Virgin Australia’s Velocity and Luxury Escapes sign multi-year partnership

Virgin has snatched one of Qantas’ biggest assets in a deal that could mean huge savings for Aussie holiday-makers. See what it means for you.

Australian holiday-makers may be able to travel for less as the airline wars intensify, with Virgin Australia poaching Qantas’ travel partner Luxury Escapes.

A new partnership between Virgin and Luxury Escapes, announced on Tuesday, will start mid-year and could potentially save Aussies thousands of dollars off their trips, Velocity Frequent Flyer chief executive Nick Rohrlach said.

The deal means Velocity’s 11 million-plus rewards members and Luxury Escapes’ three million customers will be able to earn and spend points on holiday packages, tours and experiences to help “stretch their dollar a bit further”.

“We’ve gone from having just a hotel booking experience to a full package experience. It’s a real big upgrade for us – a free upgrade,” Mr Rohrlach said.

Velocity Frequent Flyer chief executive Nick Rohrlach and Luxury Escapes chief executive and co-founder Adam Schwab celebrate the launch of a new multi-year partnership, that could potentially save Aussies thousands of dollars on their holidays. Picture: Supplied

The Luxury Escapes deal is part of Virgin and Velocity wanting to create more value for their customers, by expanding its partner companies.

Points expert Daniel Sciberras, of website Point Hacks, said the deal benefited holiday-makers by offering more choice.

“That is really good for frequent flyer members. Normally you can only redeem points on a partner airline or hotel but partnering with Luxury Escapes could be multiple airlines or hotels or cruises and engaging with a huge breadth of luxury holiday providers,” he said.

“As cost of living is beginning to bite a lot more, Aussies still might need a holiday and they’re going to get more bang for their buck by redeeming Velocity points.”

Melbourne couple Matt and Jaimee Flemming with daughter Audrey, 2, and son Spencer, 4 months, use points to save money on flights and accommodation. Picture: Supplied

Melbourne couple Matt and Jaimee Flemming, who have two young children and are renting while their new home is being built, said the prospect of being able to save money by cashing in points on Luxury Escapes was appealing.

“Everything is getting more expensive these days, so anything that helps us, be it cheaper flights or accommodation is a massive help,” Mr Flemming said.

Matt and Jaimee Flemming with daughter Audrey on holiday in Queensland last year. Picture: Supplied

He said they use frequent flyer programs to help offset the cost of holidays and spent some Velocity points to cut down on the cost of flights to Queensland last year.

“My wife is pretty savvy with this. We (earn points) by filling up at 7-Eleven. Petrol is one thing we need to keep doing and if we can earn points that helps. We also scan FlyBuys at Coles for weekly shop,” Mr Flemming said.

The couple also earn points from their private health cover and bank.

The Luxury Escapes deal is “not directly linked” to Virgin Australia’s plans to return as an ASX-listed company, Mr Rohrlach said.

“We’ve always said we’ll do it at the right time. We’re very advanced in preparation and go to wait for the right time with the market,” he said.

HOW TO MAKE MOST OF REWARDS POINTS

BEST WAYS TO EARN POINTS

Tapping into shopper rewards programs, such as FlyBuys or Everyday Rewards programs, can help generate points through everyday purchases, to then use to save on travel, Mr Sciberras said.

He encouraged people to use the respective apps to unlock bonus offers to help the tally grow.

“I need to eat right, I’m going to spend anyway. You can still factor in discounts in shopping and then pay with a point-earning credit card it all stacks up.

Daniel Sciberras from website Point Hacks.

Some credit cards also come with bonus points but conditions apply.

Mr Sciberras said using Velocity’s E-store or Qantas Shopping websites were also a way to shop for items from a third party, such as clothes, homewares or camping gear, but earn potentially five points for every dollar spent that you would have missed out on by going direct.

Buying flights or hotels through the relevant reward system tends to have a higher point generation ratio and occasionally there are bonuses, he said.

“I’m going on an around the world trip and I booked hotels through Qantas. Normally you’d earn three points per dollar spent but there was a triple point promo, so I earned 75,000 points — that’s one-way to Hong Kong in business.”

BEST WAYS TO REDEEM POINTS

Mr Sciberras said the “best bang for points” was redeeming frequent flyer points on long-haul premium seats, such as business or premium economy.

He said the redemption ratio on premium international long-haul flights was about 2 to 4 cents a point, which was up to 10 times higher than redeeming the points in store or on items, such as a toaster, which had a value of 0.5 cents per point.

Originally published as Virgin Australia’s Velocity and Luxury Escapes sign multi-year partnership