As Virgin Australia slowly but surely comes out of voluntary administration (granted, with a few hiccups), affected customers will be glad to know that Future Flight Credits are now being issued for cancelled and changed flights.
Of course, a refund would have been nicer, but these are only available to those who had purchased a fare that specifically allowed for refunds. But bear in mind that with Virgin Australia falling into voluntary administration, there was a chance that ticketholders would become ‘unsecured creditors’ and left with practically nothing to show for it.
With the Future Flight Credits, Bain is at least preserving the goodwill of its customers for the relaunched airline, which is crucial if it is to succeed in the near future. With that out of the way, here’s how to use those credits to make a new booking.
What is the Virgin Australia Future Flight Credit?
The Future Flight Credit (FFC) is given to customers with cancelled Virgin Australia bookings. The full amount of the unused credit is now in a Travel Bank and ready to use online. Bookings have to be made by 31 July 2022, with travel up to 30 June 2023.
Take note that the FFCs can only be used on specific domestic fares, under the name of any passenger. Some flights will not be bookable for FFCs once availability runs out, even if cash tickets are still for sale.
Eligible domestic fares are:
- Getaway (Economy)
- Elevate (Economy)
- Freedom (Economy)
- Business Saver
In addition, FFCs can be used for Virgin Australia flight extras such as:
- Economy X (extra legroom) seating
- Prepaid excess baggage
- UpgradeMe bids
- Lounge experience passes (once available)
- Unaccompanied minor and pet travel bookings
How do I use a Virgin Australia Future Flight Credit?
Eligible customers should have received an email by now, which outlines your Future Flight Credit Travel Bank account number and username. You will need these details on hand when booking.
- Head to the Virgin Australia website. Ensure ‘Use points + pay’ is unticked, as you can’t use Velocity Points with an FFC.
- Enter your origin, destination and travel dates.
- Choose the number of passengers. On this same page, tick “I would like to use a Travel Bank to pay for some or all of this booking”. Click ‘Continue to flights’.
- On the flight selection page, eligible fares will show a red ‘Special fare’ banner if it’s able to be booked with a Future Flight Credit.
From this stage, choose your desired flight and check-out as usual. You will need your Travel Bank account password to continue.
Can I cancel a Virgin Australia Future Flight Credit fare?
Virgin Australia fares booked with Future Flight Credits generally share the same change and cancellation policies as normal. You can review these policies on the Domestic Fares page, which has special sections for FFCs in orange text.
In general, these rules apply:
- Getaway fares can’t be cancelled. Change fees may be waived depending on the current COVID-19 travel policy.
- Elevate fares may be cancelled with a $70 fee until midnight prior to departure. The remaining fare will return to your Travel Bank.
- Freedom fares can be cancelled with no fee prior to scheduled departure.
- Business Saver fares can be cancelled with a $50 fee until midnight prior to departure. The remainder will return to Travel Bank.
Summing up
Hopefully, our Point Hacks readers are able to make the most of Virgin Australia’s Future Flight Credits. It’s not an ideal situation to be in for anyone involved, but chances are domestic restrictions will start to lift in the foreseeable future, and make use of those credits to explore more of our backyard.
If you have a choice between using Velocity Points or Future Flight Credits for a booking, I would recommend consuming up your credit first if possible, as that was paid with ‘real money’ in the past.
Your Velocity Points may still be good for Business Reward bookings and upgrades down the track, as long as the new owners Bain fulfil their commitment to keeping Virgin Australia as a ‘hybrid’ airline.
Frequently asked questions
No. Unfortunately, you won’t able to combine your Points and Future Flight credit to make an initial booking.
Also no. Credits can only be used on Virgin Australia-operated domestic flights. Even Alliance-operated codeshare flights are excluded from usage.
If you’re not able to use your credit on your desired flight, then you’ll need to try alternate dates, routes or flights.
I have come to terms with the act that I will not be receiving a refund but to end up with nothing from such a large corporation is unbelievable.
I’ve been caught up in the Tigerair debacle, advised we will receive Future Flight credit with Virgin but have still not received any info on how we access our account for these ‘credits’, any advice appreciated!
Find the dates you want and select any flight, hit pay with travel bank at the payment page and log in to your new travel bank account. This will say ‘for future flight credits only’ then it will give you an option that says ‘show me all available future credit flights’ and it will show all the available alternatives.
Also, Virgin advertise direct flights to Canberra but impossible to find.
If so, Just too risky with so many more people around & more chances of catching Covid. Very disappointed.
I recommend you check back often as Virgin are always adding new flights to the schedule, which have a higher chance of Travel Bank fares. In answer to your other question, most of the time you will need to disembark and change planes for domestic connection.
Have searched January to early February and even though they have $99 fares can not book any Travel Bank fares. Seems like they want to hold on to money longer
Same problem – no email with new account details received. I gave up chasing in DEC & JAN due to lengthy waiting times. Successful today on the usual reservations number in under 10mins (Platinum status may have helped). The representative was quick to assist and rectify, apologising and advising: “many customers did not receive the email with their new account details, it’s a common problem”. I hope that helps you.