Economy Reward Seats on Singapore Airlines will return to the Velocity Frequent Flyer loyalty program from midday AEDT today (Monday 7 February 2022). The ability to book Velocity Reward Seats in Singapore Airlines’ premium cabins, along with the ability to transfer points between KrisFlyer and Velocity, is expected to resume shortly.
The return of the significant feature of the airline partnership will allow Velocity members to use their Points to book select Economy flights on Singapore Airlines to over 30 countries, opening a world of new travel opportunities for members.
Velocity members can use as few as 10,000 Points to redeem an Economy Class Reward Seat on Singapore Airlines.
Velocity Frequent Flyer has continued to expand its international partner airline offering since November 2021, when Virgin Atlantic, Air Canada, Delta Air Lines, Etihad Airways, Hawaiian Airlines and South African Airways, re-opened Reward Seats to Velocity members.
Velocity members have redeemed hundreds of millions of Velocity Points on international flights since November 2021, and in a recent survey, 39 per cent of Velocity members said they are planning to travel internationally within the next 12 months.
Today’s news follows the announcement that Virgin Australia and Velocity Frequent Flyer will partner with United Airlines from April 2022, tripling the number of direct U.S. cities travellers can reach from Australian ports, while offering Velocity members more ways to earn Points, Status Credits and receive tier benefits when travelling on United’s expansive services.
Velocity Frequent Flyer has more than 10 million members and has launched a number of promotions to reward loyalty, including extending eligible Velocity Platinum and Gold memberships until at least 2023.
STATEMENT FROM VELOCITY FREQUENT FLYER CEO, NICK ROHRLACH
“Today is a new chapter for Velocity Frequent Flyer with the return of Reward Seats on Singapore Airlines,” said Mr Rohrlach.
“We know how much our members value the incredible service and expansive network of destinations across Asia and Europe that Singapore Airlines offers, and we are really thrilled to have their seats back in the program.
“Initially members will be able to use their Points to book Economy seats with Singapore Airlines and we anticipate expanding Reward Seat availability into their premium cabins soon. We also know how many velocities and KrisFlyer members value the ability to transfer points between the programs and we are working to restore this feature within the next few months.
“As international travel demand returns to the market, our partnership with Singapore Airlines provides a really fantastic way our members can use the points they’ve accumulated during the pandemic to travel to hundreds of destinations across the globe. When we look at the most popular Singapore Airlines’ redemptions from 2019, Singapore, London, Paris, and Bangkok were top of the list, and we expect a similar trend as our members start to take bookings again.
“Singapore Airlines is one of seven leading global airlines we have partnered with to allow Velocity members to redeem their Points on international travel and we look forward to expanding our partnerships across the program this year.
“Velocity is committed to opening a world of travel opportunities to our members and this is just another example of how we are doing things differently to provide even more value to our members,” he said.
Commenting on the latest redemption behaviour, Mr Rohrlach said:
“We are starting to see some green shoots in terms of our redemption bookings as travel-hungry Australians plan their next domestic or international trip.
“In a recent survey, 39 per cent of members who responded said they are planning to travel overseas in the next 12 months, so it certainly feels that the dial is starting to shift in terms of consumer confidence.
“Reward Seats continue to be among the most popular redemptions for Velocity members, and since November, we’ve seen hundreds of millions of Points redeemed on flights with our international airline partners, which is just staggering, and demonstrates huge pent-up demand,” he said.
