Your business likely spends money on flights, office supplies, and everyday expenses, but are you getting the maximum points possible from these purchases?
With the right approach, you can double-dip, triple-dip, and even quadruple-dip, earning multiple rewards and cashback from a single transaction.
Let’s break this down using a $500 economy flight from Melbourne to Perth on Virgin Australia, and demonstrate how to leverage personal and business loyalty programs, a rewards card, and cashback programs to maximise your return.
Double-dipping with business and personal loyalty programs
The first and easiest way to double-dip is by earning points for both your business and the individual traveler.
With Virgin Australia Business Flyer, businesses can earn points for eligible flights, while employees continue to earn personal Velocity Points through the Velocity Frequent Flyer program.
Example: Virgin Australia flight from Melbourne to Perth
Let’s assume your business books th $500 economy flight from Melbourne to Perth. Here’s how double-dipping works:
Business Points (Virgin Australia Business Flyer):
As a Tier 1 Virgin Australia Business Flyer member, your business earns 5 Velocity Points per dollar spent on eligible fares.
- For a $500 flight, your business earns 2,500 Velocity Points.
Personal Points (Velocity Frequent Flyer):
Simultaneously, the employee earns 5 Velocity Points per dollar as a Bronze Velocity Frequent Flyer.
- For a $500 flight, the employee earns 2,500 Velocity Points in their personal account.
Total Points Earned: 5,000 Velocity Points (2,500 for the business and 2,500 for the employee).
Triple-dipping with rewards credit cards
To add another layer of rewards, use a Velocity Points-earning credit or charge card to pay for the flight. For this example, we’ll use a ballpark earn rate of 1 point per dollar on flight purchases, adding to your total rewards.
Example:
If you use a Velocity Points-earning credit card to pay for the $500 flight, you’ll earn an additional 500 Velocity Points.
Recap after triple-dipping:
- 2,500 points for the business (Virgin Australia Business Flyer).
- 2,500 points for the employee (personal Velocity Frequent Flyer points).
- 500 points from the credit card.
Total Points Earned: 5,500 Velocity Points.
Quadruple-dipping with cashback programs
Virgin Australia flights can be booked through cashback portals like Cashrewards or Shopback, which partner with Virgin to offer cashback on bookings. This adds a fourth layer of savings.
For instance, Cashrewards typically offers up to 2% cashback on Virgin Australia flights, sometimes more. For this example, we’ve assued that GST is included in the calculation, though this is sometimes ineligible.
- For a $500 flight at 2% cashback, you would get $10 cashback.
Quadruple-dipping breakdown:
- 2,500 points for the business (Virgin Australia Business Flyer).
- 2,500 points for the employee (personal Velocity Frequent Flyer points).
- 500 points from the credit card.
- $10 cashback from Cashrewards (2% of $500).
Total Points Earned: 5,500 Velocity Points plus $10 cashback.
Cashback vs. points portals: how to choose the better option
When booking travel or making other purchases, it’s sometimes better to choose between cashback portals or points-earning portals, such as Velocity e-Store. To get the best value, you need to calculate the benefits from each.
Example: $500 office equipment purchase
- Cashback option:
A 2% cashback on a $500 purchase gives you $10.
- Points portal option:
Let’s say the Velocity e-Store offers 5 points per dollar for the purchase of your office equipment item, so you would earn 2,500 Velocity Points on a $500 purchase. If you value Velocity Points at 1.2 cents per point, those 2,500 points are worth about $30.
In this case, the points portal offers better value ($30 in points vs. $10 in cashback). However, the best option depends on the specific cashback rate and the value you personally place on points.
Maximising your Virgin Australia flight purchases
Here’s how your points and cashback stack up when quadruple-dipping on a Melbourne to Perth Virgin Australia flight:
- Business Points (Virgin Australia Business Flyer):
- 2,500 points for the business (5 points per dollar).
- Personal Points (Velocity Frequent Flyer):
- 2,500 points for the employee (5 points per dollar).
- Credit Card Points:
- 500 points from a Velocity-earning credit card.
- Cashback:
- $10 cashback from Cashrewards (2% of $500).
Total Points Earned: 5,500 Velocity Points plus $10 cashback.
Earn even more with higher tiers and status
The potential to earn even more points on flight purchases increases with higher Velocity Frequent Flyer status or Virgin Australia Business Flyer tiers:
Higher Virgin Australia Business Flyer Tiers:
Businesses at Tier 2 earn 7 Velocity Points per dollar, and at Tier 3, they earn 9 Velocity Points per dollar. A Tier 3 business would earn 4,500 points on the same $500 flight.
Higher Velocity Frequent Flyer Status:
Silver, Gold, and Platinum members earn bonus points on flights. A Platinum Velocity member would earn 5,000 personal points on the same $500 flight, doubling their personal points.
How to get started with double, triple, and quadruple-dipping
To start maximising your business rewards on Virgin Australia flights today:
- Join Virgin Australia Business Flyer to earn points for your business on all flights.
- Ensure your employees are enrolled in Velocity Frequent Flyer to earn personal points on the same transactions.
- Use a Velocity Points-earning credit card for all travel expenses.
- Compare cashback portals and points portals to decide which offers better value for each transaction.
By adopting these strategies, your business can unlock significant rewards from every travel expense.
Ready to maximise your points? Pointify can help you unlock the full potential of every business transaction.
