Virgin Australia Velocity High Flyer

Worst credit card I have ever had. No payment due dates. Difficult to setup direct debit. Send an email and get a letter in the post 14 days later stating it was not setup. App is absolutely horrendous ever after their migration. Things dont work as intended. I'll be balancing transferring elsewhere ASAP

I have had other cards and this is by far the worst. I signed up in October. So far not a single point has hit my velocity account. I have called multiple times. Hold times are ridiculous, it takes a long time to get through. I was told the delay… Read more

was due to an upgrade and could take up to 60 days to hit my account. That update should have impacted maybe my October spend but not my November spend based on the date. The app also doesn’t track your spending correctly. Currently closing the card and going elsewhere.

Called “customer service” as I entered incorrect access code into the app. Spent 1.5hr in the queue before answered. Now up to 1hr 50min and issue still not resolved. Clearly not enough staff. That is how they keep their profits up. Show details

The poorest service possible steer clear – We tried to apply for this rewards card and with absolutely no debt, own our home, triple AAA credit rating and plenty more….we don’t qualify! Yet our kids who have no assets no house and debt… had no issues getting a card. So it seems that Virgin know that we will pay our card off every month and know that they won’t make a cent from us… so they… Read more

decline our application. However they clearly know that those who struggle to make ends meet, they will make plenty out of. This is a crazy situation and the financial enema and request for too much of your personal info is painful…… no thanks Virgin !!

Careless attitude! – I have a few benefits attached to my Virgin money credit card. One of these is 2 x Virgin Australia Lounge passes per year. I called to customer service and ask them to extend 2 x Virgin Australia Lounge passes for couple of months (which expires 18/04/22). The reason we could not use these passes is Covid19 situation (we had to reschedule our… Read more

flights so many times, so we lost Lounge passes for 3 years in a row). The response was, I'm sorry mam, we can't do anything (not to extend, not to compensate...). The annual fee for High Flyer CC is about $300.00 pa and at least it can be reduced by using the benefits of this Credit card. But NO. So, I DO NOT recommend this card to ANYONE!

A good choice if you are a Virgin flyer with medium / large spending – This card and all the initial perks sound appealing, but ensure you can meet the spending criteria to enjoy the bonus points. Virgin brand will do well as things pick up again post covid. Show details

Lounge passes not provided and expire in 6 months – Have called and emailed multiple times over two months and still the lounge passes are not added to my velocity account. Each time I am told it will take another 10 days Show details

Ready bad - insecure application process – When you apply, you are asked to upload copies of sensitive documents (drivers license, Medicare card, payslip etc) to support your application. The only problem is that the upload tool on their website does not work. So I called to ask how to get around the issue. The (overseas) agent recommended that I just attach the information to an email… Read more

and send it to her. As anyone with a clue about IT knows, this is an incredibly insecure way to transmit personal information.

So I declined to email it to her. At which point they said that I had 'chosen to cancel my application'.

So, if you really want one of these cards, you need to be 100% prepared to email your personal information to a random Filipino…..

The ONLY card that refuses to join ApplePay or PayID – In return for a $289 + $89 supplemental card annual fee I expect some small measure of service. I have asked Virgin for two years now when they will join ApplePay and PayID, so that I need not carry my wallet when, for example, out for a run. Repeated promises that the service is imminent have never been honoured. They refuse to join because,… Read more

obviously, there is a fee they would have to pay Apple. Even Citibank, the issuer of the Virgin Money cards has joined ApplePay.

Moreover, Citibank AND Virgin are now pretty much the ONLY outliers that will NOT sign-up to instant money transfers through the new PayID system. Something that has attracted the ire of the Reserve Bank no less.

When I wrote to Virgin to complain about this and told them I was now looking for another card this was their response, dated March 2019:

"I’m sorry we’re unable to provide you firm dates of when we’ll have ApplePay and PayID available. I understand that if these functions are important to you, another provider may be best suited to your needs."

In other words: put up and shut up, or just do us all a favour and screw off.

That's what you get for your almost $400 in annual fees: the middle finger.

My advice: DO NOT apply for one of these cards!

Shocking customer service – What a waste of 2 weeks going through the ordeal of putting in a application for this card. The customer team requested further information off me twice, the exact same information. Good income, no debit, good credit score and now I've waited 2 weeks to be knocked back. After dealing with their overseas call centres I think I've dodged a bullet. Much easier companies out there to deal with Show details

Beware: pulls you in with balance transfer and points offer - end up paying 20.74% interest from dat – I signed up for this card as it seemed a great offer. 0% on balance transfer and 40,000 bonus velocity points a month for first 3 months if spending more than $3,000. $289 annual fee I went ahead and signed up for this as it looked like a great offer. Surprised to log on and find out I had been charge over $100 in interest fees as I diligently… Read more

paid off the new purchase amounts ontime whilst leaving the balance transfer amount.

When speaking to their call centre I was told to read the fine print: "No interest free period is available on Cash Advances or while you have Balance Transfers."

So any purchase you make whilst having a balance transfer gets hit with 20.74% pa interest immediately

I have now paid off in full and will close the card.

I feel this is quite misleading from them and it's obviously how they make their money and can fund the bonus points offers

Dealing with their overseas call centre – After being a client for 7 years and having this card, never missing payments, always paying off the outstanding balance every month. I assumed that i was an ok customer. Obviously not. ANZ did not make my payment in April to Virgin due to a technical glitch and all hell, has broken loose. Virgin Collections have called me, and I have disputed a… Read more

number of debits from previous months that aren't mine. It has been unbearable dealing with the overseas call centre case manager. Rings me at work at 10.00am and is surprised I can't talk. I've been debited with late fees and interest and I have asked them to refund them since this is the first issue I have had in 7 years. Its as if I have asked for a kidney transplant. The case manager is unable to comprehend what I have put to her in writing. She keeps repeating herself, and asserting her so called authority. So we have hit a stalemate. I will be closing the account, I have written to them outlining how much I owe, have deposited the funds and never want to deal with them again.

These people can't do anything other than ID you when you ring. Anything over and above this is just too hard.

Painful experience, beware – I hoped to earn some Velocity points by using a Virgin card to do some regular shopping, and big ticket items, around $10K per month, paying it off in full each month. Application process was OK, but they sent the new cards twice to the wrong address, no follow up calls, had to call several times. Then huge annual fee upfront (much more than I… Read more

expected, can't remember accepting it), then email failures, multiple overdue fees, obtrusive phone calls at work, card not usable for big ticket items (airfares!). Paid the whole thing off today, barely 2 months after activation, wish I had never started on the whole process. That's $350 I'll never see again.

Declined for a Virgin High Flyer Card - no clear reasoning / insight from call centre – Looks good, but a really terrible application & verification process. Comfortably exceed the minimum income criteria, no debts / loans, large cash assets, no balance owing on existing cards (total limit < $20K), provided all the paperwork they have requested, declined based on amount of credit that could be approved was less than card minimum.… Read more

Never been turned down for a Credit Card and have often held 2 or 3 with $15K concurrently in past years with lower income. The reason for the 1 star - The call centre can provide no explanation of the amount approved, or reasons given for the low approval, nor what aspect of the criteria / application didn't pass.

AVOID if you can given their shocking application & verification process. Now I've potentially got a decline on my report with no clear explanation of how they've determined that.

Disorganised application process run from India – Applied over a week ago, got contacted twice on the same day last week and asked the exact same clarification questions; first person had promised to call back but didn't, still haven't heard anything a week later - called up to ask what's going on and given no more information than what was shown on the website. If this is what customer… Read more

service is going to be like (and given the other reviews - it is) then I'm cancelling my application and going with a larger and more mature provider (who actually supports apple pay).

What the??!!?? Paying customer expected to do their own follow-ups! – I am a paying customer as I have been paying the annual card fee for my Virgin Money credit card for the past 5 years, much to my regret now. They recently locked my credit card simply because their security team made a random phone call check and I did not pick up. No voice-mail was left, no re-attempted call was made, no emails, no letters...… Read more

no nothing. I was not made aware of this security check or their call.

After a couple of "card declined" situations, I contacted Virgin Money and was told of this security team check. What kind of service is this, especially if I had to pay for the card, when I had to do my own follow up? Luckily, I had other cards to rely on because what if the Virgin Money credit card was my only credit card and I had to rely on this one card?

I went from contemplating about closing my Virgin Money account to deciding that it would be the right thing to do. I advised them that will pay what is owed on the account and close it before the next annual account renewal date. To my chagrin, when I logged on to my online account earlier to arrange the payment, what do you know, I can't see my credit card account details, the outstanding amount owed, or access any of my statements (the pop up message says that they are not available at this time).

If they are going to charge me interests or renew my annual account fee in the meantime, I will bring this to the ACCC's attention. This is unfair practices. Beware. Earning points. Bad procedures if this is how they do business. Not a good exchange rate for international shopping.

Decent rewards, good insurance, polite staff but clunky systems make for frustrating experiences – The annual fee is pricey, and I think I'll probably look for a cheaper alternative after this year. However, after using the insurance to pay for over a week in a European hospital and missed accommodation, the annual fees have been worth it. (Also, paying $289 p.a. in fees is cheaper than the $300 odd per person for international insurance of… Read more

equal cover.)

The rewards are okay, going into my third year of using this card and after using it overseas (cheap if not free exchange of money in most countries) I have enough to do a 3 stop round the world trip.

As others have stated, the sign up process is frustrating and every time you have to contact the customer service it is clunky, though the staff are polite, I think it's just a symptom of having all service over the phone. That said, similar cards for similar annual fees are available from bricks and mortar banks with in person customer service... Overall a good card. Good rewards, Good insurance (easy claim process), Excellent to use overseas Expensive, distant and clunky customer service.

Virgin Money and the Indian Call Centre of Doom – Trying to secure a Virgin Money credit card was the like receiving a financial enema. This is a true story. I filled out the online form, and faxed through the required ID documents. Seemed simple enough, I met all the criteria easily. But then I began getting calls from the Guy at the Indian Call Center. The Guy from the Indian Call Center… Read more

would always call me at 11:00am every day, and would refuse to call at any other time of the day. If I was busy (because, you know, it's usually a time when people are working) and asked him to call back in ten minutes, he would call me back at 11:00am the next day.

He then began asking the most weirdly intrusive questions. Not content with four proofs of ID and a certified letter from my employer to verify my income, he proceeded to call my direct superior, the office accountant and finally (no joke) the chief financial officer of the company...all in a frenzied effort to continually confirm those details. Even then, he wasn't content and wanted to speak to someone else...the CEO perhaps? Prime Minister of Australia maybe? Did I get on some FBI watch list, and only Virgin Money knows about it??

He asked other rather bizzare questions. I had estimated my income on the application form, and the company letter had detailed a slightly different (higher) amount. The guy rang me (at 11:00am) and demanded to know why the letter stated I made a higher salary than I had written on the application. Huh? Is making more money really a problem for Virgin?? I also explained to him the meaning of the word "estimated".

And why (he demanded again) did my application have a middle name, but some of my paperwork didn't? Uh, because sometimes I don't use my middle name. The Guy from the Indian Call Centre seemed unconvinced.

Finally, I was told the application had gone to the "credit department". Weeks passed, and no word. Then I got a call from the Second Guy at the Indian Call Centre, asking to speak to my personal accountant to ascertain my financial status. And he needed another form verifying my name and address. Oh, and my mobile number too. I was becoming convinced that these were actually Russian identity theives putting on fake Indian accents.

I told Mr Second that he was receiving no more paperwork from me, that I had supplied about 47 times more information that I had ever been required to by another financial institution. After insisting a bit more, he relunctantly agreed to let the application go "as is" to the mythical credit department.

So, after two months of 11:00am calls and being probed so deeply it would make a proctologist proud...what was the final result, you ask?

I don't know...I never received a reply.

Enter the Call Centre of Doom at you own risk!! It makes a good story

Worse than divorce or a death in the family – These people are totally incompetent amateurs & why Branson tarnishes his Virgin brand name with Citibank, I will never understand. I do fly Virgin all the time & the combination seemed a perfect fit. How wrong was I? The 20,000 points @ signup has never been honoured 5 months or more after signing up despite repeated requests [more than… Read more

5]& over $20,000 spent on the card.

After sending 3 direct deposit authorizations over as many months they say they received 1 on September 7th it is now December & they have never direct debited our bank.

I authorized in writing for my wife to have full access when she needs to call or do anything with the account....if she calls & can get through they refuse to talk to her.

I sent a registered delivery letter 19th of October with a number of questions [delivery confirmation advice dated 28th October received]. This letter has never been answered.

Their automated phone system thru to the Philippines only works now & again, dropping out when you are talking to someone or not even ringing out. I reckon I have spent over 40 hours trying to get some sense out of these people who refuse to put on a supervisor or someone who speaks or understands Australian English on, when asked.

After getting signed up & surrendering my Westpac with $25000 limit they told me I was stuck with a $6000 limit for 9 months & @ no time was this low limit indicated in any form until I asked, unfortunately after the event.

Avoid this outfit like the plague. Absolotely none whatsoever Listed above & that is only the half of it