Virgin Australia flight credits. What you need to know

Last financial year around 8.5% of Virgin Australia flights were cancelled. This might sound high but that’s only slightly above average for the Aussie airlines that were tracked.⁵

When your flight is cancelled by the airline or you need to cancel it, one of the first questions that comes to mind is what compensation you’ll receive.

To help answer this question we’re going to take a look at the flight credits system used by Virgin Australia, delving into why you might get flight credits, where to check them and how to use them.

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What are flight credits with Virgin Australia airlines and how/why are they gotten?

Flight credits are given to customers by Virgin Australia if they or you cancel your flight and you’re entitled to the credits based on your fare rules.²

At the moment there are two valid types of flight credit issued by Virgin Australia. Which one you get is based on when your flight was cancelled.

• Future flight credits: For flights booked on or before 20 April 2020¹
• Standard credits: For flights booked on or after 21 April 2020²

Here’s a quick comparison of the two.

Feature	Future Flight credits¹	Standard credits²
Expiry Date	Valid for travel up to 31 December 2023	Expiry dates are based on when the credit was issued
Flight Availability	For use on any Virgin Australia operated flights and select Alliance Airlines flights to and from Brisbane. There’s a limited number of Future Flight seats available on each flight.	For use on any flight operated by Virgin Australia and its airline partners
Can be used over multiple bookings	Yes	Yes
Can be used for additional checked baggage	Yes	Yes
Passengers can be different to the original booking	Yes	Yes

For this article we’re going to focus on Standard credits since this is the system currently being used.

Is a flight credit the same as a voucher?

Flight credits are a bit different to a voucher. With Virgin Australia a flight credit can be issued when your flight is cancelled². Vouchers can be purchased without needing to book a flight, although at the time they weren’t available for purchase on the Virgin Australia website.⁴

Read more: Virgin AU ticket refunds. All you need to know

How to find your Virgin Australia credit voucher

Where you can find your Virgin Australia flight credits varies depending on how the flight was originally booked.

Direct Booking

For direct bookings your Virgin Australia flight credits are stored in a Travel Bank that’s created by Virgin.³ The login information is generated by their system and sent to the email address that was used to make the original booking.³ With these details you can check your flight credits on the Travel Bank website or use them to book a flight.

Travel Agent

If you booked through a travel agent they’ll be sent the flight credits to hold.² When you want to use the credits your agent can then book a flight on your behalf.

How to redeem your flight credit with Virgin Australia

Here’s how you redeem your Virgin Standard flight credits.³

1. Start a flight search on the Virgin Australia website.
2. Tick the “I would like to use Travel Bank” box and input your Travel Bank username.
3. Select one of the available fares.
4. Input your personal information and add any flight extras.
5. On the payments page select “Travel Bank” as your form of payment.
6. Follow the prompts to login to your Travel Bank account.
7. Choose how much of your credit you want to use then confirm the booking.

Read more: Qantas flight credits. What you need to know

How long does a flight credit last with Virgin Australia? Do they expire?

Standard Virgin Australia flight credits do expire but the time period isn’t available on the website. Instead customers need to check the expiry date through the Travel Bank website.²

Can you use Virgin Australia flight credit to travel somewhere else?

Yes, as long as you’re flying with Virgin Australia or one of their partner airlines on an eligible flight you can pick any of the available destinations.²

Can you sell off or give your Virgin Australia flight credit to someone else?

If you have travel credits you can’t transfer or sell them to another person.³ What you can do is book a flight for them using your credits.

Contacting Virgin Australia airlines

If you need some help from Virgin Australia you can try contacting them on these numbers.

• 13 67 89 within Australia
• +61 7 3295 2296 from overseas

Wise Account and card for your travels

Although your flight credits can cover all or some of your airfare with Virgin, you still need an easy and convenient way to make purchases at home or abroad. That is where the Wise Account comes in handy.

Not only can you use your Wise Account to hold and convert over 40 currencies, but you can order your own Wise Debit card to connect to your Wise Account and spend online or overseas at the mid-market rate — just like the one you see on Google.

Forget unexpected international transaction fees or high conversion rates, say hello to the world with the Wise Account.

Safe travels.

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Please see Terms of Use for your region or visit Wise Fees & Pricing for the most up-to-date pricing and fee information.

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Sources:

1. Virgin Australia - Future Flight credits
2. Virgin Australia - Standard credits
3. Virgin Australia - Travel Bank
4. Virgin Australia - Gift Vouchers
5. Bitre - Airline On Time Performance, 2021-22 Financial Year Report

Sources checked on: 23 April 2023