Virgin Money’s Velocity Flyer and High Flyer cards are offering less points per dollar
Virgin Money Velocity Flyer and High Flyer cardholders will lose bang for their buck when redeeming rewards. Here's everything that's changing.
22 January 2016: Virgin Money has announced that some changes to Frequent Flyer credit cards could mean that cardholders lose out on rewards.
Both Virgin Money’s Velocity Flyer and High Flyer cards are about to become much less valuable. Effective April 1 2016, the rate at which cardholders can earn Velocity Frequent Flyer Points has reduced by up to 33%. Virgin's competitive two-for-one flight deal is also being nixed and will be replaced by flight vouchers and lounge passes. Read on to discover exactly how much you could lose.
Reduced rewards earn rates
Velocity Flyer cardholders no longer earn one Point per dollar, with the rate dropping to 0.66 Points. Your points earning ability is reduced even further consider the Points cap remains at $1,500 per month. However, you can earn a bonus of one Point per dollar on purchases with Virgin Australia.
Velocity High Flyer cardholders has also experienced a reduced earn rate. Rather than 1.25 Points per dollar, you now earn one Point per dollar with a new points cap of $10,000 per month. However, you get bonus three Points per $1 spent with Virgin Australia.
No more TWO41 flight deals
Currently, cardholders can take advantage of the popular “TWO41” flight deal to book two Saver seats for the price of one on Virgin Australia flights. Unfortunately, this feature will also be cancelled and replaced by an annual Virgin Australia voucher for 129 and two annual single-entry Virgin Australia lounge passes. Virgin Money has said that the benefit will be introduced from mid-2016, but there’s no specific date yet on when you can expect to receive your passes. If you're interested in the latest flight offers you can keep up to date here.
No BPAY Points
Cardholders will no longer be able to earn Velocity Points on BPAY payments made with either of the Velocity credit cards. So if you use your Virgin Australia card for online shopping, you could be shortchanged on rewards if you use BPAY.
While these cuts could be a major blow for Velocity Frequent Flyers, there are other ways you can earn Velocity Points with your credit card. There are other co-branded credit cards that let you earn Velocity Frequent Flyer points directly, or you can opt for an indirect credit card that will allow you to transfer your points to your Velocity account. Begin comparing your options to get the most value out of your Frequent Flyer credit card.
