United & Virgin Australia Launch Partnership

We learned in the late 2020s that United would be stealing one of Delta's partners. I wanted to give an updated look at what we can expect since we have concrete dates for when we can expect this partnership to start.

The partnership between United Airlines and Virgin Australia will start on May 23, 2022. The partnership will give United customers access to Virgin Australia's short haul network and give Virgin Australia customers access to United's long haul network.

The following perks are available to United MileagePlus and Virgin Australia Velocity members.

• Mileage earning and redemption opportunities
• Priority check-in, priority boarding, priority baggage handling, priority security clearance, and lounge access

Virgin Australia has perks for United Mileage Plus members.

• Priority check-in, priority boarding, and priority security clearance where available
• One additional complimentary checked bag
• Access to Virgin Australia operated lounges

The United MileagePlus earning rates for travel on Virgin Australia are not on 016 ticket stock.

The United MileagePlus earning rates for travel on Virgin Australia are listed here.

United has a great route network to Australia. The only US carrier that consistently maintained service to Australia during the Pandemic was it, and it also operated more flights to Australia pre-pandemic than any other US airline.

Currently United has daily flights from Los Angeles and San Francisco to Australia, and it is expected that flights to Houston and Melbourne will resume later in the year.

Delta is being dumped in favor of United

There was a transpacific joint venture between Delta and Virgin Australia. Virgin Australia was a great partner to Delta when they operated long haul flights.

Virgin Australia entered voluntary administration in 2020 and got new owners. Delta and Virgin Australia suspended their partnership. Virgin Australia is focusing on short haul flying with a new business plan.

When the Delta and Virgin Australia partnership was suspended, the narrative was that it would return. That is not the case anymore.

• Virgin Australia will end its partnership with Delta as of June 12, 2022
• This seems like a big win for Virgin Australia, since United has a much bigger network to Australia than Delta does, so that means more passengers connecting to Virgin Australia flights, and more transpacific flights for Virgin Australia customers to access
• Delta is now pursuing a partnership with Rex in Australia, though the airline isn’t as big as Virgin Australia; so I guess it’s better than nothing, but it isn’t great

While American and Qantas are still the strongest alliance between the United States and Australia, United is looking a lot more competitive with the new Virgin Australia partnership.

Bottom line

A new partnership is being launched by United and Virgin Australia. The codeshare agreement, mileage earning and redemptions, and elite perks will be introduced on May 23, 2022, by the two airlines.

I think the implications of this announcement are pretty significant. When you consider the size of United's network to Australia, it's logical that Virgin Australia is dumping Delta. Delta is not often dumped.

What do you think about the partnership between United and Virgin Australia?