Virgin Atlantic’s frequent flyers can collect loyalty points in a bunch of different ways, and use them to get free tickets to travel from London or Manchester to one of Virgin Atlantic’s destinations in the US, the Caribbean, Asia or Africa.
Like most airline reward schemes, Virgin Atlantic’s offers many different ways of earning and spending, so it can be a bit complicated to navigate. Our guide looks at it from all sides and helps you figure out how to get the most out of it.
How to earn Virgin Atlantic Flying Club points
The most basic way to earn Virgin Atlantic Flying Club points is to book flights with Virgin Atlantic whenever you want to go on holiday. For every ticket you purchase, you’ll earn a percentage of the base flown points.
The percentage will depend on the class you travel in, from 25% for the cheapest economy class (Economy Light) to 400% for a flexible ticket in the upper class.
However, you can also earn Virgin Points in other ways:
With one of Virgin Atlantic’s credit cards. Virgin Atlantic offers 2 credit card options that let you earn points for every purchase you make, no matter where. They differ from one another in that one doubles the Virgin Points you can earn per £1 spent, but you’ll need to pay an annual fee in return.
Adding a hire car or a hotel stay to your flight. If you also book your hire car or your hotel with Virgin Atlantic, you’ll earn extra Virgin Points for every £1 you spend.
With one of Virgin Atlantic’s partners. You can collect loyalty points when flying with partner airlines, such as Delta, AirFrance and Korean Air. You can also convert loyalty points from other schemes into Virgin Points, including American Express Membership Rewards points and Tesco Clubcard points.
Buying them. If you’re close to a reward you really want, but are just missing a few thousand points to get it, you can buy them. There’s a one-off £15 transaction fee, and points cost £15 for 1,000 points. So if you bought 1,000 points, you’d pay £30 in total. You can buy a total of 100,000 points each calendar year, in increments of 1,000 points, either for yourself or for other members.
How do Virgin Atlantic Flying Club’s Tier Points work?
To complicate things further, Virgin’s Flying Club has 3 different membership tiers. Every year you start with zero Tier Points and a basic Red membership. If you travel enough in one year, you can collect Tier Points that will give you the status of Silver member (400 points) or Gold member (1,000 points).
You can only earn Tier Points and upgrade your status by travelling with Virgin Atlantic. The number of points you collect for every flight depends on the class you travel in – a complete table can be found here.
Silver and Gold customers earn more points when they fly (30% and 60% more respectively), so if you are a loyal customer it’s easier and quicker to earn free flights. Virgin Atlantic’s Tier Points expire every year, so if you don’t fly enough, you’ll lose your membership upgrade.
If you’re a Red member, your membership won’t expire as long as you earn or spend Virgin Points within 3 years.
How to spend Virgin Points
Once you’ve collected a fair amount of points, you can trade them for:
Free flights. You won’t be surprised to hear that a company called “Virgin Atlantic” doesn’t travel to Europe. However, it does have a list of hot destinations for both vacation and business, from New York to Tel Aviv to Hong Kong.
Upgrades. Have you always dreamed of flying in upper class, just for once? This is your chance to do it for free, although you’ll need a lot of miles to get there.
Companion seats. If you’re planning a holiday with a partner or a friend, this is probably the cheapest way to get a free ticket. As long as you also pay for a regular ticket on the same plane, the second ticket will come for considerably fewer points than purchasing a standard free ticket if you were travelling by yourself.
Once you’ve got all the points you need, you can log in to Virgin Atlantic Flying Club’s website and use them to book your flights.
How much are Virgin Atlantic air miles worth?
As with most points schemes, there’s no easy points-to-pounds conversion, so it’s probably better to look at it the other way around: what would you like to treat yourself with and how many points will it take to get there?
The answer will depend on whether it’s standard or peak season (Easter, summer, Christmas), on where you want to go (the cheapest flights go to Israel, while the ones that will require the most points go to the US West Coast) and on the class you want to travel in.
Expert analysis: Be aware of charges on points bookings
Once you’ve earnt enough Virgin points for a flight, don’t assume that it’s totally free. An economy return flight will still cost you around £200-£300 in fuel surcharges and taxes, that you have to pay in order to secure the booking. If you’re looking to fly in Premium Economy it’s £500-£600, and for business it's £700-£800 per ticket. The same is true if you’re upgrading cabins with points - you’ll have to pay an extra surcharge.
While this still saves you a fair amount on the cost of a standard ticket, it’s worth considering other options for redemption of your points if you only have a small amount. You can use your points for part or full payment towards Virgin Holidays, Virgin Wines and even Greggs food and drink at no cost. You can also transfer Virgin points to hotel loyalty schemes such as IHG and Hilton, where you may be able to redeem free hotel nights.
Virgin Atlantic Points Calculator
Does your credit card earn you Virgin Points? Use our calculator to find out how many Virgin Points you could get.
Use the fields above to calculate how much cashback you will earn.
Pros and cons
Pros
Many different ways to earn points.
Good earn rate.
Introductory points boost with Virgin Atlantic credit cards.
Dedicated online portal to manage your points and book flights.
Cons
Tier Points expire every year.
No flights to Europe.
You’ll still need to pay fuel surcharges and taxes.
Our verdict: Are Virgin Atlantic points any good?
If you’re keen to travel further afield than Europe, signing up to the Virgin Atlantic Points scheme could help you achieve your dreams faster. There’s a host of different ways to earn points and plenty of ways to spend them too. However, the scheme can be a little complicated, particularly with the different membership levels and Tier Points expiring after a year. So it’s worth comparing the scheme to others on the market before making your decision.
Compare credit cards that earn Virgin Atlantic Points
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To make sure you get accurate and helpful information, this guide has been reviewed by Rachel Wait, a member of Finder's Editorial Review Board.
Chris Lilly is Head of publishing at finder.com. He's a specialist in personal finance, from day-to-day banking to investing to borrowing, and is passionate about helping UK consumers make informed decisions about their money. In his spare time Chris likes forcing his kids to exercise more. See full bio
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Earn Flying Club miles while you spend with this premium Virgin Money card. Compare rates, fees and perks against alternative options for frequent flyers.
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