VA joins forces with LE

Virg in Australia’s Velocity Frequent Flyer loyalty program has announced a new multi-year partnership with Luxury Escapes to provide Aussie travellers with more rewards and better value.

Under the new deal, which goes live on 16 Jul, Velocity’s 11 million plus members, and Luxury Escapes’ 3 million Aussie customers, will be able to earn and redeem Velocity points on thousands of Luxury Escapes packages, hotels, cruises, tours, and experiences.

Members will also be able to offset the cost of their next Luxury Escapes holiday by using their Velocity points to pay for part or all of their booking, and redeem benefits such as complimentary lounge access, priority boarding, and preferential seating.

Luxury Escapes co-founder and Chief Executive Officer Adam Schwab told Travel Daily his company values the fact a business of Virgin’s scale wanted to partner with it.

“[VA] is a fun, young airline, and our experience working with them so far has been that they’re willing to try stuff, they’re super engaged,” he said.

Schwab added the partnership will target Qantas Airways’ Frequent Flyers through Virgin’s ‘Switcheroo’ status match, which can then be spent with LE.

“If you’re a Luxury Escapes member and you’ve got Gold status with Qantas, Virgin will match that status,” he said.

“It’s a fantastic opportunity for Luxury Escapes members.”

The partnership comes after Qantas last year acquired a majority stake in TripADeal, another online travel agent ( TD 24 May 2022).

Luxury Escapes and Qantas were themselves in a similar partnership which lasted for just over four years ( 01 Feb 2018).