You’ll have neglected Virgin Atlantic when planning your travels. Whereas reserving money and award flights with the U.Okay.-based service will be pricey (particularly with added surcharges), the airline’s loyalty program, Virgin Atlantic Flying Membership, gives enticing companion award charts and noteworthy Saver fares.
Since Flying Membership companions with main bank card rewards packages, factors and miles lovers can snag an important deal. For instance, you could find business-class lie-flat seats from John F. Kennedy Worldwide Airport (JFK) to London’s Heathrow Airport (LHR) for simply 29,000 factors one-way.
Regardless of this system’s latest swap to dynamic pricing for flights operated by Virgin Atlantic, Virgin factors at the moment stand out for providing unimaginable worth with many makes use of. Maintain studying to seek out out extra about Virgin Atlantic Flying Membership, together with how you can earn, redeem and maximize your reward factors.
Associated: How I booked lie-flat business-class seats to London for simply 21,000 factors
The best way to earn Virgin Atlantic Flying Membership factors
There are a number of methods to earn Virgin factors straight.
Fly with Virgin Atlantic
You may earn Virgin factors by 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 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 even earn Virgin factors when flying with one of many service’s companions, together with Delta Air Strains, Air France and KLM. To seek out out the variety of factors you’ll be able to earn on companion airways, you’ll want to navigate to Virgin’s companion web page and click on on the airline you’re flying. You’ll earn redeemable award factors based mostly in your cabin, reserving class and distance flown.
Earn Virgin factors by way of bank card rewards
Flying Membership companions with each main bank card rewards program. Subsequently, it is easy to spice up your Virgin factors steadiness when you’ve got a rewards bank card that earns factors or miles inside the following packages:
Day by day Publication
Reward your inbox with the TPG Day by day publication
Be a part of over 700,000 readers for breaking information, in-depth guides and unique offers from TPG’s consultants
Notice that Capital One miles switch to Virgin Crimson, not on to Virgin Atlantic Flying Membership. Nevertheless, you’ll be able to simply use your Virgin Crimson factors with Flying Membership.
Additionally, Flying Membership usually gives switch bonuses.
Many of those packages supply playing cards that function terrific welcome bonuses. This is only a pattern of the journey rewards bank cards that earn these transferable rewards that may be transformed to Virgin factors:
Buy Virgin factors
Virgin Atlantic means that you can buy as much as 100,000 Virgin factors per calendar 12 months at a fee of two.5 cents every in intervals of 1,000 factors, plus a transaction charge of $25, whatever the variety of factors bought.
TPG values Virgin factors at 1.4 cents per level, per our June 2025 valuations; since the price of buying factors is way larger, it isn’t a superb deal to buy factors at full value. Nevertheless, Virgin typically runs bonus promotions on buying factors. This will convey the worth right down to a extra cheap price and could also be value it to prime off your account or to ebook an award flight.
Virgin Atlantic Factors Booster
Should you’re on 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 additional factors for reasonable. You may normally pay 0.01 British kilos (about $0.01) per level for the bonus factors.
You may even use the Factors Booster for flights you’ve already taken as much as six months in the past.
Different Virgin Atlantic incomes companions
There are a number of companions by way of which you’ll be able to earn Virgin factors by purchasing or touring:
- Resorts: You may 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, Enterprise, Nationwide and Sixt.
- Virgin Trains Ticketing: Earn factors for practice journeys throughout Nice Britain.
- Heathrow Rewards: You may earn factors for purchasing or parking at Heathrow and switch them to Flying Membership.
- Retailers Away: Earn Virgin factors whenever you select to buy at over 1,000 retailers by way of Virgin Atlantic’s purchasing portal.
There are additionally methods to earn Virgin factors by way of airport lounge purchases, finishing on-line surveys and airport parking.
Associated: The inexperienced persons information to airline purchasing portals
Virgin Atlantic Flying Membership elite standing
Virgin Atlantic Flying Membership gives three elite standing tiers: Crimson, Silver and Gold. While you fly with Virgin 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:
Crimson (new member)
- Board first in financial system
- Pool your Virgin factors in a family account
- Devoted cellphone assist
- Free financial system seat choice seven days earlier than departure with Virgin Atlantic Holidays
- Discounted entry to and earn factors at No1 Lounges
Silver (400 tier factors required)
You may obtain the identical advantages as Crimson tier members, in addition to the next advantages:
- Premium check-in
- Precedence boarding
- 30% extra bonus factors on flights
- Standing extension for maternity, paternity and adoption
- Reward a companion and improve voucher to your family members
- Member advantages with Virgin Resorts
- One extra checked bag
- Advance seat task
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
- Higher Class check-in
- Further checked and cabin baggage allowance
- Free commonplace seat choice in Financial system Gentle and Traditional
- Free seat choice in Financial system Delight
- Most well-liked seat choice earlier than your flight in Premium (member solely)
- Higher Class check-in
- Lounge entry for you plus one visitor
- Entry to Heathrow’s Revivals Lounge
- 2,000 bonus factors in your birthday
- Earn a Flying Membership reward voucher whenever you renew your Gold standing
- The power to reward Flying Membership reward vouchers to household and pals
- The power to reward Silver standing to a pal
- Assured financial system seat on any flight
- Two reward vouchers whenever you attain 2,000 tier factors in your membership 12 months
The best way to redeem Virgin Atlantic Flying Membership factors
When looking for award redemptions, search for Saver seats marked with a crimson tag. These award seats are actually the most cost effective choices, although they won’t be provided on each flight.
You should use Virgin’s useful Reward Seat Checker to seek out the lowest-priced seats.
Should you’re fortunate sufficient to snag this redemption, you will be reserving the bottom award fee for business-class flights to Europe of all the key airline loyalty packages.
Sadly, the draw back of dynamic pricing is that the factors required will be astronomical if you wish to journey on peak dates like college holidays and through peak durations, with some routes requiring 150,000 factors for a single flight in financial system or 350,000 factors in enterprise class.
At these charges, test the worth of money fares, as it’s possible you’ll discover a higher deal than redeeming your Virgin or bank card factors.
A serious draw back when reserving with Virgin is the carrier-imposed surcharges that the airline will tack onto your ticket. Nevertheless, in the course of the loyalty program’s overhaul, these charges had been considerably diminished, so now they’re extra cheap. Moreover, when departing the U.Okay., you should pay the U.Okay. Air Passenger Responsibility, which might add lots of of {dollars} to your redemption in premium lessons.
Associated: Flexibility is vital: Why I (principally) just like the Virgin Atlantic Flying Membership adjustments
Virgin Atlantic Flying Membership airline companions
Apart from Saver fares, that are strictly restricted in capability and is probably not accessible on peak journey dates, the actual magic of utilizing Virgin factors lies in companion 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. You will want the next Virgin factors every approach per particular person (although word that some airways don’t supply 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’ll want to test the award charts for these carriers on Virgin Atlantic’s web site.
You may discover that companion 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 and Xiamen Airways.
Air France additionally gives top quality however restricts redemptions to elite members of its personal Flying Blue program.
Along with redeeming your Virgin factors with the SkyTeam airways, you can even ebook award flights with the next airways utilizing Virgin factors:
- Air New Zealand
- All Nippon Airways
- El Al
- Hawaiian Airways
- ITA Airways
- LATAM
- Singapore Airways
- South African Airways
- Virgin Australia
You too can earn Virgin factors — however not redeem them — with companion IndiGo.
Every non-SkyTeam companion has a special 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 optimum worth
With so many various 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, the brand new Saver fares for flights from JFK to LHR now 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.
Service-imposed surcharges for Saver fares have additionally been diminished, beginning at roughly $45 in financial system, $78 in Premium and $227 in Higher Class on a flight from New York Metropolis to London. Minor extra authorities taxes and airport charges are additionally payable, which differ from path to route. Keep in mind that the taxes for flights departing London shall be dearer than these to London due to the U.Okay. Air Passenger Responsibility.
These are the bottom redemption charges to fly to London of any main airline loyalty program.
All Nippon Airways
Think about Virgin Atlantic’s unimaginable redemption charges for ANA-operated flights if you wish to journey between the U.S. and Japan. This route is likely one of the greatest 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, so you should double the worth for a round-trip redemption.
Associated: Seems like top quality: Flying ANA The Room enterprise class from LA-Tokyo
Should you had been to ebook a round-trip, first-class seat to Japan from the U.S. West Coast in one in all ANA’s fancy suite seats, you’d spend simply 145,000 factors for a seat costing $20,000 or extra. A business-class seat can be a wonderful deal at simply 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 based mostly 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 — a few of its luster has disappeared attributable to devaluations and diminishing availability from its companions. The brand new dynamic pricing mannequin favors those that are versatile and may journey throughout off-peak durations, however those that need to journey over main holidays and peak summer season months could probably now have to look to different packages for first rate award redemptions.
Nevertheless, this system remains to be extremely priceless for worldwide journey, notably 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. Subsequently, you shouldn’t overlook this loyalty program.
