Frequent flyers can now 'earn & burn' on Virgin & Singapore
By David Flynn, December 20 2011
Virgin Australia and Singapore Airlines today kicked off their reciprocal 'earn and burn' privileges for frequent flyers.
Travellers can now pick up points and status credits in the airlines' respective Velocity and KrisFlyer programs, as well as redeem them on flights with either airline.
Virgin's point earn starts at a pleasingly full rate: SQ economy class gains you 1 Velocity point per mile.
However, allowances in premium cabins are less than you'd expect given the extra money you pay: only 1.25 Velocity points for business class, 1.5 for first class and 1.6 for the swish Singapore Airlines suites.
Status credits towards your Velocity tier are earned at the same rate as for flights with Virgin Australia and partners such as Etihad and Air New Zealand.
As part of the Virgin-Singapore alliance announced earlier this year, and recently approved by the ACCC, Velocity Gold and Platinum members already enjoy access to SQ's SilverKris lounges – except in Singapore itself, where they're stuck in the no-showers-or-toilets KrisFlyer Gold lounges unless they're booked into the pointy end of the plane.
The two airlines expect to commence codesharing on each other’s services from early 2012.
David Flynn is the Editor-in-Chief of Executive Traveller and a bit of a travel tragic with a weakness for good coffee, shopping and lychee martinis.
Qantas - Qantas Frequent Flyer
19 Nov 2011
Total posts 243
Number of points per mile for Singapore Airlines have been revealed.
https://www.velocityrewards.com.au/content/Earn/Airlines/PointsEarn/index.htm#7
03 Jan 2011
Total posts 665
Yes, and good to see that it's at the full rate rather than the reduced Virgin Atlantic rate. That said, given that Singapore Airlines' business class comes at a price premium, it's a shame that it doesn't also come at a point/status premium. (Same for first class, though that's not unique to the SQ partnership.)
Qantas - Qantas Frequent Flyer
19 Nov 2011
Total posts 243
Sad no bonus points for Silver, Gold and Platinum members like Etihad Airways.
To earn more points from cattle class, I rather pick Singapore Airlines and Etihad Airways to avoid tiered points.
04 Nov 2010
Total posts 670
Just in time, I have a bunch of KrisFlyer points that'll expire soon but nowhere near enough of them to actually DO anything. If you take only one or two SQ flights from Sydney to Singapore you earn points but they're not enough for any flight, does this mean I can transfer them to Velocity?
24 Oct 2010
Total posts 2555
Hey Al: no, you can't transfer points from one airline to the other, sorry! The 'burn' part of the 'earn and burn' means you can redeem points for a flight on the other airline, but if you don't have enough points to reedem on anything there's naught you can do with those points...
Qantas - Qantas Frequent Flyer
19 Nov 2011
Total posts 243
If you fly Singapore Airlines frequently, probably consider switching to Velocity program where the points do not expire as long as there is at least a debit or credit points transaction in the account in a 36 month period. The clock resets from the latest transaction in the account.
My KrisFlyer points are expiring and I probably have 1000 miles in it from flying their Star Alliance partner airlines in the past. Not much I can do with 1000 miles. Wish I can transfer it over to Velocity and zero the account.
Thai Airways International - Royal Orchid Plus
15 Jan 2013
Total posts 467
I have a Thai Royal Orchid Plus card which prior to SIA joining Velocity was how I got my points there but it has been sitting there unused for a while.It's a shame Virgin aren't part of Star Alliance otherwise what is left of the miles can be switched over.
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