For our current trip, we chose to depart from Adelaide rather than our home city of Melbourne and it turned out to be a brilliant move.
When booking during school holidays or peak periods, reward availability, especially in business class can be really scarce from major airports like Melbourne or Sydney. But by being flexible with our departure point, we unlocked excellent value and a premium flying experience.
Why Adelaide?
Initially, we couldn’t find any business class reward seats out of Melbourne using Velocity Points, so we broadened our search and found great availability flying from Adelaide. Not only were the seats available, but the pricing was fantastic.
We flew to Adelaide the night before and stayed at the Hilton Adelaide for just $144, which made for an easy, low-stress start to the trip. The next morning, we headed to the airport refreshed and ready to go. Given that domestic flights within Australia are generally affordable (either on points or cash), it was a small extra step that opened up a premium international option.
The Booking: Velocity Points and Exceptional Value
We used Velocity Frequent Flyer points to book two business class seats on Singapore Airlines, flying Adelaide – Singapore – Ho Chi Minh City (ADL – SIN – SGN). Here’s the breakdown:
134,000 Velocity Points total
$826 in taxes total
That’s 67,000 points and $413 per person
To put that in context, the cash fare for this itinerary in business class is around $3,850 per person, and economy is over $900+ per person. It was a phenomenal use of points.
Also, booking both legs (ADL–SIN–SGN) as one combined itinerary saved us up to 20,000 points, thanks to Velocity’s discounted multi-segment pricing.
Why We Flew via Singapore (And Loved Every Minute)
We could have chosen a more direct route to Vietnam, but we purposely opted to transit through Singapore—and not just because it was available.
Singapore Airlines offers one of the best business class products in the world, and they operate lie-flat seats on every single aircraft in their fleet, regardless of the route. Whether you're flying long-haul or short regional hops like Kuala Lumpur (1 hour) or Ho Chi Minh City (1 hour 30 minutes), you'll be in a full lie-flat seat. That level of consistency is rare and deeply appreciated.
On our flight:
The Adelaide to Singapore leg featured Singapore Airlines' excellent regional business product with a full lie-flat seat and superb service.
The Singapore to Ho Chi Minh City leg—only 1 hour and 30 minutes—also gave us a full lie-flat bed, full meal service, and the same impeccable attention to detail.
And let’s not forget the ability to pre-order your inflight meals with "Book the Cook." This service lets you choose from an extended menu of gourmet meals (even lobster or wagyu beef, depending on the route) before you fly—adding another layer of luxury to the experience.
Singapore Changi: A Transit Destination in Itself
Connecting via Singapore Changi Airport is a pleasure in itself. The airport is clean, calm, efficient, and packed with features:
The Jewel: A stunning indoor garden and waterfall that makes layovers feel like part of the holiday
The SilverKris Business Class Lounge: Excellent food, barista coffee, cocktails, showers, and a quiet place to reset
Fast and easy connections: Even short layovers are manageable and stress-free
We’d much rather extend our journey slightly and travel in comfort, than go direct in economy—especially when the transit experience is this good.
The Takeaway
When flying on points, especially in business class and during peak times, being flexible with your departure city can unlock better availability and exceptional value. In our case, flying out of Adelaide gave us access to an award flight that wouldn’t have been available from Melbourne.
For the cost of a short domestic flight and a $144 night at Hilton Adelaide, we got to enjoy one of the world’s best business class products with lie-flat seats all the way—even on a 90-minute flight.
If you’re looking to make the most of your points, don’t just search from your nearest city. Be flexible, get creative, and you might just find yourself sipping champagne at 30,000 feet while everyone else is still refreshing their search page.
Need help finding some reward seats? contact us and lets make it happen!