It’s all official, Bain is the new owner of Virgin Australia and Velocity, and the company seems to be ramping up marketing activities again to entice people to engage with the airline and more importantly with the frequent flyer program. Right now, you can get 20% on points transferred to Velocity + 30% discount on business class redemptions; tempting?
Before we proceed, there are some trust issues we need to address regarding credit for cancelled flights. Virgin Australia decided to somewhat screw over its pre-COVID customers by adding additional restrictions on vouchers, if you weren’t up to date, you can read more on that here.
In any case, Velocity is back! The Velocity store is back up and running, and redemptions can be made on flights.
You can now get 20% bonus Velocity points when transferring from a small number of partners. Those are American Express, NAB, Marriott Bonvoy, All, IHG, Hilton Honors, Shangri-La and Choice Privileges.
Notably missing is ANZ, if you have one of the ANZ rewards cards you might have noticed that transferring to Velocity still isn’t an option.
In this post:
Should you transfer?
Short answer: No.
Longer-ish answer: only if you have a need for those points. Let’s put it this way: we’re not going anywhere anytime soon! This means you points are the safest in your American Express account or wherever it is you’re transferring from.
The only exception I can think of is if you need to take a domestic flight with Virgin Australia and the prices are expensive for cash fares, but redemptions are available. In this case, it could make sense to redeem points over cash to save some money.
20% Velocity Transfer details
Velocity members will receive 20% bonus Velocity Points when they transfer eligible points from Participating Partners to Velocity into Velocity Points between 12:01 am (AEST) September 7, 2020, and 11:59 pm (AEST) September 20 2020. Participating Partners are Australian American Express Card Members, including David Jones American Express Card Members enrolled in the Membership Rewards program (this offer excludes American Express New Zealand Card Members), NAB Rewards accounts, Marriott Bonvoy, ALL – Accor Live Limitless, IHG® Rewards Club, Hilton Honors, Shangri-La’s Golden Circle and Choice Privileges.
30% Discount On Business Class Points Redemptions
Velocity is also offering a 30% discount on selected business class redemptions and UpgradeMe seats on the Virgin Australia domestic network. This could potentially stack well with the current offer!
Note that the only business class product is the Virgin Australia B737 recliner seat so don’t expect anything fancy.
Check out our full guide on how to use your Velocity Points for reward redemptions here.
This deal only applies to flights booked and travelled by October 24 so booking further in advance is not an option.
Here’s what the promo email says:
“Stretch your legs in Business Class and enjoy priority screening, priority boarding and increased complimentary baggage allowance. For the time being, Virgin Australia lounges remain closed, and inflight catering is limited to water and complimentary snacks.
Get 30% off the Points amount required to redeem for Business Class Reward Seats and UpgradeMe Seats when you travel on Virgin Australia domestic flights to some of our most popular Australian destinations.”
Book and travel by October 24 2020.
Summing Up
This won’t be the last transfer promo we see, and I’m pretty sure 20% in the current climate is waaaay to low. It’s no doubt a marketing ploy to “test the waters” before offering anything more substantial, but for me personally, it’s a clear NO. With no A330 and Australia wide travel, there’s just no reason to keep points in my Velocity account unless you have an immediate use for them.
That said, if you’re planning a local getaway in the coming month, 20% transfer bonus + 30% business class redemption discounts could be rather compelling!
