Regardless of switching to dynamic pricing in 2024, Virgin Atlantic Flying Membership continues to supply noteworthy Saver-level fares and enticing associate award charts. Although reserving via this U.Ok.-based provider loyalty program can typically be expensive when factoring in taxes and charges and extra surcharges on award tickets, some candy spots stay.
Plus, since Flying Membership companions with main bank card rewards packages, factors and miles fans can simply e-book and reap the benefits of these promotions.
Whether or not you are planning a visit to Europe or hoping to e-book a home flight on Delta Air Strains, a fellow SkyTeam associate, Virgin Atlantic Flying Membership must be in your radar. Here is what to find out about incomes, redeeming and maximizing your Flying Membership factors.
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How one can earn Virgin Atlantic Flying Membership factors
You’ll be able to earn Virgin Atlantic Flying Membership factors in a wide range of methods. Listed here are those to concentrate on.
Fly with Virgin Atlantic
You’ll be able to earn Virgin factors by flying with Virgin Atlantic itself. The variety of factors you earn relies on the flight distance, your ticket’s reserving class and whether or not you maintain Flying Membership elite standing. To calculate what number of factors you’ll earn in your flight, use the airline’s earning calculator.
Since Virgin Atlantic is a member of the SkyTeam alliance, you can even earn Virgin factors when flying with one of many provider’s companions, together with Delta Air Strains, Air France and KLM, amongst others. To seek out out the variety of factors you possibly can earn on associate airways, make sure you navigate to Virgin Atlantic’s partner page and click on on the airline you’re flying. You’ll earn redeemable factors based mostly on the cabin, reserving class and distance flown.
Earn Virgin factors via bank card rewards
Flying Membership companions with most main bank card rewards packages. Subsequently, it is easy to spice up your Virgin factors steadiness in case you have a rewards credit card that earns factors or miles inside the following packages:
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Notice that Capital One miles switch to Virgin Crimson, not on to Virgin Atlantic Flying Membership. Nonetheless, you possibly can easily connect your accounts and use your Virgin Red points with Flying Membership.
In the event you earn transferable rewards with a program, be looking out for transfer bonuses.
Listed here are just a few of our favourite journey rewards playing cards with notable welcome bonuses that earn transferable rewards:
- Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card (see rates and fees): Earn 75,000 bonus factors after spending $5,000 on purchases within the first three months from account opening.
- Chase Sapphire Reserve® (see rates and fees): Earn 125,000 bonus factors after spending $6,000 on purchases within the first three months from account opening.
- American Express® Gold Card: Discover out your provide and see if you’re eligible for as excessive as 100,000 Membership Rewards factors after spending $6,000 on purchases inside the first six months of card membership. Welcome affords range, and also you might not be eligible for a proposal.
- Bilt Palladium Card (see rates and fees): Earn 50,000 Bilt Factors plus Gold standing after spending $4,000 on on a regular basis purchases within the first three months. Plus, earn $300 of Bilt Money upon approval (as much as $100 of Bilt Money earned rolls over to the subsequent yr).
- Capital One Venture X Rewards Credit Card: Earn 75,000 bonus miles when you spend $4,000 on purchases within the first three months from account opening.
Buy Virgin factors
Virgin Atlantic means that you can buy as much as 200,000 Virgin factors per calendar yr at a charge of two.5 cents every in increments of 1,000 factors, plus a transaction price of $22, whatever the variety of factors bought.
TPG values Virgin factors at 1.3 cents per level, based on our April 2026 valuations. Since the price of buying factors is considerably greater than their valuation, it is not a superb deal to purchase them at full worth. Nonetheless, Virgin Atlantic typically runs bonus promotions on buying factors. This could carry the worth right down to a extra cheap price and could also be price it to high off your account or to e-book a particular upcoming award flight.
Virgin Atlantic Factors Booster
In the event you’re on a Virgin Atlantic-operated flight — whether or not you paid money or redeemed factors for it — you need to use Flying Club’s Points Booster to earn additional Virgin factors inexpensively. You’ll be able to often discover offers for nearly 1.3 cents per bonus level.
You’ll be able to even use the Factors Booster for flights taken as much as six months in the past.
Different Virgin Atlantic incomes companions
There are several partners via which you’ll earn Virgin factors by buying or touring:
- Accommodations: You’ll be able to earn Virgin factors by reserving stays with Virgin Accommodations, Virgin Restricted Version, Marriott, Finest Western, Hilton, Kaligo, IHG, Rocketmiles and Hyatt.
- Automobile rental companions: Virgin Atlantic companions with Avis, Alamo, Hertz, Enterprise, Nationwide and Sixt.
- Virgin Trains Ticketing and Eurostar: Earn factors for prepare journeys throughout Nice Britain and Europe.
- Heathrow Rewards: You’ll be able to earn factors for buying or parking at Heathrow Airport (LHR) and switch them to Flying Membership.
- Shops Away: Earn Virgin factors once you select to buy at over 1,000 retailers via Virgin Atlantic’s buying portal.
There are additionally methods to earn Virgin factors via airport lounge purchases, on-line surveys and airport parking.
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Virgin Atlantic Flying Membership elite standing
Virgin Atlantic Flying Membership affords three elite status tiers: Crimson, Silver and Gold. If you fly with Virgin Atlantic or its companions, you earn tier factors, and the upper the standing you have got with the airline, the extra perks you will obtain.
You will obtain the next advantages at every elite standing tier:
Crimson (new member)
- Board first in financial system
- Pool your Virgin factors in a family account
- Devoted telephone assist
- Free financial system seat choice seven days earlier than departure with Virgin Atlantic Holidays
- Reductions with Vacation Extras and Hertz Automobile Rent
Silver (400 tier factors required)
You will obtain the identical advantages as Crimson members, in addition to the next advantages:
- Premium check-in for everybody in your reserving when flying in any cabin class
- Precedence boarding
- Precedence baggage supply when flying with Virgin Atlantic, Delta, Air France and KLM
- 30% extra bonus factors on flights and bonus factors on Virgin Atlantic Holidays
- 30% bonus factors once you fly with SkyTeam companions
- Standing extension for maternity, paternity and adoption
- Member advantages with Virgin Accommodations
- One further checked bag
- Advance seat project, together with on choose associate airways
- Precedence telephone assist
- Complimentary room improve with Virgin Accommodations
Gold (1,000 tier factors required)
You will obtain the identical advantages as Silver members, in addition to the next:
- 60% extra Virgin factors on flights and 4 factors per 1 euro spent on Virgin Atlantic Holidays
- Higher Class check-in once you fly from Heathrow with Virgin Atlantic or Delta
- Further checked and cabin baggage allowance
- Free normal seat choice when flying with Virgin Atlantic, Delta, Air France and KLM
- Free financial system exit-row seat choice on Virgin Atlantic flights
- Most popular seat choice on Virgin Atlantic flights
- Lounge entry for you plus one visitor
- Entry to Heathrow’s Revivals Lounge
- 2,000 bonus factors in your birthday
- The flexibility to present Silver standing to a pal for 12 months
- Assured financial system seat on any flight (even when it is bought out)
- Lounge entry
- Complimentary breakfast with Virgin Accommodations
For a complete checklist of advantages, go to Virgin Atlantic’s website.
Moreover, Flying Membership has launched High Five rewards, which can award elite members with 12,000 Virgin factors if they’ve flown with this system for 5 years, beginning in January 2021.
How one can redeem Virgin Atlantic Flying Membership factors
Each seat on a Virgin Atlantic-operated flight is, in concept, bookable with Virgin factors. As with money fares, seats booked with Virgin factors are priced based on demand. Nonetheless, the variety of Virgin factors required to e-book an award seat isn’t linked to the money worth; this has resulted in some wonderful and a few poor redemption charges.
When looking for award redemptions, search for Saver seats marked with a crimson tag. These award seats at the moment are essentially the most reasonably priced choices, though they won’t be accessible on each flight.
You need to use Virgin Atlantic’s useful Reward Seat Checker to seek out the lowest-priced seats.
Sadly, the draw back of dynamic pricing is that the variety of factors required might be astronomical if you wish to journey on peak dates, equivalent to college holidays and throughout the summer time. For some routes, the variety of factors required for a single flight can attain 150,000 in financial system or 350,000 in enterprise class.
At these charges, verify the money fare costs, as you could discover a higher deal than redeeming your Virgin or bank card factors.
A draw back to reserving with Virgin Atlantic is the carrier-imposed surcharges it provides to your ticket. In case you are reserving a business-class ticket from the U.S. to the U.Ok., anticipate to pay over $600 in further charges. Moreover, when departing the U.Ok., you should pay the U.K. Air Passenger Duty.
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Virgin Atlantic Flying Membership airline companions
Apart from Saver fares, that are strictly restricted in capability and might not be accessible on peak journey dates, the true magic of utilizing Virgin factors lies in associate award redemptions.
Redemptions on SkyTeam associate airways are distance-based, excluding flights operated by Air France, KLM and Delta. You have to the next variety of Virgin factors every method per particular person (although be aware that some airways don’t provide premium financial system):
| Flight distance (miles) | Financial system | Premium financial system (the place supplied) | Enterprise |
|---|---|---|---|
|
5,500 |
9,000 |
14,500 |
|
|
7,000 |
12,500 |
15,500 |
|
|
10,000 |
16,000 |
21,500 |
|
|
11,500 |
22,000 |
35,500 |
|
|
15,000 |
26,500 |
40,000 |
|
|
20,500 |
37,500 |
60,000 |
|
|
25,500 |
47,500 |
75,000 |
|
|
31,500 |
57,500 |
85,000 |
|
|
37,000 |
70,000 |
100,000 |
|
|
50,000 |
95,000 |
140,000 |
As for Air France-, KLM- and Delta-operated flights, make sure you verify the award charts for these carriers on Virgin Atlantic’s website.
You will discover that associate redemption charts don’t embrace first-class fares. This implies you possibly can’t redeem your Virgin factors for SkyTeam airways that supply top notch.
Along with redeeming your Virgin factors with the SkyTeam airways, you can even e-book award flights with the next airways utilizing Virgin factors:
- Air New Zealand
- All Nippon Airways
- El Al
- LATAM
- South African Airways
- Virgin Australia
You too can earn Virgin factors — however not redeem them — with associate IndiGo.
Every non-SkyTeam associate has a special award chart. Some are distance-based, and others are zone-based, so every airline can have totally different phrases and circumstances.
Finest methods to redeem Virgin factors for max worth
With so many alternative airline companions, listed below are a few of our favourite methods to redeem your Virgin factors.
Saver fares on Virgin Atlantic
On dates with low demand, Saver fares for flights from New York’s John F. Kennedy Worldwide Airport (JFK); Dulles Worldwide Airport (IAD) close to Washington, D.C.; and Boston Logan Worldwide Airport (BOS) to Heathrow Airport (LHR) begin at 6,000 Virgin factors in financial system, 10,500 Virgin factors in premium financial system and simply 29,000 Virgin factors in enterprise class.
Taxes, charges and carrier-imposed surcharges for Saver fares are substantial at roughly $162 in financial system, $294 in Premium and $690 in Higher Class on a flight from New York Metropolis to London. Do not forget that taxes for flights departing from London will probably be costlier than these to London because of the U.Ok. Air Passenger Obligation.
These are the bottom redemption charges for flights to London amongst any main airline loyalty program.
All Nippon Airways
Take into account Virgin Atlantic’s unbelievable redemption charges for ANA-operated flights if you wish to journey between the U.S. and Japan. This route is likely one of the finest award journey candy spots, although availability is tough to seek out.
Check out Virgin Atlantic’s award chart for ANA flights. These costs are for one-way journey; double them for a round-trip redemption.
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In the event you have been to e-book a round-trip, first-class journey to Japan from the U.S. West Coast in certainly one of ANA’s fancy suite seats, you’d spend simply 145,000 factors for a seat costing $20,000 or extra. A round-trip business-class seat from the West Coast to Japan would price 105,000 factors.
Air France-KLM
Virgin Atlantic has several award charts for both KLM and Air France. It divides the world into 10 zones and calculates your award worth based mostly 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 to North Africa from the East Coast for 66,500 factors
Backside line
Virgin Atlantic’s Flying Membership program is intricate, and the dynamic pricing mannequin favors those that are versatile and may journey throughout off-peak intervals. Those that need to journey over main holidays and peak summer time months could now must look to different packages for respectable award redemptions.
Nonetheless, this system stays extremely invaluable for worldwide journey, significantly for these flying ANA, Air France or KLM in premium cabins when availability permits.
Moreover, as a result of this system has so many switch companions, it is easy to earn factors, so do not overlook this loyalty program.
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