Citibank, Diners Club, Suncorp bring back credit card Velocity Points

Shoppers with an eligible Citibank, Diners Club, Suncorp, Bank of Queensland or Card Services credit card or charge card can once again convert their rewards into Virgin Australia Velocity Points – with American Express also reopening its Velocity co-brand credit cards to new applicants.

This means points transfers to Velocity Frequent Flyer are once again possible from the Citibank Rewards, Diners Club Rewards, Suncorp Rewards, Bank of Queensland Q Rewards and Card Services Rewards programs.

Such conversions had previously been suspended after Virgin Australia entered voluntary administration back in April – with American Express also withdrawing its AMEX Velocity Platinum Card and AMEX Velocity Escape Card from sale at the same time.

For Citigroup cardholders eligible to convert their reward points into Velocity Points, those transfers are again possible at the following rates:

Meanwhile, the direct-earning Velocity credit cards issued by American Express provide points at the same rate – and with the same annual fee – as before their suspension.

This sees the AMEX Velocity Platinum Card offering 1.25 Velocity Points per $1 spent on most transactions against a $375 annual fee, and the AMEX Velocity Escape Card providing 0.75 Velocity Points per $1 spent on most purchases, with no annual fee.

Velocity Points transfers from ANZ, HSBC

Points conversions from ANZ Rewards and HSBC Rewards Plus remain suspended for the time being.

This makes ANZ the only 'Big Four Bank' to continue blocking Velocity Points transfers for its credit card customers.

The resumption of Velocity Points transfers from Citigroup credit cards – and the return of the direct-earning Velocity AMEX cards – follows similar moves by CBA, Westpac and Virgin Money last week.

Commonwealth Bank and Westpac, Australia’s two biggest banks, restored Velocity Points conversions from CommBank Awards and Westpac Altitude Rewards, respectively, with Westpac also resuming Velocity conversions for Amplify Rewards members of St.George, Bank of Melbourne and BankSA.

Likewise, Virgin Money returned its Velocity Flyer Visa and Velocity High Flyer Visa to the market last week for new customers, after suspending applications back in April.

Also read: The best Virgin Australia Velocity credit card sign-up offers [updated October 2020]

Chris C.

Chris is a a former contributor to Executive Traveller.