Virgin Australia Reinstates Most Airline Partner Redemptions From November 2, 2021

Good news for members of Virgin Australia’s Velocity program as the program just sent out an email from their CEO that partner award bookings will once again be available from next week, November 2nd.

According to the mailer that came in this morning, Velocity will re-activate bookings with most partners (Singapore Airlines and Hainan Airlines excluded) from 11:59pm AEDT next Monday 1 November 2021.

As most borders reopen within Australia, people Down Under are finally able to travel internationally again and most members of Velocity are Australians based on the airlines limited footprint. Good for them it’s finally possible to move these points again.

There are also quite a few international members that looked at the future of Velocity with worry as Virgin Australia went bust in the early stages of the pandemic.

Thankfully things have turned out better than the worst case projected.

The Velocity email reads:

While it’s been a turbulent 18 months for travel in Australia, next week we begin a new chapter with the re-opening of Australia’s international border.

The joy and experiences that travel provide cannot be understated, and if you’re anything like me (a nomad!), you’ll be jumping at the opportunity to finally dust off your passport and start planning your next big adventure.

While not all Australians will be able to immediately travel overseas, we know as a country we are moving in the right direction to restore the freedoms we all so dearly miss, and we’re confident that international travel will soon be available to everyone.

Freedoms start with vaccinations, so thank you for rolling up your sleeves to protect yourself, your loved-ones, and those who can’t be vaccinated, so we can once again see the world.

International redemptions to re-open on 1 November 2021 …

From 11:59pm AEDT next Monday 1 November 2021, you’ll be able to make Reward Seat bookings using your Velocity Points for flights on 

• Virgin Atlantic,
• Air Canada,
• Delta Air Lines,
• Etihad Airways,
• Hawaiian Airlines and
• South African Airways 

Singapore Airlines will be next to offer Reward Seats as they expand their network and services to and from Australia. We will update you as their Reward Seats become available. 
As many of you are already aware, we are scheduled to resume Virgin Australia international services to Nadi, Fiji, with the first flight taking-off from Sydney on 16 December 2021, followed by Bali and New Zealand. All up, we have approximately one-million Reward Seats available for you to book across the Virgin Australia domestic and international network right now, which will give you many opportunities to reunite with friends and family or to embark on a new travel adventure.

When making a Reward Seat booking on our partner airlines, please be understanding that travel dates and destinations will vary for each carrier as will Reward Seat availability. We will have limited Reward Seat availability to begin with, but that is expected to grow in stages as international travel demand returns. As always, Velocity Points and Status earn will be available on eligible regular bookings made directly with Virgin Australia and our partner airlines.

International Reward Seat bookings for Virgin Australia and partner airlines can be made from 11.59pm Monday 1 November 2021 on the Velocity website or by calling the Membership Contact Centre on 13 18 75.  …

These are excellent news especially for members who hold Velocity Credit Cards or have transferred balances from other points programs in the past as they’re likely to sit on some big balances nobody exactly likes to burn for some household items in the shop.

Most prominent partners in the past were certainly Delta, Etihad and Singapore Airlines. As E.T. writes so far there hasn’t been any word on who of these partners will be back and then it still depends on what kind of availability they will receive.

Availability will remain the big question mark. It would be pretty shabby if suddenly Velocity members could only redeem for Economy Class though there’s no indicator that this would be the case.

One very attractive option – flight redemptions on Singapore Airlines – will remain unavailable for now just as transfer to/from Singapore Airlines KrisFlyer. This transfer option was stopped short after things went sour for Velocity but some members managed to get their points out short before the link got taken down.

Conclusion

Virgin Velocity members globally will soon have access to partner award redemptions on other carriers again. The award booking option restarts on 11:59pm AEDT next Monday 1 November 2021.

When redemptions return and it turns out they remain lucrative in the sense of value, especially for Business Class awards then members have really dodged a bullet here.

It’s good that Virgin Australia and Velocity survived to at least provide some counterweight to a Qantas monopoly in Australia.