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 comfortable and spacious seats (or even first class luxury “suites”), as well as high quality 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 converting their Velocity Points into Singapore Airlines 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.
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Step 1: Search for seats with both airlines
Sometimes, Singapore Airlines restricts partner access to award seats, so you should always check availability with both airlines to see your options.
You can search for seats online on Virgin Australia’s website (select “use Velocity Points”) and Singapore Airlines’ website (select “Redeem flights”).
If you don’t have an account already, it’s free to join KrisFlyer.
Singapore Airlines has two types of award seats: “Saver”, which are less expensive and are the first to get snapped up, and “Advantage”, which are more expensive but also more readily available.
Only Saver seats tend to be available to partners like Virgin Australia.
If you can only see an Advantage seat on Singapore Airlines’ website, it’s probably not bookable via Virgin Australia.
In addition, 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.
Step 2: Compare the points, and taxes and fees
Both airlines price award seats based on distance, but they do this in slightly different ways.
You can view Virgin Australia’s points tables here and Singapore Airlines’ award chart here.
Velocity Points convert to KrisFlyer miles at a rate of 1.55:1, meaning 15,500 Velocity points converts to 10,000 KrisFlyer miles.
Because you ‘lose’ so many points by converting them, the actual points cost is likely to be lower by booking with Virgin Australia directly.
Of course, if the seat is only available through KrisFlyer, your only option will be to transfer the points across.
Taxes and fees vary, and are another factor to consider.
For example, a business class award seat from Brisbane to Singapore comes with a $236 copayment via Virgin Australia, but only $102 with Singapore Airlines – and that’s just one-way.
The difference is bigger on longer flights. For example, for Melbourne-Frankfurt, you have to fork out $456 with Virgin but only $100 with Singapore Airlines, one way. That’s a substantial difference, especially for a return trip.
As you can see with the prices displayed in the screenshot above, you can use Velocity Points to cover the taxes and fees when booking via Virgin Australia, but it’s a low-value use of points and not recommended unless you’re very short on cash.
Step 3: Book your seat!
If you decide to book through Singapore Airlines, it’s free and easy to convert your points from Velocity to KrisFlyer.
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.
Love Velocity Points? Don’t miss the huge offer of 100,000 bonus points plus a complimentary domestic flight with our favourite Velocity Card, the Amex Velocity Platinum Card – ends soon!
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