FIXED: Velocity Slaps Huge "Fuel Fee" On Qatar Airways Redemptions
Thankfully the huge fuel surcharges have now been removed
Update 9th Jan: A spokesperson for Virgin Australia has confirmed that this issue has now been resolved, and the taxes on Qatar redemptions have returned to normal.
Velocity told us they would work directly with customers who have paid the incorrect co-payment as a result of this issue. We expect this would mean a refund of the inflated taxes. You can contact Velocity on 13 18 75.
The article below acts as a record of this issue.
Redeeming Velocity Points for Qatar Airways flights has suddenly become far more expensive. In some cases, the taxes charged on Qatar redemptions made via Velocity have nearly tripled in price overnight. Thankfully, Virgin-marketed wet lease flights operated by Qatar appear to be unaffected.
The changes arrived without warning from Virgin Australia, hinting that it could (hopefully) be a technical glitch. It seems the unhinged fees are from a new “Airline Fuel Surcharge”, but with some Business Class redemptions to Europe now requiring a cash co-payment of over $2,500, it’s hard not to imagine Virgin calling up Emirates to say, ‘hold my beer.’
What Has Changed?
Previously, the taxes charged on Velocity redemptions for Qatar Airways flights were rather high, especially between Australia and Europe. Now, the cash co-payments are extraordinary.
Again, we hope this is some form of error, and for now, we don’t have a clear picture of what’s going on. While we await further details, here are a few examples of these huge price jumps.
Looking at cached Seats.Aero data from yesterday, we can see that this Sydney to Doha flight in November required $423 per person in taxes for Business Class.
On the Virgin Australia website, the same flight is still available, but the taxes are now $921 - a 118% increase. Economy also took a hit, jumping 108% from $273 to $569.
For Business Class from London to Melbourne, you’d normally pay $1,231 per person in taxes. Now it’s a co-payment of $2,605 - an increase of 112%. That surcharge is more than the cost of return Economy flights on the same route!
One of the worst examples we found is Athens to Melbourne, where the Business Class taxes used to be $676, but have jumped 198% to $1,994.
Note that Virgin Australia-marketed flights operated by Qatar are still showing the normal co-payment. Bookings made with Qatar Privilege Club and Qatar’s other partner airlines also seem to be unaffected.
Why Is This Happening?
Looking at the airline surcharge breakdown, Velocity is showing an “Airline fuel fee” on these tickets. In the Athens to Melbourne example, this additional fee is more than $1,300. For Sydney-Doha, the fuel surcharge is currently $501.
Fuel surcharges are definitely not new. You might think it has something to do with the high cost of fuel for aircraft, but the price of jet fuel has continued to fall in recent years. The International Air Transport Association actually posts a Jet Fuel Price Monitor, and in its latest update, stated jet fuel was on the trajectory to decline by 9% for 2025.
That’s to say that fuel surcharges are typically a cash grab by airlines, and a way to help recover the cost of providing reward seats.
Who’s Adding These Fees: Qatar Or Virgin?
While the charges appear on Velocity bookings, the structure of an “Airline fuel fee” points to Qatar’s pricing. These fees are usually set by the operating carrier, not the frequent flyer program processing the redemption.
If Velocity was adding the fees, we’d likely see them pop up on Qatar-operated wet-lease flights too. But that doesn’t mean Virgin Australia is blameless. Velocity chose to pass the surcharge on to its members, rather than absorb or cap them, and it did so without warning or explanation.
So Velocity didn’t invent a new surcharge, it’s just the messenger delivering some very bad news.
