To reach or retain Velocity Silver, Gold, Platinum or Platinum Plus status, members will need to earn at least 50% of their status credits on ‘Virgin Australia marketed flights’ – which covers Virgin’s own flights as well as codeshare flights with partner airlines booked under a VA flight number.

The airline will add a new “Forever Gold” status from October next year, matching Qantas’ gold lifetime status, as well as a “Platinum Plus” tier above platinum. Velocity Frequent Flyer hit 12 million members earlier this year,

Virgin Australia’s Velocity is undergoing a major revamp with the addition of two more tiers and changes to the way in which points and status credits are earned by frequent flyers.

Virgin Australia will reward its top frequent flyers with lifetime Velocity status and a new Platinum Plus tier as the airline aims to close the loyalty gap against Qantas.