Members of Virgin Australia’s Velocity Frequent Flyer program can now pick up some bonus points if they travel with pets. This new twist launched July 1 extends the current family benefits – the ability to pool points and status credits – to pets.
Members will earn a minimum of 300 points per pet carrier for each flight sector flown. Points will be awarded for a maximum of two pet carriers per booking. According to the Velocity points table, the “cheapest” air miles flight costs 6,900 points. Virgin Australia flies nearly 30,000 pets each year around Australia and most of them are owned by Velocity members.
Velocity Frequent Flyer CEO Neil Thompson told Loyalty 360 that to take the loyalty program to the next level, “we constantly listen to feedback from our members and pay close attention to their travel trends.”
Thompson said that a large majority of bookings for pets was made by Velocity Frequent Flyer members in the past year.
“The idea resonated with us because we knew it would resonate with our members,” Thompson explained. “It spoke to the premise of the program – to give our members meaningful rewards and recognition in every facet of their lives. It was also a natural extension on the innovative suite of family benefits that are already available to Velocity members.”
Members of the program can now be rewarded with points each time they fly with Virgin Australia. They only have to submit their membership numbers when they book their dog or cat via the Guest Contact Center.
“We recognize this is a growing trend are we are delighted to be the first loyalty program to reward and recognize pets and their owners,” Thompson said. “As further proof of this, on the day of the launch we announced a nationwide search for the official pet ambassador for the program. In less than 24 hours, we received over 1,000 entries to the competition. We will continue to enhance the program to respond to our members’ changing needs and lifestyles.”
Thompson said Velocity’s program goal is driven by simplicity.
“That’s why the program offers unique family benefits including Family Pooling of Points and Status Credits and the ability to take Parental Leave from the program, when expecting a new addition to the family,” he said. “This innovation is a natural extension of these benefits. Velocity is now the only program to reward and recognize four-legged family members. We will continue to come up with compelling and creative ways to reward members in every facet of their lives.”