One of the headline benefits of the American Express Velocity Platinum card is the free domestic return flight on Virgin Australia offered each cardholder year. When used effectively, it can deliver hundreds of dollars of value, sometimes even exceeding the cost of the card’s annual fee!
What is the Amex Velocity free flight benefit?
As a key benefit of the card, members are entitled to a complimentary domestic return flight on Virgin Australia each year on selected routes. The American Express website lists all eligible routes under this benefit.
See the routes that are eligible for this benefit:
| Departure City | Arrival Cities |
|---|---|
| Adelaide | Alice Springs, Brisbane, Canberra, Coolangatta, Melbourne, Sydney, Darwin, Hobart, Launceston |
| Alice Springs | Adelaide |
| Ballina/Byron | Sydney |
| Brisbane | Adelaide, Cairns, Canberra, Darwin, Emerald, Hamilton Island, Hobart, Launceston, Mackay, Melbourne, Newcastle, Sydney, Proserpine, Rockhampton, Townsville |
| Cairns | Brisbane, Sydney |
| Canberra | Adelaide, Brisbane, Coolangatta, Melbourne, Sydney |
| Coolangatta | Adelaide, Canberra, Melbourne, Sydney |
| Darwin | Brisbane, Adelaide |
| Emerald | Brisbane |
| Hamilton Island | Brisbane, Sydney |
| Hobart | Adelaide, Brisbane, Melbourne, Sydney |
| Kalgoorlie | Perth |
| Launceston | Adelaide, Brisbane, Melbourne, Sydney |
| Mackay | Brisbane |
| Maroochydore | Melbourne, Sydney |
| Melbourne | Adelaide, Brisbane, Coolangatta,, Canberra, Hobart, Launceston, Maroochydore, Newcastle, Sydney |
| Mildura | Melbourne |
| Newcastle | Brisbane, Melbourne |
| Perth | Adelaide, Kalgoorlie, Melbourne, Sydney |
| Proserpine | Brisbane |
| Rockhampton | Brisbane |
| Sydney | Adelaide, Ballina/Byron, Brisbane, Canberra, Cairns, Coolangatta, Hamilton Island, Hobart, Launceston, Maroochydore, Melbourne |
| Townsville | Brisbane, Sydney |
The free flight offer does not include every route on the Virgin Australia domestic network. One of the key things to note is that Perth residents arguably get the best deal here. You can fly from Perth to Sydney, Melbourne or Adelaide return, but not vice versa.
Velocity Points and Status Credits cannot be earned on American Express Velocity Platinum free flights. You also can’t upgrade these free fares to Business Class.
As usual, velocity Platinum frequent flyers can select Economy X extra-legroom seating at no additional cost with these free flights. All other passengers can pay the associated charges while selecting seats.
How do I book my Amex Velocity free flight?
You should be able to redeem this flight through the dedicated complimentary flight booking portal, which is the quickest method.
- Visit this site: http://compflight.virginaustralia.com/
- Log in to the Velocity account associated with your American Express Velocity Platinum credit card. If you have a valid free flight credit, it will progress to the booking page. If not, an error will appear.
- Enter your origin, destination and flight dates.
- Choose from the available flights on the following pages.
- Enter the passenger’s details – it doesn’t have to be you.
- Click ‘Complete Booking’ to redeem your free flight. There is nothing to pay — not even fees or taxes.
Important info about the Amex Velocity free flight
These are the key terms of the free flight on the card:
- You can book the flight in someone else’s name.
- You will get a new free flight once every cardholder (not calendar) year. This means once the following annual fee has hit your statement, you can go ahead and book another flight.
- You’ll access the free flight benefit after your first card spend in the first year, and then after your first card spend each year after the anniversary of your membership.
- The flight has to be booked as a return with specific dates on both legs (you can’t leave the return open-ended).
- Each flight must be a non-stop Virgin Australia-operated flight. There needs to be availability in the ‘T’ or ‘Q’ fare classes. You could use ExpertFlyer to search for fare availability.
- The flight can only be a direct return journey between two approved cities. Multi-city bookings aren’t allowed, and if you only book one way, you forfeit the return leg.
- Once booked, you can’t change the name or route, nor can you cancel the booking.
- You can change the time/date of the flight by calling Virgin Australia on 1300 153 006 (within Australia) or +61 7 3119 7006 from overseas. Change fees and fare differences may apply.
It’s not a particularly flexible ticket, so we’d avoid using it for travel where you need flexibility. It’s great for booking annual holidays in advance, particularly over peak periods if you get in early.
Here are the full terms and conditions for your perusal.
Summing up
The free flight benefit that comes each year that you hold the American Express Velocity Platinum card is a big win for card members. If you use it correctly, you could snag a booking that would typically cost more than the $440 annual fee for the card (particularly for Perth residents).
Those planning to travel over significant holidays such as Christmas and Easter can still take advantage of this benefit, but you’ll likely need to book early while the ‘T’ and ‘Q’ fare classes are still available. . Be sure to research which routes are available from your home airport.
Remember, you can book this flight in someone else’s name. Rather than letting the flight go to waste, booking it for a friend or family member would be a great idea if you had no other use.
Another tip is carefully planning when you pull the trigger on the free flight if you want to fly as a pair. You could book the first passenger close to the end of your card year, then the second passenger once you receive your new free flight credit for the following card year.
Frequently asked questions
Read this guide for detailed instructions on how to redeem your free American Express Velocity Platinum card free flight.
Under normal circumstances, no. But if your free flight has been impacted by COVID-19, contact Virgin Australia and they may be able to cancel the flight and re-credit the free flight back to your account for future use.
How about you? Any great tips for getting more out of your flight, or good trips you’ve had when using it?
This article was originally written by Matt Moffit.
Even though there are direct flights, the agent over the phone would not let me book as she said it’s not an included route.
I just thought I’d reach out and tell my still evolving story:
I received my AMEX Velocity Platinum card in Jan 2020, and made my first spend, and was eligible to redeem my free return economy trip with VA.
During 2020 due to Covid, they extended the redemption till 31st March, which was very handy. although this particular extension would not affect me as I would be redeeming during my cardholder year.
In December, Amex then issued an email offering $375 credit in lieu if the free return flights. I did not accept this offer.
Back to present, and I am trying to book my Comp flight, with Amex and Virgin stating that my certificate had expired when the credit offer email was sent, even though I had not accepted this offer!
Amex has submitted an escalation on my behalf, but they expect it to take 7-10 business days to get a response (I’ll be calling them back after two business days to push the case).
The complimentary flight is worth more to me than the credit offer, so I will be pushing for this.
I’m wondering if this has happened to anybody else so far?
Thanks
That was not our experience. We called AMEX and they refused to book the ticket for someone else. They also stated that Velocity checks that information and can cancel the ticket if they discover that names do not match (?).
Am I the only one who was so “lucky” ?
Taken from section 6 of the American Express Velocity Platinum CardDomestic Return Flight Conditions:
“You may book your Flight in the name of another individual, but not for an unaccompanied minor”.
Further information on all the T&Cs of the card can be found at https://www.americanexpress.com/content/dam/amex/au/pdfs/credit-cards/pds_velocityplatinum.pdf.
I then called the number and they said that Sydney to Melbourne is not on the list of flights, even though Melbourne to Sydney is. Can anyone confirm if it should be on the list?
Yes, Melbourne to Sydney and visa versa is a flight route that can be redeemed. I’d suggest trying to call again and referring the agent to https://www.americanexpress.com/australia/campaigns/velocityplatinumflightmap/index.html.
The date of your ‘anniversary’ predates the date of the annual fee being charged. In my case it pre-dates the fee charge by 26 days!!
I was informed earlier this week the anniversary date is October 2nd which was the date AMEX made the internal approval which they admit I did not receive any notification about until 11 days later.
It also predated the date the Amex Platinum Velocity turned up in the mail (by 11 days).
AKA Rip-off.
You are charged the annual fee effectively retrospectively.
The ‘complementary’ flight disappear (in my case on October 1st) – so I was charged an annual fee but only had the benefit for 11 months.
Just booked return ticket MEL-HBA for Dec 2018 using compflight link. Worked no problems. Super quick, only required VFF log-in.
(I had called Virgin to book comp flight for 1 ticket and also use virgin gift voucher for a 2nd ticket. Took me 25 mins to book using gift voucher “having trouble finding it”, and then they referred me to Amex for the comp flight, who then referred me back to Virgin website (didn’t provide URL though). So I tried Point Hacks who saved the day! Thanks team!)
On this occasion the site was down and do redirected to Velocity team on 13 67 89
No issues with that, and all organised on the phone. Only details I had to give were my FF number, then confirm name and email address.
I have searched for flights but can’t seem to find any.
I signed up last July and wasn’t planning on renewing my card. Is it possible to book a flight for August if I book it before my 12 month anniversary? Thanks in advance.
Any advice would be deeply appreciated.
Seems like they changed the policies now where they give you $200 travel credit instead of free return flight, which seems like we can use it for flights, car rentals, hotels.
Not sure if this is actually better than the free return flight.
As I said in there, I think it depends on how you would have previously used the free flight as to whether to whether the travel credit is better. Personally, I prefer the credit.
Does the flight need to be within the cardholder year or just booked within the cardholder year? For eg. I opened up the card in April 2016 but want to travel July 2017, will it still be free if I book prior to April 2017 and cancel the card before the cardholder annivesary?
Thanks
Thanks
From the terms and conditions on the card’s landing page:
“The complimentary domestic economy Virgin Australia return flight…is available for booking by American Express Velocity Platinum Card Members after your first Card spend in the first year, and then after your first Card spend each year after the anniversary of your Membership.”
I have updated the post to more clearly reflect this.
Is the Platinum Edge’s complimentary flight offer available only to the primary card holder or is it available to additional card holders as well?
Thanks
Thanks
Has there been any confirmation from anyone that after booking your complimentary flight you can cancel your card without affecting your free flight?
Also, how do you go about redeeming your lounge access or is that done with the card only?
Lounge access passes are added to your Velocity Frequent Flyer account which is then checked, and a pass removed, when you use the lounge. It’s all digital, essentially.
If I cancel the card now will I lose those points or will they send them as they cancel my card?
Tried to upgrade to business with points. Was told that this fare having been booked by AMEX has a special AMX99 (Internal booking code) attached to the fare and is ineligible for upgrade.
The Velocity rep pointed me to the T&C for upgrademe points 19.1.6(g)(iii)
19.1.6 UpgradeMe Points flight upgrades are not available on:
(g) fares ineligible to earn both Points and Status Credits, such as:
(iii) any other promotional offers.
Which I thought was a pretty wishy washy excuse. Especially considering I have upgrade these Amex flights to business the last two years running.
I’ll try again tomorrow and see if I get a better experience
Also the amex plat edge can fly from Perth to regional cities now.
I tried to make a booking for Melbourne to Coffs Harbour on a Thursday but was told I can only do so on a Saturday when the direct flight runs. Which also means staying a week to get the return flight the next Saturday…
Im just about to do this, trying to free up some credit for another card.
Would it be safe to assume that different departments with Amex would mean it should cause too much of a problem?
I though I was very clever at the time, getting a booking over the long weekend well in advance!!
However, now I am moving to Sydney and will need to depart from there (instead of Melbourne). I tried to change the booking, but the T&Cs are quite prohibitive; only changes of date/time are allowed, no changes to the route (or passenger). I can ‘cancel’ the booking, but it will cost $107 (as stated in this article) and i can only re-book the same route & passenger – which is of course of no use to me.
It seems silly that they won’t allow a change of route; I’m not going to pay to cancel the flight, so the booking will just go unused. I know the T&Cs are clear and I can’t really see any loopholes or arguments, but has anyone had any luck succeeding in altering a booking?
I’d like to fly into Coffs, drive to Gold Coast and fly out from there.
He said he doesn’t know why different maps are showing different things but is going to look into it with their IT department.
What if I wanted to book the second ticket with Velocity points+pay?
https://www.americanexpress.com/australia/campaigns/platinum_reserve/destination_guide.shtml
I will suggest confirming with AMEX again around your account anniversary date to be safe but that has been what I have been told by them (they suggested this option knowing what I was looking to do!)
But I would agree that you should call to confirm when it’s close to your account anniversary date.
I have the Velocity Platinum card – it may be different for the Plat. Edge.
I got a Velocity Platinum card in August and went through the minimum reward spend quite quickly as I was driving from Sydney to Perth.
I also booked Perth – Sydney for the reward flight leaving Perth 24 Dec and returning 01 Jan.
This card has been amazing value I have already gotten 2.5 return trips from Perth to Sydney and still have 77,000 points left.
Did you have to do anything special when making the booking? Thanks
I didn’t have to mention anything special to get the Perth – Sydney flights, I had the flight details I wanted ready and we had general chit chat since I was making a reservation for Christmas Eve flights but there was no issue at all.
P.S. Sorry for the late reply!
Just wondering if you had any info on booking, then canceling flights, and using a shell credit to make another booking or flexible fare?