Flying to over 30 locations throughout 5 continents, Virgin Atlantic could also be a service that you’ve ignored when planning your travels. Whereas reserving money and award flights with the U.Ok.-based service may be pricey, particularly with added surcharges, the airline’s loyalty program, Virgin Atlantic Flying Membership, gives engaging accomplice award charts and noteworthy Saver fares.
Since Flying Membership companions with main bank card rewards packages, factors and miles fans can snag an excellent deal. For instance, you could find one-way business-class lie-flat seats from John F. Kennedy Worldwide Airport (JFK) to London’s Heathrow Airport (LHR) for simply 29,000 factors.
Regardless of this system’s current change to dynamic pricing for flights operated by Virgin Atlantic, Virgin factors at the moment stand out for providing unbelievable worth with many makes use of. Preserve studying to seek out out extra about Virgin Atlantic Flying Membership, together with the right way to earn, redeem and maximize your reward factors.
Associated: How I booked lie-flat business-class seats to London for simply 21,000 factors
Easy methods to earn Virgin Flying Membership factors
There are a number of methods to earn Virgin Flying Membership factors straight.
Fly with Virgin Atlantic
You may earn Virgin Atlantic Flying Membership factors by merely flying with the service. The variety of factors you earn relies on the flight distance, reserving class and whether or not you maintain Flying Membership elite standing. To simply calculate what number of factors you’ll earn in your flight, you should use the airline’s incomes calculator.
Since Virgin Atlantic is a member of the SkyTeam alliance, you can too earn Virgin factors when flying with one of many service’s companions, together with Delta, Air France-KLM and extra. To search out out the variety of factors you’ll be able to earn on accomplice airways, you should definitely navigate to Virgin’s accomplice web page and click on on the airline you’re flying. You’ll earn redeemable award factors primarily based in your cabin, reserving class and distance flown.
Earn Virgin factors via bank card rewards
If you’re seeking to simply top off on Virgin factors, the Virgin Purple Rewards Mastercard® is providing the next welcome bonus: Earn 40,000 factors after spending $3,000 on the cardboard in your first 90 days. Plus, cardholders can earn further factors with the next incomes charges:
- 3 factors per $1 with Virgin Atlantic, Virgin Accommodations and Virgin Voyages
- 2 factors per $1 on eating, groceries, electrical automobile charging and choose streaming providers
- 1 level per $1 on all different purchases
Each day E-newsletter
Reward your inbox with the TPG Each day e-newsletter
Be part of over 700,000 readers for breaking information, in-depth guides and unique offers from TPG’s consultants
The data for the Virgin Purple Rewards Mastercard has been collected independently by The Factors Man. The cardboard particulars on this web page haven’t been reviewed or supplied by the cardboard issuer.
Nonetheless, if opening a brand new bank card isn’t interesting or if you happen to’re not a frequent Virgin Atlantic flyer, Flying Membership companions with each main bank card rewards program. Due to this fact, it is easy to spice up your Virgin factors steadiness if in case you have a rewards bank card that earns factors inside the following packages:
Be aware that Capital One miles switch to Virgin Purple, not on to Virgin Atlantic Flying Membership. Nonetheless, you’ll be able to simply use your Virgin Purple account factors with Flying Membership.
Since Flying Membership companions with each main transferable bank card rewards forex, there are sometimes switch bonuses, which implies you’ll be able to redeem your factors for much less.
Many of those packages provide playing cards that characteristic terrific welcome bonuses. This is only a pattern of the journey rewards bank cards that earn these transferable factors that may be transformed to Virgin factors:
Buy Virgin factors
Virgin Atlantic permits you to buy as much as 100,000 Virgin factors per calendar yr at a fee of two.5 cents in intervals of 1,000 factors every, plus a transaction price of $22, whatever the variety of factors bought.
TPG values Virgin factors at 1.4 cents per level, per our November 2024 valuations; subsequently, since the price of buying factors is far increased, it is not a very good deal to buy factors at full worth. Nonetheless, Virgin generally runs bonus promotions when buying factors. For instance, in March, the service supplied as much as 70% bonus factors, plus elevated caps on annual buy limits. This may deliver the value right down to a extra cheap price and could also be value it to prime off your account or to e book an award flight.
Virgin Atlantic Factors Booster
In the event you’ve flown a Virgin Atlantic-operated flight — whether or not you paid money or factors for it — you should use Flying Membership’s Factors Booster to attain further factors for affordable. You may often pay 0.01 British kilos (or $0.013) per level for the bonus factors.
You may even use the Factors Booster for flights you may have already taken as much as six months again.
Different Virgin Atlantic incomes companions
There are a number of companions via which you’ll earn Virgin factors by procuring or touring:
- Accommodations: You may earn Virgin factors reserving stays with Virgin Accommodations, Marriott Bonvoy, Finest Western, Hilton Honors, IHG One Rewards and World of Hyatt
- Automobile rental companions: Virgin Atlantic companions with Avis, Alamo, Enterprise, Nationwide and Sixt
- Virgin Trains Ticketing: Earn factors for practice journeys throughout Nice Britain
- Heathrow Rewards: You may earn factors for procuring or parking at London’s Heathrow Airport and switch them to Flying Membership
- Rocketmiles and Kaligo: You may earn between 500 and 10,000 Virgin factors per night time for reserving lodges via the lodging platforms Rocketmiles and Kaligo
- Retailers Away: Earn Virgin factors whenever you select to buy at over 1,000 retailers via Virgin Atlantic’s procuring portal
There are additionally methods to earn Virgin factors via airport lounge purchases, finishing on-line surveys and airport parking.
Associated: The rookies information to airline procuring portals
Virgin Atlantic Flying Membership elite standing
Virgin Flying Membership gives three elite standing tiers: Purple, Silver and Gold. If you fly with Virgin or its companions, you earn Tier Factors, and the upper the standing you may have with the airline, the extra perks you will obtain.
You may obtain the next advantages at every elite standing tier:
Purple (new member)
- Board first in financial system
- Free commonplace seat choice in Financial system Gentle and Basic (7 days earlier than departure with Virgin Atlantic Holidays)
- Free seat choice in Financial system Delight (7 days earlier than departure with Virgin Atlantic Holidays)
- Devoted Flying Membership cellphone line
- Discounted entry and earn factors at No1 Lounges
Silver (400 Tier Factors required)
You may obtain the identical advantages as Purple tier members, in addition to the next advantages:
- Premium check-in
- Precedence boarding
- 30% extra bonus factors on flights
- One further checked bag
- Tier renewal bonus
- Present companion and improve vouchers to family and friends
- Member advantages with Virgin Accommodations
- Family account for as much as 9 folks
- Standing extension for maternity, paternity and/or adoption
Gold (1,000 Tier Factors required)
You may obtain the identical advantages as Silver tier members, in addition to the next:
- 60% extra Virgin factors on flights
- Assured Higher Class seat
- Free commonplace seat choice in Financial system Gentle and Basic (anytime for you and your social gathering)
- Free seat choice in Financial system Delight (anytime for you and your social gathering)
- Most well-liked seat choice earlier than your flight in Premium (member solely)
- Higher Class check-in (it doesn’t matter what cabin you fly in)
- Lounge entry for you plus one visitor (when flying in any cabin class)
- Entry to London Heathrow Revivals Lounge
- 2,000 bonus factors in your birthday
- Earn a Flying Membership reward voucher whenever you renew your Gold standing
- Present Flying Membership reward vouchers to household and buddies
- Present Silver standing to a pal
- Assured financial system seat on any flight
- Obtain two reward vouchers whenever you attain 2,000 Tier Factors in your membership yr
Easy methods to redeem Virgin Flying Membership factors
In October, Flying Membership drastically modified its loyalty program and moved to dynamic pricing. Now, each seat on a Virgin Atlantic-operated flight is offered to e book with Virgin factors. Like with money fares, seats booked with Virgin factors are priced in line with demand. Nonetheless, the variety of Virgin factors required to e book an award seat isn’t linked to the money costs, which has resulted in some glorious and a few terrible redemption charges.
When looking for award redemptions, search for Saver seats marked with a crimson tag. These award seats at the moment are the most affordable choices, although they won’t be supplied on each flight.
You should use Virgin’s useful Reward Seat Checker to seek out the lowest-priced seats.
In the event you’re fortunate sufficient to snag this redemption, you will be reserving the bottom award fee for business-class flights to Europe in comparison with different main airline loyalty packages.
Sadly, the draw back of dynamic pricing is that the factors required may be astronomical if you wish to journey on peak dates like faculty holidays and through the summer time months, with some routes requiring 150,000 factors for a single flight in financial system or 350,000 factors in enterprise class.
At these charges, verify the value of money fares, as it’s possible you’ll discover a higher deal than redeeming your Virgin or bank card reward factors.
A significant draw back when reserving with Virgin is the carrier-imposed surcharges that might be tacked on to your ticket. Nonetheless, through the loyalty program’s overhaul, these charges had been considerably diminished, so now they’re extra cheap. Moreover, when departing the UK, the U.Ok. APD Tax should even be paid, which might add lots of of {dollars} to your redemption in premium courses.
Associated: Flexibility is essential: Why I (largely) just like the Virgin Atlantic Flying Membership modifications
Virgin Atlantic Flying Membership airline companions
Other than Saver fares, that are strictly restricted in capability and is probably not accessible on peak journey dates, the true magic of utilizing Virgin factors lies in accomplice award redemptions. For the reason that service joined the SkyTeam alliance, you’ll be able to redeem Virgin factors on all SkyTeam airways.
Redemptions on SkyTeam airways are distance-based — excluding flights operated by Air France-KLM and Delta Air Strains— and you’ll need the next Virgin factors every approach per individual (be aware that some airways don’t provide premium financial system):
| Flight distance (miles) | Financial system | Premium financial system | Enterprise |
|---|---|---|---|
| 0-500 | 5,500 | 9,000 | 14,500 |
| 501-1,000 | 7,000 | 12,500 | 15,500 |
| 1,001-1,500 | 10,000 | 16,000 | 21,500 |
| 1,501-2,250 | 11,500 | 22,000 | 35,000 |
| 2,251-3,000 | 15,500 | 26,500 | 40,000 |
| 3,001-4,000 | 20,500 | 37,500 | 60,000 |
| 4,001-5,000 | 25,500 | 47,500 | 75,000 |
| 5,001-6,000 | 31,000 | 57,500 | 85,000 |
| 6,001-7,000 | 37,000 | 70,000 | 100,000 |
| 7,001-12,000 | 50,000 | 95,000 | 140,000 |
As for Air France-KLM and Delta-operated flights, you should definitely try Virgin’s web site to view the award charts for these carriers.
You may discover that accomplice redemption charts don’t embrace first-class fares. This implies you’ll be able to’t redeem your Virgin factors for SkyTeam airways that provide top quality, together with Garuda Indonesia, Korean Air, Saudia Airways and Xiamen Airways.
Air France additionally gives top quality however restricts redemptions to elite members of its personal Flying Blue program.
Along with the 16 SkyTeam airways you’ll be able to redeem your Virgin factors with, you can too e book award flights with the next airways utilizing Virgin factors:
You may as well earn Virgin factors — however not redeem them — with accomplice IndiGo.
Every non-SkyTeam accomplice has a special award chart. Some are distance-based and others are zone-based, so every airline can have totally different phrases and circumstances.
The next companions may be booked on the Virgin web site:
- Air France
- Delta
- El Al
- ITA Airways
- Kenya Airways
- KLM
- Korean Air
- LATAM
- Saudia
- Scandinavian Airways
- Vietnam Airways
- Virgin Atlantic
You have to name Virgin Atlantic at 800-365-9500 to e book award tickets for carriers that don’t seem on-line.
Nonetheless, you’ll be able to nonetheless seek for availability on different web sites. For instance, the United Airways web site is superb for locating accessible seats on Star Alliance carriers. As soon as you discover what you need, be aware the journey dates and flight numbers. Then, name Virgin Atlantic and feed that data to the customer support consultant.
Associated: Easy methods to e book Delta award flights with Virgin Atlantic Flying Membership factors
Finest methods to redeem Virgin factors for max worth
With so many alternative airline companions, listed here are a few of our favourite methods to redeem your Virgin factors.
Saver fares on Virgin Atlantic
On dates with low demand, corresponding to transatlantic flights on sure days over the northern winter interval, the brand new Saver fare flights will now begin from as little as 6,000 Virgin factors in financial system from JFK to Heathrow, 10,500 Virgin factors in premium financial system and simply 29,000 Virgin factors in enterprise class.
Service-imposed surcharges for Saver fares have additionally been diminished, ranging from simply $45 in financial system, $78 in Premium and $227 in Higher Class on a flight from New York to London. Minor further authorities taxes and airport charges are additionally payable, which differ from path to route. Keep in mind that the taxes for flights departing London might be dearer than these to London due to the U.Ok. APD Tax.
These are the bottom redemption charges to fly to London in comparison with any main airline loyalty program.
All Nippon Airways
Virgin Atlantic’s unbelievable redemption charges for ANA-operated flights ought to at all times be thought of if you wish to get between the U.S. and Japan. This route is likely one of the finest award journey candy spots, although availability may be powerful to seek out.
Check out Virgin Atlantic’s award chart for ANA flights. These costs are for one-way journey, so you will need to double the value for a round-trip redemption.
Associated: Looks like top quality: Flying ANA The Room enterprise class from LA-Tokyo
In the event you had been to e book a round-trip, first-class seat to Japan from the West Coast in considered one of ANA’s fancy suite seats, you’d spend simply 145,000 factors for a seat costing $20,000 or extra. Enterprise class can be a wonderful deal at simply 105,000 factors.
It is also value noting that round-trip award flights are extremely low cost for infants below 2 years outdated who do not want a seat of their very own:
- Financial system seats price 2,000 factors
- Enterprise-class seats price 10,000 factors
- First-class seats price 14,000 factors
Air France-KLM
Virgin Atlantic has a number of award charts for each KLM and Air France. It divides the world into 10 zones and calculates your award worth primarily based in your origin and vacation spot zones. Listed here are some notable worth highlights from the U.S. on off-peak dates:
- One-way financial system flight to Europe from the West Coast for 15,000 factors
- One-way financial system flight to the Center East from the East Coast for 25,000 factors
- One-way business-class flight to Europe from the East Coast for 48,500 factors
- One-way business-class flight from the East Coast to North Africa for 66,500 factors
You may usually incur gasoline surcharges in your flights, however they’re usually not as excessive as for Virgin Atlantic awards. In our expertise, surcharges are below $300 for a one-way business-class ticket from the U.S. to Europe, making Air France-KLM a less expensive possibility for business-class European redemptions.
Backside line
Virgin Atlantic is intricate — a few of its luster has disappeared after devaluations and diminishing availability from its companions. Whereas the brand new dynamic pricing mannequin favors those that are versatile and might journey throughout off-peak durations, these desirous to journey over main holidays and peak summer time months might doubtless now must look to different packages for first rate award redemptions.
Nonetheless, this system continues to be extremely beneficial for worldwide journey, notably for flying ANA, Air France or KLM in premium cabins when availability permits. Moreover, as a result of this system has so many switch companions, its factors are simple to earn. Due to this fact, this loyalty program shouldn’t be ignored.
