| Company type | Subsidiary |
|---|---|
| Industry | Loyalty marketing and enterprise services |
| Headquarters | , |
| Services |
|
| Parent | Virgin Australia Holdings |
| Website | www |
 | This article needs to be updated.(May 2023) |
Velocity is the frequent-flyer program of Virgin Australia Holdings.
Velocity was launched by Virgin Blue (later renamed Virgin Australia) in 2005 as Velocity Rewards, with partner National Australia Bank offering a companion credit card. [1] Initially, Velocity differed from most other frequent flyer programs with points earned being based on the cost of a flight, rather than distance. Velocity members originally earned 6 points per dollar spent on Virgin Blue flights.
By 2007, points earned in loyalty programs operated by Westpac, American Express and Diners Club could be transferred to Velocity Rewards, as well as from the ANZ loyalty program from September 2008.
As part of Virgin's effort to attract business travellers, status levels were introduced to the program in late 2007. Alongside the entry-level "Red" status, members could attain "Silver" and "Gold" status, each with its own set of benefits. With the introduction of status levels, the earning rate was changed: Red members earned 5 points per dollar, Silver members remained at 6 points, and Gold members earned 7.
Velocity was the first frequent flyer program in Australia to offer "any seat, any time" reward flight availability. The number of points required to redeem an award seat directly corresponds to the current fare of that seat, allowing any seat currently available to be redeemed. Qantas introduced a similar feature to their frequent flyer program in May 2008.
By February 2008, Velocity Rewards had 1.3 million members and Virgin Blue stated it was considering selling it or entering into a joint venture once its operation was profitable, and considered a membership of 1.6 to 1.7 million members would put the operation in a break-even position. [2] The program reached 4 million members by the end of 2014. [3]
In August 2011, the program was renamed "Velocity" and a "Platinum" status level was introduced, among other changes. The changes included changes to the bonus system: Red status members now earn 5 points per dollar spent, and Silver members earn a bonus of 50%, Gold members earn a bonus of 75% and Platinum members earn a bonus of 100%.
In July 2013, Velocity introduced the Global Wallet, the first travel money card in Australia, which can be used as a Visa prepaid card. [4] Velocity Global Wallet was discontinued on February 1, 2021.
Velocity co-branded (direct-earn) credit cards earn points on purchases and these points are automatically allocated to the holder's Velocity account each month. Co-branded cards are offered by American Express, NAB, Virgin Money and Westpac. [5] Most banks and credit companies have cards which earn points into their rewards program, which can then be transferred to another program such as Velocity. [6]
The Velocity Global Wallet prepaid Visa product was owned by Cuscal and managed by Rev Australia Pty Ltd. The card was designed to be used as a travel wallet card, where holders were able to earn points on purchases and avoid overseas transaction fees. The Global Wallet card allowed the holder to load money onto the card in Australian dollars (AUD), up to a total value of A$25,000. As many as ten currencies were able to be stored on the card.
The card could be used as a Visa prepaid card. Fees were charged to make purchases in foreign currencies, and for withdrawal of cash at ATMs. The exchange rates were locked in at the time the currencies were bought, and not at the time of a transaction, as would be the case with a credit card; and the funds held on the account did not earn interest. Velocity Global Wallet was discontinued in February 2021.
The Velocity Frequent Flyer program, then called Velocity Rewards, won the 2009 Freddie Awards for best frequent flyer program, best award redemption, best affinity credit card, best member communications, best website. This was the fourth consecutive Freddie Awards that Velocity has won. [7] Velocity Frequent Flyer also won the "program of the year" award for the third year running at the 2015 Freddie Awards. [8]
A loyalty program is a marketing strategy designed to encourage customers to continue to shop at or use the services of a business associated with the program. A loyalty program typically involves the operator of a particular program set up an account for a customer of a business associated with the scheme, and then issue to the customer a loyalty card which may be a plastic or paper card, visually similar to a credit card, that identifies the cardholder as a participant in the program. Cards may have a barcode or magstripe to more easily allow for scanning, although some are chip cards or proximity cards.
A frequent-flyer programme (FFP) is a loyalty program offered by an airline.
Virgin Australia, the trading name of Virgin Australia Airlines Pty Ltd, is an Australia-based airline. It is the largest airline by fleet size to use the Virgin brand. It commenced services on 31 August 2000 as Virgin Blue, with two aircraft on a single route. It suddenly found itself as a major airline in Australia's domestic market after the collapse of Ansett Australia in September 2001. The airline has since grown to directly serve 32 cities in Australia, from hubs in Brisbane, Melbourne and Sydney.
AAdvantage is the frequent-flyer program of American Airlines. Launched May 1, 1981, it was the second such loyalty program in the world and remains the largest, with more than 115 million members as of April, 2021.
Aeroplan is a coalition loyalty program owned by Air Canada, Canada's flag carrier. The Aeroplan program was created in July 1984 by Air Canada as an incentive program for its frequent flyer customers. In 2002 it was spun off as a separate corporate entity and eventually sold to Aimia. On May 11, 2017, Air Canada announced it plans to launch a new loyalty program to replace the Aeroplan program in 2020. On August 21, 2018, Air Canada, along with TD, CIBC and Visa, agreed to acquire Aeroplan from Aimia for CA$450 million in cash. There are approximately 5 million active members in the program. On August 11, 2020, Air Canada released details about its new loyalty program, which was a relaunch of Aeroplan.
Flybuys is an Australian customer loyalty program equally owned by the Coles Group and Wesfarmers through joint venture Loyalty Pacific. Members can accrue points by shopping at Coles Group brands, certain Wesfarmers brands, and some third-party partners like HCF Health Insurance, Coles Express and Optus. Points can then be redeemed for money off purchases at Coles Supermarkets, Coles Express, Liquorland, Kmart, Officeworks, Target and mycar, as well as holidays and household goods.
Online shopping rewards are a type of loyalty program to e-commerce shoppers.
HSBC Bank Australia Limited is the Australian subsidiary of HSBC. The bank offers a wide range of financial services in Australia through a network of 36 branches and offices. These services include retail and commercial banking, financial planning, trade finance, treasury, and financial markets, payments and cash management, and securities custody.
Network for Electronic Transfers, colloquially known as NETS, is a Singaporean electronic payment service provider. Founded in 1986 by a consortium of local banks, it aims to establish the debit network and drive the adoption of electronic payments in Singapore. It is owned by DBS Bank, OCBC Bank and United Overseas Bank (UOB).
Loyalty marketing is a marketing strategy in which a company focuses on growing and retaining existing customers through incentives. Branding, product marketing, and loyalty marketing all form part of the customer proposition – the subjective assessment by the customer of whether to purchase a brand or not based on the integrated combination of the value they receive from each of these marketing disciplines.
Everyday Rewards, formerly Woolworths Rewards, is a customer loyalty program owned and operated in Australia and New Zealand by Woolworths Group. Members can earn points in the program from Woolworths Group companies, as well as partner brands like Ampol, Bupa and Origin Energy. Qantas Frequent Flyer program members can convert 2,000 Everyday Rewards points to 1,000 Frequent Flyer points as part of a partnership between the two companies.
Neteller is a global payments platform and digital wallet used to transfer money to and from merchants, such as forex trading brokers, social networks, and gambling websites. Users in the European Economic Area (EEA) and the United Kingdom can add a Net+ Mastercard to their account to pay with their balance in stores or withdraw it as cash from ATMs. Regardless of their location, users can transfer their balance to their own bank accounts or card if they need to withdraw the funds in their account.
TrueBlue is the frequent-flyer program of JetBlue that offers points to passengers traveling on most fare types, as well as to consumers who utilize JetBlue co-branded credit cards.
MileagePlus is the loyalty program of United Airlines that offers rewards to passengers traveling on certain types of tickets. Following the 2010 merger agreement between United and Continental Airlines, United Mileage Plus was chosen to be the frequent flyer program for the combined airline. The program was subsequently renamed to MileagePlus, and maintains its relationship with its Star Alliance partners, as well as other airline and travel enterprise agreements.
Virgin Money Australia is an Australian financial services company owned by Bank of Queensland, and has 150,000 customers.
SkyMiles is the frequent-flyer program of Delta Air Lines that offers points to passengers traveling on most fare types, as well as to consumers who utilize Delta co-branded credit cards, which accumulate towards free awards such as airline tickets, business and first-class upgrades, and luxury products. Created in 1981 as the "Delta Air Lines Frequent Flyer Program", its name was changed to SkyMiles in 1995. Originally all airlines including Delta, only gave miles for airline travel and not credit card expenditures. Delta claims to have been the first major U.S. airline without mileage expiration, so travelers can redeem awards at their leisure, but others have since followed. The airline also has a separate SkyBonus program that provides small to mid-sized business owners with a way to earn points for trips taken by employees, good towards free flights, upgrades, Medallion status and other travel awards. It has been ranked fairly high according to some independent news outlets.
Stash Hotel Rewards is an American company that produces a loyalty rewards program for a network of nearly 200 independent hotels in the United States, Panama, and the Caribbean. The membership is free to join, and guests are given 5 points for every dollar spent at hotels in the network. It is the largest points-based loyalty reward program for independent hotels in North America. The company was founded in 2010 and is based in Palo Alto, California.
A hotel loyalty program or hotel reward program is a loyalty program typically run by a hotel chain. It is a marketing strategy used by hotel chains to attract and retain business at their properties. The program works to entice customers, especially business or other frequent hotel guests, to favour that particular brand or group of hotels over others when selecting a hotel by offering discounts or privileges, such as upgrades.
AwardWallet is frequent flyer miles and points tracking site. It is considered to be the first in the genre, founded in 2004, and tracked more than 400 sites as of 2011. AwardWallet is based out of Bethlehem, Pennsylvania. As of 2021, it has 700,000 users, despite some airlines blocking access to the app citing privacy concerns.
