions will count towards Forever Gold, Virgin’s new lifetime status tier. These would be considered status credits earned by you from VA flights.

Are there any good status runs to take advantage of this offer?

In the past, when Virgin Australia has run a bonus status credits promotion, we’ve given some tips on the best Velocity status runs to take advantage of the offer.

This time, there aren’t really any! That’s because the rate at which you’ll earn status credits on Virgin Australia domestic and short-haul international flights is exactly the same, regardless of which route or cabin class you book. You’ll simply earn two status credits per $12, instead of one per $12.

That means, for example, that you would earn 70 status credits on a $419 one-way Business Class fare from Brisbane to Cairns – rather than 35. (Under the old system, you would have earned 160 status credits by booking this flight with double status credits, instead of the usual 80. And, yes… ouch!)

With all of this in mind… if you do want to maximise this offer, the best thing you can do is to simply book as many Virgin Australia flights during the promotional period as possible. It doesn’t matter where you fly, nor in which cabin, as the earn rate is purely based on spend.

Past bonus status credit offers

Velocity Frequent Flyer ran multiple promotions last year offering bonus status credits. One from around this time last year even gave away triple status credits – which at the time, I did think was almost ridiculously generous!

Virgin did run a very limited double status credits promotion last week. But that one was targeted to a only to a small group of business travellers. It had a short booking window, only covered flights taken by the end of June 2025, and only business trips booked through a specific travel management company were eligible.

Between January and March 2025, the airline also offered up to 125 bonus status credits to Virgin Australia Business Flyer members who took at least six flights.

Matt Graham

The editor of Australian Frequent Flyer, Matt's passion for travel has taken him to more than 100 countries… with the help of frequent flyer points, of course!
Matt's favourite destinations (so far) are Germany, Brazil, Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan. His interests include aviation, economics & 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.