Virgin Australia: new frequent flyer partnership with Air Canada

A number of sources are reporting that Air Canada has made Virgin Australia a frequent flyer partner as of 19 January 2021. This means that you will be able to earn and burn points on Air Canada’s Aeroplan and Virgin Australia’s Velocity Frequent Flyer programs.

Since Virgin announced the development of a strategic partnership with Air Canada 4 years ago, a log has changed. Virgin Australia has new owners, and Aeroplan has had a complete re-design.

Virgin Australia has yet to make a public announcement or to provide details of points earned, or needed to redeem flights on Air Canada. We also don’t know what priveledges Gold and Silver Velocity members will receive, or who will get to enter the Air Canada Maple Leaf lounges.

Pre-pandemic, Air Canada flew to Sydney, Melbourne and Brisbane from Vancouver. Don’t expect those routes to re-open until Australia’s international borders are re-opened, and that is very unlikely to be before June 2021 at the earliest.