Virgin Australia Flights

Virgin Australia is Australia's second-largest airline, running domestic trunk routes, regional turboprop services, and international routes into Bali, Fiji, Vanuatu, New Zealand, Japan, and the US (via partner). Velocity Frequent Flyer is the loyalty program. Value-driven full-service carrier positioned between Qantas at the premium end and Jetstar at the budget end. You can browse the current Cashback offer via the Virgin Australia Flights page on ShopBack Australia.

Main Virgin Australia Flights sale windows through the year typically include Happy Hour sales (Thursday), 24-hour flash sales, EOFY, Black Friday, Boxing Day, and Velocity Frequent Flyer bonus-earn windows. Specific dates and depth vary by year, so verify on the Virgin Australia Flights site closer to each window. Activate ShopBack via https://www.shopback.com.au/virgin-australia-flights before you book.

Velocity Frequent Flyer (free). Earn Velocity Points and Status Credits on eligible fares. Redeem for Reward Seats, Any Seat awards, hotels, gift cards, and Velocity Global Wallet. Velocity runs separately from ShopBack, so you can earn Points on the flight and still go through ShopBack before you book. See the current published rate on the ShopBack Virgin Australia Flights page.

Virgin Australia Flights promotions, sale pricing and eligible loyalty benefits still apply when you go through ShopBack before you pay. Activate ShopBack via https://www.shopback.com.au/virgin-australia-flights before checkout, then complete the booking as normal and the Cashback tracks to your ShopBack account. Cashback applies on the paid amount after any Virgin Australia Flights promo discount is deducted.

Click through to Virgin Australia Flights via https://www.shopback.com.au/virgin-australia-flights, then complete the booking as normal. Cashback rates vary by category and promotional period. See the current published rate on the ShopBack Virgin Australia Flights merchant page.

Pending Cashback typically appears within a few days of a successful purchase; confirmed once the trip has been flown, within the tracking and confirmation times shown on this page. Cashback is based on the trip you take: if you cancel or change a booking, the Cashback adjusts to match.

Cancellation and change flexibility varies by fare type at Virgin Australia. Flexible fares and refundable rates typically allow free cancellation up to a specified window; saver and non-refundable fares typically do not. Read the fare or rate rules on the Virgin Australia Flights site before booking. On ShopBack, Cashback confirms after the trip is flown, so it matches the booking you actually travel on.

Use the ShopBack Travel Planner to compare travel merchants for your destination, then click through to Virgin Australia Flights via https://www.shopback.com.au/virgin-australia-flights to earn Cashback on the booking. Virgin Australia Flights sale pricing and eligible loyalty benefits still apply.

Virgin Australia Flights accepts major credit and debit cards (Visa, Mastercard, American Express typically); verify the current list on the Virgin Australia Flights checkout before booking.

Best-price booking windows vary by destination and travel dates at Virgin Australia Flights. Off-peak dates and mid-week departures typically price cheaper; peak school holidays and long-weekend windows typically price higher. Rolling early-book discounts and seasonal Black Friday travel windows are the deeper published events. See the ShopBack Travel Planner for destination-specific windows.

Cashback on Virgin Australia Flights is worked out on an eligible cash fare booked on virginaustralia.com after you go through ShopBack. Reward Seats and Any Seat awards are Velocity Points redemptions rather than cash fares.

On your phone, open Virgin Australia Flights from the ShopBack app and finish the booking there. On a computer, click through to virginaustralia.com from the ShopBack Virgin Australia Flights page and book there. Either way, Cashback comes back at the rate shown on the ShopBack Virgin Australia Flights page.

Start from the ShopBack Virgin Australia Flights page in the ShopBack app, on the website or via the browser extension, click through to virginaustralia.com and complete the booking, and the Cashback shows as Pending, then Confirmed once every flight on the booking has been flown. Per the page, tracking and confirmation happen within the times shown on this page, with confirmation counted from completion of your trip; for a return, completion means both flights completed. Cashback applies on the Domestic, Short Haul, Long Haul or Long Haul-wetlease line at the rate shown, and the page notes it may track at a different rate initially and be adjusted at confirmation.

The ShopBack Virgin Australia Flights page carries three parts. Cashback: on the Virgin Australia flight lines listed in the rate table on this page, at the rate shown for each line, tracked and confirmed within the tracking and confirmation times shown on this page. Gift card: not available, the ShopBack gift card catalogue lists no Virgin Australia card. Upsize: when a Virgin Australia upsize runs, the higher rate shows on this page alongside the base rate. So the way to pay less is a Virgin sale fare, booked after going through ShopBack, with Cashback at the rate shown.

Take the fare before taxes and fees and apply the rate shown on ShopBack's Virgin Australia Flights page. Your effective fare is what you pay at checkout minus the Cashback that comes back. On a return trip, the Cashback confirms after the return leg lands, within the tracking and confirmation times shown on this page, and is then withdrawable to your nominated bank account. Short Haul international trips such as Sydney to Bali earn on the Short Haul line. Book from the ShopBack Virgin Australia Flights page before you pay.

The ShopBack Virgin Australia Flights page defines them: Domestic is any flight departing to or arriving within Australia; International Short Haul is any flight to or from Southeast Asia and the Pacific, or crossing the Tasman, so Bali, Fiji, Vanuatu and Queenstown fall here; Long Haul covers the rest, and a separate Long Haul-wetlease line appears on the table, which matches Virgin's flights VA1 to VA29 to and from Doha operated by Qatar Airways for Virgin Australia. These lines are for flights operated by Virgin Australia. Each line has its own rate in the table; check the page before booking a Doha itinerary.

Confirmation is counted from the completion of travel, not from the booking date, because the ShopBack Virgin Australia Flights page ties Cashback to flights actually flown: it ties confirmation to full completion of a flight and, for return flights, completion is satisfied once both flights have been completed. That window lets the Cashback match the trip you actually fly. Practical effect: a Virgin Australia trip booked months ahead confirms only after it is flown, within the tracking and confirmation times shown on this page. The pending figure sits in your ShopBack account in the meantime and may be adjusted to the correct rate at confirmation.

Card-paid Virgin Australia fares booked on virginaustralia.com after you go through ShopBack earn Cashback, including sale fares, Virgin's own no-code discounts and bookings by Velocity members. The Virgin Australia Flights page on ShopBack shows which purchases earn Cashback and the live rate.

Holding Velocity status changes nothing on the ShopBack side: a Gold member who goes through ShopBack before booking earns Cashback at the rate shown and still earns Velocity Points (4 per A$1 on eligible fares booked on or after 2 April 2025, per Virgin's domestic fares page) and Status Credits on the same booking.

Economy X earns Cashback when you add it while booking the main fare, per the ShopBack Virgin Australia Flights page, so pick it in seat selection during the booking itself if you want the extra legroom, priority boarding and overhead locker space. Economy X is non-refundable per Virgin's terms. On a Lite fare, a checked bag bought at booking was A$67 on flights under three hours and A$72 on longer ones, versus A$120 or A$170 at the airport, as listed on Virgin Australia's site in October 2026. Start from ShopBack first.

Virgin's own offers include sale fares such as the Thursday Happy Hour, Welcome Abroad international fares, Virgin's standard web fares and Velocity status perks. Deeper sale windows on the AU calendar include Black Friday and Cyber Monday in November and Boxing Day. The Cashback comes from going through ShopBack before you pay, not from a code, and when an upsize runs, the higher rate shows on this page alongside the base rate.

Virgin's Happy Hour is a regular Thursday flash sale on selected one-way and return Economy Lite and Choice fares, subject to availability; ShopBack's cheapest day to book guide records low one-way Happy Hour fares on select domestic routes. The Happy Hour fare is what you pay at checkout: click through from the ShopBack Virgin Australia Flights page during the window, pick the Lite or Choice fare, and the Domestic rate shown applies. Sign up to Virgin's V-mail to be told when the next Happy Hour goes live, and check the day and hours each time, since they are set per event.

Pick Virgin when you fly domestic often and want status fast: ShopBack's Velocity vs Qantas Frequent Flyer comparison found Velocity's Gold and Platinum thresholds lower than Qantas's, and Virgin's Choice fare bundles a checked bag and seat selection; Happy Hour Thursdays add sale fares on select routes. Pick Qantas for long-haul on its own aircraft, wider lounge coverage and oneworld status recognition. On price the two sit close on trunk routes outside sales, so compare live fares on the day. When the fares are level, Cashback can decide it: the rate for Virgin bookings on virginaustralia.com is shown on the ShopBack Virgin Australia Flights page. For the full side-by-side on fares, bags and loyalty, read ShopBack's Qantas vs Virgin vs Jetstar guide, then check the Cashback rate on the ShopBack Virgin Australia Flights page and go through ShopBack before you book.

Carry-on only and no flexibility: Jetstar, whose bare fare sits A$40 to A$120 below Virgin and Qantas outside sale windows (ShopBack east coast vs west coast guide, June 2026) and whose Friday Frenzy drops sub-A$50 fares on Sydney to Melbourne and Sydney to Gold Coast. Anything with a bag: Virgin's Choice fare, which includes 1 x 23kg checked and seat selection, usually wins on total value once Jetstar's bag and seat fees are added, the verdict in ShopBack's Qantas vs Jetstar vs Virgin comparison. Virgin's Lite fare (8kg carry-on, bag from A$67 at booking, A$120 change fee, as listed on Virgin Australia's site in October 2026) is the like-for-like against a Jetstar Starter fare. Cashback: Virgin earns at the Domestic rate shown via ShopBack when booked on virginaustralia.com by card.

Direct on virginaustralia.com from the ShopBack Virgin Australia Flights page is the default: Happy Hour and other sale fares are rarely matched by OTAs (ShopBack's cheapest domestic flights guide), changes stay inside Virgin's own fare rules rather than an agent's process, Fly Ahead on Flex is requested in Virgin's app, and the Cashback rate is shown on this page. The OTAs win in two cases: a Flight+Hotel package on Expedia or Wotif where the bundle price, with the Packages Cashback rate shown on ShopBack, beats fare plus a separate hotel, and a Trip.com promotional fare on a trunk route that undercuts Virgin's own price. Compare the OTA's Flights rate against the Virgin rate shown on ShopBack, and note Virgin's change-or-cancel page sends agency bookings back to the agent for changes.

Virgin flies Bali and Fiji on its own aircraft, so a Virgin booking brings Cashback at the rate shown on this page and Velocity Points on eligible fares. ShopBack's Bali cost guide prices full-service carriers (Qantas, Virgin Australia, Garuda) above Jetstar, Batik Air and AirAsia on Sydney or Melbourne to Denpasar, so Jetstar wins the bare fare and Virgin wins when a 23kg bag and a seat are in the price; Virgin's homepage also lists Economy Reward Seats to Bali for Velocity Points plus taxes, fees and carrier charges. Fiji is about 4 hours from Sydney and 3 hours 45 from Brisbane (ShopBack Fiji planner); Virgin's Welcome Abroad international fares are its sale lever there. Pick on total price with a bag, then go through ShopBack before you pay.

Sydney to Melbourne is Virgin's busiest trunk route and the first one listed on its homepage. For a day trip or weekend with carry-on, Lite (8kg carry-on, no checked bag, A$120 change fee plus fare difference, loss of fare on cancellation) is the cheapest and the one Happy Hour targets; for a trip with luggage, Choice adds 1 x 23kg and seat selection with the same A$120 change fee and a A$120 cancellation fee; for a work trip that may move, Flex has no change or cancellation fee, only the fare difference, plus Fly Ahead to an earlier same-day flight (fees as listed on Virgin Australia's site in October 2026). Virgin and Qantas sat A$40 to A$120 above Jetstar outside sale windows on this corridor per ShopBack's June 2026 east coast vs west coast guide, and Happy Hour has dropped sub-A$100 one-way fares. Cashback applies on the Domestic line at the rate shown when you book by card from the ShopBack Virgin Australia Flights page.

Yes when you want a bag in the fare and Cashback on the flight. Nadi is about 3 hours 45 minutes from Brisbane and 4 hours from Sydney per ShopBack's Fiji planner, Virgin flies it on its own aircraft, and the booking earns on the Short Haul line of the ShopBack Virgin Australia Flights page when paid by card. Choice or Flex include 1 x 23kg checked baggage (2 x 23kg for Velocity Silver and Gold); Lite includes none, and a bag bought online at booking on a three-hour-plus flight was A$72 versus A$170 at the airport, as listed on Virgin Australia's site in October 2026. Where direct loses: a Denarau or Coral Coast resort package on Expedia that discounts the hotel inside the bundle, or a Virgin Australia Holidays by Hopper package, which sits on a separate portal. Book flights direct and the resort separately if Cashback on the flight matters.

Any flight crossing the Tasman is International Short Haul under the ShopBack Virgin Australia Flights page definitions, so a Virgin-operated Queenstown booking earns at the rate shown on this page via ShopBack. For Auckland and other New Zealand ports, check that Virgin Australia operates the flight, since Virgin-operated flights are the ones on the Cashback lines. For a Queenstown ski week, Choice (1 x 23kg) or Flex covers the bag; ski equipment allowances are on Virgin's checked baggage page. Trans-Tasman fare-only alternatives are the Qantas Red Tail Sale windows (late January to early February and late July per ShopBack's domestic flights guide) and a fly-drive package on Expedia.

Tokyo has not been on Virgin's own international destination list on virginaustralia.com (which has shown Bali, Fiji and Queenstown on Virgin aircraft), so for Melbourne or Sydney to Tokyo compare Qantas, Jetstar, ANA and JAL; ShopBack's Sydney to Tokyo guide compares return economy fares in the cheap months and in peak. London, Paris, Rome and Athens are sold by Virgin via Doha on flights VA1 to VA29 operated by Qatar Airways for Virgin Australia, and Virgin's homepage lists Sydney to London Reward Seats for Velocity Points plus taxes, fees and carrier charges. For Cashback, the Doha services have their own Long Haul-wetlease line at the rate shown on this page.

Per Virgin's domestic fares page, as listed on Virgin Australia's site in October 2026. Lite: Economy, 8kg carry-on, checked bag available for purchase, standard seat selection for purchase, complimentary water, tea and coffee with food for purchase, in-flight entertainment, Economy X and Preferred Seat for purchase, UpgradeMe eligible. Choice: adds 1 x 23kg checked bag and standard seat selection included. Flex: as Choice plus Fly Ahead (move to an earlier same-day, same-route Virgin flight at no extra cost, subject to availability) and no change or cancellation fee. Business: 14kg carry-on, 2 x 32kg checked, food included, lounge access, priority bag drop and boarding where available. Velocity members earn 4 Points per A$1 on eligible fares booked on or after 2 April 2025. All four earn ShopBack Cashback at the Domestic rate shown when booked by card from ShopBack.

From Virgin's change or cancel page, as listed on Virgin Australia's site in October 2026, per person and before check-in. Changes more than 14 days before departure and up to midnight before departure: Lite and Choice A$120 plus fare difference, Flex and Business no fee plus fare difference. Cancellation before departure: Lite loss of fare, Choice A$120, Flex and Business no fee. After scheduled departure: not permitted on any fare. For bookings made before 15 September 2026 the earlier A$109 fee applies to the first change or cancellation, with the new A$120 fee on later ones. The same change fees apply to Points + Pay bookings, and nothing is payable where Australian Consumer Law entitles you to a refund or alternative flight. On ShopBack, Cashback confirms after the trip is flown, so it matches what you actually fly.

Carry-on (Virgin's carry-on page, 4 October 2026): Economy including Velocity Red and Silver, one bag up to 8kg (56 x 36 x 23cm) plus a personal item (45 x 33 x 20cm); Business, Economy X and Velocity Gold, Platinum and Platinum Plus, up to 14kg combined with no single item over 8kg. Checked (Domestic and International Short Haul): Lite none; Choice, Flex and Economy Reward 1 x 23kg (Silver and Gold 2 x 23kg, Platinum 3 x 23kg, Platinum Plus 5 x 32kg); Business 2 x 32kg. Extra bags up to 23kg: online at booking A$67 on flights under about three hours and A$72 on longer ones, A$77 to A$82 online after booking, A$82 to A$92 at online check-in, and A$120 or A$170 at the airport, off-peak, as listed on Virgin Australia's site in October 2026. Buying the bag at booking is the cheapest of these prices.

Virgin Australia is the right pick for a domestic trip where you want a 23kg bag and a seat in the fare (Choice), where plans may move and you want no-fee changes plus same-day Fly Ahead (Flex), where you can catch a Thursday Happy Hour fare on Lite or Choice, where Velocity status is the goal (Gold at 500 Status Credits versus Qantas Gold at 700, per ShopBack's Velocity comparison), and for Bali, Fiji or Queenstown on Virgin's own aircraft with Cashback on the Short Haul line. It also suits travellers who want Business Class with lounge access on trunk routes without a long-haul fare. In every case, go through ShopBack before you book on virginaustralia.com.

Skip Virgin Australia when a carry-on-only Jetstar fare is clearly cheaper and you need no flexibility (ShopBack east coast vs west coast guide); when the destination is not on Virgin's own network, such as Tokyo, where Qantas, Jetstar, ANA and JAL compete; and when the trip is hotel-led and an Expedia or Wotif package beats fare plus separate hotel. For Tasmania, ShopBack's fly vs drive guide is the first check before any airline.

Virgin Australia Holidays packages are booked through a Hopper portal under separate Virgin Australia Holidays terms (Virgin's specials page, 4 October 2026). For Cashback, book the Virgin flight by card from the ShopBack Virgin Australia Flights page and the hotel separately from the ShopBack page of Expedia, Booking.com or Agoda. Compare that two-booking total against the Hopper package price before deciding; a package discount can beat the Cashback on two bookings for a short resort stay.

Usually Lite. A Lite fare on the same flights as an A$340 Sydney to Melbourne return in Choice returns less Cashback but lands lower overall. Choice overtakes Lite once you need a checked bag, since Virgin's bag add-on cost A$67 at booking on flights under three hours (A$72 on longer ones, as listed on Virgin Australia's site in October 2026), while Choice includes 1 x 23kg and seat selection. Flex only wins if a change is realistic, because it saves the change fee that Lite and Choice both carry (A$120, as listed on Virgin Australia's site in October 2026). Whichever you pick, book by card from the ShopBack Virgin Australia Flights page.

Three windows matter. Happy Hour is the regular Thursday flash sale on selected Lite and Choice fares. Black Friday falls in late November with Cyber Monday the following Monday, and Boxing Day is 26 December; Virgin has run airfare sales around both in past years, so check Virgin's sale page closer to the dates. In each window the sale fare is what you pay at checkout, and going through ShopBack before you pay means part of what you spend comes back as Cashback at the rate shown on this page. Sign up to Virgin's V-mail and check the ShopBack Virgin Australia Flights page for an upsize during the same window.

No code needed: go through ShopBack before you pay and part of what you spend comes back as Cashback. Virgin itself tends to run fare sales (Happy Hour, Welcome Abroad international fares) rather than public codes, so the way to pay less is a sale or standard web fare, booked after clicking through from ShopBack, with Cashback at the rate shown on ShopBack's Virgin Australia Flights page.

Earning Points does not affect it: a fare booked after going through ShopBack earns 4 Velocity Points per A$1 on eligible fares (booked on or after 2 April 2025, per Virgin's domestic fares page) and Status Credits, and Cashback comes back at the rate shown. Velocity member-only sale fares are discounts built into the fare.

Direct through the ShopBack Virgin Australia Flights page is cheaper for a flight-only booking in most cases: Happy Hour and other sale fares are rarely matched by OTAs per ShopBack's cheapest domestic flights guide, Webjet adds its own booking fee at checkout, and changes stay inside Virgin's fare rules (A$120 on Lite and Choice, no fee on Flex, as listed on Virgin Australia's site in October 2026). Expedia or Wotif win when a Flight+Hotel package discount beats fare plus a separately booked hotel, and Webjet or Trip.com win when a promotional fare on a trunk route undercuts Virgin's own price. Expedia, Wotif and Trip.com each have their own ShopBack page with its own Flights or Packages rate, so compare that against the Virgin Domestic or Short Haul rate shown here. Note that agency bookings go back to the agent for changes.

Live fares change daily and cannot be fixed here, so use the fare families and the calendar. Virgin publishes four domestic fares (Lite, Choice, Flex and Business per its fares page); Lite is the cheapest and the one Happy Hour targets, while outside sale windows Virgin sat above Jetstar on this corridor per ShopBack's east coast vs west coast guide. To check: open the Sydney to Melbourne search on virginaustralia.com with flexible dates on, pick a mid-week departure, then book the Lite or Choice fare from the ShopBack Virgin Australia Flights page so the Domestic rate shown there applies.

Usually not on the headline fare: Jetstar is a low-cost carrier, so its base fare on the same route tends to sit below Virgin's, but Virgin can work out cheaper once you add a checked bag, seat selection and change flexibility. If you fly carry-on only on fixed dates, Jetstar's cheapest fare is normally the lower total. If you check a bag, want to pick your seat or might change plans, compare Jetstar's fare plus extras against Virgin's bundled fare, because add-on fees close the gap. A sale on either airline can flip the answer on a given day, so compare the final checkout price, not the advertised fare. For routes and Bali, see ShopBack's cheapest day to book Jetstar vs Virgin vs Qantas guide and Jetstar vs Virgin and Qantas to Bali. Check the Cashback rate on the ShopBack Virgin Australia Flights page and activate it before you book.

The cheapest Virgin flights usually come from booking the lowest fare type on a flexible, off-peak date during a Virgin sale, directly on virginaustralia.com. Carry-on-only leisure travellers should pick the Lite fare, search a flexible date range and favour mid-week or early-morning departures. Families and school-holiday travellers save more by booking well ahead, since the cheapest seats on popular dates sell first. Frequent flyers should weigh Velocity points and status against a small fare difference before switching airlines. Sign up for Virgin's email alerts to hear about sales, and compare the final price with bags added. Read ShopBack's cheapest day to book domestic flights guide for timing, then activate Cashback on the ShopBack Virgin Australia Flights page before you check out so the rate shown there applies to the sale fare.

For anyone who flies Virgin Australia even occasionally, yes, because Velocity Frequent Flyer membership is free and you start earning Points and Status Credits from the moment you join. Velocity says flights booked from 2 April 2025 earn 4 Points per dollar spent on eligible Virgin Australia fares (5 for eligible Velocity credit cardholders), Silver, Gold and Platinum members earn 50%, 75% and 100% bonus Points (not on Economy Lite fares), and each time you earn, redeem or transfer Points your expiry date moves out another 24 months, so inactive accounts can lose Points. Points are not cash, and Velocity runs separately from ShopBack, so you can earn Points on the flight and still go through ShopBack before you book. Check the live rate on this page. For the full breakdown, read ShopBack's Velocity membership guide.

They can be, because Virgin Australia Holidays by Hopper bundles a flight and hotel, and Virgin says booking the two together as a holiday saves on select hotels and flights, with free cancellation on select holidays and Velocity Points earned or redeemed on eligible packages. The trade-off is that packages are booked on the Hopper platform under separate terms, and the Cashback on the ShopBack Virgin Australia Flights page is for Virgin-operated flights. For a fair comparison, price the package against the Virgin flight booked through ShopBack plus a hotel booked separately through ShopBack, and check the live rates on each ShopBack page before you book.

Yes. The last step before you book flights or hotels is to open ShopBack, because going through ShopBack is an essential step that gets you a cash rebate on the same Virgin Australia booking, so you pay less for the same fare. Open this page, click through to virginaustralia.com, and book and pay by card as normal. Check the live rate for your route type on this page before you pay.