One of the best uses of Virgin Australia’s Velocity Points is flying business or first class with Singapore Airlines.
Passengers at the pointy end enjoy very comfortable and spacious seats (or even luxury “suites”), as well as top-notch dining and service.
The airline also has an excellent international network and is very convenient for Australians travelling to Europe, Asia and elsewhere.
Singapore Airlines and Virgin Australia are partners, and this enables Velocity Frequent Flyers to access Singapore Airlines award seats in two ways:
- by booking the seats through Virgin Australia, or
- by transferring their Velocity Points to Singapore Airlines (i.e. converting them to KrisFlyer miles) and booking directly with Singapore Airlines.
A number of factors will determine which is the better option. These include the points cost, the taxes and fees, and seat availability.
Singapore Airlines restricts other airlines’ access to award seats, including Virgin Australia. Still, it’s worth checking to see if VA has seats available, as it could be the cheaper option.
You can search for seats online on Virgin Australia’s website (select “use Velocity Points”) and Singapore Airlines’ website (select “Redeem flights”).
On Virgin’s website, you want to see the symbol “Reward Seats available”. Avoid options with exhorbitant pricing, where you’re being sold a non-reward seat using points (the 647k points cost in the example below).
On Singapore Airlines’ website, you’ll see there are three types of award seats:
- Saver: the least expensive and the first to get snapped up
- Advantage: more expensive but also more readily available
- Access: very expensive, very widely available
Singapore Airlines releases award seats 354 days out, while Virgin Australia’s calendar only goes out to 331 days out. That means people with Singapore Airlines KrisFlyer miles get a 23 day ‘head start’ to book seats – another factor to consider, especially if you want to travel during a peak period when seats get snapped up quickly.
If the seat you want is available through both airlines, compare the points required and the taxes and fees to work out the best deal.
If you decide to book through Singapore Airlines, it’s free and easy to convert your points from Velocity to KrisFlyer at a ratio of 1.55:1. Simply log into your Velocity account, then click My Velocity -> Link & Transfer to link your accounts and transfer the points.
The transfer should happen very quickly (in only a few minutes, in my experience).
As always, plan well ahead, as award seats can be snapped up quickly, especially on the most popular routes during peak travel periods.
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