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
Was music to my ears when I saw this article pop up in my feed.
It's just a matter of how much they will value each point I guess.
But hey, who knows with all the interest from many businesses in the buyout we might come out the other end.
Time will tell.
In the scheme of things velocity points are the least of most people issues.
What would be the $ value/rate though?
I'm not sure either how much…
I would be happy if they do similar rate to gift cards redemption
I used up all the points and claimed a few gift cards. Virgin is the best
Saw this coming, last week, so we bought $900 worth of JB HiFi vouchers, ( split points across two accounts and purchased from there), the orders went through and got confirmation emails on the 17th. Fingers crossed they actually arrive
I saw the writing on the wall a month ago so bought $1050 JBHiFi gift cards to clear my points. Not gonna risk further devaluation of points or being limited to only using the points for flights.
I did something similar 😀
Ordered gift card on 6th April, dated 20th April, received 23rd April.
Ordered one day later (7th). Just received an e-mail yesterday about the voluntary administration and a message the order will still be processed. However, no ETA.
Perhaps good news?
Virgin Australia will pay out Velocity points in cash if it collapses, with money from a trust
https://www.businessinsider.com.au/virgin-australia-velocity…
Doubt it.
Nope.
Ordered 16 x $100 cards on 6th, 7th and 8th April - total of 13 Westfields and 3 JB Hifi. Have received 15 cards. Still waiting on the last Westfield card ordered on the 8th.
No tracking is frustrating. If one is missing - how do they even know which one wasn’t sent? You’d have to call up and quote all 15 gift card numbers!!
True. I'm hoping the last one is just on it's way.
Just got the following email (after redeeming between 16/4 - 19/4):
'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.'
There it is - orders prior to the pause are going through.
According to this link seems like Velocity points might get paid out thanks to a trust fund.
i dont believe it tbh
Then why would they say it?
i hope so.
Why would they? I'd like to know what that 'journo' is drinking, must be good.
As was mentioned in previous posts, it’s a different company, it’s not in administration, it is profitable and has a trust to back the points.
Without virgin is velocity a viable business?
Sure you can earn a few points from credit cards or shopping but that must be 1% of points earned. And if you can't redeem for a flight because virgin doesn't exist or becomes a lcc surely no one will use the scheme and will move to Qantas or something.
I'd actually estimate that 30% of my total points balance was from credit cards. Granted not everyone would have a linked card. so it will be much lower than that total. They would definitely need to restructure how they operate themseleves to remain viable I expect. A lot of the banks have blocked transfers to it already, so they would be in trouble soon as well if that continues.
Without virgin is velocity a viable business?
Probably. See Flybuys.
Deals are made with partner companies who pay commissions, interchange fees etc. Cash/investments held earn interest (ie. this magic "trust fund") etc.
Deals are also made on redemptions - they're paying less than retail for the goods, they're inflating the number of points required to redeem products (ie. the cost of the points is more than the cost of redemption).
The real advantage of having a partner airline is that a lot of people will bank the points for years. Meanwhile, the money paid for those points is sitting there earning interest. Losing that connection can reduce the program's attractiveness, and potentially removes the reason for people to bank up massive numbers of points (reducing interest earnings), but it's not necessarily the end of everything.
@jorf: Since Qantas is partnered with Woolies and Flybuys is partnered with Coles… it'd be awesome to see Velocity partner with Aldi.
I know people are saying its a different company which is true. But it really depends on the new structure of the company. If it goes to a LCC model, then there is no real benefit to pay back the points. People might say, it loses trust with its consumers. But any new LCC type model wont have a Frequent Flyer program. Also you might say, I wont fly Virgin again if it screws me over with my existing points. But I would say most people look at the ticket price to fly somewhere (at least short flights within Australia) and hence would still fly with Virgin if its the lower cost flight.
But any new LCC type model wont have a Frequent Flyer program
LCC model or not, it's the only part of the business that makes a profit ($122m in FY19) so why would you get rid of it?
Because it won't be profitable without being attached to an airline.
The bulk of points are earned by flying and are redeemed on flights.
Without the flights it's just earning points through shopping etc and redeeming them on overpriced vacuum cleaners and toasters.
The people that do have velocity points credit cards will move over to Qantas, because lets face it, you earn FF points to actually fly. Or they'll move to a generic points scheme with their bank or supermarket.
@SJDR: Who said anything about not being attached to an airline? I've redeemed QFF points on domestic Jetstar flights on many occasions. Not sure how this would be different if Virgin was a domestic LCC.
Jetstar has a FF program. Why wouldn’t a LCC have one? Plenty around the world do.
Look guys, fair enough. Maybe they keep the FF program. But the points will be hugely devalued. As soon as I heard on April 3rd that they stopped allowing you to transfer points to Krisflyer I knew it was time to cash out. Didn't want to hang around for months hoping that I might get these points back. I guess the old saying is true, "You Snooze, You Lose!"
https://www.australianfrequentflyer.com.au/affonair-velocity…
"In Episode 34 of the AFF on AIR podcast, Phil Gunter from New World Loyalty shares his insights on the likely future of Velocity and what might happen to our points. Phil is a loyalty program expert and ran the Velocity Frequent Flyer program between 2006 and 2013."
I didn't listen to the whole thing. But the guy mentioned that, obviously you're getting a poor return by redeeming gift cards, but that it also (marginally) contributes to the demise of virgin.
So, if velocity is it's own company, why do I interpret his comments as saying that virgin is the company liable for redemptions.
Sounds like the Business Insider article may be making an assumption based on the existence of a trust.
Would be nice to have the financials outlined clearly
Is Velocity part of the entity under administration? Or it's a separate entity?
If the entity owns velocity is not under restructuring the point should be still valid.
Separate company, not under administration, but is still being included in the sale at this stage. I don't think a scenario where people lose all their points is likely but they could be devalued by the new owners.
Thank you.
My money is on Velocity collapsing in the near future (unless virgin can come back as they were, which doesn't look possible)
Given how many people have just pulled their points, there can't be much cash liquidity left.
And if virgin no longer exists there's no point collecting any more points from other retailers just to redeem on over priced toasters.
The other point I would make. As soon as they allow redemptions again, their will be another run on the points, furthering the diminishing cash liquidity of the programme.
For those interested in deliveries.
Across two accounts, i have 24 gift cards ordered every day since 4th April, and have only just received 4 today in one go.
Delivery today:
Account 1: Ordered 4th, 5th, 6th
Account 2: Ordered 5th
One was dated 20th April on the letter, and the others were dated 14th April.
Assuming they're bulk posting.
Nice! Ordered 2x giftcards (even though it said only 1 per day) on 08/04/2020 and just received today =D
Yep, did the same. Ordered 2 giftcards on the same day even though it said only 1 per day. There was no actual checking on the website to prevent you from ordering more than 1 per day. I received the first giftcard on the 20th, and then was sweating a bit because I thought the second one should have come at the same time. But then the second one arrived on the 23rd. Happy days for me =D
Damn - spewing i didn't test the system!!
Extremely bad news in today's AFR. Apparently Velocity was issuing debt to Virgin's main company so it's quite possible that Velocity will take a hit from the Virgin crisis which wasn't initially believed to be the case. https://www.afr.com/companies/financial-services/failed-virg…
Yeah, new facts seem to now be coming out from the administration process. I guess the other piece of news is that the debt situation has gone from 5.4B to 7B owed to creditors. I guess a question I have for everyone here on the forum is, if Velocity opened up their website for redemptions again, who here would clean out their points, and who would leave them alone in the hope that after the administration process their points retain a suitable value?
Well velocity will now be a creditor to Virgin Australia for an increasing debt pile and their only security being the aircraft owned and the Velocity FF business
I think the answer is obvious if you want certainty over your full balance of points.
Having said that I don’t think they will open up redemptions for a while during the Voluntary Administration period.
For those that haven't read the article, it appears that Velocity loaned $200 million to Virgin. This means they are now a creditor to a company in administration, "…raising questions about how much cash is actually backing the loyalty scheme’s points."
It's only half an article…how do you read the rest
You pay for the afr
Where can i return my velocity card to not worth a cracker
Its the Wild West out there with airports blocking there aircraft in for debts !
Yeah, I think it is petty and dumb on behalf of Perth.
Whilst flying is not really an option at the moment do you think it's likely there will be status match offers with other airlines for current velocity members?
Other airlines? The only other full service carrier is Qantas.
I'm not sure how accommodating they'll be but they have offered status challenges in the past which gives you 90 days to earn 200 status credits.
I have made an order for 1 gift card a day since the 11April2020 and I have not received even one card in the mail! Do you know who to contact —like if it was a jb hi fi card do we contact them directly?
or should I just wait?
You are too impatient. Read through this thread to get an idea of postage times.
It gets worse Velocity Rewards joins Virgin's creditor queue over $150m loan
https://www.afr.com/companies/transport/velocity-rewards-joi…
The loan represents 30 per cent of the $500 million or so that Virgin estimated it would need to spend to cover unearned loyalty revenue in its 2019 annual report.
I'd estimate that chances of a devaluation are extremely high.
Has anyone received their gift cards in the past few days? I received the bulk of them about 10 days ago from orders on the 3rd and 4th but orders from the 5th and 14th are MIA.
Nope; redeemed on the 8th
I had redeemed my points for Ipad Air on 16th April and received it today. Not the best bargain I got, but considering the circumstances, cant complain.
Yesterday I had emailed VFF, they said it may take longer, but to my surprise it arrived today! I have got one happy kid at home today :)
In exactly same boat, same redeem date for iPhone 11, got message yesterday about delay, received overnight TNT delivery today. Happy days :)
Should have redeemed for an iPad mini 5 rather than a $100 David Jones gift card …
What was the price for ipad?
I wanted the one with 256GB and cellular; think it was about 201K points
@kerfuffle: I suppose that'd be 10 gift cards so price comes about even… only issue is if we ever get our gift cards! I've had confirmation from Velocity that my order is 'processing' a week ago, but nothing since then.
I also had ordered a JB HI-Fi goft card along with my Ipad, and it hasn't come yet. I know it comes from a different vendor (collinsongroup) it may take longer.
I ordered JB gift cards 7-10 April and haven’t received it yet. It’s taking a while…
I got an iPad Air today that I ordered on the same date. I had some kid's headphones turn up very shortly after the initial order as well. I did order 530k points worth of stuff, two items so far, so still a lot more to (hopefully) turn up.
What date was the order and from H/N ?
16th April and yes from Harvey Norman. There are three other items in the order from Harvey Norman as well which haven't arrived yet.
@conan2000: Good news, thanks for that. Should expect my orders this week fingers crossed (ordered 19th and 20th)
That's great, I probably ordered one around that time too.
I wandered in late and realised I still have 150k points post voluntarily administration.
What are my options now? Twiddle my thumbs from the sound of things?
Twiddle my thumbs from the sound of things?
Yep
What can be achieved by emailing? A lot of people are in the same boat. Best at this stage is just to wait and hope they will survive this. Ps, I didn’t neg you.
Why ask internet randoms for help with points?
Not sure why I bothered trying to help. Maybe those people concerned about their points can send Velocity an email asking about options. I got help with a redemption by email.
YMMV
Redeemed on 8th, received DJs gift card in the post today (May 6). For those who have yet to receive their gift cards, they're coming; don't lose hope!
https://www.executivetraveller.com/news/banks-pull-down-the-…
A lot of people in this forum have said VFF are a separate entity etc etc, but the banks certainly do not see it that way!
It is a separate entity with a Trustee. Banks will just be holding off on anything related to Velocity until the Parent company's future is sorted- Which it looks to be very soon.
If it was that bad, you wouldn't be able to earn points any more- which you still can.
Apart from an email on 22/4 saying “your online order has been received and is being processed”, has anyone received anything else? I redeemed 16/4
I placed orders for gift cards on 7-10 April and they arrived 6 May so it took around a month to arrive.
I ordered an iPad Air the last day of trade (21 April at approx 11pm) and got the delivery yesterday (07 May).
As for the original poll, not sure if cashing out was the right move, but for those who did redeem, hopefully you will be seeing something soon. It came as a bit of a surprise for me, as I hadn't received an email saying it had been sent!
I redeemed on 14/4 for an ipad via HN and got delivery on 6/5. Still waiting for a JB HIFI gift card ordered on the same date.
I redeemed on 17/4 for an iPad air and i am still waiting for it. I also redeemed a bunch of gift cards on 19/4 however i am not expecting these for a while. I am disappointed that i haven't received the iPad though as it seems that everyone that ordered apple products in the couple of days before and after me have all received theirs. Can anyone provide any advice on tracking down my order?
I sent an email to HN re my order of 14/4 and they sent this rely: "I can confirm your order has been received and sent to Apple for processing. They have advised they are experiencing large amounts of orders with customers panic buying and have said there will be extended delay. Delivery ETA for your order is approx between 06/05/2020 - 08/05/2020. Unfortunately there is no tracking to provide at this stage" I never received a follow up email or tracking number, however, the goods arrived on 6/5. I hope you have a good result!
@brew: Thanks for your reply. I emailed them yesterday and got the same response except without the sentence about the ETA. Based on that time frame hopefully mine will arrive next week!
@brew: Wow thanks for the updates! Good to know orders made that late into the pipeline are still being honoured!
Ordered a jb hifi gift card on 17/4 and a Bose headphones through HN on 20/4.. Nothing yet. Hopefully next week!
@ac96: Update 11/05 - received the below email from HN when I asked them to clarify what "order has been processed" means:
"We have received and processed your order however there is no tracking to provide at this stage as it will be despatched shortly from our warehouse. Please note due to an overwhelming amount of online orders across the nation, our couriers have advised there are will be extended delivery times. Your patience and understanding throughout this time is appreciated.
This means that we have processed your order and our warehouse team are currently packing it in preparation for shipment. Tracking is therefore not available as a courier has not collected it yet."
@brew: How did you contact harvey norman. Can you provide an email? Ordered apple tv 4k on the 19th. Still waiting. People ordering apple products on the 20th and 21st seem to have already received it.
@done-deal: I used the following address with the order number in the subject line: [email protected]
@done-deal: I ordered an iPad air on the 17 April. I received a confirmation email when i ordered and the generic email from velocity stating that all orders prior to the store shutdown would be processed. I have had a few attempts at contacting the various companies involved (velocity, Harvey Norman, Collins Group, TNT Express, Apple) and none of these were able to give me any further information about my order. They all just sent generic responses to say that the order is being processed that they are currently experiencing delays with shipping.
I received the iPad today (12 May). It says it is from APL Pty Ltd in eastern Creek NSW. Ship date on the box is 8 May. It was delivered by TNT - overnight express. I was at work at the time but the delivery driver knocked on the door and then left a card ( i was able to see this through security footage). I then picked it up by taking the card to the local depot where i had to show ID and had the option to sign for it (he said i didn't have to sign if i didn't want to due to covid).
Thank you all for the responses. Will try to reach out to….someone
Redeemed 94k of points for return flights to singapore in march 2021. Flight operated by SA.
Pretty sure waterbottled meant Singapore Airlines.
The Singapore Airlines Group expects a “material” quarterly operating loss from the “severe impact” of the coronavirus outbreak, as it seeks to readjust aircraft deliveries and defer payments to its suppliers. However, it will still be in the black for the full financial year ended 31 March, thanks to …
Ordered an iMac 27" on the last day of redemption before the freeze (20th April) for 560k points. It turned up today, I fully wasn't expecting it to, no confirmation email at all. Now to figure out what to do with it … :)
Velocity is under another registered company.