Virgin Australia’s New Search Tool For Velocity Rewards & Cash Fares
New calendar view lets travellers compare fares
Virgin Australia is moving to simplify one of the most frustrating parts of booking flights, by today rolling out a new all-in-one search tool that puts every pricing option in front of travellers at once. The feature combines cash fares, Points + Pay and Velocity Reward Seats into a single monthly calendar view, allowing users to compare options without jumping between multiple searches.
The update is designed to streamline decision-making, giving travellers a clearer view of value across Virgin Australia’s domestic and international network. For now, Velocity Reward Seats on partner airlines are not shown, though Virgin Australia expects to introduce this capability in the coming months.
Rather than reinventing the booking flow, Virgin’s new search tool builds on its existing calendar interface by layering reward availability alongside standard fares. For Velocity members, this means seeing which dates have reward seats available, rather than a detailed list of specific flights on each day.
Virgin’s new search tool is being progressively rolled out within the standard flight search option at virginaustralia.com.
Travellers can compare cabin types within the same view, making it easier to balance price, comfort and flexibility. By the same token, the system allows travellers to switch between payment methods, be that Velocity Points or cash, without needing to restart their search.
Virgin’s Digital GM, Alex Plummer, explained that the new tool aims to make it easier for travellers to compare options and find the best value.
“Customers can see every available way to book flights in a single calendar view…It’s a step change in the booking experience, giving customers a simpler, more transparent way to find the flights that work best for them.”
Virgin Australia vs Qantas: A New Era Of Reward Searches
Virgin describes its new tool as an Australian-first, a claim that holds up given its all-in-one approach, though it has landed just two weeks after Qantas launched its superior Classic Reward search tool.
Qantas partnered with award search platform Gyoza Flights to develop a standalone search option focused purely on reward flights. Alongside services operated by Qantas and Jetstar, the Qantas tool shows partner airline rewards across more than 30 carriers. One of the biggest upgrades is the ability to search region-to-region, such as Australia to Europe, rather than limiting queries to city pairs like Sydney to London.
By contrast, Virgin’s all-in-one booking calendar is more of an evolution of its existing booking experience. While it does give an overview of Velocity Reward Seats, it also blends in the inflated Points + Pay pricing and does not yet offer region-to-region search functionality.
Summing Up: My Thoughts
Virgin Australia’s booking update is a practical enhancement rather than a major leap. It’s a positive move for consumers, and bringing all payment options into a single view should make the booking process quicker, clearer and more transparent.
If anything, the timing of Virgin’s announcement is interesting. With Qantas setting a new benchmark for airline-direct reward searches, I’d argue that Virgin Australia could have benefited from more time in development.
Right now, it comes across as a fairly minor upgrade, making the process of finding a Velocity Reward Seat only marginally easier. A standalone Velocity search tool, similar to what’s offered for Qantas by Gyoza Flights, would likely deliver far more value for frequent flyers.
