Virgin Pets in Cabin: Why paying with Velocity Points is paw value
Furry flying is a waste of your hard-earned points - here's why.
Key takeaways
- Booking your pet on a Virgin flight will cost you 18,600 Velocity Points - on top of your seat cost.
- That's under 1 cent per Velocity Point, which is not good value.
- The service is only available on a handful of flights.
Virgin has been milking publicity for months from its plans to allow pets in cabin on selected domestic flights.
Just two days before the first test flights actually start, it has now confirmed how you can use Velocity Points to pay for your cat or dog to fly with you in cabin on selected flights between Melbourne, the Gold Coast and the Sunshine Coast.
It's not edifying news.
Adding your pet to an eligible booking will cost you 18,600 Velocity Points, in addition to your own fare.
If you paid cash, you'd be paying an extra $149.
"By opening up Points redemptions for the Pets in Cabin service, we're giving our members another reason to choose Virgin Australia for every member of the family, including the four-legged ones," Velocity Frequent Flyer CEO Nick Rohrlach said.
But if you're looking for value from your points, that's not the way to do it.
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Effectively, each Velocity Point is worth just $0.008
That's right - less than a cent.
Redeeming your Velocity Points for flights or upgrades will get you much more bang for your buck.
A domestic Economy flight is worth at least 1 cent per Velocity Point. Flights to Doha are even better value, with around 4 cents per Velocity Points in value right now, according to Finder's ongoing points value tracking.
You do get more from your points for an in-flight pet than you would from buying a coffee machine or new AirPods.
But ultimately, the best-value way to use your points is on flights.
And a final reminder: don't forget to make sure your pet is insured if you do fly with them.
Sources
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