5 unexpected places you can earn Velocity frequent flyer points

Virgin Australia's Velocity frequent flyer program has teamed up with several retailers and hotels to help you get more bang for your buck. (Source: Getty) (Samantha Menzies)

This is part two of a two-part series on how to double your frequent flyer points with Qantas and Virgin Velocity. Look out for part one: 5 unexpected places you can earn Qantas frequent flyer points.

From groceries to petrol and even rent, the rising cost of living is putting our finances under strain. So there has never been a better time to work out how to get money for nothing, and your travel for free. And thanks to a raft of new deals and offers, Virgin Australia Velocity members can now do exactly that.

Here is the full list of all the outlets and providers that have deals with Virgin Australia’s frequent flyer program which can help you earn double on every dollar you spend.

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You will know that certain credit cards let you accrue frequent flyer points. But did you know that you can effectively double what you collect – from the same spend – by shopping and spending in the right places?

Here are five unexpected places where Velocity members can now rack up even more points:

1. Health funds

This one is a new and welcome development… as funds seek to keep their customers in tighter times, certain providers have made deals with Virgin Velocity. There are some funds that offer points on sign-up – for example, join Medibank right now and you can earn up to 130,000 Velocity Points - while other funds use benefit and wellbeing programs to deliver extra air miles. Check yours now.

2. Rental cars

You can literally drive those frequent flyer miles longer with Europcar, Hertz, Thrifty and Dollar car rental.

3. Retailers

There are some big ones that offer Velocity points. Myer is probably the most notable, but there is also Snooze, Freedom Kitchens and Wardrobes, and others.

4. Velocity e-store

The e-tailers to which Virgin has now tied are plentiful and impressive, such as Apple, appliances online, catch.com.au, Chemist Warehouse, Dell, ebay and Lenova.

5. Hotels

There are some appealing partners, most notably Crown Hotels, Hamilton Island, Accor Live Limitless, Pan Pacific Hotels and Resorts and the Langham Hospitality Group. And – happy holiday days – you can earn up to three Velocity Points per $1 of eligible spending.

As the Virgin website explains: There are three ways you can earn points with its hotel partners:

1. Book directly on the hotel partner’s website or via its call centre

2. Join the hotel partner’s loyalty program and select ‘Velocity’ as your preferred method of earning or transfer your existing hotel loyalty points to Velocity

3. Book on the Virgin Australia website.

Note that you cannot earn points if you book through most third-party websites, like online discount accommodation sites. To collect points in any of the other above ways, you usually just show your Velocity frequent flyer card at ‘checkout’ – virtual or actual.

Velcocity members can earn points via Coles' flybuys rewards system. (Source: Getty) (AFP via Getty Images)

The big Flybuys points opportunity

It’s not just direct Velocity points you can earn – you can also choose to convert shopping points. Coles’ Flybuys scheme gives you the option to swap your points into the Virgin Velocity frequent flyer program (much like Woolworths’ Everyday Rewards can be converted into Qantas points).

And harking back to health funds above, many more health funds now give you Flybuys points on your premiums. HCF is one such fund and if you join before June 30, you can collect up to 150,000 bonus Flybuys points too.

Other places you can earn Flybuys are, of course, Coles subsidiaries or affiliates. These include Kmart, Target, First Choice Liquor & Liqourland, AGL, Budget, Bunnings, Discovery Parks and Top Parks, eBay, Garmin, OfficeWorks and dozens more: The full list is here.

But, don’t just disinterestedly scan your card at the checkout— work the Flybuys offers. Frequent flyer aficionados say specific item offers and bonus points for reaching a spending amount are the secret to thousands of extra points… and you don’t have to change your spending habits too much to do it. Check the Flybuys app before you shop to make a (points) plan. You might need to activate offers, too. And look out for the regular four-week challenges at Coles, where you can get, say, 10,000 bonus points if you spend $50 a week for four weeks.

So how far could you fly?

The list of airlines on which you can use Virgin Velocity points is long. It includes not just Virgin Atlantic but Air Canada, Etihad Airways, Hawaiian Airlines, Singapore Airlines and United Airlines. So, just how far could your normal shopping and spending take you?

Nicole Pedersen-McKinnon is the author of How to Get Mortgage-Free Like Me, available at www.nicolessmartmoney.com. Follow Nicole on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.

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