Hey,
Looking at using my Virgin Platinum free flight soon. Although I am in PER and was hoping to get to MEL. I know they have changed it recently to not include PER to SYD/MEL. Does anyone know a way around this??? I have heard of the book a flight and then cancel and use the credit given for what ever flight desired.
ALSO
Do the 2 x free lounge passes roll over to the next year or do you have to use them in the year allocated?
Hey Luke,
I’m not 100% sure about the cancellation “trick” you mention, but I have heard of a number of cases where people were able to book a PER-MEL/SYD/BNE flight on the Velocity Platinum. It might be that these were one-offs where they spoke to a particularly friendly rep, or a rep who didn’t know the rules, so I can’t say for certain if it will work or not. However, I think I will give them a call in a month or so and try my luck. 
And no, the Virgin lounge passes expire if not used before the end of each card-holding year.
Hope that helps!
The jury is out on whether the Perth - Melbourne/Adelaide/Sydney option is still open. Amex Travel reps often will let you book it, despite Amex HQ saying it’s not available any more.
YMMV!
Hey Luke, if it helps. I rang up and booked my flight from PER-SYD for next month. No questions asked.
The script i used: Hey I would like to book my rewards flight. Rep: ok where are you going? Me: Sydney, on these dates.
I already checked availability in advance so there was no problem (you can do this by checking available reward flights on VA)
Just don’t ask them if it’s possible to book because you heard so… Cut straight to the point and tell them which flight, time, date you want to book. If not, hang up and call again
Good Luck!