Velocity flight rewards expand with Tigerair, but is it better than redeeming points with Virgin?
7 April 2016: As of today, Velocity Frequent Flyers can now use their Velocity Points to redeem rewards with the Tigerair network.
The latest addition to the partnership between Virgin Australia and its budget little brother, frequent flyers can redeem their points for everything from flights, taxes and optional extras such as additional baggage allowance or in-flight meals. Unfortunately, you can’t use your points to redeem travel insurance for your Tigerair flight.
If you don’t have enough Velocity Points to redeem your flight reward with Tigerair, you can use the points plus pay option to make up the difference with cash, credit card payment or bank transfer.
How can I redeem my Velocity Points for Tigerair flights?
When you’re booking your flight via the Tigerair website, you can nominate whether you’d like to pay for your flight using a debit or credit card, Tigerair voucher or Velocity Points. If you select points, you’ll be required to log in to your Velocity account using your membership number and password. Once you’ve done this, you can select the points and complete the transaction.
Velocity Points are set to be valued at around 0.65c each. Please note that a minimum of 3,100 points must be used to redeem a Tigerair flight. Although you can use your Velocity Points to redeem flights with Tigerair, you won’t be able to earn points by flying with the sibling airline.
Is it better to use my Velocity Points for flights with Virgin Australia or Tigerair?
Using your Velocity Points to redeem flights with Tigerair might be convenient, but is it the most valuable way to spend your points? For example, you can redeem a return economy flight from Sydney to the Gold Coast in June worth AUD$127.00 for 19,539 points. According to the Velocity Points calculator, you’ll need at least 13,800 points to fly return economy from Sydney to the Gold Coast with Virgin Australia. Looking at Virgin Australia’s flights for June, you could fly with Virgin Australia in the same week on the same route for AUD$178.00.
Given that the flight with Virgin Australia is more expensive but costs fewer points, you could argue that saving your points for a flight with Virgin rather than Tigerair would be a wise move. When you’re looking at using your points for your next holiday, compare between the two to make sure you’re getting the most out of your hard-earned rewards.
You might also be interested in
Complete guide to the Velocity Frequent Flyer program
How to book flights with your Velocity Points
Promo codes for flight deals with Virgin Australia
Fly for just $25 with Tigerair promo codes