Airlines have done the groundwork to make it easy for you to earn Frequent Flyer points and status credits when you fly and shop. All you have to do is go about your business travel as usual and enjoy the perks along the way.
But we’ve all wondered at some stage if there’s a trick to fast-tracking your points and membership status, and how to get the most out of our loyalty program. So, we went straight to the top and spoke with Velocity Frequent Flyer CEO Karl Schuster to find out how to build your points faster and get the most out of your membership.
How to earn more points
Let’s start with how to go about actually earning Velocity Frequent Flyer points, because you need to spend to save. But the good news is, you can earn points through your existing spending, says Karl: “With Velocity Frequent Flyer, there’s hundreds of ways to earn and redeem points through our flight network to around 600 destinations around the world, and through everyday spending across around 300 brands in categories spanning retail, financial services, lifestyle and travel.”
Here are the top ways to accrue points, according to Virgin Australia:
- The best value way for a Velocity member to earn points is by booking seats on Virgin Australia flights, or with partner airlines.
- The best everyday way to earn points quickly is by using a credit card that earns Velocity Points and then making purchases on that card with one of Velocity's partners, such as flybuys at Coles. This effectively gives you a ‘double earn’ on the same purchase.
But it doesn’t stop there, especially for business travellers. You can also earn points when you’re on the road by purchasing a lounge entry, hiring a car through the airline’s car hire partners, and even working out at Virgin Active.
Build your points faster with family
You can make the most of your family’s flying (and spending) and grow your points balance faster with Family Pooling.
“A quick way to reach status and reward goals sooner is by pooling all of your family’s points and status credits into your account,” says Karl.
Whether you want to move up status tiers, you’re planning a family holiday and want points to cover flights, or you’ve got your eye on a new vacuum cleaner for home, Family Pooling allows you to combine points and status credits to help you reach your reward quicker.
Using your points for flights
Now down to business. How do you go about getting the most value out of your points? According to Virgin Australia, the option that will give you the most value is to use your points for an upgrade to Business Class on domestic or short-haul international flights.
You don’t have to move toward the front of the plane to use your points, though. Velocity Points can also be used to book reward seats on flights with Virgin Australia or their partner airlines. Or you can buy flight gift vouchers (yes, that’s a thing) with your points or lounge entry to make the most of your whole flight experience.
And while the best way to accumulate points is flying, you could expand your Christmas gift budget by spending your points in the Velocity Reward Store.
Benefits to Frequent Flyer status
Let’s go back to basics for a minute. There are four levels of Velocity membership that determine the benefits you receive when you travel. When you first join the program, your default entry-level membership status is Red. From there, you can upgrade to Silver, Gold, and then Platinum.
Your Frequent Flyer membership status isn’t just a colour on a card; it’s everything when it comes to travelling for work. For starters, it can mean the difference between waiting at the gate with everyone else or relaxing in the lounge while the crew get the plane ready for you.
According to Virgin Australia, membership status helps to unlock a host of benefits beyond lounge entry, including extra baggage allowance and priority boarding, and Gold and Platinum members receive complimentary hotel and car hire status with the airline’s partners.
Here’s an example of the benefits of each status:
Red Status |
Silver Status |
Gold Status |
Platinum Status |
|
Access to member only offers with 200+ partners |
International Priority Check-in and Boarding |
Fly Ahead to your destination on an earlier flight |
4 Complimentary upgrades to Business Class for eligible domestic flights* |
|
Use Points to book Reward Seats, upgrade your flight and more |
2 single entry passes to access Virgin Australia Domestic Lounge |
Kick back and relax in over 150 international premium lounges |
Fly Ahead to your destination on an earlier flight |
|
Family Pool your Points and Status Credits |
50% Points bonus, on top of the base Points earned, when travelling with Virgin Australia* |
Priority Check-in, Boarding, Screening and Baggage |
Access to 150+ lounges worldwide including Virgin Australia Lounge |
How to upgrade your Frequent Flyer status
There’s no hidden trick^ to upgrading from Red to Platinum in a hurry, unless you fly a lot anyway. But the good news, according to Karl, is: “It’s easy to achieve the next tier with Status Credits either by flying or by shopping at Coles with flybuys.”
You’re automatically upgraded to the next membership level as soon as your Status Credit and Eligible Sector balances reach the required numbers:
Upgrade requirements |
Silver Status |
Gold Status |
Platinum Status |
|
Earn – Status Credits |
250 |
500 |
1000 |
|
Fly – Eligible Sectors |
2 |
4 |
8 |
You earn status credits – which are different to Velocity Frequent Flyer Points – when you fly, starting at 7 per one-way domestic flight, and going up from there depending on how far you travel and the type of fare you have. An Eligible Sector is any flight that begins with a VA flight number and does not include reward seats.
But what does this actually look like? According to Karl: “A Sydney to Los Angeles flight provides almost a third of the Status Credits needed to reach Silver.”
And if you book your flights with us via SmartFLY, you might also be eligible for Pilot Gold Velocity Memberships when you join the Velocity Frequent Flyer program.
Once you’re upgraded to the next level of membership, you’ll enjoy your new benefits for a period of 12 months.
Make the most of your business travel
When you’re a Frequent Flyer and travelling for work anyway, you can improve your status and benefit from the perks that come with it, without any extra effort. If only the same were true for business.
^Want a short cut to upgrading your membership status?
Simply spend a minimum of $1,000 on Virgin Australia flights with Corporate Traveller before the end of November 2019. Terms and conditions apply.
*Visit Velocity Frequent Flyer for terms, conditions, current benefits and more details.