Velocity Means Fast? Virgin's New Rewards Table And One-Point Redemptions

Velocity Frequent Flyer’s popularity continues as the loyalty program of Virgin Australia nears 11.5 million members, making it the third-largest loyalty scheme in Australia. To celebrate, the program has launched a new logo and tagline – “Velocity means fast”.

I’m almost certain that the Velocity marketing team skipped physics because my physics teacher always told me not to lose direction when you’re talking about velocity. Although, according to Velocity Frequent Flyer, their program name means “speed and momentum” and they offer their members “the speed and momentum to get to rewards sooner”. Either way, I’m still confused about where Velocity found that definition.

Velocity Frequent Flyer CEO, Nick Rohrlach, said that their members deserve rapid rewards.

“We know that Velocity is already fast to earn and climb the status ranks and you’ll continue to see more innovations that lead the way in terms of rewards and recognition for our members – this is just the start. We are proud to now offer the lowest domestic flight redemption rates of any Australian airline.”

Poorly considered brand campaigns aside, Velocity plans to introduce some interesting changes. That includes more than one million Economy reward seats added, some reward seats coming in 20% cheaper and even the chance to snag a prize for just a single Velocity point.

Virgin Australia’s New Redemption Table

Velocity is introducing tiered redemptions to its reward seat chart by adding a lower and higher-priced tier for Virgin Australia Domestic Economy rewards. For now, Business Class rewards, Virgin Australia international rewards and partner rewards are not affected and remain fixed at current levels. We do expect this could change within the next few years.

The new table is not quite the full dynamic pricing used by other programs such as Air Canada’s Aeroplan, but instead, the points required for Economy will now vary within a fixed range.

The cheaper Tier 1 pricing is now available for redemption, meaning some rewards will require 20% fewer points than was previously needed. The most expensive Tier 3 pricing will come into effect on 5 July 2023. Velocity wasn’t all that clear on their new three-tier system but mentioned that redemption pricing would fluctuate based on reward flight availability, travel dates and booking periods.

To determine which price is available for a given flight, check the quote provided on the Virgin Australia booking portal. The airline stresses that Tier 1 pricing is offered on a ‘first come, first served’ basis.

One Point Rewards Competition

Velocity is dropping a bunch of prizes that members can redeem for just 1 Velocity Point. Rewards will be available online via the Velocity Rewards store at random intervals across four secret dates from 11th June until 2 July 2023.

Naturally, the prizes are extremely limited and will sell out fast. Note that only a single 1 Point Reward can be redeemed per Velocity member, per week – arguably not that fast.

Velocity Frequent Flyer will drop hints on their Instagram across the next four weeks, but here are some of the prizes you can expect;

• Dyson Supersonic HD07 V3 Hair Dryer – $649
• Dyson Vacuum Cleaner (V8) cord-free – $719
• Smeg 50s Style Toaster – $219
• Apple Watch – $399
• Weber Baby Q – $389
• Chasseau 30cm round firm casserole – $320
• Breville Barista Coffee Machine – $779
• GHD Unplugged Hair Straightener – $500
• Apple Air Pods 3rd Generation – $249
• Bose Soundlink Micro Bluetooth Speaker – $175

Plus, if you happen to be in Melbourne on Saturday 10 June 2023, you might want to check out Velocity’s pop-up Rewards Store on Chapel Street. The first 100 members who enter the store will score a guaranteed prize for just 1 Velocity Point. The pop-up store will open for 24 hours at 9:00 am on 10t June.