Hawaiian Airlines plans wind down of Velocity partnership

EXCLUSIVE INTERVIEW | After being acquired by Alaska Airlines, Hawaiian Airlines is edging closer to a points partnership with Qantas – set to kick off later this year. But in Australia, Hawaiian also has a loyalty tie-up with Virgin Australia’s Velocity program. With oneworld Alliance membership on the cards, would Hawaiian Airlines keep a foot in both camps? Or should we expect Hawaiian to go all-in with Qantas on the frequent flyer front?

Until now, either move could have been likely. After all, Virgin Australia’s partner Qatar Airways maintains its membership in oneworld. By extension, this keeps Qatar as a partner of Qantas, while Qatar also benefits from its separate tie-up with Virgin Australia. But it seems Hawaiian Airlines won’t follow quite the same path.

I catch up with Andrew Stanbury, Hawaiian Airlines’ Managing Director of International and North America Sales, to find out where Hawaiian Airlines is headed.

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• Sign-up Bonus: 110,000 bonus Velocity Frequent Flyer Points¹ with the Citi Premier Credit Card
• Rewards Earn Rate: 2 Citi reward Points per $1 spent on Eligible Transactions online or overseas and 1 Citi reward Point per $1 spent on Eligible Transactions everywhere else, capped at 200,000 Citi reward Points over a 12-month period. 
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The Citi Premier Credit Card offers 110,000 bonus Velocity Points¹ for new cardholders who spend $8,000 or more on eligible purchases within 3 months from approval. The card earns up to 2 Citi reward Points per dollar on eligible transactions and includes complimentary membership and two airport lounge visits every year when you enrol in Priority Pass™, plus the ability to automatically transfer Points from the Citi Rewards Program to Velocity Frequent Flyer each month with Points Autosweep⁴. Offer ends 1 April 2025. This product is provided by National Australia Bank Limited, using certain trademarks temporarily under license from Citigroup Inc.

Hawaiian to shift Australian loyalty focus from Velocity to Qantas

Speaking of Virgin Australia and Velocity, Stanbury is quick to acknowledge that ‘they’ve been a really great partner with us for many years.’ Still, that partnership has changed shape over time, and what remains today doesn’t quite match the years gone by.

Previously, Virgin Australia codeshared on Hawaiian Airlines’ flights between Australia and Honolulu. On those services, Velocity Gold and Platinum members could access lounges in Australia and Honolulu when booked on the VA flight number. Now, those codeshares have ceased, and that access for Velocity members didn’t return post-COVID.

Today, Velocity members can still earn Velocity Points and Status Credits on eligible Hawaiian Airlines flights. Velocity cardholders can also redeem Velocity Points on Hawaiian Airlines flights. But making a reward seat booking is only possible by calling Velocity. Hawaiian Airlines’ reward flights have never appeared on the Virgin Australia website.

Without lounge access or a codeshare, there are no remaining elite benefits for Velocity members to enjoy when travelling with Hawaiian. For instance, even Velocity Platinum status doesn’t unlock priority check-in with Hawaiian. This is something Hawaiian had been looking at – but Hawaiian’s merger with Alaska Airlines saw the airline change course.

As it happens, the loyalty arrangements still in place between Velocity and Hawaiian Airlines are set to cease. ‘On the loyalty side of the business, we’ll be migrating towards the Qantas program,’ Stanbury confirms. But a start date for that Qantas partnership, and an end date for its Velocity participation, are yet to be revealed.

Hawaiian Airlines to retain interline partnership with Virgin Australia

While Hawaiian Airlines is winding down its ties with Velocity, it doesn’t entirely mark the end of the carrier’s Virgin Australia partnership. Stanbury confirms that ‘we are going to retain interline agreement with (Virgin Australia), and we’ll continue to work in that way.’

So, what is an interline agreement? Simply put, it generally relates to airline ticketing, check-in and baggage tagging. Airlines need an ‘interline agreement’ to issue connecting boarding passes for another airline. They also need such an agreement to tag a suitcase through onto a flight operated by that airline.

The scope of each interline agreement can vary between airlines. Some agreements cover all of the above, while others only enable either ticketing or baggage through-check. It’s not yet known how comprehensive the interline policy will be between Hawaiian and Virgin.

But it’s fair to say, an interline agreement is the most basic level of cooperation between carriers. It’s entirely separate to codesharing, earning points or spending points.

Remember how Virgin Australia and Delta used to be very close partners, with codesharing, status benefits and points participation? You might be surprised to know that the two airlines remain interline partners to this very day. But that doesn’t mean you can earn Velocity Points on Delta flights in 2025.

In fact, Virgin Australia has inked a slew of interline partnerships behind the scenes. Virgin Australia interlines with everybody from Cathay Pacific and Malaysia Airlines through to Royal Brunei Airlines, Saudia and even Ukraine International Airlines. But that doesn’t mean you can earn or spend points just because there’s an interline partnership in place.

Interline partnerships can be part of a broader tie-up. But it’s that higher degree of partnership that establishes the things that frequent flyers love, like points and status benefits. An interline agreement on its own helps get your suitcase to its destination… and there’s rarely more to it.

Déjà vu for Velocity with Alaska Airlines

As it happens, this isn’t the first time that Velocity will lose a redemption partner to Alaska Airlines. You might recall the US carrier Virgin America, on which Velocity members could earn and spend points many years ago. Along the way, that airline was absorbed into Alaska Airlines. As Alaska Airlines was a Qantas partner, that Velocity partnership – along with the Virgin America brand – came to an end.

That’s not expected to be the case with the Hawaiian Airlines brand. While the airline may transition to sharing Alaska Airlines’ AS flight numbers, aircraft would still be branded with ‘Hawaiian Airlines’, Stanbury advises. And when asked to specifically confirm, for clarity, that Velocity redemptions would cease on Hawaiian as part of its transition, Stanbury says, ‘correct’.

As for when, it’s yet to be seen. There’s still a lot of work to do behind the scenes, particularly at Alaska Airlines’ end of the spectrum. But one thing is clear: the days of using Velocity Points on Hawaiian Airlines are set to be numbered. And for the Virgin Australia partnership as a whole? With the loyalty elements removed, an interline agreement alone isn’t going to sway booking with one airline over another. That’s where the Qantas partnership will step into place.

Also read: Qantas to add Hawaiian Airlines as redemption partner

Featured image courtesy of Hawaiian Airlines.