Full information to getting worth from Virgin Atlantic Flying Membership

You’ll be able to examine your working provider and fare class on WhereToCredit for the most suitable choice in your flight.

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Bank card rewards

The one direct option to earn Virgin Factors by bank cards is with the Virgin Atlantic World Elite Mastercard®. At the moment, you possibly can earn as much as 50,000 bonus factors throughout the first 12 months:

• 30,000 bonus factors for spending a minimum of $1,000 on purchases throughout the first 90 days of account opening.
• 2,500 bonus factors for including a certified person (5,000 bonus factors max).
• 7,500 bonus factors every anniversary after you spend a minimum of $15,000 throughout your anniversary 12 months.
• 7,500 further bonus factors after you spend a minimum of $25,000 throughout your anniversary 12 months.

The data for the Virgin Atlantic card 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.

50,000 Virgin factors is not a pittance by any means. However there are a lot of different oblique methods to earn this precious forex from bank cards which might be far more efficient than the Virgin Atlantic bank card. For instance, you possibly can switch rewards from American Specific Membership Rewards, Bilt Rewards, Capital One, Chase Final Rewards and Citi ThankYou Rewards at a 1:1 ratio.

Should you’re searching for a brand new card, think about the Chase Sapphire Most well-liked® Card, which presently provides 60,000 bonus factors after you spend $4,000 on purchases within the first three months from account opening.

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You can even switch Marriott Bonvoy factors to Virgin Atlantic at a 3:1 ratio, with a 5,000-mile bonus for transferring a minimum of 60,000 factors. In different phrases, 60,000 Marriott factors equal 25,000 Virgin factors.

Between these six applications, it is not tough to compile a big steadiness of Virgin factors that can allow you to e-book wonderful candy spots (which we’ll cowl in a bit). Nevertheless, should you’re nonetheless shy of an incredible award, you possibly can think about topping off your account with transfers from World of Hyatt (5:3 switch ratio) or IHG Rewards (5:1 switch ratio).

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Factors Booster

Should you’ve flown a Virgin Atlantic-operated flight — whether or not you paid money or factors for it — you should utilize Flying Membership’s Factors Booster to attain further factors for reasonable. You normally have the choice of paying 0.010 British kilos (or $0.013) per level, however this system periodically runs bonus promotions. For instance, in late April 2022, we noticed a proposal for as much as 40% bonus factors.

You’ll be able to even use the Factors Booster for flights you could have already taken, as much as six months again.

Different incomes companions

There are a number of companions by which you’ll be able to earn Virgin factors by purchasing or touring:

• Automobile rental companions: Virgin Atlantic companions with Avis, Alamo, Enterprise, Hertz, Nationwide and Sixt to let members earn Virgin factors.
• Heathrow Rewards: You’ll be able to earn factors for purchasing or parking at Heathrow airport after which switch them to Flying Membership.
• Rocketmiles: You’ll be able to earn between 500 and 10,000 Virgin Factors per evening for reserving lodges by Rocketmiles.
• Outlets Away: Earn Virgin factors by making purchases at over 1,000 retailers by Virgin Atlantic’s purchasing portal.
• Virgin Group: From Virgin Motels to luxurious Virgin properties, you possibly can earn Virgin factors by a number of Virgin Group companions.

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Virgin Atlantic award chart

Many newbies to award journey might assume that the perfect use of an airline’s miles is for award flights on that airline’s personal flights. That is not often the case — and Virgin Atlantic is not an exception.

The award costs Virgin Atlantic costs are cheap. Listed below are the round-trip costs you possibly can anticipate throughout the usual season.

If you wish to stretch your factors additional between 2023 to 2024, think about reserving journey throughout the next commonplace season dates:

Spherical-trip costs escalate a bit throughout the peak season.

This is the entire record of peak journey dates to pay attention to:

The worth you might save by spending comparatively few factors (i.e., 20,000 round-trip between the East Coast and the U.Okay.) you’ll lose on the outrageous gas surcharges Virgin Atlantic tacks onto award flights. Spherical-trip flights between the U.S. and the U.Okay. normally incur a minimum of $450 for economic system flights. In the meantime, Higher Class seats (Virgin Atlantic’s enterprise class) might have nicely over $2,000 in charges round-trip.

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There are many events the place you might discover paid tickets for lower than these gas surcharges, particularly should you aren’t fussy in regards to the working provider. Your factors will not prevent cash in these eventualities. Even nonstop money fares in Virgin Atlantic Higher Class are available for beneath $3,000 spherical journey, so all the time examine tickets earlier than committing to these eye-watering surcharges.

Reserving one-way award flights as an alternative of spherical journeys will usually scale back the taxes and charges on award flights, doubtlessly by a whole bunch of {dollars}. You might also profit from reserving Virgin Atlantic flights to London however not from London. Charges are typically larger for flights departing London because of government-imposed surcharges, so should you’ve acquired one other award forex you should utilize in your return flight, go together with that.

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Flying Membership airline companions

The actual magic of Virgin factors lies in companion award charts thanks to almost two dozen further airways to e-book along with your rewards.

Redemptions on SkyTeam airways are distance-based and you have to the next Virgin factors, every approach, per individual on all dates (no peak/off-peak pricing):

You’ll be able to solely redeem Air France, KLM, Delta Air Traces, China Airways, Korean Air, Center East Airways and Xiamen Air on-line.

Accomplice redemption charts don’t embody top quality. This implies you possibly can’t redeem your Virgin factors for SkyTeam airways who provide top quality — which incorporates Garuda Indonesia, Korean Air, Saudia and Xiamen.

Air France additionally provides top quality however restricts redemptions to elite members of its personal Flying Blue program.

Along with the 16 SkyTeam airways you possibly can redeem your Virgin factors with, you can too e-book award flights with the next airways utilizing Virgin factors:

You can even earn Virgin factors — however not redeem them — with companions SAS, IndiGo and LATAM.

Every non-SkyTeam companion has a distinct award chart. Some are distance-based and others are zone-based, so every airline can have totally different phrases and situations. You have to name Virgin Atlantic at 800-365-9500 to e-book award tickets for carriers that don’t seem on-line.

You’ll be able to nonetheless seek for availability on different web sites, nonetheless. For instance, the United Airways web site is great for locating accessible seats on Star Alliance carriers. As soon as you discover what you need, observe the journey dates and flight numbers. Then name Virgin Atlantic and feed that data to the customer support consultant.

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Greatest makes use of of Virgin factors

With 23 totally different airline companions, these are the perfect methods to make use of your Virgin factors:

SkyTeam airways

If you wish to fly from North America to Europe, strive discovering availability on Air France or KLM. It is because you have to fewer Virgin Factors than different SkyTeam airways require.

SkyTeam is robust in Asia with members like Korean Air, China Airways, Vietnam Airways and Xiamen Air flying nonstop between the US and Asia. You’ll be able to fly from the West Coast of the US to Korea with Korean Air in enterprise class for 85,000 Virgin Factors every approach, plus charges, taxes and surcharges. It is a first rate redemption, although see beneath for the improbable ANA candy spot to Japan.

Bear in mind, Virgin costs per phase, not per journey, so in case you are connecting on, say China Airways from New York (JFK) by to Bangkok (BKK) through Taipei (TPE), you’d be charged a whopping 160,000 factors every approach in enterprise class, which isn’t an incredible redemption.

So, when redeeming on SkyTeam airways, intention for direct flights and reduce connections to avoid wasting factors.

All Nippon Airways (ANA)

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Check out Virgin Atlantic’s award chart for ANA flights. These costs are for round-trip journey. Open-jaw bookings are allowed, so you possibly can examine award availability on different routes in case your most well-liked route is not accessible. It is also value noting you could e-book one-way awards for half the round-trip ticket price.

Should you have been to e-book a round-trip, first-class seat to Japan in one among ANA’s fancy suite seats, you’d spend simply 170,000 factors for a seat costing $20,000 or extra. Enterprise class can also be a superb deal at simply 95,000 factors.

It is also value noting that round-trip award flights are extremely low-cost for infants beneath two 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 pages and pages of award charts for each KLM and Air France. You’ll be able to go to this web page to see all of them. It divides the world into ten zones and calculates your award worth primarily based in your origin and vacation spot zones. Listed below are some highlights from the U.S.:

• One-way economic system flight to Europe from the West Coast for 15,000 factors.
• One-way economic system flight to the Center East from the East Coast for 25,000 factors.
• One-way enterprise class flight to Europe from the East Coast for 48,500 factors.
• One-way enterprise class flights from the East Coast to Northern Africa for 66,500 factors.

You will usually incur gas surcharges in your flights, however they don’t seem to be practically as excessive as for Virgin Atlantic awards. In my expertise, surcharges are just 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 redemptions to Europe.

These costs are all for normal season journey — not peak dates. Commonplace dates are as follows (Virgin has not but printed dates past June 2023):

• Jan.5-March 23, 2023.
• April 18-June 17, 2023.

Should you’re flying inside Europe, you will not be topic to this zone pricing. Virgin Atlantic has a straightforward chart to comply with.

Virgin Australia

The Virgin Atlantic award chart for Virgin Australia flights is generally distance-based, that means it might be a superb worth for brief and costly intra-Australia flights. Virgin Australia has discontinued long-haul service, together with flights to and from the U.S.

This present award chart signifies you could now solely e-book economic system seats. Nevertheless, it does worth toddler rewards at 2,000 factors in economic system and 10,000 factors in enterprise class. You could have to succeed in out to Virgin Atlantic when reserving your flight to be taught the business-class worth of your route.

Much less precious Flying Membership companions

Whereas having an extended record of incomes and redemption companions is nice, some key companions do not present a lot redemption worth for Flying Membership members.

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Distinctive Virgin Factors redemptions

• Virgin Voyages: Watch for infrequent discounted cruises the place you possibly can sail as much as 12 nights for as little as 80,000 Virgin factors.
• Necker Island: Keep at Richard Branson’s personal island dwelling for 4 nights for 540,000 Virgin factors, plus $5,400.
• Mont Rochelle: Keep at Sir Richard Branson’s Cape City vineyard for 3 nights for between 120,000 and 200,000 factors.
• Kasbah Tamadot: Spend three nights in Branson’s Atlas Mountain retreat in Morocco for between 240,000 and 280,000 factors.
• The Lodge: Keep three nights in a single bed room of Branson’s nine-bedroom Swiss Alpine resort for 380,000 factors.
• Mahali Mzuri: Spend three nights in a “luxurious tent” at a Kenyan safari camp for 600,000 factors or 5 nights for 950,000 factors.
• Ulusaba Non-public Sport Reserve: Use 600,000 factors for a three-night keep for 2 folks in a Safari Lodge room or 950,000 factors for a five-night keep for 2 folks in a Safari Lodge room.

Or, you possibly can enter a raffle for an opportunity to fly in house on Virgin Galactic for a cool 2,000,000 factors — however all of these factors will need to have been earned from Virgin Atlantic flights.

The right way to redeem Virgin Factors

You will then be proven availability on the date you chose, in addition to three days on both aspect.

The place there may be multiple flight accessible in your chosen day, you possibly can select the schedule and provider that fits your wants after which proceed to e-book on-line, paying charges, taxes and surcharges on the identical time.

This course of could appear extremely straightforward, however that is not all the time true. Relating to companion award searches, the Virgin Atlantic web site can fall brief. Virgin Atlantic solely lets you search award flights to/from airports loaded into its system — and plenty of of its companions aren’t bookable on-line. Bear in mind, you will should name to e-book flights equivalent to ANA, Singapore Airways and a number of other SkyTeam airways.

If you cannot discover what you are searching for, head to a different web site that does present availability for that airline. For instance, the United Airways web site reveals Singapore Airways and ANA flights. As soon as you discover what you are after, copy the flight data and journey date and name Virgin Atlantic to e-book.

The small print

There are just a few common phrases and situations for award flights booked with Virgin factors — together with partner-operated flights — to bear in mind:

Award flight modifications

Vacationers can change their journey date, routing and/or class of service earlier than journey for a service price of simply $50 (plus mileage distinction, if relevant) for flights originating within the U.S.

Award ticket cancellation coverage

You’ll be able to cancel your ticket and obtain all of your factors again for a cancellation price of $50 for flights originating within the U.S. so long as you cancel a minimum of 24 hours earlier than departure. When you’re inside 24 hours, factors turn out to be non-refundable.

Open-jaw and stopovers

If you cannot discover award availability each methods on the route you need, you possibly can e-book an open-jaw award — which suggests you are flying into or out of a distinct airport in your return leg. There is not any penalty for doing this and the mileage costs out as half of the round-trip price for every of the 2 legs booked.

As Flying Membership costs for every flight phase individually, you possibly can construct in a stopover in a connecting metropolis. Nevertheless, reserving an award with a connection or stopover will not be value the additional mileage price.