Virgin Australia’s Velocity overhaul including two new tiers and fewer points per dollar spent

Virgin Australia’s rewards program is adding two new tiers and making changes to the way points and status credits are earned by members.

Virgin Australia’s Velocity is undergoing a major revamp with the addition of two more tiers and changes to the way in which points and status credits are earned by frequent flyers.

From October 2025, a new “forever gold” tier will be added to match Qantas’s lifetime gold, along with “platinum plus”, based on status credits earned through flying and other activities.

To qualify for forever gold, members must have accumulated 12,000 status credits dating back to 2013, including at least 9000 earned on Virgin Australia market flights.

Platinum Plus members will need to have racked up 2000 status credits in the past 365 days, including at least 1500 on Virgin services. The new “top tier” of the program will come with various benefits including access to a VIP phone service, four complimentary business class upgrades per year and the ability to gift a companion platinum membership.

The airline will also lower the number of points needed for certain domestic routes, starting from 5900 instead of 6200 on routes such as Sydney-Melbourne.

However, more points will be required for Virgin Australia’s short haul international flights, and on long haul international with airline partners.

For example, from January 21, an business class seat to Los Angeles with United will require 102,000 Velocity points instead of 95,500.

A reward seat with Qatar Airways to London will “cost” 80,000 Velocity points instead of 75,000 and business class to Tokyo with ANA will increase by 4000 Velocity points to 82,000.

At the same time, Virgin Australia was reducing the number of points earned for each dollar spent from five to four, unless the traveller has a co-branded credit card.

The way status credits were accumulated was also changing from April 2025, with Virgin Australia to distribute those credits based on the size of the fare as opposed to distance travelled.

Virgin Australia Velocity chief executive Nick Rohrlach. Picture: Dallas Kilponen/Virgin Australia

Velocity chief executive officer Nick Rohrlach said the changes reflected the wishes of their most loyal members.

“They want to be recognised for how much loyalty they show us and we’re giving them that with the new tier whether that be platinum plus or forever gold,” said Mr Rohrlach.

“We are also proud to be further reducing the lead-in Velocity points required to redeem a one-way domestic economy reward seat, now starting from an even lower base fare of 5900 points — a move that enables members to get to reward flights even faster.”

He said the changes were “balanced with adjustments to other areas of the program” to ensure Velocity continued to have a sustainable, competitive and valuable proposition for members.

“We have made it a priority to give members plenty of advance notice on the program changes, understanding how crucial it is for them to stay informed to get the most out of Velocity now and into the future,” Mr Rohrlach said.

Frequent flyer expert Adele Eliseo of the Champagne Mile said the changes were more “operational fine tuning” than large scale disruption and could have gone further.

She said there was still a lack of international lounge access for Virgin Australia platinum and gold members, that should be addressed.

Adele Eliseo, founder of The Champagne Mile.

“There are some different benefits depending on the partner airline but if you’re travelling Virgin Australia business class to Bali or Fiji, you’re stuck in the international terminal without access to a lounge unless you have access through Priority Pass or perhaps your AMEX,” said Ms Eliseo.

“We know that lounge access is a big driver for loyalty.”

The “slight devaluation” of points earned per dollar was aimed at incentivising the use of co-branded credit cards, she said.

“Card holders will have their value held at five points per dollar, whereas everyone else is going down to four points per dollar. For people who aren’t into credit cards, I can see that might be an annoyance factor,” Ms Eliseo said.

Executive Traveller editor David Flynn said the changes created a “wider pool of redemption options” and “no imminent devaluation of Velocity points on Virgin Australia flights”.

“Across 2025 however, international travellers who favour Virgin’s partner airlines will see reward seats costing more points while paid tickets will earn fewer status credits,” Mr Flynn said.

“The shift to spend-based status earning will be contentious but I see it as a sensible move from the airline’s perspective, which also makes it easier for travellers to track their status.”

To mark the changes, Virgin Australia was releasing a million additional domestic economy reward seats from Thursday in a four-day sale.

Velocity has about 12 million members to Qantas Frequent Flyers’ 16 million, and reported a 13 per cent increase in active engagement in the 2024 financial year.

Originally published as Virgin Australia’s Velocity overhaul including two new tiers and fewer points per dollar spent