Virgin is changing its Premium Entry offering and offering extended priority screening lanes for premium travellers. (Source: AAP/Newswire)
Virgin Australia is overhauling its security screening process for premium travellers ahead of the busy festive season. The airline will be scrapping its premium entry access at the Brisbane and Sydney airports, replacing the popular perk with extended priority screening lanes in the main terminal.
Premium entry is a popular perk for Velocity Gold and Platinum members, along with Business Class guests. It allows travellers to skip the queues and access a dedicated security screening point steps away from the Virgin Australia Lounge.
A Virgin Australia spokesperson told Yahoo Finance the premium entry changes were done to “align with broader upgrades to security screening infrastructure to meet Australian government requirements”.
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The Sydney premium entry will permanently close from December 19, while the Brisbane premium entry will temporarily close from December 19 and reopen in late 2026. Previously, they operated from 5am to 8am and 5am to 10am Monday to Friday, respectively.
As a trade-off, Virgin is rolling out new peak-time priority access across all major domestic airports for premium travellers. This will also include new tech so travellers no longer need to remove their laptop from their bags.
Melbourne, Sydney, Brisbane, Perth, Adelaide and the Gold Coast airports will have new extended priority screening hours from December 15. In Sydney and Melbourne, the new hours will be 5am to 10am, and 2pm to 7pm Monday to Friday, while other airports will have all-day priority screening.
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Virgin’s Sydney Premium entry will be permanently closed in December, while its Brisbane Premium Entry will temporarily close until late next year. (Source: Virgin Australia)
The Virgin spokesperson said the change would more than double access to priority screening for eligible guests, which include Gold, Platinum and Platinum Plus members, as well as Business Class guests.
“These upgrades include the rollout of advanced screening technology that will enable a more efficient screening process, allowing guests to leave belongings in their bags,” the spokesperson said.
“At Sydney Airport, it is anticipated that 95 per cent of passengers will travel from the kerbside to airside in less than 15 minutes as a result of the screening upgrade.”
It follows recent changes to the Velocity Frequent Flyer program with a new Forever Gold status and Platinum Plus tier introduced from October.
It expects to operate nearly 5.4 million seats over the upcoming summer travel months.
The security screening change has drawn mixed reactions from travellers online.
Some Aussie travellers said they were happy with the extended priority screening switch-up.
“Priority security lane during peak is a wayyyyy better perk. At peak hour it could save you close to an hour of waiting in the security line,” one wrote.
“The loss of SYD premium entry is sad but felt like it was coming with all the other upgrades. Overall good though, reflects peak times much better,” another said.
Others said they were disappointed with the premium entry closures, calling it a “huge advantage” for travellers.
“For a busy business traveller to get out of cab and be in having a coffee from the cab within a minute or two was a huge plus if they ever recognised that, instead of forcing them to line up for 15+ mins at times in the normal security line zoo. Race to the bottom continues,” one said.
“Is Virgin trying to kill off velocity? I think I’m done. Switching to Qantas,” another said.
Other travellers pointed out the premium entry was often never open when they wanted to make use of it anyway.
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