Velocity Points Redemption Post Virgin Australia Voluntary Administration Mega Thread

Update 22 April 2020: This is now the Velocity Points Redemption Mega Thread in light of Virgin Australia entering voluntary administration on 21 April 2020. All Velocity Points Redemption discussions post voluntary administration with be merged into this thread.


Am I the last person in Australia to try and redeem velocity points?

is everyone else smashing this web site right now?

im trying to find any old crap to buy

Poll Options

  • 313
    you are to slow
  • 32
    on there right now
  • 130
    relax bro it will be fine

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Comments

    • no idea, wait 2-4 weeks and be surprised if it turns up….weird shit happens
      im in same boat

  • They said on the news the program has been suspended this morning, going to be interesting what happens

  • I got 190k points, RIP.

  • +1

    Is there any way of tracking past redemptions made on the rewards store. I can't see any area on the website that tell me about past orders made

  • +1

    I redeemed my points for JB HiFi gift cards on 04/04/20, all arrived today (21/04) via regular post.

  • +1

    transferred 450k to KF about 4 weeks ago.

    writing was on the wall

  • I tried soooo long last night with all the issues, around midnight to 1am then gave up. Tried to get some Bose headphones.

    Then today saw their updated page about no redemptions :'(

  • Ordered a gift card on 16 April as the collapse of Virgin was imminent. I have doubts it'll ever be delivered.

  • +4

    Lost 12k points. Most of them came from a trip I did to the US many years ago.

    I also lost all my QFF points (I think I had 40K worth?) years back because I didn't realise you had to earn some in a certain period to keep the balance. Assholes.

    • +1

      Earning to keep is a pretty standard rule for most frequent flyers. Surely it wasn't that hard to earn some points? Domestic flights, credit cards, even the occasional survey. Once a year to extend.

      • Yeah I know that now. At the time I didn't really fly domestically or have a credit card and kinda forgot about it.

  • +1

    200k, plat status. Such a shame

    • I'm exactly the same, but remaining optimistic … lel

  • Frequent flyer/velocity is a seperate company >_>

  • +1

    Lost about 300. I've been Qantas loyal for a long time, but I'm slowly whittling down that balance as well. You can't eat points.

  • +11

    so this morning i woke up and found $500 refund from virgin in my account for flights they cancelled! cant believe my luck, i booked on points so this was the difference but had written the whole thing off a month ago

    • Good to know, I’m also waiting on a refund from a points + cash fare

      • I'm in the same boat so it's good to know they're still actively processing these refunds.

        • I'm still waiting on my refund, have you got yours @mangomuncha?

  • +1

    Managed to cash out about 4 weeks ago. Got $450 in JB Vouchers. Not sure what to do with them. Might wait for PS5 release or something.

    • I'll trade you for Velocity points ;P

  • Merged from Velocity - Delays on Orders Placed after April 12th Fulfilled by Harvey Norman

    Placed a velocity order for some products on Saturday (April 18th). Received a confirmation that products were coming from Harvey Norman.

    Received this from Harvey Norman today:

    We have been advised today that Velocity will be contacting all members with outstanding existing orders placed after the 12th of April in their system over the coming days

    Rest assured your order will be despatched from us when we are advised, but please allow the new expected delivery time frame instructed from Velocity to expire prior to reaching back out to us again

    Please note that we are a drop ship partner only and cannot supply products from our retail store network or online platform

    If your order is prior to the 12th of April or if you have recently received your reward and it has an issue or is DOA then please reply back to this address and place VEL into the subject field and a supervisor will reach out to you to action your enquiry

    Thank you for your understanding and patience during this period

    • +7

      Where does it say the order will not be fulfilled?

      • Exactly. It simply says delivery times have blown out. Which is to be expected given how hard they were hit.

        • +1

          It's likely because virgin now don't have the cash to pay Gerry for the goods, and it do don't look like they will in the near future.

          • +1

            @brendanm: It's my understanding that Velocity is not only separate but extremely profitable. There should be ample funds to clear any backlog up until the cessation of redemption of points.

            • +1

              @Benoffie: Separate business, not in administration, has a trust fund for the value of the points.
              The fact that it’s called velocity always gave me the impression that they wanted to keep it separate incase they wanted to spin it off and not be tied to it anymore. They only bought some of it back last year for $700m so it’s a very viable company.

      • +3

        Guys…
        It's corporate doublespeak. If you read between the lines, Harvey Norman are using the term "advised" as a euphemism for payment aka "payment advice". Essentially Harvey Norman haven't been paid yet. We don't know what the supplier payment terms are, but it seems that Harvey won't let stock go unless it's paid prior to shipment.

        The second paragraph makes it clear that its NOT a fulfilment or supply delay, and not to bother them.

        Harvey Norman are passing the buck, both metaphorically and literally.

        • Velocity aren't broke so should be able to pay Harvey Norman… whether they will or won't is the question. Here's hoping they will.

    • +1

      I had an email from Velocity to say that they were a separate company to Virgin and that points redemptions would be put on hold for a month.

    • I placed an order on the 16th, haven’t received any email yet

      • +1

        Same, I used 560k points on Thursday 16th and haven't seen anything yet. Ordered wine to use up an additional 30k points on Friday and that has appaarently been dispatched already. I'd be gutted if the other stuff doesn't come, 12 years worth of points.

      • Redeemed my 165k points for an order on 16th……should have done it earlier!

  • +1

    Is everyone cashing out their Qantas points too?

    • I'm thinking the same thing. Even if Qantas doesnt go bust, they might devalue their points.

  • 135K here RIP and 100K Qantas FF

  • +1

    Email from Velocity

    What you need to know:

    Your Points aren’t going anywhere. They will remain in your account.
    Your existing Points will not expire through this period. We will be extending the expiration period for your existing Points by the timeframe of the pause.
    You can continue to earn Points with our partners, although you won’t be able to redeem them during the pause.
    These changes take effect immediately. Although the initial timeframe for this restriction is four weeks, this period may be extended. We will come back to you with an update as soon as we can.

  • Disaster I was trying for hours last night to get an iMac till 2am and it was just getting worse not better. 500k points gone I suspect. Even if they restart the shop the points value will most likely be decimated. Oh well I'm happy I have a job right now. Good luck to all.

  • I was only a few thousands away from having 1 million frequent flyer points, was about to book a nice 2-3 months holiday in style around the world.

    Now all I have to show is a bunch of gift cards, refreshed quite a number of appliances, and doing charity donations.

    Also had a stretch of a week where they were limiting to one gift card a day, so was doing a daily order in the morning.

    still have almost 100k left

    • When did you start redeeming points? Did you receive them all?

    • You could have just transferred to Krisflyer and that would have given you two rtw tickets in business class.

  • +9

    Like normal people don’t understand that the point program is the golden light for Virgin and will be sold off if collapses and guess what the points will survive.
    I’d rather play the game than panic out at :4 cent which I think is a poor play.
    Bump in. Few months when I’m right guys :)
    Only fear really is devaluation .

    • The issue with this is who or what circumstances it is sold.

      Not everyone is happy with the notion that their details, agreed to under one set of circumstances, is suddenly owned by someone new.

      Recently, Dan Murphy's did this when they sold off their customer database and this included old data. It was not a part of the old T&Cs. They have had to go through and remove people's details from the sale.

    • Points are essentially worth gift card value now. If VA returns to service they will not have international business class, which was the only decent way to use points. If you are using points for gift cards I don't think there is anything to fear.

  • +3

    I might be in the worst situation. Approved
    ANZ travel adventures and spent $2500 in the first 3 weeks in Jan. Still waiting my bonus 75000 velocity points and no reply from ANZ.

    • Weird. I opened up two new cards with Westpac in February (Altitude Platinum Bundle) and got the points credited in the beginning of April after meeting the spend requirement in late March

    • +1

      Really sucks. That card was the best frequent flyer card in Australia IMO. The fee was so cheap for the potential value you'd get out of the flight and the lounges.

      Can't believe this is all happening because of China.

    • I opened account in September last year and met the spend within 30 days and only just received my 75k points on 10th of April. I would have preferred to be in your place as you may be entitled to a different benefit from ANZ instead.

    • +2

      Have a free domestic flight booked through ANZ Reward (which has been put in credit until end of the year and which is now looking cloudy).

      That flight was booked using previous year's quota. This year's quota is looking unusable given velocity is off the air.

      Then there is the 100k vff I have amassed (and the $225 annual fees I have paid for the right to access those 'free' flights).

      • +2

        Same. Keen to know what happens to that free flight booking

        • Came here to find this. I wonder if they'd refund the annual fee or give us credit with another airline? Definitely a valid question, but not sure who would have the answer. Might wait a few more months and see how things are looking then.

    • The fact that these card exist and contribute points to the progam are why it is likely to survive. I have a Velocity AMEX and still use it for AMEX deals/cashback, all of which is flowing into the Velocity Frequent Flyer pool. The more people are doing this the better as it increases the chances of it survivng.

    • Hence why I decided to cancel my ANZ travel rewards card few weeks ago. Used the free flight for a return trip to Perth in March and figured I'm unlikely to travel anywhere this year.

  • +1

    Lol. I literally just signed up to Velocity and a velocity credit card like 3 months ago to get some bonus points. Guess I might as well just cancel the card now…

    • +2

      your timing is impeccable

    • So did I in Feb, I just received my 80k points a couple weeks ago.

      I was planning on cancelling now and then switching to a QFF based card….but with everything going tits up probably not the best time to be doing that.

    • +20

      not exactly whining, and with annual fees its not free.

      but either way when you inherit a house off your parents etc ring me up, and ill come burn it down, with your permission, and ill tell you "it was free no need to whine"

        • +17

          ok before you die let me burn your house down in front of your kids and tell them to stop whinging.
          and
          stop receiving the pension immediately and don't whinge.

    • +3

      It's not whining, it's more disappointment at putting in the effort and getting potentially nothing in return. But I wouldn't expect somebody who doesn't have skin in the game to understand or care about the nuances.

      • -3

        whining, whinging?… your words not mine

        no skin in the game?… go read discussion about 7 days ago

        looks like another case of BBE virus ?

        • +6

          What? Actually don't worry I don't care about old man ramblings.

          • +2

            @spiff: great response … plus for that

            • @IanC: What a shame.. someone took my plus for you away.

    • +3

      Wow.The world is coming to an end and you're complaining about stuff that is irrelevant to you?

      Sit down old man.

      • Thanks for the advice. Plus for the effort.

        Another one with the BBE virus?

        • Another one with the BBE virus?

          I haven't felt or shown any symptoms like yours, so I guess not.

          • @Ughhh: lol.. you are showing further signs

            • +2

              @IanC: lol who hurt you

  • +12

    Honestly- I'll just hodl. Velocity itself isn't in administration- it's a separate business entity and one that actually makes a profit for VA.
    Voluntary Administration isn't the end of the world. If they lose value- I'll be annoyed but I think they will bounce back. Aus Government won't let us go to a One airline country again.
    I have 480k worth of points sitting in there.

    • spot on

    • -1

      Why pause redemption and transfers then to lock all points? Whole thing is shady as hell. Glad I redeemed them all but no idea if HN will honour it as I snuck in a Dyson fan and speaker just before it was shut

      • +1

        Yea- it doesn't look good but it could also have a perfectly plausible reason whilst they get their books under control.
        Personally, I don't think panic buying with points is the best thing to do.
        Sure- you'll get stuff but you'll get it at dramatically over-inflated prices.
        I'd rather hedge my bets on spending 15000/30000 on business class upgrades or transferring them to Krisflyer/other partner airlines in the future if it's still a thing

      • +4

        I think it was a reasonable move to pause redemptions. Velocity is a separate company but because of the news about Virgin, there was a huge run on points which would have decimated the company. Best to put things on hold until there's come clarity.

        I'm expecting all redemptions to be honoured because Velocity is not in administration. They still have to operate like a normal business.

      • +3

        It was basically a run on the banks situation. I'm surprised they didn't limit/drop it sooner. Their model, while profitable, relies on not everyone in Australia cashing in at once.

        I'm pretty sure a lot of the deals are with other entities anyway (eg. credit card companies etc) and losing Virgin isn't necessarily the end of the world. Flybuys exists without a direct airline connection for example.

      • I also ordered something via HN, just the other night. Website was very slow but kept retrying and made it.

        Looking at the APIs / shopping cart I believe they got a PO response from HN that they'll fulfil the order…

        Was only 2k points under what I needed for the next better iPhone… doh!

        Fingers crossed.

        Remaining 27k points RIP… maybe?

        • "Looking at the APIs / shopping cart I believe they got a PO response from HN that they'll fulfil the order…" - I didn't quite understand, can you elaborate on this please?

          • @ac96: In your browser you can see all the web calls it makes. It only approves the order once it has a successful response from HN, so I assume mine will go through. Fingers crossed!

    • Best case scenario but worst case is they write off all points as bad debts and they are worth nothing…

      • That would hurt the member base significantly. Want to lose value? Screw 10 Million members. I highly doubt it.
        It would require sign from the Trustee of the Velocity Members.

        • Yeah but if you are going to be run as a budget airline, points won't even matter any more :(
          Basically I'm just writing my 320k points as gone, to prepare myself mentally.

  • Lost (possibly) over 340K with Velocity. Have over 500K with Qantas. Should I redeem them for gift cards? Was saving up for 2 x round the world business class tickets and would ideally still like to use them for that.

    • +1

      I reckon your Qantas points are safe, but they might devalue them if there is no competition. Would surely still be more valuable than the gift card equivalent, for domestic travel atleast.

  • +3

    transferred all my points to singapore airlines :) 580k worth, after I noticed Woolworths and coles gift cards were no more

  • +1

    Not sure about the level of panic going on..

    Virgin has gone into voluntary administration, they haven't yet collapsed. Velocity is a very profitable business unit so highly unlikely they'll wipe the points away.

    Pausing redemptions makes sense - they're insolvent so a whole load of redemptions will only worsen their cash position.

    Each to their own but I'd rather hold on to my points than panic redeem them for things I don't need…

    • Pausing redemptions makes sense - they're insolvent so a whole load of redemptions will only worsen their cash position.

      Wouldn't Velocity still have cash? Last I heard they were valued at $2 billion… I think the hold on redemptions was more to prevent a bank run scenario as mentioned earlier.

      • Valuation is separate to cash and other liquid assets - valuation is how much the business is worth. They had ~$1bn cash as of end of last year but also $5bn of debt. Would imagine cash would have now dwindled further.

        A bank run scenario where everyone is redeeming their points (assuming they're paying for the products / giftcards you're redeeming) = cash outflow = even less cash to service debt / maintain debt covenants

        • They had ~$1bn cash as of end of last year but also $5bn of debt.

          AFAIK Virgin has $5 billion worth of debt. Is it Virgin or Velocity that has the ~$1 billion in cash?

          A bank run scenario would do that, not sure if the point redemption could come anywhere close to $1 billion worth of products though.

  • 220k VFF points frozen.

    800k QFF points.
    I certainly hope they don't get devalued at this time.

    • Seems eerily similar to my account🤔

  • -1

    I too am late to redeeming points (close to 500K).
    I did however manage to use it all up leading up to the website removing the link about 2-ish. Have received all email notifications about redemption being successful.

    There is also a FB post, with a person receiving confirmation from a velocity employee via online chat that existing orders will be fulfilled (this was yesterday). Although this is very speculative given the employees are also facing an unknown future!

  • +5

    Received the following email from Virgin a few minutes back -

    Your Velocity Rewards Store online order

    Dear XXX,

    Thank you for shopping online at the Velocity Rewards Store. With our recent announcement that Points redemptions have been temporarily paused, we wanted to reach out to you to confirm your online order has been received and is being processed.

    Please note, due to high demand for online rewards, as well as delays with fulfillment and postal deliveries, there may be delays in the delivery of your online rewards.

    If you have questions with regards to your order, please visit here.

    We thank you for your patience.

    Yours sincerely,
    Velocity Frequent Flyer

  • Velocity Rewards Store

    If you have placed an order that you have not yet received (including pending orders), please be advised that the Velocity Rewards Store is working with retailers, suppliers and delivery partners to have this to you as quickly as possible.

    When your order is processed a confirmation email will be sent to you directly.

    If you have questions with regards to your order, please send us an enquiry.

    E-Mail - [email protected]

    Link (Disable adblock if you are unable to open the webpage) - https://experience.velocityfrequentflyer.com/member-support/…

    • I ordered the night before they closed points redemption and haven’t received any further order details from Velocity or HN >< Anyone else?

      I’ve only received an order confirmation.

  • Redeemed a watch last week for 120k and just got an email tonight to confirm they are processing the order. Pumped!

  • Thought I'd do a quick google on value of Velocity Points business and on 2019 was worth 2 Billion with pre tax profits of 180 million . Some how I think this part of the business will survive :)

    • Survive in the immediate term, sure. But for how long? The incoming points will 'dry up' for the immediate future.

  • Has anyone booked a codeshare flight using velocity recently?
    I booked Etihad back to Europe for December 2020 using all my Virgin points just last week and wondering if this will still be honoured?

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