This week's wrap for Qantas, Virgin Australia frequent flyers

By Chris C., September 4 2015

It’s a big week for Virgin Australia Velocity Frequent Flyer members with the signing of a new credit card earning partner in HSBC, plus the opening of Premium Entry facilities in Brisbane for Gold and Platinum travellers to shortcut the main terminal and arrive in style.

There’s also something new for American Express cardholders: an easy way to use your Membership Rewards points to pay for your everyday transactions on the go, whether you’re simply buying dinner, catching a movie or are staying at your favourite hotel.

Rounding things up for another week: Quickflix will soon depart from the Velocity Frequent Flyer scheme, while Qantas is paying out four Qantas Points per dollar spent on movie tickets.

Virgin Australia inks points partnership with HSBC

HSBC Platinum and Premier credit card customers can now earn Virgin Australia Velocity frequent flyer points on their everyday spends.

Additionally, cardholders who have already notched up points in HSBC’s Rewards Plus scheme can too convert those into Velocity Points at the rate of 2 HSBC points = 1 Velocity Point.

Ship your points across to Velocity by October 15 2015 and you’ll also pocket a cool 15% bonus on top in celebration of the new tie-up.

Using AMEX MR points to offset everyday purchases

American Express cardholders who earn points in the Membership Rewards scheme can now redeem those points on the fly against purchases on their credit card.

Simply load up the AMEX Australia app for iPhone or Android, click on a transaction you’d like to pay for with points and then lock everything in: it’s that simple.

While savvy frequent flyers may be able to extract more value by converting their MR points into airline frequent flyer points, the new ‘Pay for Charges’ tool does provide an easy way to reduce the balance of your next credit card bill.

Velocity Gold & Platinum get Brisbane Premium Entry

Virgin Australia’s much-loved Premium Entry concept is now available to Velocity Gold and Platinum frequent flyers travelling from Brisbane Airport.

Premium Entry serves as a fast-track straight from Brisbane's valet parking area into the lounge via private and dedicated security screening lanes, instead of having to schlep through the terminal itself.

There you’ll be checked in by the friendly staff and can clear security through one of two private screening points, before ascending the escalators and walking straight into the lounge.

Quickflix to depart from Virgin Australia Velocity

Online streaming service and movie hire company Quickflix will end its partnership with Virgin Australia’s Velocity Frequent Flyer scheme come September 23, after which Velocity members will no longer accrue frequent flyer points on their Quickflix membership.

In an email sent to subscribers this week, Quickflix advised that Velocity points would still be awarded as usual until that date: so if your subscription is up for renewal before September 23, you’ll have one last chance to earn points from Quickflix:

Quickflix currently rewards ongoing subscribers with 75 Velocity Points per month, whether on the cheapest streaming-only plan or the more expensive package that also includes DVD & Blu-ray disc hire.

Competing services including Netflix, Stan and Presto don’t currently offer frequent flyer points with an Australian airline, and like Quickflix, only accrue 0.5 Membership Rewards points or airline frequent flyer points on selected American Express cards that reduce earning rates on ‘utilities’.

Qantas serves up double points on movie vouchers

Heading to the movies this weekend, or even throughout the upcoming school holidays? Buy movie vouchers through Qantas Movies and collect an impressive four frequent flyer points per dollar spent.

The process is simple: after buying your Qantas Movies voucher, just present it at the cinema of your choice and it'll be 'converted' into a movie ticket – easy!

Qantas Movies ordinarily awards two points per dollar spent, but is dishing out a higher four points per dollar on vouchers bought until September 20 2015.

Vouchers are valid for five months from the date of purchase and can be bought on the Qantas Movies website.

Also read: Earning Qantas Points on movie tickets

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