These terms and conditions contain important terms you should be aware of. In particular, clause 5 states when you are and are not able to request a refund of the amount paid for an Upgrade.
1. Definitions
In these Terms and Conditions (where not inconsistent with the context):
“Bidding Window” means the period which Eligible Guests are permitted to submit an Offer, which is from the date on which Virgin Australia UpgradeMe Premium Bid begins accepting Offers until 4 hours prior to the scheduled departure time of the flight to which an Offer relates.
“Cancellation Window” means the period which Eligible Guests are permitted to modify or cancel an existing Offer, which is from the time an Eligible Guest makes an Offer to the earlier of: a) the Eligible Guest’s Offer being selected as successful, or b) 3 hours prior to the scheduled departure time of the flight to which an Offer relates.
"Eligible Guest" means the person to whom Virgin Australia, in its absolute and sole discretion, extends an Invitation.
"Guest" means a person who has purchased a fare and who intends to travel with Virgin Australia.
"Invitation" means an invitation that Virgin Australia extends to an Eligible Guest to make an Offer.
"Offer" means the total amount of money that an Eligible Guest has offered to upgrade all Guests in the Original Booking from the cabin class in the Original Booking to the higher cabin class to which the Invitation extends.
"Offer Acceptance Window” means the period which Offers can be assessed by Virgin Australia, and is any time during the period after an Offer is submitted and 3 hours prior to the scheduled departure time of the flight to which the Offer relates.
"Original Booking" means the fare purchased and flight sector(s) of the booking made by the Eligible Guest to which an Invitation extends.
"Upgrade” means an opportunity to upgrade from the cabin class in the Original Booking to a higher cabin class specified in the Invitation.
"Upgraded Booking" means the flight sector(s) of the booking for which an Eligible Guest received an Invitation and made an Offer which has been accepted.
"Valid Offer” means an Offer that complies with these Terms and Conditions from the time of its submission until the time the Eligible Guest is notified whether the Offer is successful or unsuccessful during the Offer Acceptance Window.
"Velocity or VFF" means the Velocity Frequent Flyer Program operated by Velocity Frequent Flyer Pty Ltd ACN 601 408 824.
"Velocity Any Seat Booking" means a category of reward airfares (excluding Velocity Reward Seat Bookings) in any fare class commercially available to the general public on Virgin Australia, which is paid for in part or in full using Velocity Points..
"Velocity Member Terms and Conditions" means the Velocity Member Terms and Conditions between Velocity and each Velocity member , as varied from time to time and available to view at
https://experience.velocityfrequentflyer.com/member-support/terms-conditions.
"Velocity Reward Seat Booking" means a category of Virgin Australia reward airfares with limited availability booked using Velocity Points.
2. Upgrade Terms and Conditions
2.1. The following Terms and Conditions apply specifically to Invitations, Upgrade Offers and Upgraded Bookings and are in addition to Virgin Australia’s Conditions of Carriage, the Fare Rules and Privacy Policy, which you accept at the time you purchase a fare.
2.2. Eligible Guests must be at least 18 years of age to submit an Offer.
2.3. Not all bookings are eligible for an Upgrade. Virgin Australia has the right to determine eligibility at its sole and absolute discretion and may change the eligibility criteria from time to time. To check eligibility, Guests may visit the Virgin Australia UpgradeMe Premium Bid Website and enter their booking reference and surname in the fields provided. Alternatively, Virgin Australia may send an Invitation to submit an Offer to Eligible Guests who have booked an eligible flight.
2.4. Upgrades are only eligible on flights operated by Virgin Australia with tickets that contain a “VA” flight number and issued on Virgin Australia ticket stock (a ticket number beginning with "795”). Upgrades are made available on flights and dates selected by Virgin Australia in its sole and absolute discretion.
2.5. Velocity Any Seat Bookings are eligible to be upgraded via UpgradeMe. Velocity Reward Seat Bookings are not eligible to be upgraded via UpgradeMe.
2.6. Your ability to receive an Upgrade is subject to availability. Invitations to Upgrade in the Business Class cabins will not be made available on all flights.
2.7. The amount of an Offer is separate to and on top of the amount paid for the Original Booking. The total value of the Upgraded Booking is the amount paid for the Original Booking plus the amount paid for the Upgrade by way of Offer.
3. Bidding for an Upgrade
3.1. An Eligible Guest may submit an Offer per flight sector of the Original Booking. An Offer, when submitted by an Eligible Guest, entitles the Guest/s named in the Original Booking to be considered for an Upgrade, subject to these Terms and Conditions. An Offer may subsequently be cancelled or modified before the Offer is selected as successful in accordance with these Terms and Conditions. The Offer and these Terms and Conditions are legally binding on the Guest.
3.2. Virgin Australia will set a minimum and maximum amount for an Offer for each flight sector where Upgrades are made available. The minimum and maximum amounts for an Offer will be the amounts published at the time the Eligible Guest makes an Offer. Minimum and maximum amounts are set based on (and may change at any time due to) factors such as, but not limited to, the flight route, date and time, the price and availability of Business class seats and the number and amount of Eligible Guest Offers.
3.3. If there are multiple Guests in the Original Booking, the Eligible Guest can only submit an Offer to Upgrade all Guests. The Offer amount will be on a per Guest basis. The Offer amount will be multiplied by the number of Guests included in the Original Booking. The Eligible Guest must purchase an Upgrade for all Guests in the booking. The Eligible Guest that submits an Offer will be deemed to have the authority to act on behalf of and to bind the Guest(s) named or included in the Offer to these Terms and Conditions.
3.4. Offers can only be made in whole dollars (no cents permitted). Offers can be paid for using an accepted credit card, debit card or prepaid card. The payment will only be processed if an Offer is selected as successful.
3.5. An AUD$2 authorisation hold will be placed on the payment card account used to submit the Offer in order to verify the account is active. This is not a charge and this authorisation hold amount will be removed from the account after an Offer is either selected as being successful or unsuccessful.
3.6. New Offers can only be submitted by Eligible Guests during the Bidding Window. Eligible Guests are permitted to modify or cancel an existing Offer during the Cancellation Window. Should an Eligible Guest cancel an Offer within the Cancellation Window or cancel a booking to which an Offer relates, the Offer will no longer be a Valid Offer.
3.7. Eligible Guests can submit, modify or cancel an Offer by:
a. visiting the Virgin Australia UpgradeMe Premium Bid Website and entering their booking reference and surname in the fields provided; or
b. following the link contained in an email inviting the Eligible Guest to submit (or update) an Offer, and entering their booking reference and surname in the field provided.
3.8. Eligible Guests will receive an email to confirm their Offer has been submitted. If the Eligible Guest modifies their Offer, they will receive email confirmation of this update to their Offer.
a. All notifications concerning an Offer will be communicated to the Eligible Guest via email to the email address provided by the Guest when the original Offer was submitted. For security reasons, this email address is not capable of being amended.
b. Notification is deemed to be received by the Guest if the email has successfully been sent by the Virgin Australia server. We recommend that you check your junk mail folder if you have not received an email from us about your Offer, as your email service provider may categorise it as spam.
3.9. Real time bidding will occur if there is high demand for Business class upgrades through UpgradeMe Premium Bid, within 72 hours of the scheduled flight departure. In the event of real time bidding, if an Eligible Guest is outbid, they will be notified via email and provided the opportunity to modify their Offer during the Bidding Window.
3.10. Eligible Guests may be notified that their Offer has been outbid, but this Offer may still be selected as a successful Offer (depending on Business class availability and other Offers submitted by Eligible Guests).
3.11. Offers can be assessed by Virgin Australia at any time during the period after an Offer is submitted. Virgin Australia will start to award successful Offers between 25 hours prior and 3 hours prior to the scheduled departure time of the flight to which the Offer relates (Offer Acceptance Window). All Eligible Guests who make an Offer will be notified of the outcome of their offer within the Offer Acceptance Window.
3.12. Successful Offers will be selected by Virgin Australia in its sole and absolute discretion based on, but not limited to, any number of the following selection criteria: the amount of the Offer; the cabin class of the Original Booking; the Eligible Guest’s Velocity frequent flyer status, the number of seats available in the next cabin class; and the number of Guests travelling in the Original Booking.
3.13. Virgin Australia reserves the right, to decide whether or not an Offer is successful, and makes no representation that any Guest will receive an Upgrade, regardless of whether or not seats are available in the cabin class for which an Offer is made or if an Offer is the highest Offer amount.
3.14. In the event Virgin Australia selects an Upgrade Offer as being successful:
a. the Eligible Guest will be notified via email and charged the full amount of the Offer; and
b. the Eligible Guest will be sent a new itinerary reflecting the Upgrade. The total amount to be paid includes all applicable pre-payable taxes and fees (if any) for the Upgrade. The total amount to be paid will be disclosed to the Eligible Guest prior to submission of the Offer.
4. Upgrade Inclusions
4.1. The following services will be included in the Upgraded Booking:
- A seat in the Business Class cabin,
- Lounge access (where available),
- Plated meal on board,
- Hot and cold drinks, including beer and wine,
- Priority Check-in (where available),
- Priority Baggage (Upgraded Guests who purchased an Economy Lite fare for their Original Booking will only be provided with Priority Baggage if they have purchased additional checked baggage),
- Priority Boarding (at selected airports).
4.2 The following fare rules of the Original Booking will continue to apply to the Upgraded Booking:
- Baggage allowance,
- Change and cancellation policies and fees,
- Accrual of Velocity Points and Status Credits. Upgraded Guests are eligible to earn Velocity Points and Status Credits at the rate of their Original Booking, not at the rate of the Upgraded Booking.
Other fare rules of the new cabin class in the Upgraded Booking will apply.
4.3. Virgin Australia does not guarantee specific seat assignments to Guests who receive an Upgrade. Virgin Australia is unable to guarantee that all Guests who receive an Upgrade will be seated together or in any preferred seating configuration.
4.4. Virgin Australia will use reasonable endeavours to ensure the services in clause 4.1 above are available to Guests. In the event that Virgin Australia is not able to provide one or more of the services listed in clause 4.1 above, Guests may be entitled to request a refund of the fee paid for the Offer under applicable laws, including the Australian Consumer Law.
5. Refunds
This section 5 outlines when you may request a refund of the amount paid for an Upgrade under these Terms and Conditions. There may be additional circumstances where you are entitled to a refund of under the Australian Consumer Law. For more information about your rights under the Australian Consumer Law, please see our Consumer Guarantees page.
5.1 In the event Virgin Australia re-accommodates an Upgraded Guest onto another flight, for any reason other than the Guest’s act or omission, Virgin Australia will use reasonable endeavours to transfer the Upgrade to the new flight. The transfer of Upgrades in these circumstances is subject to availability.
5.2 To the extent permitted by law, you may request a refund of the amount paid for an Upgrade only if one of the following occurs:
a. The flight for which an Eligible Guest has an Upgraded Booking is cancelled by Virgin Australia, and Virgin Australia re-accommodates the Upgraded Guest onto another flight in the original cabin class booked.
b. The Guest is not seated in the Upgraded cabin class for reasons other than the Guest’s act or omission – including, but not limited to, a change in aircraft, or a delay in a Virgin Australia connecting flight that results in the Guest missing their connection for which they received an Upgrade.
c. The Guest is entitled to request a refund under clause 4.4 of these Terms.
5.3 To the extent permitted by law, amounts paid for an Upgrade will not be refunded if the following occurs:
a. A Guest does not travel on the flight for which they have an Upgraded Booking for any reason attributable to a Guest’s act or omission and the Guest is not otherwise entitled to a refund of their fare under the Australian Consumer Law;
b. A Guest chooses to modify their Original Booking to a new flight after their Offer is accepted by Virgin Australia. In this case, you will not be provided with a seat in the Upgraded cabin class on the new flight and the Upgrade will be forfeited; or
c. Virgin Australia changes the aircraft type for the flight in which the Upgrade has been purchased where the Upgraded cabin class is still available to the Guest.
5.4 To request a refund under clause 5, Guests are required to complete and submit a request through Virgin Australia’s reservation and general enquiries form. The request for a refund must include information to support their request. If a Guest is unable to provide sufficient information to enable Virgin Australia to assess the request, Virgin Australia may not be able to process the refund.
5.5 If the refund is approved, the amount of the Upgrade will be refunded to the form of payment that was used to pay for the Upgrade.
5.6 Where refunds are approved for the reasons specified in clause 5.1, the amount paid for the Upgrade will be refunded, and Virgin Australia will have no further liability to the Guest in respect of the Upgrade, except as provided under the Australian Consumer Law or other applicable laws.
5.7 Approved refunds will be processed in the currency in which the Upgrade amount was charged. Refunds are limited to the amount paid for the Upgrade. No bank-related charges will be refunded.
6. General
6.1 You have certain rights under the Australian Consumer Law. These include Consumer Guarantees that the services we provide to you will be carried out by us with due care and skill, will be fit for purpose and will be supplied within a reasonable time. You may have rights to seek a remedy from us where we fail to provide services to you in accordance with the Australian Consumer Law. Nothing in these Terms and Conditions affects those rights or any other statutory rights you may have under applicable laws that cannot be excluded.
6.2 Virgin Australia reserves the right to modify and change these Terms and Conditions from time to time. The Terms and Conditions which apply to an Offer and Upgrade are those in effect at the date an Offer is submitted, as published on our website.
6.3. The failure by Virgin Australia to exercise its rights will not be construed as a waiver or relinquishment of the future performance of any of its rights, and the Guest’s obligations with respect to such future performance shall continue in full force and effect.