VA Accelerate revamp

VIRGIN Australia has revised the terms of its Accelerate corporate customer program, simplifying the scheme with the previous Travel Credit tiers removed effective from 06 Oct.

Previously clients were offered volume-based rebates on the amount of VA flights booked through the platform, with the revised scheme meaning Accelerate customers no longer need to reach a minimum spend or an anniversary to receive a travel credit.

A VA spokesperson told Travel Daily “all in all, the net benefit of our new lower fare prices combined with the revised Accelerate program discount terms has resulted in more competitive fares than ever”.

Given the last two years of negligible flying for many businesses, the previous volumebased model would not have been effective coming out of the pandemic, the carrier said.

“Since exiting administration we have simplified our business model and have substantially reduced the cost of airfares across the board.

“Accelerate members will continue to receive discounts on top of our already low airfares without the need to reach a minimum spend or anniversary,” the spokesperson added.

VA cited a recent Butler Caroye study which found that the price gap between Qantas and Virgin Australia had doubled in favour of VA having cheaper fares.

The price gap was 67.1% in the second quarter of 2021, vs 32.8% in the first half of 2019, with VA saying “we are a much better proposition for SME/Accelerate customers than our competitor”.