Velocity Frequent Flyer has announced that some existing Gold & Platinum members will be eligible for another status extension of up to 12 months if they take at least one Virgin Australia flight by 28 March 2021. There are also additional rewards on offer for taking 2 or 3 flights by 28 March next year.
Back in March, Virgin Australia promised to automatically renew the status of all Silver, Gold and Platinum Velocity members at the end of their current membership years. Many members have taken advantage of this, and Virgin has already been offering to give members a further 12-month extension on a case-by-case basis if they did not benefit from this previous offer (e.g. because they had already earned enough status credits to requalify in 2020 anyway).
This new offer will make it possible for some Velocity Gold & Platinum members (but not Silver members) to get a second year-long extension if they meet certain criteria.
To qualify for this second-year status extension, your current Velocity membership review date would need to fall between 1 January and 31 December 2021. You would need to have held Velocity Gold or Platinum status before 31 March 2020 and not have been offered a discretionary status extension. Detailed terms & conditions have been posted on AFF, and you can also find FAQs & more information about the Discover Status Rewards offer on the Velocity Frequent Flyer website.
Benefits of Velocity Status Rewards offer
If you qualify for this offer, you would get another 12-month status extension by flying at least one eligible Virgin Australia flight between 7 December 2020 and 28 March 2021. If you do this, your Velocity status will then be automatically renewed at the end of March 2021 and your new review date will be 31 March 2022.
For the purposes of this offer, an eligible flight is any Virgin Australia marketed and operated flight that is not a Reward Seat booking. It doesn’t matter when you book or how you pay for the flight, as long as you travel between 7 December 2020 & 28 March 2021.
There are more rewards on offer if you take a second or third flight during the promotional period.
If you have Gold or Platinum status and take a second eligible Virgin Australia flight by 28 March, you’ll also receive 5,000 bonus Velocity points.
If you’re a Gold member, taking 3 Virgin flights will also unlock unlimited Economy X upgrades until 28 March 2021. And if you’re a Platinum member, taking 3 Virgin flights will make it possible for you to use your complimentary Platinum member upgrades when travelling on any fare type. Normally Platinum member upgrades can only be used with the more expensive “Freedom” fares, but with this offer you’d be able to upgrade from Getaway or Elevate fares as well on flights taken until 28 March 2021.
Is this enough to prevent Virgin customers from switching?
This offer seems to be a direct response to the recent Qantas status match offer. That Qantas offer is targeting Velocity Gold & Platinum members with an incentive to switch to Qantas. (It’s no coincidence that Velocity Silver members, who aren’t eligible for the Qantas status match, are excluded from this Velocity Status Rewards offer.)
Virgin obviously wants to retain its loyal frequent flyers, implying that its service is superior to Qantas. But Virgin’s frequent flyers have seen little evidence of this superior service in recent times. Until this offer was released, Virgin had really dropped the ball with communicating to its frequent flyers. So it may be too little, too late for some dissatisfied Velocity members who’ve already applied for the Qantas status match.
Not to be outdone, Velocity also launched its own status match for Qantas Frequent Flyer members this week. But the reality is that there will be far more Velocity members seeking to jump ship to Qantas, than Qantas flyers that find Virgin’s new “mid-market” offering with a minimal lounge network appealing. Qantas now has 30 of its 35 domestic airport lounges open. But Virgin Australia currently has just one lounge open, and has only committed to reopening 5 others.
Join the discussion on the Australian Frequent Flyer forum: VA status extensions
