Virgin Blue launches Velocity

Virgin Blue today unveiled the world’s newest loyalty program – “VELOCITY”, in conjunction with foundation launch partners National Australia Bank, Emirates, Virgin Atlantic, and Europcar.

The airline also announced two new Velocity branded credit cards – Velocity National Visa Card and the Velocity National Gold American Express^® card.

“Velocity powered by Virgin Blue, is for all of our Guests and is also part of our strategy to broaden Virgin Blue’s appeal to frequent travellers, and the corporate and Government sectors,” said Virgin Blue Chief Executive Officer Brett Godfrey.

“We are more committed than ever to our original charter to drive competition by offering a high quality product at consistently lower fares, and now we have added a next generation loyalty program to the mix,” he said.

Virgin Blue has grown in five years to offer a competitive national, Tasman and South Pacific Island network.

During the past 12 months the airline has completed a number of key developments including more frequency on main trunk routes, Blue Plus fares for business travellers, Blue-Check self-check-in kiosks, the progressive Web Check-In service and new code-share technology.

Brett Godfrey continued “Now with 51 aircraft, and more than 300 flights daily to 22 Australian and six overseas destinations, we are well positioned to take advantage of our size, scale, and frequency.”

“To develop Velocity and determine the key program benefits, we studied the experiences and frustrations of Australian frequent flyers including members of our competitor’s program and those who were members of the former Ansett Global Rewards. The time is now right for a next generation loyalty program in Australia.

One of the primary frustrations of existing frequent flyer programs is not being able to get a seat when you want to travel. Velocity is set to change that.  Among the key benefits of Velocity:

* Any seat redemption:  Every flight, every route, every day, all year round availability*

* No blackout periods:  Even at Easter, Christmas, school or public holidays*

* Free on-line membership

* Points don’t expire while you are an active member

* Members points are backed by a Trust structure

Brett Godfrey continued, “Virgin Blue is a new world carrier and Velocity is a new world loyalty program.  

The reality is we operate in a volatile global market and make no mistake, Virgin Blue will continue to use innovation and “out of the box” thinking to stay at the forefront of competition, be it with affordable airfares, award winning service, technology or in this case, a loyalty program.”

For more information on Velocity, go to www.velocityrewards.com.au