Velocity unlocks Platinum Complimentary Upgrades on cheaper fares

Velocity’s top frequent flyers can now use their Platinum Complimentary Upgrades from cheaper Choice fares – but for a limited time. Until 31 March 2024, Velocity is offering Platinum members the ability to redeem a greater number of their upgrade credits to swap an Economy Choice fare into a Business Class seat.

There’s no change to the original benefit of using upgrade credits from Flex fares on domestic and short-haul international flights – if there’s availability, you can still redeem one credit to confirm the upgrade.

What’s the offer?

Usually, you can’t use Platinum Complimentary Upgrades on Choice fares. But during this promotion, you can! The rates for upgrading from a Choice fare are significantly higher, though:

• Flights under 1,000 miles: 2 upgrade credits
• Flights over 1,000 miles: 4 upgrade credits

This offer applies to Virgin Australia-operated domestic flights, trans-Taman and International short-haul flights, including Bali, Nadi (Fiji) and Vanuatu. That means you could upgrade two Sydney-Melbourne flights (as they’re under 1,000 miles), one Perth-Sydney flight or one Sydney-Bali flight from a Choice fare with 4 credits, for example.

Platinum members usually receive four complimentary upgrade credits a year. Upgrades can be requested anytime after booking over the phone, up to two hours before departure. Otherwise, you can also request a last-minute upgrade at the Virgin Australia Lounge or at Priority Check-in at Hobart.

Our take – complimentary upgrades from Choice

The ability to use Platinum Complimentary Upgrades from Choice fares is a perk that we think many members will value. Most people flying for leisure will tend to book Choice fares over Flex since there’s usually a significant price difference. With this change, those Platinum members can look forward to upgrading those lower-priced fares.

Another quirk within the Eastern States is that Virgin Australia’s sharply-priced Business cash fares are sometimes similar to – or even cheaper than – Economy Flex prices. In those cases, it’s a no-brainer to just book Business Class outright rather than buying Economy Flex and upgrading. (This isn’t the case with flights to/from Perth, where Business starts from around $1,200 and Economy Flex is around $650).

We would love to see this promotion become a new permanent feature of Velocity Frequent Flyer – but perhaps with adjusted redemption rates. For example, our ideal system for Choice upgrades would be to charge:

• Two upgrade credits for flights under 1,200 miles (e.g. Sydney-Brisbane)
• Three upgrade credits for flights between 1,201 and 2,400 miles (e.g. Melbourne-Perth)
• Four upgrade credits for flights above 2,400 miles (e.g. Sydney-Bali)

This broadly matches the cost in Velocity Points to upgrade – from Melbourne to Perth, for example, it’s 9,900 points or one upgrade credit from Flex. A points upgrade from Choice is 30,000 points, so charging three upgrade credits would be reasonable.