Virgin Australia Business Flyer goes global with airline partners

Travel overseas for work? Virgin Australia’s loyalty program is continuing to grow, now offering access to a whole world of benefits.

As business travel rebounds, leveraging a loyalty program makes more sense than ever.

Virgin Australia Business Flyer is a revamped program designed to help small and medium-sized businesses (SMEs) save on business-related travel while maximising points earn in the sky.

Membership to Virgin Australian Business Flyer brings a highly competitive array of perks that rival other airline business loyalty programs.

The program is continuing to evolve, now offering access to a whole world of benefits when it comes to international work trips — we’re talking the ability to earn Velocity Points on some partner airlines with up to 20 percent discount on eligible Qatar Airways flights.

Plus, free sign-up and no ongoing membership fees, as well as an array of compelling benefits — including a fast-track to Velocity Gold — are just some of the bonuses that make Virgin Australia Business Flyer an appealing frequent flyer program for ABN holders.

We’ve prepared a detailed overview to help businesses get to know the Virgin Australia Business Flyer program. Read on to discover how it works and get up to date with all the new perks on offer.

Who is Virgin Australia Business Flyer for?

This loyalty program is for small and medium-sized business owners. Essentially, anyone with a current ABN or ACN can join Virgin Australia Business Flyer, including sole traders. Aside from this requirement, Virgin Australia Business Flyer is open to most.

There aren’t any age restrictions for who can join. However, anyone under 18 years of age will require a legal guardian’s content.

This is one of Australia’s go-to airline loyalty programs for businesses, allowing owners and their employees to reel in a healthy stream of points and perks.

With plenty of perks on offer, business owners should consider consulting a tax adviser regarding any tax implications from joining Qantas Business Rewards.

How to join Virgin Australia Business Flyer

Joining Virgin Australia Business Flyer is completely free and it’s an easy process, too. Seeing as there’s no cost, prospective members will only need to provide a few personal details (but no credit card information is required). Note that you’ll need to be a Velocity Frequent Flyer member first.

Business owners can take advantage of a zero cost sign-up with these simple steps:

1. Have your ABN or ACN ready (you can find this information up on ABN Lookup)
2. Head to the Virgin Australia Business Flyer page
3. Click ‘apply now’ on the left-hand side
4. Fill in your business and contact details (ABN or ACN, name, email, phone)
5. Enter your industry and estimated annual flight spend

Once approved, new members will be emailed prompts to confirm and finalise their Business Flyer account. When the account is up and running, Business Flyers can earn Velocity Points and Status Credits to begin enjoying discounts and savings on corporate travel.

Virgin Australia Business Flyer membership levels

Like most airline loyalty programs, Virgin Australia Business Flyer works on a tiered basis. This means the more you fly, the greater the benefits you’ll be able to enjoy.

There are three tiers in the Virgin Business Flyer program. Here’s a breakdown of each of the loyalty tiers, what earn rates they offer and how to achieve them.

Though Tier 1 is the base membership level, it offers the same additional perks that can be found across the board. Spending upwards of $300,000 won’t translate to any additional perks either.

However, Virgin Australia CEO Jayne Hrdlicka, previously mentioned more exclusive benefits and offers for Tier 2 and Tier 3 members as the program continues to evolve from the previous Accelerate scheme.

Digging into the international expansion

Virgin Australia Business Flyer has now expanded to include international airline partners, including Qatar Airways, Singapore Airlines, United Airlines.

As such, businesses who are part of Virgin Australia Business Flyer will now earn Velocity Points when staff travel international on these world-class partner airlines.

Here’s a breakdown of the earn rate across each membership tier.

But the new benefits don’t end there.

Qatar Airways and United Airlines will offer the following ongoing discounts on eligible flights: 

• Qatar Airways – up to 20 per cent discount 
• United Airlines – up to five per cent discount

New top-tier benefits

Members who progress up a tier will now receive the choice of an ‘additional reward’, with four weeks to choose one of the options below:

Tier 2 rewards:

• five single-use Virgin Australia lounge passes, or
• 20,000 bonus Velocity Points for the business

Tier 3 rewards:

• 10 single-use Virgin Australia Lounge passes,
• 50,000 bonus Velocity Points for the business, or
• two business class upgrades

We will cover other benefits currently available across all tiers later in this guide. First, let’s understand how to use a Business Flyer account to earn the points that unlock those benefits.

How to earn points with Virgin Australia Business Flyer

Now that pandemic restrictions have eased and corporate travel is back, Virgin Australia Business Flyer members and employees can save on international and domestic flights while earning points — all simply by conducting business as usual.

Virgin Australia Business Flyer has recently brought on points-earning partners to help business flyers supercharge Velocity Points on everyday business spending. While co-branded credit cards are not yet a feature of this program, the introduction of over 30 new partners and offers considerably boosts the ability to earn points in the Business Flyer program.

Here are the different ways to earn velocity ways for your business:

Book a flight

The primary way to earn points to a Virgin Australia Business Flyer account is to book a Virgin Australia flight.

Registered businesses will earn Velocity Points depending on loyalty tier level and the fare and class of the flight. Consequently, business class fares will earn more points than an economy booking.

The ABN used when creating the account must be included in the booking in order for the Business Flyer account to earn points on any business flights.

The maximum points a business can earn is capped at 1 million every membership year (12 months from the date of joining).

Shop with points-earning partners

Virgin Australia Business Flyer members now have access to a range of partners. This big program development means you can earn Velocity Points for your business through everyday business spend. From office supplies, to workwear, technology and car rental, the array of points-earning partners makes it possible to earn points for your business for just about every kind of business spend.

Regular bonus points offers further enhance points-earning rates with many retail partners. For example, Business Flyer members can currently enjoy 9 Velocity Points per $2 spent at Lenovo (usually 4 points). Meanwhile, shopping at Cue will see members earn a usual rate of 10 Velocity Points per $2 spent. That means a $400 office wear shop could earn 2,000 Velocity Points.

The table below lists each of Velocity Business Flyer’s new points and offers partners.

How to access points with new partners

Virgin Australia Business Flyer members can access new points-earning opportunities via the Virgin Australia website. Simply visit the ‘partners and offers‘ portal and shop from over 30 partners.

Simply scroll down to view earn rates and exclusive offers across the range of new retail partners. Keep an eye out for the ‘Bonus Points’ star to take advantage of limited-time bonus points offers.

Earn bonus points by ‘double-dipping’

One particularly compelling component of Virgin Australia’s business rewards program is the ability to ‘double dip’ on points earn with a Velocity Frequent Flyer account. All employees travelling with tickets purchased through a Business Flyer account can individually earn Velocity Points and Status Credits. Of course, once earned, those points and Status Credits can be pooled with family members, too.

Yes — on top of earning Velocity Points for a Business Flyer account, employees travelling for business have the valuable ability to also earn the normal amount of frequent flyer points they would receive as a passenger.

Keep an eye out for bonus point offers

Finally, we know business can be all-consuming, but it pays to keep at least one eye peeled for promotional points offers. For a limited time, Velocity Frequent Flyers can earn double points when booking a flight within three months of joining. Bonus Velocity Points like this could maximise the points earn from a business flight.

The American Express Velocity Business Flyer Card

So far there is only one credit card that will earn Velocity Points to a Virgin Australia Business Flyer account: Cue the American Express Velocity Business Flyer Card. The addition of a points-earning credit card to the Virgin Australia Business Flyer program further positions it as a fierce competitor against rival program, Qantas Business Rewards.

Here’s how the game-changing card performs at a glance:

American Express Velocity Business Card

Bonus Points

200,000 Velocity Points*

Annual Fee

$249

Earn Rate

Up to 2 Velocity Points per $1

Go to Offer

Our Review

*Eligibility criteria, minimum spend, other T&Cs apply

Earn 200,000 bonus Velocity Points when you apply by 15 May 2024, are approved and spend $5,000 on eligible purchases on your new American Express® Velocity Business Card within 2 months of your approval date1. Plus join the Virgin Australia Business Flyer program to jump direct to Tier 2 and receive a complimentary 12-month Velocity Frequent Flyer Gold Membership if you meet the eligibility and minimum spend criteria2. T&C’s apply. Both offers are available for new American Express Card Members only.

Redeeming Virgin Australia Business Flyer Rewards Points

As well as enjoying helpful savings on eligible flights and a lounge access membership, Virgin Australia Business Flyers can redeem points for air travel.

Book flights: Business Flyers are able to redeem points to book flights, either partially or completely covering the fare.

Upgrades: Business owners and their employees can also use points to travel in style, with business class upgrades a popular redemption choice amongst Business Flyers.

Transfer to a Velocity member: Another way to use points is to transfer from a Business Flyer account to a Velocity Frequent Flyer account. While points earned via a Business Flyer booking will go to the relative business account, they can always be transferred to an individual Velocity Frequent Flyer member — perhaps as a gift to an employee or client. This way the Velocity member can take advantage of more redemption options through Velocity Frequent Flyer.

Velocity Pilot Gold memberships

Yes, that is memberships (plural). Virgin Australia Business Flyer members can enjoy priority benefits with two Velocity ‘Pilot Gold’ memberships for the company when spending $2,000 on eligible flights within the first three months of joining.

Arguably the best part of Virgin Australia Business Flyer, this exclusive offer is one of the program’s major drawcards.

The business can nominate two employees for a fast-track boost to a pilot version of Velocity Gold, which acts as a three-month trial of the best of Virgin Australia’s premium products and services.

Then, all the traveller has to do to secure Velocity Gold Status for a further 12 months is to earn at least 80 Status Credits and fly one Eligible Sector in the three-month period. An Eligible Sector is any flight that begins with a VA flight number (excludes Reward Seats).

Whether it’s skipping those dreaded airport queues or relaxing in the comfort of an airport lounge, take off is better with Velocity Pilot Gold.

Initial benefits for a fast-track to Pilot Gold include:

• Priority check-in and boarding
• 75% more points on most Virgin Australia flights (excludes Economy Lite fares)
• Extra points earn capabilities with participating Velocity Frequent Flyer travel partners
• Fly Ahead privileges in Economy Class and Business Class when travelling on a Flex fare or Reward seat
• Virgin Australia domestic lounge and eligible partner airline international lounge access

Anyone who holds current ABN or ACN and is approved for a Virgin Australia Business Flyer account and spends $2,000 on Virgin Australia flights in the first three months can access these compelling Pilot Velocity Gold membership perks.

But it doesn’t stop there. Travellers who move from Pilot Gold onto a full Velocity Gold membership will enjoy an even bigger pot of benefits-gold. Some of these perks include:

• Guaranteed Economy Class Reward Seats for a domestic family trip once a year
• Complimentary one year fast-track to Hilton Honors or IHG One Rewards Gold Elite status
• Europcar privilege Executive or Hertz Gold Plus Rewards Five Star status upgrade
• Six-month pause feature for Gold members expecting a new baby

Once there, Velocity Gold is likely a destination where travellers will want to stay. Luckily, 80 Status Credits is an achievable goal, with a one-way Business Class flight between Melbourne and Brisbane or a return Economy Flex trip between Perth and Sydney a sure way to earn enough Status Credits.

Here’s a simple breakdown of how to earn 80+ Status Credits in order to maintain a Velocity Gold membership:

The number of Status Credits earned depends on the miles flown and fare class booked. Virgin Australia has a handy mileage calculator that can help you work out the distance, which can then be used to calculate Status by referring to the tables below.

Spoiled for choice

Perhaps the biggest incentive to maintain Velocity Gold after the Virgin Australia Business Flyer Velocity Pilot Gold trial, is leveraging access to list of 16 world-class partner airlines that travel to over 500 destinations globally – the sky truly is the limit with Velocity Gold.

One of the drawbacks to Virgin Australia’s Business Flyer program is the absence of points-earning partners. However, not just one, but two easy Pilot Gold memberships are a guaranteed way for frequent flyers to journey down many partner avenues.

A Velocity Gold membership makes it possible to enjoy flight redemptions and earn Velocity Points and Status Credits with popular partner airlines. Carriers such as Singapore Airlines and Etihad Airways will soon be joined by Qatar Airways – an exciting new partnership for Australian frequent flyers.

Virgin Australia’s connected domestic network and vast range of international airline partners provide members with flights aplenty on routes between major capital cities throughout the world. Wherever your next conference or meeting is, chances are there’s a dependable Virgin Australia flight ready to take you there.

Essentially, a Business Flyer’s Velocity Points will take them a lot further with a Velocity Gold membership than without. This begs the question: which employee will enjoy the second golden ticket?

Other key benefits of Virgin Australia Business Flyer

While a fast-track to Velocity Pilot Gold is arguably the most notable of the Business Flyer’s benefits, the program offers additional savings through an array of other perks.

Save on airfares

Business Flyers across all Tiers will be able to leverage Fare Advantage Discounts of 4% on eligible Economy Flex fares and 6% on eligible Business fares.

The following table outlines which domestic and international fare types offer savings to Business Flyers:

Discounted Virgin Australia lounge membership

Business Flyers can navigate business trips in style, thanks to saving on an annual Lounge Membership that unlocks access to Virgin Australia’s network of domestic lounges. A discounted membership means members will access a Virgin Australia domestic lounges membership for just $379 (no join fee).

Of course, those who hold the American Express Platinum Business Card can access Virgin Australia lounges as a complimentary perk.

Save time with an easier way to manage business travel

As company travel ramps up, a Virgin Australia Business Flyer membership could help larger businesses manage flight bookings more effectively – crucial planning that could see businesses save time and money.

A range of online tools add considerable value to the program. Within the Business Flyer portal, members can access important flight information, view users and manage and book upcoming company flight bookings.

These tools are there to act as a helping hand for businesses when it comes to all things account management – especially when multiple employees are travelling. The ‘account’ section is where administrators can add another employee traveller, as well as track incoming and outgoing points activity.

Another handy feature, shown below, is the ‘Business Reports’ section, which provides an overview of expenditure.

How does Virgin Australia Business Flyer compare?

As a leading airline loyalty program for Australian businesses, Virgin Business Flyer offers competitive and compelling rewards and discounts across all three of its membership tiers. The savings start right away, with no joining fee.

Here’s how Virgin Business Flyer stacks up against other business rewards programs at a glance.

Qantas Business Rewards – Qantas

This is Australia’s other main airline business rewards program. Fronting an $89.50 AUD join fee, at least on paper, Qantas Business Rewards (QBR) offers discounts that extend to international flights, including popular business destinations like Asia, London and the USA. Qantas Business Rewards operates three membership levels (Level 1, Level 2 and Level 3), offering discounts on selected economy tickets and business class bookings.

As an independent points currency that sits separate from the Qantas Frequent Flyer program, Qantas Business Rewards also holds its own. The ability for the primary QBR account holder to transfer points across to any nominated Qantas Frequent Flyer account offers tremendous flexibility. Members can also use a points-earning business Credit Card to grow their Qantas Business Rewards balance.

That said, Virgin Australia Business Flyer comes out in front on status fast track benefits, with the ability to unlock two Pilot Gold memberships and a further 12 months of Velocity Frequent Flyer Gold status with minimal outlay. While Qantas Business Rewards has been known to run corporate status challenges from time to time, these don’t form part of the core program offering.

Finally, with Virgin Australia continuing to undercut Qantas with sharply-priced business class fares across their domestic network, premium cabin flyers choosing to align with Virgin Australia come out ahead here, with extra savings to be found.

Virgin Australia Business Flyer vs Qantas Business Rewards comparison

HighFlyer business travel program – Singapore Airlines

The Singapore Airlines loyalty program for business offers members discounted airfares and the ability to earn HighFlyer points when travelling for work. Like both Virgin Australia Business Flyer and Qantas Business Rewards, this program integrates an elevated tier structure, with four membership levels and milestone rewards up for grabs for highflyers.

HighFlyer’s additional invite-only tier means this program is designed for businesses of all sizes, unlike Virgin Australia Business Flyer and Qantas Business Rewards, which target SMEs.

While the program could be of use for businesses flying internationally (the Singapore Airlines network is vast, and it takes in many Australian cities), it’s hard to go past the domestic-centric benefits of Virgin Australia Business Flyer or Qantas Business Rewards.

Beyond Business – Qatar Airways

Any ABN holder can join Qatar Airways’ business loyalty program, provided they are not a travel agency, travel management company, ticket brokerage firm or consolidator.

Unlike other programs, Beyond Business has five membership tiers to cater to a broader spectrum of business spends. The base level Elevate tier will see members earn 1 Qreward for every 1 USD spent, however, the points-earn is capped at 3 Qrewards for every 1 USD for the top three tiers.

While the benefits on offer may be limited to priority baggage handling, status offers and fare savings, new members earn an instant 3,000 Qrewards Points as a joining bonus, with a range of perks on offer. At the time of writing, neither Virgin Australia Business Flyer or Qantas Business Rewards offer bonus points for new sign ups.

Emirates Business Rewards – Emirates

This corporate loyalty program operates globally. Registered organisations earn Business Rewards Points whenever nominated travellers fly on Emirates. The benefits are limited to earning points on every flight, with no fare discount benefits listed.

Similar to both Virgin Australia Business Flyer and Qantas Business Rewards, it’s possible to ‘double dip’ on points earning, as individuals also earn Skywards Miles on the same flight if they’re an Emirates Skywards member.

However, unlike Virgin Australia Business Flyer and Qantas Business Rewards, it is not possible to combine Business Rewards Points with Skywards Miles or vice versa, meaning no one frequent flyer account will benefit from the ‘double dipping’.

Furthermore, Emirates Business Rewards points expire two years after the flight was completed, regardless of account activity. There’s no limit on how many employees can join the program and no minimum spend is needed.

In conclusion

Virgin Australia Business Flyer allows members to unlock and leverage points in Australia and beyond. This revamped program offers competitive benefits, including the recent possibility to ratchet up points via partners including business-related tech purchases, rivaling that of Qantas Business Rewards.

Though Virgin Business Flyer doesn’t have any airline partners just yet, the ability to ‘double dip’ with the Velocity Frequent Flyer program is one of the program’s major value adds.

And, arguably the most compelling value add can be found in the program’s fast-track to Velocity Pilot Gold, which unlocks a vast array of elite perks, including those sought-after airline points transfers.

Overall, Virgin Business Flyer’s sound array of core benefits is ideal for SMEs and sole traders whose business is once again taking them to the skies.

FAQ – Virgin Australia Business Flyer

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