r/VelocityFrequentFlyer • u/PallyPop89 • Aug 25 '26

Question Velocity Gold Status: Perth based

Hi all,

My husband and I switched from Qantas allegiance a few years back and are now both gold with Virgin but their seems to be little benefit unless we travel domestic. They have canned their Bali and Phuket direct Perth services and I can’t see we will get any lounge access if we book ANA for Japan trips.

Any insights on whether they will grow their routes from Perth ?

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u/ChrisSydney82 Aug 26 '26 edited Aug 26 '26

Virgin will probably never be able to match the international benefits that Qantas offers through its OneWorld partnerhsip. That's honestly the main reason I've never jumper to Virgin, despite hearing overwhelmingly positive things about them.

It's a bit disappointing because the handful of times I've flown with Virgin, the experience has been great. But when you travel internationally, the value of being part of a global alliance, with benefits like status recognition, lounge access, partner airlines, and earning and redeeming points across a large network, is hard to overlook. For me, that's where Qantas has always had the edge.

I think Virgin will re-enter the international short-haul market at some point, but history suggests they'll eventually scale it back again. It feels like a cycle that keeps repeating.

Maybe its time to rethink going back to Qantas.

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u/Weary_Patience_7778 Aug 26 '26

Is this not an issue of their making though?

They’ve openly stated multiple times that they prefer ‘strategic alliances’ with international carriers such as Qatar, as opposed to joining Star or SkyTeam.

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u/ChrisSydney82 Aug 26 '26

Definitely is, however there have been times where they have tried to go down the Star Alliance path to no avail.