Virgin points redeemable on Singapore Airlines seats
The airline’s Velocity members can now use their points to book economy seats on Singapore Airlines but not coveted premium seats.
The 10 million members of Virgin Australia’s Velocity program can now use their points to book economy seats on partner Singapore Airlines, but not the carrier’s coveted premium seats.
The offer is expected to be snapped up by hundreds of Velocity members sitting on huge points stockpiles as Australia’s borders fully reopen to leisure travel on February 21.
Singapore Airlines is currently the No.1 international carrier in and out of Australia, with a 20 per cent market share, ahead of Emirates, Qatar and Qantas.
The ability to redeem Velocity points with Singapore follows a similar deal with Virgin’s other international partners including Delta, Virgin Atlantic, Etihad, Hawaiian Air and Air Canada.
It is expected premium seats will be added into the mix in time, but Virgin was unable to say when that might be.
Velocity chief executive Nick Rohrlach said the return of reward seats on Singapore Airlines marked “a new chapter for the loyalty program”.
“We know how much our members value the incredible service and expansive network of destinations across Asia and Europe that Singapore Airlines offers, and we are really thrilled to have their seats back in the program,” he said.
“Initially, members will be able to use their points to book economy seats with Singapore Airlines and we anticipate expanding reward seat availability into their premium cabins soon.”
Mr Rohrlach said Virgin also hoped to soon restore the ability for members to transfer points between Velocity and Singapore Airlines’ KrisFlyer program.
“As international travel demand returns to the market, our partnership with Singapore Airlines provides a really fantastic way our members can use the points they’ve accumulated during the pandemic to travel to hundreds of destinations across the globe,” Mr Rohrlach said.
“When we look at the most popular Singapore Airlines’ redemptions from 2019, Singapore, London, Paris and Bangkok were top of the list, and we expect a similar trend as our members start to make bookings again.”
As few as 10,000 points were needed for an economy seat from Singapore to Jakarta, while a seat on Singapore-London flight could be redeemed with 50,000 points.
Virgin continued to see growth in demand for seat redemptions on domestic routes, with Melbourne and Sydney the most sought after destinations, followed by the Gold Coast and Brisbane.
Hundreds of millions of Velocity points had also been redeemed on international flights to date, with a recent survey showing 39 per cent of members were planning to travel overseas in the next 12 months.
“It certainly feels that the dial is starting to shift in terms of consumer confidence,” said Mr Rohrlach.
The hottest destinations for those seeking to book flights with points included Queenstown in New Zealand, Fiji, Bali, London and Vancouver.
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