Velocity Frequent Flyer hikes carrier charges

Melbourne, Australia - April 17, 2016: Virgin Over The Moon: On a sunny autumn day, Virgin Boeing 737 VH-VUD “Tallow Beach” takes off from Melbourne’s Tullamarine Airport into clear blue skies as it heads to Sydney with a domestic service (VA895) on one of the world’s busiest air corridors.  It is seen passing over the rising moon.

Velocity Frequent Flyer has announced changes to its carrier charges, which will be applied to reward seat bookings on Virgin Australia-operated flights made on or after 8 January 2020.

For domestic and trans-Tasman flights, Velocity’s economy class carrier charge will rise from $3.50 to $10, and its business class carrier charge rise from $5.50 to $10.

For Virgin’s international short-haul flights, Velocity’s carrier charge will increase from $25 to $35 for economy and from $50 to $70 for business.

Velocity’s economy class carrier charge for Virgin’s Hong Kong flights will rise from $35 to $45, and the business class charge will rise from $50 to $98.

There will be no changes, however, to carrier charges for Los Angeles flights, which are $60 for economy, $145 for premium economy and $230 for business class.

Carrier charges can be paid with Velocity Points or a combination of Velocity Points and cash, and will be applied during the booking process.

A Velocity spokesperson told Travel Weekly the changes were “necessary to manage increased airline operating costs”.

The move comes not long after Virgin signalled its intention to fully reclaim its frequent flyer program, offering to buy back Affinity Partners’ minority stake in Velocity Frequent Flyer for $700 million.

Velocity Frequent Flyer also recently announced a partnership with rideshare player Ola to combat Qantas’ tie-up with Uber, but also lost BP to Qantas.

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