Virgin Australia unlocks Singapore Airlines first class rewards

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by Chris Chamberlin | July 13, 2017

EXCLUSIVE | Virgin Australia's Velocity Frequent Flyer members can now book Singapore Airlines Boeing 777 first class and Airbus A380 'Suites Class' flights using their Velocity points, with Singapore Airlines premium economy reward flights also being made available to Velocity members from August 31 2017.

For SQ first class and Suites Class, the number of Velocity points required is the same as to book Etihad Airways first class flights of the same length, being 203,000 Velocity points one-way from Sydney or Melbourne to London (via Singapore), or 406,000 points for a return trip.

You could also book a first class jaunt between either Sydney or Melbourne and Singapore for 95,000 Velocity points one-way, or 190,000 Velocity points return.

Further back in premium economy, a Sydney-Singapore or Melbourne-Singapore leg will set you back 52,500 Velocity points each way (105,000 points round-trip), while flying from the same cities through to London requires 112,500 Velocity points in each direction.

Compared to 139,000 points for business class and 75,000 points for economy on the same routes, that pegs the premium economy reward cost closer to business class than economy.

In Australian skies, Singapore Airlines offers Suites Class, first class and premium economy on selected flights from Sydney and Melbourne only, with all services from Brisbane, Canberra, Adelaide and Perth having only business class and standard economy.

Singapore Airlines premium economy reward flights can be booked through the Velocity Frequent Flyer website from August 31 2017, when these rewards become available to Velocity members.

First class and Suites Class flights can instead be booked right now using Velocity points, but as with Etihad Airways, these can only be secured over the phone by calling Velocity on 13 18 75 between 7:30am and 10:30pm Sydney time, seven days a week.

In all cases, applicable taxes and fees are payable in addition to the Velocity points required, although Velocity's current 'Reward Seat Carrier Charge' of US$300 per first class flight sector – adding A$1,560 to the cost of a return Australia-Europe reward booking with Etihad Airways – will not apply to Singapore Airlines first class bookings.