Virgin Australia’s loyalty program Velocity Frequent Flier has just put a freeze on all redemptions in the wake of the airline’s collapse.
Last night, the the Velocity store crashed after Aussies scrambled to use up their points which they feared would vanish if the airline entered administration.
“We’ve made the difficult decision to pause all redemptions for an initial period of four weeks, effective immediately,” the company said in a statement.
“This means members won’t be able to redeem their points for rewards during the pause.”
They company stressed that members’ points aren’t going anywhere for the time being, and that no points will expire during this four-week period.
People will also still be able to redeem points through the usual avenues.
A day earlier, the company stopped members from transferring their points to Singapore Airlines’ KrisFlyer program after people started abandoning ship.
Because Velocity Frequent Flier is a separate company, it has not actually entered administration like Virgin Australia.
In fact, Velocity had a higher gross revenue than the airline in the second half of last year.
“We will continue to assess a range of options for the program and we want that to include a continuation of our long-standing partnership with Virgin Australia,” the company said.
“Although the initial timeframe for this restriction is four weeks, this period may be extended. We will come back to you with an update as soon as we can.”
It is unclear what will happen to points after the four-week freeze.
