Virgin Blue
Virgin Blue was founded by Richard Branson’s Virgin Group. It is a low-cost Australian airline, the second biggest airline in the country and the largest according to fleet size with the Virgin branding. Its main hubs are Brisbane Airport, Melbourne Airport and Sydney Airport while focus cities are Adelaide Airport, Canberra Airport, Gold Coast Airport, Perth Airport and Hobart Airport.
Virgin Blue was formed in 2000 with initial offer of seven return flights a day between Brisbane and Sydney. Its flights soon expanded to service all major Australian cities and holiday destinations.
The airline uses the formula popularized by Southwest Airlines and Ryanair, cutting costs on in-flight meals printed tickets and instead starting selling food onboard and using the telephone and internet booking systems. Virgin Blue’s subsidiary, Pacific Blue, started offering cheap services within New Zealand in 2007 primarily to compete with Air New Zealand and Qantas.
In 2006, in its efforts to compete more, Virgin Blue entered into frequent flyer agreements with Emirates Airline, Hawaiian Airlines and Malaysia Airlines. It also had an interline agreement with Garuda Indonesia and Vietnam Airlines.
Virgin Blue added flights to the United States through it new carrier V Australia. V Australia’s first route is Sydney to Los Angeles.
Virgin Blue’s slogan is "Get What You Want."
Domestic and International Destinations
Virgin Blue flies to 27 destinations in Australia, New Zealand, Pacific Islands, Papua New Guinea and Indonesia. It has a fleet size of 68, a mix of Boeing and Embraer.
In Australia Virgin Blue’s destinations include Adelaide, Albury, Ballina/Byron, Brisbane, Broome, Cairns, Canberra, Coffs Coast, Darwin, Fraser Coast, Gold Coast, Hamilton Island, Hobart, Kalgoorlie, Karratha, Kanunurra, Launceston, Mackay, Melbourne, Mildura, Newcastle, Newman, Perth, Port Macquarie, Rockhampton, Sunshine Coast, Sydney, Townsville and Whitsundays.
It also has services to Auckland, Christchurch, Dunedin and Wellington in New Zealand; Apia in Samoa; Honiara in Solomon Islands; Nadi in Fiji; Nuku’Alofa in Tonga; Port Vila in Vanuatu; Rarotonga in Cook Islands; Port Moresby in Papua New Guinea; and Denpasar in Indonesia.
Velocity Rewards
Velocity Rewards is Virgin Blue’s frequent flyer programme that started in 2005. It is in partnership with National Australia Bank which offers a companion credit card.
Velocity Points and Status Credits can be accrued every time members fly with Virgin Blue, V Australia, Pacific Blue and Polynesian Blue. There are three status levels, Red (entry level), Silver and Gold. Earning points and credits are based on the cost of the flight. For every dollar that you spend, you earn 5 Velocity Points and 5 Status Credits. A Red membership can be elevated to Silver Status upon earning 20,000 Status Credits within a 12-month qualification period. Virgin Blue has partnership with hotels, car hire and parking, credit cards, insurance and business, holidays and leisure, shopping and retail companies. Points can be redeemed for various discounts, hotel stays, shopping vouchers and premium items from partners. If you wish, you can even donate your miles to charities.
Benefits of Silver Status include complimentary single entry pass for the member and a guest to Virgin Blue’s The Lounge, discount lounge membership, priority check-in at selected ports, personalised baggage tag, complimentary baggage allowance of up to 23 kilograms and bonus points and credits.
The benefits of having a Gold Status are complimentary membership to Virgin Blue’s The Lounge, priority check-in, personalised baggage tags, baggage allowance of up to 32 kilograms and a complimentary extra piece of baggage when boarding V Australia flights and bonus points and credits.