7 Best Ways to Redeem Virgin Australia Points for Max Value

You may not have heard of Virgin Australia since they have limited flights to the U.S., but members can actually earn and redeem miles for travel all over the world thanks to some strategic partnerships!

Here, I’ll outline some great redemption options available for this lesser-known program that might surprise you.

One major caveat: you must have an address within Australia or Oceania to open a frequent flyer account with Virgin Australia. As such, these redemption options will only be useful to a subset of readers.

Using Virgin Australia Velocity Points With Airline Partners

Virgin Australia Velocity Points might not be the easiest to come by as an American, but you may be surprised to find out that it is possible to transfer another major points currency to Virgin Australia Velocity.

Booking awards with Virgin Australia can be very easy or require a phone call, depending on which partners you are trying to book flights with.

Awards involving travel on Virgin Australia, Singapore Airlines, and some codeshare flights operated by Etihad Airways can be booked online.

For all other flights, you will have to call the Virgin Australia Velocity customer service center at 1-855-253-8021.

Hotel Partner Credit Cards

Other hotel loyalty programs partner with Virgin Australia as well. The transfer rates are as follows:

• 3,000 Marriott points = 1,000 Velocity Points
• 10,000 Hilton Honors points = 1,500 Velocity points
• 10,000 IHG One Rewards points = 2,000 Velocity points
• 10,000 Choice Privileges points = 3,000 Velocity points

The following credit cards will aid you in earning more points in each of these loyalty programs:

• IHG One Rewards Premier Business Credit Card
• Hilton Honors American Express Card
• The Hilton Honors American Express Surpass^® Card

List of Virgin Australia Partners

You can use Virgin Australia Velocity points to book with the following partners:

*It’s important to note that all award bookings on Etihad Airways incur a partner booking fee of $50 in economy, $205 in business, and $300 in first class.

Using Your Virgin Australia Velocity Points

Virgin Australia Velocity offers award redemptions using a distance-based award chart, and prices vary slightly depending on which partner you are choosing to make a redemption with.

Below is the redemption chart for flights on Virgin Australia, Virgin Atlantic, and United Airlines.

Surcharges are added to each flight for awards on Virgin Australia:

Hot Tip: Virgin Australia’s Premium Economy may be a good option if you can’t find business class availability.

The following chart is applicable for redemptions on Etihad Airways, Air Canada, Singapore Airlines, Hawaiian Airlines, and South African Airways.

Again, please note that the partner fee (shown in USD) for redemptions on Etihad Airways varies by the distance flown.

The Best Ways To Use Your Virgin Australia Velocity Points

Virgin Australia’s Velocity frequent flyer program operates a distance-based award chart with plenty of “sweet spot” redemptions.

Awards involving travel on Virgin Australia, Singapore Airlines, and some codeshare flights operated by Etihad Airways can be booked online.

For all other flights, you will have to call the Virgin Australia Velocity customer service center at 1-855-253-8021.

If you’re unsure how to put your Virgin Australia Velocity points to best use, here are some of the best ways to use your Virgin Australia miles for maximum value.

1. Fly Business Class From Sydney to Fiji on Virgin Australia (35,500 Velocity Points Each Way)

Virgin Australia normally operates a 737-800 between Sydney and Nadi (Fiji) featuring recliner style business class seats.

Consistent with the Virgin brand, these business class seats are sleek and modern, providing style and comfort in a herringbone configuration.

If the seats aren’t already comfortable enough, guests will be treated to a full turndown service, complete with a foam mattress topper for added comfort.

Hot Tip: Visit a lounge while waiting for your flight to Fiji. Having The Platinum Card^® from American Express gives you access to over 1,000 lounges worldwide through Priority Pass upon enrollment.

2. Fly Virgin Australia on Short-Haul Flights Within Australia (Starting at 7,800 Velocity Points)

If you’re already traveling Down Under, why not hop on a flight and see another city? With Virgin Australia Velocity points, it can be as cheap as 7,800 points each way in economy class (that’s the price of a one-way flight between Sydney and Melbourne).

You can even spring for business class and redeem 15,500 points instead…but for a roughly 1.5-hour flight, you should be just fine in economy!

Since flights can be quite expensive within Australia, it’s possible to get great value out of your miles even for economy class flights.

Hot Tip: Apply for Global Entry before making your journey home from Rome to enjoy quickly passing through customs when you return to the U.S. You can get the up to $120 fee (as of October 1, 2024) reimbursed through numerous cards, like Amex Platinum card.

3. Convert Points to Singapore Airlines KrisFlyer Miles and Fly Singapore Suites

Virgin Australia Velocity members are able to transfer their miles to Singapore KrisFlyer at a 1.35:1 ratio. While that ratio may not seem favorable, it’s much better when the 15% Singapore KrisFlyer redemption discount is factored in.

One of the best ways to redeem Singapore KrisFlyer Miles is for a Singapore Suites A380 award between New York (JFK) and Frankfurt (FRA). This award costs just 74,783 KrisFlyer miles or 100,956 Virgin Australia Velocity points.

Additionally, Singapore KrisFlyer generally releases more award space to their own members, so by transferring your Velocity Points to KrisFlyer you will be increasing your chances of finding your award seats.

Another positive of transferring your points to KrisFlyer is the ability to add a stopover to your itinerary. Singapore Airlines offers the ability to book a stopover at no additional cost on a round-trip ticket and $100 on a one-way ticket.

Need Help Booking? Read our guide on how to book Singapore Suites using points.

4. Upgrade to Virgin Australia Business Class (Starts at 4,900 Velocity Points)

Virgin Australia’s Velocity members traveling on a paid fare can use points to upgrade from economy to business class. On flights within Australia, upgrades start at 4,900 points for Freedom fares traveling a distance of 600 miles or less.

Unfortunately, international flight upgrades are quite steep, restricted to certain fare classes, and only available to Velocity Gold and Platinum members.

Still, redeeming 4,900 points for a short-haul flight booked on a cheap fare can be a great way to upgrade your travel experience.

Hot Tip: Don’t pay extra foreign transaction fees during your trip outside of the U.S. Take a credit card with no foreign transaction fees, like Chase Sapphire Preferred^® Card or Delta SkyMiles^® Gold American Express Card.

5. Book Business Class on Singapore Airlines (Starting at 53,000 Velocity Points)

Singapore Airlines first class can only be booked by transferring Velocity Points to Singapore’s KrisFlyer program, but booking economy and business class seats is possible directly through Virgin Australia.

You can fly from the West Coast of Australia to Singapore for 53,000 Velocity points each way in business class or 35,000 points in economy.

A longer flight (like the Australian East Coast to London or New York) would set you back 75,000 miles in economy or 139,000 in business.

Booking directly through Virgin Australia instead of transferring to Singapore does offer lower fuel surcharges.

Need Help Booking? Read our guide on how to book Singapore business class using points.

6. Wait for Virgin Australia’s 15% Discount

Virgin Australia offers a 15% discount on an approximately twice-yearly basis. This is hands down the best time to book any Virgin Australia award, as it offers you savings on the above-mentioned awards AND others that generally aren’t as good of a deal.

Hot Tip: Easily search for Virgin Australia award space by utilizing Delta’s search engine. Remember that to access all of the prices listed in this article, you will need to go back to Virgin Australia to book with the information you found on Delta’s site.

7. Fly to Christmas Island From Perth (17,800 Velocity Points)

Christmas Island is generally a very expensive place to travel to, but by making use of Virgin Australia’s distance-based chart it is possible to get there for relatively few miles.

The flight from Perth to Christmas Island is 1,618 miles, meaning it can be booked for 17,800 Velocity points in economy or 35,500 Velocity points in business class.

It is not uncommon for these flights to cost over $1,000 in economy class, so if you want to visit the exotic destination of Christmas Island, save that cash and book with Velocity points instead!

Final Thoughts

Thanks to their numerous airline partners (many of which can be booked online), Velocity members have tons of options when it comes to redeeming points.

The distance-based award chart can be great for short-haul flights and sweet-spot redemptions on partner airlines.

However, be careful: the distance-based award chart can also result in less favorable redemption rates on long-haul flights.

It’s important that you do your research and compare Virgin Australia’s redemption rates with those of their partner airlines when you are ready to book your next trip.

Now that you know our best ways to use Virgin Australia miles, I hope you enjoy redeeming them!