Velocity Frequent Flyer
Verified250 reviews
Very trash rewards programme. I don’t understand why you don’t offer e gift cards.? Qantas is way better with there offerings and when you pick the gift card option it takes up to 14 to get it delivered.
Dear Velocity Frequent Flyer Team, As a loyal Velocity Gold member, I am increasingly frustrated that Family Pooling only recognises points, not meaningful Status Credit loyalty. Families can spend thousands of dollars each year flying with Virgin Australia, yet status recognition is still focused almost entirely on solo business travel. The… Read more
current system sends the message that household spend counts for revenue, but not for loyalty recognition. Many families deliberately choose Virgin Australia out of loyalty, but if that loyalty is not recognised in a meaningful way, customers will naturally start choosing better value flight options instead. I understand status benefits have a cost, however there should be a better balance that recognises total household loyalty and spend — not just individual flying activity. With the limited number of Virgin lounges in regional and tourist destinations, the actual cost impact of benefits such as priority boarding would appear negligible. From a customer perspective, this decision seems counterintuitive when considering the cost-benefit return on investment of retaining loyal family customers. Even modest improvements to family status recognition would go a long way toward retaining long-term loyal customers.
They are shxxt. They got my 2 lounge accesses because I am downgraded. It is like I get bonus from my emoloyer in one month because worked too good, but next month my employer asks me to return the bonus because I was not too good. Virgin Australia and its velocity f.f does not worth one penny anymore and it is complete shxxt and scam. Old airplanes, old seats in gates and bad service.
Reviews with attachments
Disgusting Support: Promotion Denied on a Technicality!!! I joined Velocity Frequent Flyer because of a DoorDash promotion offering 2,000 bonus points. I followed everything exactly as advertised—linked my accounts, placed the order, paid for it, and waited. The points never came. What followed was even worse. After multiple follow-ups, I was… Read more
told I would not receive the points because my name didn’t exactly match between my DoorDash and Velocity accounts.
Let that sink in.
Same person. Same email. Same phone number. Same payment method. Full proof of purchase. No dispute about whether I completed the offer—just a technicality used to deny it.
This wasn’t made clear anywhere during the process. There was no warning, no prompt, nothing highlighted to say this would disqualify you. Instead, it’s buried in Terms & Conditions and only brought up after you’ve already spent your money.
That’s the problem here. It doesn’t feel like a mistake—it feels like a system designed to avoid honouring promotions.
What’s more disappointing is how it was handled. There was no attempt to fix it, no escalation, no flexibility—just a flat “nothing can be done.” Even when I offered to correct the name, I was told it was too late. End of conversation.
For a new customer, this says everything. If this is how they handle a simple, clear-cut issue where the customer has full evidence, it raises serious concerns about how they deal with bigger problems.
Promotions like this are meant to build trust. This did the exact opposite.
If you’re considering joining Velocity, think carefully. If something goes wrong—even when you’ve done everything right—don’t expect them to make it right.
I transferred 100,000 points to my daughter as a 21st birthday gift. Without clear warning or proper notice, those points expired. Velocity’s response? Blame the fine print and hide behind privacy policies. No flexibility, no ownership, no support. I’ve been a loyal customer for years - flights, upgrades, credit cards, all of it. This is how they… Read more
repay that? One of the most disappointing customer service experiences I’ve ever had.
I’m cancelling my Velocity-linked Amex, closing my account, and I won’t be flying with Virgin again. If this is how they treat loyalty, they don’t deserve mine - or yours
eStore is overly-complicated, redemption of points struggles to be worth it – Since coming back from administration, Velocity Frequent Flyer's eStore is a shadow of its former self - there are only a handful of items that can be purchased by redeeming points and the level of points required to do so is higher than it used to be, redeeming flights for points is okay (just) but status credits are a waste of time as they… Read more
expire in 12 months so difficult to earn enough of them to get anything in that time.
Every other rewards points system for purchases works on: At point of sale, (1) tap your card or type in your member number and (2) click OK.
Instead Velocity's eStore has a drawn out complicated system that is prone to error. To earn points, you must log in to eStore, then click on link within it to log in to merchant's website, so the purchase can be recorded by cookies in your browser. You must follow the steps exactly, not use an incognito browser or have an ad blocker enabled, and even then sometimes it just doesn't work. Then there's a bunch of conditions on the home page for each merchant that rule out eligibility for points if you buy certain brands or use a coupon code or a gift card etc etc.
To follow the steps for an eStore purchase is long and complicated to start with (for me that's open a non-incognito browser, turn off ad blocker, log in to eStore, log in to merchant site, make purchase), but it gets worse if you want to buy more than one item per day from the same merchant. To earn points on each purchase, you'll need to log in/make purchase/log out then log back for each one, because "activation is valid for one transaction" only - see pic attached.
Theoretically, if a purchase does not register in your cookies, there is a form you can fill out and submit to claim missing points, but the link to that form is buried in boilerplate, it has provision for only one 2MB or less attachment and the answer is nearly always a flat "no" or you will get scripted replies giving you the runaround until you give up. I suspect there very few, if any, successful claims for missing points. To date, I've never had a claim for missing points approved.
Redeeming points for flights with Velocity is okay but not great. It's about 17000 points to fly from Melbourne to Gold Coast at the moment for example, but it only covers the flight cost component; you'll have to pay the fees and taxes yourself.
Last time I took flights with Virgin, it was a bust. Didn't quite have enough points for a flight and part paying would have been a waste as the discount would have been too small to make it worth it, so didn't bother and paid for them myself - found out later I could have gone on Jetstar for far less. The status credits I earned on the two flights were not enough to use for anything and will expire in 12 months, so will be of no effect.
I like flying Virgin, but it's often dearer than Jetstar and Velocity offers little to make up for that, so not sure if it's worth the hassle.
Bumped again on a reward booking – I and my group of 5 are getting bumped yet again. This time it’s the connecting flight back from Fiji. So an easy-ish flight with one quick stop on reward point is now a pain in the butt. And if I’d known that at the time I would have made a different decision and my friends would have done the same. I am so sick of this rubbish Virgin. It’s not… Read more
as if we haven’t actually spent a lot and made a massive effort for these reward flights. It’s pathetic. We are being treated like rubbish. They can obviously make more money making our connecting flight available.
- +1
Velocity and virgin are very deceptive – During the Christmas period velocity offered a Christmas points promotion where users had the opportunity to earn up to 10,000 bonus points for 5 different merchants. It meant that you had to shop or use certain services within the time frame. Some of these places I had not heard of but gave them a try. I purchased on the velocity e-store (eBay)… Read more
multiple times, transferred flybuys points, Sendle parcels, onsport and autobahn. This meant that I would have the required 5 shops for the 10,000 bonus point. I received my individual shop points for the e-store, flybuys and Sendle. I did not receive my individual points for autobahn or onsport. At the time on sport had an extra promotion of 15 points per dollar also. I have not received my bonus points at all. In total velocity owe me near 10,500 points from this promotion. My partner was with me when I made the online purchase and we were certain to enter the velocity number when using each service. Three of the retailers we were using for the first time. I contact velocity customer care who said to email my receipts to retro claims. I did as requested and provided the evidence of tax invoices to velocity who stated that they do not do retrospective claims for Autobahn and that I will not get the points. They stated I did not provide the velocity number despite myself and my partner witnessing it and it still displaying in my Autobahn account. They state that with the onsport points I have to contact onsport directly.
I will now be lodging a complaint to the department of commerce due to the conduct.
I was a very loyal Velocity flyer and Virgin customer and advocate for their services and was going to fly our big family to Europe in the middle of next year. Once the department of commerce finish with my claim I will be cancelling all 8 of our family memberships and take our business to Qantas.
Latest follow-ups
I have been a member since conception of the program. All my points disappeared. When contacted I was told I had not enough activity on my account. I collected most of my points from buying fuel through BP until they parted ways with each other. It… Read more
was a while before they then joined with 7/11. It seems very convenient that there was a time delay between the two different options for purchasing fuel? When I rang in to question this along with the changes made by them to suppliers, time delays and initial terms and conditions when I signed up. I was hung up on without any resolution. Footnote: I am acutely aware that the person on the other end of the phone is not the company and doesn't really have anything to do with the business other than answer questions and take complaints, frustrating as it maybe I always try to be as polite as possible. So to be hung up on is another low for that business.
Follow-up · I have heard nothing at all from Velocity since I lodged my complaint. Then my review here. Nothing at all.
I received an email confirming "my" request to change my profile. I hadn't requested any changes. It stated that if I hadn't requested the change to contact them immediately. I did. The first rep fobbed me off by saying the system was generating… Read more
random emails and I wasn't the only person. I told her I didn't care about anyone else's emails, but why was I receiving this email. She couldn't answer my question and kept on repeating about random emails and everyone getting it. I actually thought it was a recording. I kept on insisting and repeating my concerns. She hung up. I rang again. This time, I guy named Leroy told me that it was in the T&Cs that I receive emails. I told him this wasn't a marketing email but an email about my personal details. Again, it was a cracked record. I asked to speak to a supervisor and he put me on hold and left me holding for ever. So I hung up, rang back and cancelled my membership on the spot. These companies need to sort themselves out given the breaches of data and scams and hackers. Second, they need to stop outsourcing customer contact centres overseas. They make enough money to do this locally and give Australians jobs and provide better service.
Follow-up · If the customer service representatives had been more knowledgeable about what was happening and understanding about how it affected me, I would have been more reassured. In this day and age, where people are warned to be aware of scams and identity theft, and you receive an email that your profile has been changed at your request - when you… Read more
Positive reviews
Awesome rewards program! – So many haters on here, this is a great rewards program for those that fly a lot and deserve the perks! Was easy to get to platinum status and feel the perks on every flight from priority boarding and seating and access to the club plus more!
Great FF program – Great program for platinum flyers with so many benefits, have used the fly ahead option again today and no issues. The teams at the lounges are super friendly and happy to assist!
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10/10 customer service experience – I made a mistake with an online flight booking using points on a Saturday morning and called the Virgin call centre immediately. The call was picked up almost immediately - no endless waiting like you would get from the other Australian airline - and the quality of the line was clear as well (unlike that airline, which hangs up on you mid call).… Read more
The contact centre was able to transfer me to the right Velocity team, again my call was answered instantly, and the points were instantly refunded so I could rebook the flight correctly. All in all, resolved within a 6 minute phone call, no begging or arguing, and no lost points. An excellent experience.
Negative reviews
They deserve a negative rating. Fight them at Fair Trading, I just had a win after they cancelled my son's international flight and did not notify him either by text or email. Their call centre admitted liability that they had failed to pass on my son's contact details. Anyway they refused to reimburse the cost of the new flight. Well once Fair… Read more
Trading got onto them and stating that this is a major failure under Australian Consumer Law, they paid out. Fight them and the dolly birds in the Queensland office have been severely affected by the sun........
Absolutely useless. The App is impossible to navigate to have contact with staff. Forever chasing up missed points. Then the hoops to jump through to answer questions they’ve already know the answers to are next level ridiculous. Trying to redeem points for anything useful is nigh on impossible. Do not recommend.
If you're getting married and changing your name, don't book through Virgin/Virgin, especially not using points! I booked through Virgin with their partner Airline (Singapore) using points. I made sure that my Velocity account was updated with my new name, but it did not flow through, and the booking would not allow me to use my points with my… Read more
new name. I wanted to lock in the price and the flight, so I booked anyway. But when I called to correct my name, I was told that I needed to cancel and rebook. This is very disappointing as this will end up costing double the price, and they were unable to guarantee me the same flight or price. It should have been a much easier process to correct my name, and they should have been able to at least direct me to the partner airline to update my name with them directly.
Recent reviews
Do you know that they have a policy to compensate passengers for delayed flights. Do they tell you about it when the flight is delayed - no. Do they tell you about it after the flight - no. Do they make it easy for you to be compensated - no. It took me over 4 emails, including one to the CEO, to get 2 lounge passes as compensation - only to be… Read more
advised that the term to use them was less than two months. They state their aim is to treat all equitably - yet they only compensate people who complain. Rigid policy is applied. Even CEO Nick Rohrlach was unwilling to support a loyal, long standing member- rigidity starts at the top. Dennis Harvey
Cannot login to my account. Their site is disfunctional. Very convenient way to hide their fake frequent flyer rewards program. More like a frequent flyer punishment program. The fact that they ignore the continual stream of complaints tells you all you need to know about the integrity of their management
They making spam to people. They don’t mention in app point will expired in 24 months. They are scammers. Big chitter virgin Australia. I have to select one star. But they don’t deserve any star.
Customer service is non existent, they really do not care. I wouldn't be surprised if it's just bots replying to emails at this stage. Myself and partner moved house and updated our addresses with Velocity. Doing this cancels the family pooling, but they don't inform you of this. We then take a flight, I booked business class as a treat and with… Read more
the new method of status credits per $ spent rather than flights taken, this was a good way to boost. However, as we had moved house the credits were not issued to my account. When I reached out, customer service kept telling me I cancelled the pooling in Nov of 2022. I had to then send them screenshots of pooling throughout the last couple of years as this was not true. They finally replied, 'you changed address which cancels the pooling'. Again, zero help or empathy. They just don't care.
The recent changes to Velocity FF program are designed to drastically reduce status members and are based upon false and misleading advertising. Having been a Platinum member since 2011 I am now returning to Qantas in disgust at Virgin Australia.
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I fly 2 times every month. I tool a break for 12 months and have been downgraded to red within a very short time. The airline is dated twith old aircraft. They still charge for internet. Qantas have some common sense if you are 1 or 2 flights from not meeting expectations they have always been kind enough to extend by a week or two to keep you in the higher category. Looks like bye bye virgin hello qantas. Show details
I recently discovered that over 353,000 points were removed from my account without prior notice or a clear explanation. These points were earned through various partner transactions and were intended for use on an upcoming trip. Upon contacting Velocity support team, I was informed that an email had been sent regarding this issue. Unfortunately,… Read more
I missed this communication due to the high volume of promotional emails I regularly receive from Velocity.
I respectfully requested a temporary reinstatement of the removed points for one week, during which I am fully willing to complete any necessary renewal steps that may have been overlooked. However, this request was flatly denied—despite my loyalty as a customer for over ten years.
As a result, I have referred the matter to the Ombudsman.
Velocity cancelled my bookings and put account for review with no communication. They sent a mail asking for details but even after sending statuary declaration, they without any reason declared, suspended the account and didnot return the legitimately earned points through credit card spends. Virgin and Velocity are running a scam to lure people in buying their product and service.
I wasted reward points by converting to velocity points. I don't fly often and I never seem to be able to claim these points any time I do. I could have used these for shopping and I'm sorry I wasted them.
Absolutely terrible customer service, logged in to the website to use reward points at which point my points balance had been reset to 0 from neerly 300,000, called there customer service team to be send to an oversea call center in which they stated i had recieved an email that the points were expiring which i had never recieved, no sympathy no… Read more
help, bye bye points, really bad reward point system will be moving elsewhere no longer getting my business.
I may not be that much frequent flyer as they wanted me to be. But the loyalty points that I accumulated for a while should be useful to me. My 24 month inactivity period was nearly up (the fact that the points expire at all is another negative aspect, WHY?). I did not receive the reminder in my mailbox and ALL 14000+ points just expired. Called… Read more
their helpline requesting a way forward for temporary extension of validity maybe just for few days. After a couple of call holds to discuss with senior leads the agent just read out their policy that nothing can be done after expiry and I should be careful in future! There was no attempt to resolve or any action. It felt like customers are invisible to them.
On the note of being careful in future, I think I'm gonna avoid Virgin Australia as a measure of caution from my side. Yet another example of a multi billion dollar company ripping off the consumer.
Terrible service! I flew with their partner network to ensure I had enough status credits to maintain my gold status. Due to their incompetence and internal admin issues they did not allocate my points and as a result downgraded me! I’ve been waiting since December for them to ‘investigate’ the reason. Now I’ve been told that they can not… Read more
recover the points for me, due to lack of evidence! I have no idea what’s going on but they’ve lost a customer!!
Qantas here I come.
Family Points Transfer via the website has been unavailable for more than 1 year now. I've asked multiple times when this is be available again but no one seems to know the answer. Zero effort is being put in to get this back service back online as they're trying to make it hard for people to use their Velocity Frequent Flyer points making it… Read more
unusable and forcing expiry. They want you to call their Membership Contact Centre and hold for hours before you get to speak to someone located in the Philippines to whom you have to repeat things over and over because they can barely understand what you are saying.
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