Virgin Australia Holidays, the new version, combines flights and accommodations into a single booking, featuring a different technology partner and new rules you should know before pulling out your credit card. Here’s everything you need to know: how it works, what it really costs, and how it compares to the competition.
What exactly is Virgin Australia Holidays?
It’s a service that lets you book a Virgin Australia flight and accommodations in a single transaction, rather than having to manage two separate reservations.
An important point that many travelers don’t realize: Virgin Australia Holidays isn’t managed internally by the airline. The service operates in partnership with Hopper, a travel technology platform that already provides similar products to other airlines around the world. In practice, all bookings go through the “Hopper Portal,” which is accessible from the Virgin Australia website but has terms and conditions that differ from those of a standard airline ticket purchased directly.
This distinction has a very important practical implication: the rules for changing or canceling a package are not the same as those for a Virgin Australia ticket purchased on its own. They vary depending on the type of fare selected and the hotel chosen, and may be less flexible than expected, even when the base airfare would normally be changeable.
Hopper is also working with Virgin Australia on another add-on product, the “Cancel For Any Reason” option, which allows you to recover 80% or 100% of the ticket price for a fee, within certain time frames.
How to book a package on Virgin Australia Holidays
The platform is operated in partnership with Hopper, an online travel specialist. Here’s a step-by-step guide to booking a package.
1. Access the Holidays platform
Go to the dedicated page on the Virgin Australia website, accessible via the “Book” menu and then “Holidays” (or directly at virginaustralia.com, under the Holidays section). This is where you’ll find flight + hotel deals, with popular destinations highlighted, such as Bali, the Gold Coast, Cairns, New Zealand, and Brisbane.
2. Log in to your Velocity account (recommended)
You don’t need an account to view the offers, but logging in or creating a Velocity Frequent Flyer account gives you access to member-exclusive fares and allows you to:
– Earn Velocity points on the total value of the package;
– Use points you’ve already earned to pay for all or part of the reservation (Points + Pay);
– Earn status credits, just as you would on a standard flight booked directly.
3. Enter your search criteria:
In the package search engine, enter:
– the departure city and destination;
– the travel dates (outbound and return);
– the number of travelers (adults and children);
– the desired fare class (for example, Economy Choice).
The search engine will then display a selection of hotels available for those dates, along with the combined flight and hotel price.
4. Compare accommodation options
Each result displays the hotel’s name, rating, location, and the total price of the package for all travelers. It’s helpful to filter by neighborhood, price range, or accommodation type to find the best option. Some offers include free cancellation, which is something to check before confirming your selection.
5. Select the flight and hotel:
After choosing your accommodation, the next step is to confirm the details of the associated flight (schedules, any layovers) and then confirm your room selection (bed type, meal plan, cancellation policy).
6. Add additional options:
Before payment, the platform often offers the option to add:
– airport transfers;
– on-site activities or excursions;
– travel insurance.
These options are optional and can be skipped if not needed.
7. Enter traveler information and pay:
Next, enter the details for each passenger (name, date of birth, contact information), review the price summary—which includes applicable taxes and fees—and then proceed to payment. If Velocity points are used, their value is automatically deducted from the total amount due.
8. Receive and manage your confirmation:
Once the payment is confirmed, a confirmation email is sent with the flight and hotel reservation details. Subsequent changes (modifications, cancellations, inquiries) are handled separately:
– Flights are managed through the “Manage Booking” section on the Virgin Australia website;
– Hotel reservations are managed through the “Manage Hotel Reservations” section, operated by Hopper.
How Velocity Points are earned on Virgin Australia Holidays packages:
One of Virgin Australia Holidays’ main selling points is its integration with the Velocity Frequent Flyer loyalty program, which has over 12 million members. On eligible packages, travelers can earn up to 4.5 Velocity points per dollar spent, as well as Status Credits on qualifying flights, a significant advantage for members looking to advance more quickly to a higher status tier (Silver, Gold, Platinum).
The points-earning rate on the hotel portion of a package is comparable to what you’d get by booking through traditional hotel platforms like Agoda or Qantas Hotels, the real advantage lies primarily in the bundled flight + hotel discount rather than in a disproportionate points bonus.
A notable feature of these limited-time promotions: Virgin Australia occasionally offers periods during which Status Credits are doubled for bookings made through the Holidays platform, making this a particularly attractive option for travelers looking to reach a status tier before the end of a qualifying period, provided, as noted above, that they carefully review the cancellation policies.
Available destinations:
Destinations highlighted during the launch and subsequent promotions include:
- Short-haul international: Bali (Denpasar, Indonesia), Fiji (Nadi), Vanuatu, Queenstown (New Zealand).
- Domestic: Cairns and Tropical North Queensland, Gold Coast, Byron Bay, Brisbane, and other Australian cities.
Virgin Australia Holidays faces competition:
The main direct competitor remains Qantas Holidays, which also offers flight+hotel packages to destinations such as Bali, with a comparable loyalty points system (Qantas Frequent Flyer / Qantas Points). The decision between the two depends mainly on two factors: which loyalty program you’re already enrolled in (Velocity vs. Qantas Frequent Flyer), and which airline best serves your departure airport for your desired destination.
There are also generic travel aggregators (Kayak, Expedia, and similar sites) that let you compare flight&hotel packages across all airlines, without being tied to a specific loyalty program. These tools are useful for verifying, before booking through Virgin Australia Holidays, that the package price offered is truly competitive and not just marketed as such.
The actual price: Is it really a better deal than booking separately?
That’s the question everyone asks, and the honest answer is: it depends on the destination and the length of the stay.
For introductory offers, the advertised prices were as follows (based on two travelers, round-trip Economy Choice flight + accommodation included):
- Gold Coast → Denpasar (Bali): starting at 745 AUD per person for 4 nights
- Canberra → Denpasar (Bali): starting at 779 AUD per person for 4 nights
- Melbourne → Denpasar (Bali): starting at 819 AUD per person for 4 nights
- Melbourne or Gold Coast → Bali (on Economy Lite fares): starting at 655 AUD per person for 4 nights, during a future promotion
- Fiji (Nadi) packages, departing from Melbourne or Brisbane: starting at 1,060 AUD per person for 4 nights
- Australia packages (domestic destinations): starting at 386 AUD per person. During a “flash sale,” packages were listed starting at 390 AUD per person
On an international package, the ticket price alone is about 660 AUD, and adding two nights at a hotel (normally worth about 500 AUD) brings the total price up to only 830 AUD, a surcharge of just 170 AUD for accommodations. For longer stays, the savings become even more significant; a 5-night package sometimes costs only 20 AUD more than a 2-night package. However, for certain destinations where the hotel included in the package is already expensive at the list price (the example given being New York), the savings are more limited.
Key takeaway: Package deals are especially worthwhile when they provide access to a bulk-negotiated hotel rate, and the savings increase with the length of your stay. For a short stay the difference might be negligible.
Things to check before you confirm your booking:
– Check the cancellation policy before you pay. The rules vary depending on the airfare and the hotel you choose.
– Economy Choice fares are not automatically refundable as part of a package, even if the flight alone would have been flexible, a fixed fee of 150 AUD per person may apply.
– Prices displayed in promotional campaigns may change in real time before final payment, due to inventory updates, currency fluctuations, or data refreshes. The final price is confirmed only in the pre-payment summary.
– Seats are limited on flights and hotel rooms included in a promotion, particularly during periods of high demand (school breaks, long weekends).
– Name changes are generally not permitted as is the case with most discounted tickets.