Virgin Australia Partners with United Airlines

Virgin Australia will end its long-standing partnership with Delta Air Lines next year, switching instead to United Airlines. Subject to government approval, the new agreement between Virgin Australia and United is due to begin from April 2022.

Members of Virgin’s Velocity Frequent Flyer program will soon be able to earn and redeem points, and earn status credits when flying with United Airlines. Velocity Silver, Gold and Platinum members will also enjoy reciprocal status benefits on United including lounge access.

United MileagePlus members will similarly be able to earn and redeem miles, and receive reciprocal status benefits, when flying with Virgin Australia.

Reciprocal status benefits

The following reciprocal benefits will be available to elite members of both the Velocity and MileagePlus loyalty programs when flying with either Virgin Australia or United:

• Priority check-in
• Priority boarding
• Priority baggage delivery and additional baggage check allowance
• Priority security clearance
• Lounge access

Virgin Australia has not yet confirmed whether Velocity Gold & Platinum members will have access to United Club lounges on domestic itineraries within the USA. It is expected that this will be the case, although that benefit was recently removed for Velocity members travelling with Delta Air Lines and members of United’s own frequent flyer program do not generally receive United Club access on US domestic bookings.

Further details are expected to be released in the coming months, including the rate at which Velocity members will earn points & status credits for United flights (and vice versa). It is also not yet known whether Virgin Australia will be classified as a “preferred partner” within the United MileagePlus program.

United Airlines flights to Australia

United Airlines currently flies daily from Sydney to Los Angeles and San Francisco. Prior to COVID-19, the airline also served the Melbourne-Los Angeles, Melbourne-San Francisco and Sydney-Houston routes. These services are expected to resume next year.

United also offers extensive connections from its US hubs to destinations across the Americas and Europe.

Virgin Australia also previously flew from Brisbane, Sydney and Melbourne to Los Angeles using Boeing 777s as part of its joint venture with Delta. However, Virgin gave up all long-haul flying during the pandemic and no longer operates any aircraft suitable for long-haul flying. Virgin has publicly said it plans to eventually resume services to Los Angeles and Tokyo, but the timeline for this is still up in the air.

Hopefully, once the partnership with Virgin commences, United will also start releasing more Business Class award availability to partner airlines. United award availability on routes to/from Australia is currently close to non-existent – although it’s unfortunately a similar story with availability on Delta’s Sydney-Los Angeles flights at the moment.

The end of Virgin Australia’s alliance with Delta

Virgin’s new bilateral agreement with United marks the end of a long partnership with Delta, one of United’s major rivals and a member of the SkyTeam alliance.

Virgin Australia CEO Jayne Hrdlicka today thanked Delta Air Lines for “their long-standing commitment and relationship with Virgin Australia”.

“As a strategic partner with Virgin Australia for many years, Delta Air Lines has shared a wonderful journey with us, and we appreciate and value the many achievements we made together,” Ms Hrdlicka said.

“We will work closely with Delta over the coming months to transition our Velocity partnership, and of course, all bookings will continue to be honoured when Delta customers fly on Virgin Australia.”

Virgin Australia’s joint venture agreement with Delta had ended last year, with neither airline applying for government approval to extend it. Delta had previously signalled that it wouldn’t be interested in another joint venture with Virgin – which involves sharing revenue and costs – until Virgin began operating its own flights to the United States again.

In the meantime, Delta had remained a Velocity Frequent Flyer partner until now. But some of the key benefits of the Delta alliance for Velocity members have already been removed, such as lounge access on domestic itineraries, access to Delta Comfort+ upgrades and the ability to upgrade on Delta flights using Velocity points.

Most of Virgin’s partners are now in Star Alliance

Some keen observers have noticed that United Airlines and Virgin’s other new partner, Air Canada, are both members of Star Alliance.

Several of Virgin’s other existing partner airlines including Singapore Airlines and South African Airways are also part of Star Alliance. This just leaves three Velocity partner airlines – Virgin Atlantic, Etihad Airways and Hawaiian Airlines – which aren’t part of Star Alliance (or any other alliance, for that matter).

This has fuelled some speculation that Virgin Australia could be eyeing its own membership of Star Alliance – although this is probably just wishful thinking from hopeful Velocity Frequent Flyer members at this stage.

Join the discussion on the Australian Frequent Flyer forum: United Airlines new Virgin Australia / Velocity Partner

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.