Best ways to use up to 40,000 Velocity Points

40,000 Velocity Frequent Flyer might seem like a small step, but there are still plenty of rewards you can use your points balance on.

We consider reward flights to be the best use of Velocity Points, especially in premium cabins. Virgin Australia has some great overseas partners you can use points on. If you need a top-up, check out the highest Velocity Points-earning credit cards we have this month.

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Top up your Velocity Points balance with a credit card sign-up bonus!

1. Fly coast-to-coast in Virgin Australia Business Class

In terms of getting the most flying time out of your points in a premium cabin, Virgin Australia‘s transcontinental Business Class is a steady contender. Unfortunately, the airline no longer has its Airbus A330s with lie-flat beds, so you’ll still be in a recliner. But the onboard service is still great.

For 35,500 Velocity Points + taxes, you can fly one-way between Perth and various east-coast cities such as Sydney, Melbourne and Brisbane. Onwards connections to nearby destinations such as Canberra and Launceston can often be added on with no extra points needed – just a bit more in taxes.

With Virgin Australia Business Class, you’ll get lounge access at the selected airports where available.

2. Upgrade from domestic Economy to Business Class up to eight times

In the same vein as above, your starting balance of 40,000 Velocity Points could be potentially enough to redeem up to eight upgrades in Business Class on Australian domestic and limited short-haul international flights.

It all depends on what Economy ticket you initially book, as we explain in our guide to Virgin Australia fare classes.

On short domestic flights booked in flexible Economy (Flex), each upgrade only costs 4,900 points – that’s eight upgrades. At the other end of the scale, a discount Economy (Choice) ticket on a trans-continental route requires 30,000 points to upgrade, so you can only do it once.

Trans-Tasman and international short-haul upgrades are significantly cheaper than domestic upgrades on a Choice fare. For example, Sydney to Queenstown only requires 16,000 points to upgrade, so you’d have enough to do it at least twice.

Also read: A comprehensive guide to Virgin Australia upgrades

3. Book six short Economy Class flights within Australia

In 2023, Velocity Frequent Flyer introduced tiered pricing for domestic Economy rewards. The cost of Economy reward seats fluctuates across Tier 1 (lowest), Tier 2 and Tier 3 (highest) based on factors like the availability of reward seats, date of travel and booking date.

The good news is that the cheapest Tier 1 Economy reward seat you can book will set you back just 6,200 Velocity Points + taxes for travel under 600 miles (965 km) on Virgin Australia.

With a balance of 40,000 Velocity Points, you could book six of these flights (plus taxes, of course). This could give you especially good value for shorter regional routes where cash fares may be high.

Some Virgin Australia routes you can fly for 6,200 Velocity Points + taxes include:

• Melbourne-Sydney
• Sydney-Brisbane
• Launceston-Sydney
• Adelaide-Melbourne
• Perth-Kalgoorlie
• Brisbane-Rockhampton
• Canberra-Brisbane

Also read: How to book a reward seat with Velocity Points

3. Travel across North America with United

After cutting ties with Delta in 2022, Virgin Australia now partners with United. This means you can redeem your Velocity Points to travel on United within the US. And to top it off, United doesn’t have carrier charges when using Velocity Points.

To give you an idea, for 11,800 Velocity Points you could book a one-way Economy flight between New York (LaGuardia) and Chicago (O’Hare) on United and pay just AU$14.80 in taxes. The same flight would otherwise cost upwards of $350, so this can be a cheap way to hop within the US, or further afield to Canada or Mexico.

4. Save money on intra-Hawaiian island flights

Are you planning to go to Hawaii for a tropical holiday? Chances are you’ll fly into Honolulu, but you may need an intra-island flight to get to your final destination.

You can use your Velocity Points to fly on Hawaiian Airlines between the islands. With 40,000 points, you can book four one-way journeys at 10,000 points each. These flights can often be quite expensive with cash, even in Economy.

Hawaiian Airlines reward flights can’t be booked on the Virgin Australia website, so you’ll need to call Velocity to book.

Given that the Hawaiian Islands are so close together, the longest flight you’ll take is just 50 minutes. All you need to do is get there from Australia first. Here’s how to hack your way to Hawaii with points.

Also read: How to use Velocity Points to fly to the USA

5. Explore Canada and North America with Air Canada

Air Canada is another Velocity partner airline. With 40,000 Velocity Points in the piggy, you could fly return from Montreal to Vancouver in Economy, or one-way in Business Class. Not bad for 5 hours of flying each way! Taxes and charges are also quite insignificant.

Air Canada also flies to select destinations in North America, though its pricing will be slightly higher than United due to being on different award charts.

6. Use Velocity Points with Singapore Airlines

Velocity Points can be redeemed for Singapore Airlines flights, and you can also transfer points to Singapore Airlines KrisFlyer at a 1.55:1 conversion rate. The benefit of the latter is that KrisFlyer members can access better reward seat availability than partner programs.

So, if you’ve got 40,000 Velocity Points up your sleeve, you’ve got a few redemption options with Singapore Airlines.

Enjoy Singapore Airlines’ excellent regional Business Class within Asia

Singapore’s flag carrier is one of the best airlines in the world, recognised for its stellar service and seating onboard.

If you find yourself in Singapore, you can use 38,000 Velocity Points to book a one-way flight to places like Hong Kong, Taipei or Manila. This will be on Singapore Airlines’ Boeing 787-10 or medium-haul Airbus A350 aircraft.

You’ll get a lie-flat (albeit narrow) seat along with Singapore Airlines’ famed customer service. Read more about the different types of seats on Singapore Airlines.

Jet from Darwin in Singapore Airlines Business Class

Singapore Airlines flies between Darwin and Singapore using a Boeing 737-8 MAX. This narrow-body aircraft features 10 lie-flat Business Class seats. So, for just 38,000 Velocity Points + taxes, you could fly the five hours to Singapore in full-service Business Class.

Transfer your Velocity Points to KrisFlyer

Some Singapore Airlines and Star Alliance partner redemptions cannot be booked through programs like Velocity. That’s because Singapore Airlines reserves some seats for its own KrisFlyer members.

However, you can convert Velocity Points to KrisFlyer miles (and vice versa) at a rate of 1.55 Velocity Points = 1 KrisFlyer mile. Effectively, 40,000 Velocity Points would net you just under 26,000 KrisFlyer miles.

So, what can that get you? Well, it would be enough to fly Singapore Airlines’ Airbus A350 Business Class from Singapore to somewhere in Southeast Asia like Jakarta or Kuala Lumpur.

Also read: Singapore Airlines Airbus A350 ‘long-haul’ Business Class (Brisbane – Singapore)

Summing up

If you’ve got 40,000 Velocity Points handy, there are many different ways to get the most out of your balance. We suggest you aim to use points for Business Class travel between the coasts of Australia, as well as internationally. However, there can also be some good uses for Economy Class travel within Australia and Hawaii.

Have a bigger balance to play with? Here are ten great ways to use 80,000 Velocity Points.

Supplementary images courtesy of the respective airlines. Updates by Victoria Kyriakopoulos.

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