iscover
Some members of Virgin Australia’s frequent flyer program Velocity were dreaming of space after an error temporarily gifted them about 23 million points.
The unexpected 22,863,297 boost to their points balance, supposedly from a hotel stay booked on travel website Agoda, arrived on Tuesday morning.
It was reversed a few hours later, but not before the thought of securing a seat on Virgin Galactic’s space flights with the surprise bounty came to the minds of some Velocity members.
While 23 million Velocity points could fly anyone multiple times around the world at the pointy end of the aircraft, the error left a space flight within reach given Velocity ran a promotion a few years ago that put the cost of a seat on Virgin Galactic at 25 million points.
The Sir Richard Branson venture was planning to begin sub-orbital space flights later this year.
Velocity sent an email to affected members apologising for the mistake.
“You were recently credited an incorrect number of Velocity Points from our hotel partner Agoda,” Velocity general manager Sid Gokani wrote in the email.
“These points have now been removed and we will work with Agoda to ensure that the correct number of Points will be allocated to your account shortly.”
What would you do if you suddenly had 23 million frequent flyer points?
adammudhen
says:While I completely agree with the removal of the 23 million points, surely a “we’re sorry we got your hopes up for being an astronaut” payment would be nice 😀
Andrew
says:Totally agree with Adam – I tried to redeem $10k with of gift voucher and a business class flight before my pipe dream was ended lol. A short but blunt email reminding me of my aggregated point earn since being a member versus their 22 million point credit error was recieved and the dream was over. Lol