Virgin Australia partners with Didi for rewarding rideshare trips

Virgin Australia frequent flyers have a new path to raking in Velocity Points from today as the airline switches on a fresh partnership with rideshare operator DiDi, with members now earning one point for every dollar spent on rides across Australia.

In addition, both new and existing DiDi users who link their Velocity membership to their DiDi account May 15 will receive a one-time bonus of 1,000 Velocity Points.

The tie-up comes in the wake of Virgin Australia’s previous rideshare partner Ola, which ended its arrangement in May last year ahead of the brand’s recent exit from Australia.

That arrangement acted in a similar fashion to that of rival Qantas and its Uber partnership, whereby Qantas Frequent Flyers earn points on rides only to and from select Australian airports. The new DiDi partnership has a much broader scope. 

DiDi is the new rideshare partner of Velocity Frequent Flyer.

“We are the only airline loyalty program in Australia giving members the opportunity to earn points on every rideshare trip they take,” explains Velocity Frequent Flyer CEO, Nick Rohrlach. 

“DiDi also offers Australians affordable everyday fares, which aligns with our ongoing focus of delivering value to our members across all areas of the program”.

There’s no limit to the number of points Velocity and Virgin Australia Business Flyer members can earn on DiDi rides. That said, there’s no double dipping if you’re a member of both programs, with users having to specify which account will receive points before booking a ride. Full details are available via the Virgin Australia website. 

DiDi claims to have approximately 4 million customers in Australia, while Velocity has today announced it has reached a milestone of 12 million members.