Virgin Australia and Delta Air Lines are officially calling time on their relationship, with the break-up taking effect in two stages.
April 2022 will see United Airlines formally replace Delta as Virgin’s partner in the USA, Mexico and South America and the Caribbean.
This will include a VA flight number appearing against selected United services – including trans-Pacific routes between Australia and Los Angeles, San Francisco and Houston – along with a full suite of perks for Virgin’s Velocity frequent flyers.
However, some Velocity benefits will continue to be available on Delta Air Lines flights until mid-June under what a Delta spokeswoman described to Executive Traveller as “part of a transition period agreed between DL and VA.”
That stage runs through to June 12 and this includes earning Velocity points and status credits, using Velocity points to book a reward seat on a future Delta flight (or make changes to an existing points-based reward booking) and what Virgin Australia broadly describes as “all other offer benefits.”
But come June 13, all ties are cut.
Both airlines last month advised the United States Department of Transportation that their long-standing joint venture was kaput.
For its part, Delta Air Lines says it will continue flying between Sydney and Los Angeles without Virgin’s support.
“Delta’s operations in Australia are not impacted by the termination of the agreement with Virgin Australia, and we continue to operate nonstop service to/from Sydney,” a spokeswoman for the airline has confirmed to Executive Traveller.
United Airlines will not only allow Virgin’s frequent flyers to earn Velocity points and status credits on UA flights but also offer status-based perks such as access to United Club lounges plus priority check-in, security clearance and boarding.
While the full extent of these have yet to be revealed, they’ll roughly be in line with the perks extended to Virgin Australia’s Velocity members under…