Velocity’s sweeping changes: new status tiers and points reshuffles

Big changes are coming to Velocity Frequent Flyer – especially to status and the way we earn and burn Velocity Points. Virgin Australia’s highest-flying members will undoubtedly welcome the introduction of lifetime ‘Forever Gold’ status and a new ‘Platinum Plus’ tier.

But after eight years of relatively stable redemption rates, the inevitable points devaluation is looming. Whilst domestic Economy reward seats will see a lower baseline starting price, almost everything else will increase. Status Credit calculations will change, base earning rates on flights will lower and some benefits will also shift.

Velocity Frequent Flyer CEO, Nick Rohrlach, says the changes focus on ‘areas that matter most’ to members such as ‘being better recognised for loyalty’.

“For the first time since 2011, the introduction of two exclusive new tiers – Forever Gold and Platinum Plus – demonstrates our commitment to rewarding the ongoing loyalty of our most frequent flyers. We have more ways than ever before for members to earn and redeem Velocity Points,” he explains.

“These new changes are balanced by adjustments to other areas of the program to ensure we continue to have a sustainable, competitive and valuable proposition for members.”

What are the ‘adjustments’, you may ask? Here’s your quick reference guide on Velocity’s upcoming changes.

What’s changing with Velocity Frequent Flyer points

On the points side of things, some rewards will get cheaper, but most will go up in price.

1. Domestic Economy rewards now start lower but will increase later

Kicking off with the good news, Domestic ‘Tier 1’ Economy rewards are now slightly cheaper from immediate effect. You only need from 5,900 Velocity Points + fees and taxes for a short flight of up to 600 miles – a modest decrease of roughly 5%. It’s a similar story for longer flights as well (see the table here).

But from 21 January 2025, Virgin Australia will expand the range of price points a domestic Economy reward can be, from the lower lead-in pricing mentioned above to a new ceiling that is higher than current. The points needed for international short-haul (including New Zealand and Fiji) will also increase.

2. International partner reward pricing is going up

This move will probably affect Point Hacks readers the most – brace yourself for an increase in points needed for partner airline redemptions from 21 January 2025. The full scope of the changes is in the tables on the Velocity website. Until then, you can still redeem seats under the current rates.

There will be three tables for partner airlines. From lowest to highest cost, there’s one table for United and Virgin Atlantic, another for Singapore Airlines, Qatar Airways and Etihad, and a third one for all remaining partner airlines like Air Canada and ANA.

No devaluation is pleasant, of course. In general, the increases are minor for short and medium-haul flights, and more substantial for longer flights. The figures remain just under what Qantas charges for equivalent partner rewards, per sector. From an objective point of view, eight years is a long run without an increase.

There will also be a ~33% increase in carrier charges for Singapore Airlines redemptions.

3. The base earn rate on VA flights will drop

New Virgin Australia bookings made from 2 April 2025 will earn a reduced 4 Velocity Points per dollar. Existing bookings are unaffected and will continue to earn 5 points per dollar. Velocity elite status bonuses are applied on top.

However, if you hold an eligible Velocity Points-earning credit card, you’ll continue to earn the full 5 Velocity Points per dollar on Virgin Australia flights. However, this only seems to apply to direct-earn cards such as the American Express Velocity Business, not transfer cards such as the Citi Premier or American Express Platinum.

4. UpgradeMe Points moves to a single rate, increases in price

In a rather curious move, Virgin Australia will combine both the Flex and Choice upgrade rates into a single points price. Naturally, this disadvantages (and dare I say, disincentives) travellers on a Flex fare, as the current upgrade rates, starting from 4,900 points, are far lower with Flex fares than with Choice.

From 18 November 2024, new UpgradeMe Points requests will start from 10,000 Velocity Points on domestic flights, and 8,000 points on Trans-Tasman and international short-haul flights. Existing requests will be honoured at current rates if made before that date.

What’s changing with Velocity Frequent Flyer elite status

1. Benefits for life with Forever Gold

From 1 October 2025, Velocity will introduce the lifetime Forever Gold tier, earned at 12,000 Status Credits with at least 9,000 from VA-marketed flights flown by the member. When the tier goes live, your eligible activity from 1 February 2013 onwards will be considered.

As the name implies, successful initiates will enjoy Velocity Gold-level benefits for life including lounge access, priority airport benefits and more. However, the Complimentary Partner memberships (such as with IHG, Hilton, Europcar and Hertz) remain a one-time deal only. If you’ve already used it, you won’t be able to access it again.

2. Platinum Plus offers new perks

Also from 1 October 2025, very frequent flyers will be eligible to aim for the Platinum Plus tier, earned at 2,000 Status Credits with at least 1,500 from VA-marketed flights flown by the member.

This retains most of the perks of Platinum but adds a ‘VIP’ designation to the traveller throughout the journey. Key new benefits also include the ability to use Complimentary Upgrades on Choice fares, access to ‘Fly Later’ that same day, and a massive 5x 32kg baggage allowance on Virgin Australia flights.

The ability to gift a Companion Platinum membership will be moved from the existing Platinum tier benefits (where it currently can be earned) to become a Platinum Plus-only perk.

What about Beyond Lounge access? Unfortunately, access to those private lounges in Sydney, Melbourne and Brisbane remains an exclusive benefit for Beyond members.

3. Changes to Status Credit earn calculations on VA

There’s a big shake-up with Status Credits that will eventually see the price of the fare as the main factor when flying with Virgin Australia. From 2 April 2025, Status Credits will be earned at the following rates:

• 1 Status Credit per A$24 spent on Lite fares
• 1 Status Credit per A$12 spent on Choice, Flex and Business fares

If the fare is high enough, members might earn more Status Credits than now – for example, someone on a last-minute business trip flying in Economy Flex or Business. Conversely, leisure travellers who prefer to book sale fares in advance will likely earn fewer Status Credits.

Cheaper Business Class fares around Virgin Australia’s network could also earn considerably fewer Status Credits than before. For example, a $499 Business Class fare from Melbourne to Brisbane currently gets you 80 Status Credits. Under a spend-based system, it would net 42 Status Credits.

You’ll continue to earn Status Credits from other carriers as normal until 1 October 2025, when Velocity will reduce the number of Status Credits earned flying on partner airlines. For more details, check out the summary page on the Velocity website.

Also from 1 October 2025, Velocity will do away with Eligible Sectors (the requirement to fly Virgin Australia-marketed flights 2, 4 or 8 times a year). Instead, Silver, Gold and Platinum members will need to earn at least 50% of the Status Credits from Virgin Australia-marketed flights.

These combined changes reward Virgin’s loyal domestic and short-haul international flyers. But it will make it far more challenging for someone predominantly flying on Virgin Australia’s partner airlines to earn and maintain Velocity status.

4. Some other status benefits are changing or leaving

In addition to the above, two more status benefits are changing from 1 October 2025.

• The Guaranteed Economy Reward Seat benefit is being removed for Gold members and remains a Platinum and Platinum Plus tier perk.
• As Companion Platinum membership will become a Platinum Plus perk, Platinum members will be able to earn Companion Gold by reaching 1,300 Status Credits in a 12-month benefit period, with at least 650 of those earned on Virgin Australia-marketed flights earned by the member.

Summing up

The upcoming changes are a mixed bag, overall. Of course, if you mainly fly Virgin Australia, you’ll likely look forward to loftier goals in Platinum Plus and Forever Gold, as well as potentially quieter lounges. Yes – it’ll be harder for many ‘mixed airline’ travellers (including myself) to earn or maintain Velocity status with the new requirements, so I’d expect the elite status ranks to start thinning out from 2026.

On the points side, those ‘adjustments’ that Rohrlach mentions are an increase in the Velocity Points needed for many other redemptions, such as international partner airlines and points upgrades. This isn’t ideal, though it also isn’t entirely surprising as anyone who’s been in the game long enough will know that devaluations will eventually happen.

In this case, the changes aren’t too extreme. If you’re planning to use your Velocity Points, try to lock in your desired reward before the increase takes effect – you have until 18 November 2024 for Virgin Australia upgrades and 20 January 2025 for flight reward redemptions.

This story is still developing and will update with the latest information.