Virgin Australia is set to increase the minimum number of points required to upgrade from economy to business class.

It’s just one part of a sweeping overhaul to the airline’s Velocity Frequent Flyer program.

There are upsides in those changes, such as the long-awaited arrival of lifetime Velocity status and the debut of a new Velocity Platinum Plus tier.

There are also downsides: a controversial move to spend-based status earning, and a reduction in the number of points and status credits earned on partner airlines.

But for what it’s worth, these changes to Virgin Australia business class upgrade system contain one unexpected upside…

Virgin business class upgrades: what’s changing

As of Monday November 18, requesting a business class upgrade through Virgin’s UpgradeMe Points program will cost significantly more points for passengers booked on an Economy Flex ticket, which is Virgin’s most expensive economy fare category.

On domestic flights, the increase is over 100% – that’s right, you’ll need at least twice as many Velocity Points as more – while Virgin’s handful of overseas routes sees an average rise close to 40%.

Upgrading from an Economy Flex ticket to business class has always needed substantially fewer Velocity Points compared to upgrading from an Economy Choice ticket.

But under the new UpgradeMe Points structure, upgrading from Economy Flex and Economy Choice to business class will require the same minimum number of Velocity Points.

Here are some examples:

• Sydney-Melbourne, Sydney-Brisbane, Melbourne-Adelaide: an Economy Flex upgrade to business class will jump from 4,900 points to 10,000 points
• Sydney-Adelaide, Melbourne-Brisbane: an Economy Flex upgrade to business class will rocket from 7,400 points to 17,500 points
• Sydney-Perth, Melbourne-Perth, Brisbane-Perth: an Economy Flex upgrade to business class more than triples from 9,900 points to 30,000 points

Economy Flex fares drop in price

And looking at the reason behind this change, it makes sense.

Earlier this month, Virgin Australia slashed its standard Economy Flex fares, making them much more affordable – and surprisingly close to an Economy Choice ticket on the same flight.

Earlier this year, for example, you could see a one-way Economy Flex fare between Sydney and Perth at almost $800 while Economy Choice was $350

It’s now more common for the same route to show Economy Flex at $415 with Economy Choice at $330.

So in line with the relatively small difference in price, Virgin has set the minimum points upgrade amounts to be the same on both fares.

The revised pricing structure sees Virgin encouraging travellers to spend a little more for the added benefits of a Flex ticket, which include

• no-fee flight changes (apart from any fare difference)
• cancelling your flight and receiving the full amount in travel credit (or claiming a cash refund with a $99 fee)
• earning many more Velocity status credits (until April 2 2025, when Virgin moves to spend-based status credit earning)

Velocity Platinum upgrades

And there’s a notable upside in all this for Velocity Platinum members, who each year receive four free business class upgrades – but only if they’ve booked an Economy Flex ticket.

The decision to reduce the cost of Economy Flex fares should make it easier for Velocity Platinums to use those upgrades by reducing the necessary travel spend.

Of course, the new Velocity Platinum Plus tier extends those four complimentary business class upgrades to passengers on an Economy Choice fare rather than limiting them to the most expensive Economy Flex fares.