Regardless of switching to dynamic pricing in 2024, Virgin Atlantic Flying Membership continues to supply noteworthy Saver-level fares and engaging companion award charts. Although reserving via this U.Okay.-based service loyalty program can typically be expensive when factoring in taxes and costs and extra surcharges on award tickets, some candy spots stay.
Plus, since Flying Membership companions with main bank card rewards packages, factors and miles lovers can simply ebook and make the most of these promotions.
Whether or not you are planning a visit to Europe or hoping to ebook a home flight on Delta Air Traces, a fellow SkyTeam companion, Virgin Atlantic Flying Membership must be in your radar. Here is what to learn about incomes, redeeming and maximizing your Flying Membership factors.
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Tips on how to 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 deal with.
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 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 Traces, Air France and KLM, amongst others. To seek out out the variety of factors you possibly can earn on companion airways, make sure to navigate to Virgin Atlantic’s companion web page and click on on the airline you’re flying. You’ll earn redeemable factors primarily based 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. Due to this fact, it is easy to spice up your Virgin factors stability when you’ve got a rewards bank card that earns factors or miles throughout the following packages:
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Observe that Capital One miles switch to Virgin Pink, not on to Virgin Atlantic Flying Membership. Nevertheless, you possibly can simply join your accounts and use your Virgin Pink factors with Flying Membership.
In the event you earn transferable rewards with a program, be looking out for switch bonuses.
Listed here are a couple of of our favourite journey rewards playing cards with notable welcome bonuses that earn transferable rewards:
- Chase Sapphire Most popular® Card (see charges and costs): Earn 75,000 bonus factors after spending $5,000 on purchases within the first three months from account opening.
- Chase Sapphire Reserve® (see charges and costs): Earn 125,000 bonus factors after spending $6,000 on purchases within the first three months from account opening.
- American Categorical® Gold Card: Discover out your provide and see in case you are eligible for as excessive as 100,000 Membership Rewards factors after spending $6,000 on purchases throughout the first six months of card membership. Welcome affords range, and also you is probably not eligible for a suggestion.
- Bilt Palladium Card (see charges and costs): 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 12 months).
- Capital One Enterprise X Rewards Credit score 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 permits you to buy as much as 200,000 Virgin factors per calendar 12 months at a price 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, in keeping with our April 2026 valuations. Since the price of buying factors is considerably larger than their valuation, it isn’t a great deal to purchase them at full value. Nevertheless, Virgin Atlantic typically runs bonus promotions on buying factors. This may deliver the value right down to a extra cheap value and could also be value it to prime off your account or to ebook a selected 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 Membership’s Factors Booster to earn additional Virgin factors inexpensively. You’ll be able to normally discover offers for almost 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 a number of companions via which you’ll be able to earn Virgin factors by procuring or touring:
- Resorts: You’ll be able to earn Virgin factors by reserving stays with Virgin Resorts, Virgin Restricted Version, Marriott, Finest Western, Hilton, Kaligo, IHG, Rocketmiles and Hyatt.
- Automotive 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 procuring or parking at Heathrow Airport (LHR) and switch them to Flying Membership.
- Retailers Away: Earn Virgin factors while 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, on-line surveys and airport parking.
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Virgin Atlantic Flying Membership elite standing
Virgin Atlantic Flying Membership affords three elite standing tiers: Pink, Silver and Gold. If you fly with Virgin Atlantic or its companions, you earn tier factors, and the upper the standing you’ve with the airline, the extra perks you will obtain.
You may obtain the next advantages at every elite standing tier:
Pink (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 Automotive Rent
Silver (400 tier factors required)
You may obtain the identical advantages as Pink 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 while you fly with SkyTeam companions
- Standing extension for maternity, paternity and adoption
- Member advantages with Virgin Resorts
- One further checked bag
- Advance seat project, together with on choose companion airways
- Precedence telephone assist
- Complimentary room improve with Virgin Resorts
Gold (1,000 tier factors required)
You may 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 while you fly from Heathrow with Virgin Atlantic or Delta
- Extra checked and cabin baggage allowance
- Free customary 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 buddy for 12 months
- Assured financial system seat on any flight (even when it is offered out)
- Lounge entry
- Complimentary breakfast with Virgin Resorts
For a complete listing of advantages, go to Virgin Atlantic’s web site.
Moreover, Flying Membership has launched Excessive 5 rewards, which is able to award elite members with 12,000 Virgin factors if they’ve flown with this system for 5 years, beginning in January 2021.
Tips on how to 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 in keeping with demand. Nevertheless, the variety of Virgin factors required to ebook an award seat shouldn’t be linked to the money value; this has resulted in some wonderful and a few poor redemption charges.
When looking for award redemptions, search for Saver seats marked with a purple tag. These award seats at the moment are essentially the most reasonably priced choices, though they won’t be obtainable on each flight.
You should utilize Virgin Atlantic’s helpful Reward Seat Checker to seek out the lowest-priced seats.
Sadly, the draw back of dynamic pricing is that the variety of factors required could be astronomical if you wish to journey on peak dates, comparable to college holidays and throughout the summer season. 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 it’s possible you’ll 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.Okay., anticipate to pay over $600 in further charges. Moreover, when departing the U.Okay., you could pay the U.Okay. Air Passenger Obligation.
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Virgin Atlantic Flying Membership airline companions
Except for Saver fares, that are strictly restricted in capability and is probably not obtainable on peak journey dates, the true magic of utilizing Virgin factors lies in companion award redemptions.
Redemptions on SkyTeam companion airways are distance-based, excluding flights operated by Air France, KLM and Delta. You have to the next variety of Virgin factors every means per particular person (although notice that some airways don’t provide premium financial system):
| Flight distance (miles) | Economic 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 to verify the award charts for these carriers on Virgin Atlantic’s web site.
You may discover that companion redemption charts don’t embody first-class fares. This implies you possibly can’t redeem your Virgin factors for SkyTeam airways that provide firstclass.
Along with redeeming your Virgin factors with the SkyTeam airways, you can too ebook award flights with the next airways utilizing Virgin factors:
- Air New Zealand
- All Nippon Airways
- El Al
- LATAM
- South African Airways
- Virgin Australia
It’s also possible to earn Virgin factors — however not redeem them — with companion IndiGo.
Every non-SkyTeam companion has a unique award chart. Some are distance-based, and others are zone-based, so every airline can have completely different phrases and situations.
Finest methods to redeem Virgin factors for max worth
With so many various 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 shall be costlier than these to London because of the U.Okay. Air Passenger Obligation.
These are the bottom redemption charges for flights to London amongst any main airline loyalty program.
All Nippon Airways
Contemplate Virgin Atlantic’s unbelievable redemption charges for ANA-operated flights if you wish to journey between the U.S. and Japan. This route is without doubt one of the finest award journey candy spots, although availability is troublesome 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 ebook 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 value 105,000 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 value primarily based in your origin and vacation spot zones. Listed here are some notable value 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 durations. Those that need to journey over main holidays and peak summer season months might now have to look to different packages for respectable award redemptions.
Nevertheless, this system stays extremely worthwhile 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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