Ask Finder: Is there a way to earn Velocity Points on Tigerair flights?
Can you earn Velocity Points by adding your frequent flyer number to Tigerair bookings, or is a credit card the only option?
I know you can use Velocity Points to pay for Tigerair flights, so I'm wondering if there are any ways to earn Velocity Points when you pay for your flights?
Thanks,
Budget Flyer
This is a great question for anyone travelling on a budget. While Velocity doesn't offer points directly when you book flights with Tigerair, there are a couple of ways to earn Velocity Points based on how you pay.
The most straightforward option is to book your Tigerair flights with a credit card that earns Velocity Points – or with a rewards credit card that lets you transfer points to your Velocity Frequent Flyer account.
As a general guide, you could earn around 0.5 to 1.25 points per $1 spent by using a Velocity Frequent Flyer credit card to pay for your flights.
However, it's worth noting the airline applies the following fees for card payments (based on the type of card you use):
| Card type | Credit card fee | Debit card fee |
|---|---|---|
| Visa | 1.18% | 0.64% |
| Mastercard | 1.04% | 0.42% (0% if using the Tigerair app) |
| American Express | 1.18% | N/A |
To put this in perspective, spending $100 on a Tigerair flight would attract a credit card fee of $1.18 if you used a Visa or Amex card and $1.04 if you used a Mastercard. This cost drops to $0.64 if you used a Visa debit card and $0.42 if you use a Mastercard debit card.
As these surcharges are minimal and there is only one fee-free card payment option, it is worth it to pay for your Tigerair flights with a card that earns Velocity Points – particularly when you consider the potential value of those points.
Other ways to earn Velocity Points on Tigerair bookings
If you have a Velocity Global Wallet – which doubles as your frequent flyer membership card – you could load Australian dollars onto the card and use it to pay for your flights.
This prepaid Visa travel card offers 1 point for every $3 spent in Australia and would attract a card payment fee of 0.64%. So there are fewer potential points compared to a credit card, but also lower fees.
Another option is to buy a prepaid Mastercard from Coles, then convert the flybuys points you earn into Velocity Points.
With this option, a minimum of 2,000 flybuys points gets you 870 Velocity Points – a marginally higher earn rate than with the Velocity Global Wallet. But unless you take advantage of bonus point offers through the flybuys program, you could be waiting a while before you can transfer points over to Velocity.
So, although the Tigerair and Velocity partnership only allows you to redeem Velocity Points for flights at this stage, these payment options give you another way to earn points per $1 spent on your flights. Happy travels!
Ask Finder is a regular column where Finder's expert writers answer your questions. All rates and fees are correct at the time of publication and we only give general advice.
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