Never heard of Virgin Points? Maybe you haven’t planned a trip to United Kingdom yet….no big deal. But Virgin Atlantic offers more than just sleek cabins and a cool lounge at 30,000 feet. So, should you care about Virgin Atlantic Flying Club and Virgin Points? Absolutely!
This post is about the sweet spot of Virgin Points and how to score big with credit card transfer bonuses.
Why Virgin Points?
Virgin Points unlock a world of possibilities beyond what you might imagine! You can use them to redeem flights with its partners like Air France, KLM, Korean Air, (Taiwan-based) China Airlines, and other SkyTeam members. So, even if you’re in the States or living elsewhere in the world, they’re super handy! Here are a few cool perks:
- With just 4,000 miles, you can fly from Manchester or London to Paris on Air France.
- With just 5,500 miles, fly directly from Taipei to Naha, Japan (Okinawa) on China Airlines.
- With just 7,000 miles, fly from Singapore to Bali, Indonesia on KLM.
- With just 10,000 miles, travel from Seoul to Hong Kong on Korean Air.
- With 35,000 miles, enjoy a business-class flight from Hawaii to Japan on ANA.
- With 100,000 miles, travel from the US West Coast to Taipei on China Airlines Business class.
What Are Virgin Points?
Virgin Points is the currency of the frequent flyer program of Virgin Atlantic, previously known as Flying Club Points. Virgin Atlantic rebranded Flying Club points as Virgin Points in September 2020. You can accumulate and use Virgin Points not only for Virgin Atlantic flights but also across other Virgin services such as Virgin Voyages and Virgin Ticketing. Let’s keep calling them “Virgin Points” from here on out!
How Easy to Earn Virgin Points?
Compared with the other mileage programs, the ways to earn Virgin Points are easy, simple and enjoyable: flying, spending with a credit card, or buying points. (On the flip side, you can use Virgin Points to book reward flights with these airlines.)
Earn through flying
SkyTeam partners – Since 2023, as a part of the SkyTeam Alliance since 2023, Virgin Atlantic lets you earn points whenever you fly with SkyTeam partner airlines, including:
- Africa: Kenya Airways
- Asia Pacific: China Airlines, China Eastern Airlines, Xiamen Airlines, Korean Air, Vietnam Airlines, Garuda Indonesia
- Americas: Delta Air Lines, Aeromexico, Aerolineas Argentinas
- EMEA: Air France, KLM Royal Dutch Airlines, Czech Airlines, ITA Airways, Romanian Air Transport (TAROM), Middle East Airlines, Saudia Airlines, SAS (announced joining on 1 September 2024)
Other Virgin Atlantic Partners – Before 2023, Virgin Atlantic wasn’t part of the three major airline alliances, so it kept partnerships with other airlines like All Nippon Airways (ANA) and Singapore Airlines. You can earn points with these airlines shown in the image, helping you accumulate Virgin Points. (Remark: SAS will officially join SkyTeam on September 1, 2024)
- Earning through credit card transfer partner
While flying is a lovely way to earn points, it takes a bit of time to add up. That’s why many people rely on using a credit card or buying points to boost their Virgin Points balance. In the United States, Virgin Points can be easily earned through the following credit card and hotel partnerships with:
- Amex Membership Rewards (Transfer ratio – 1 to 1)
- Bilt Rewards (Transfer ratio – 1 to 1)
- Capital One Miles (Transfer ratio – 1 to 1)
- Chase Ultimate Rewards (Transfer ratio – 1 to 1)
- Citi ThankYou Rewards (Transfer ratio – 1 to 1)
- Marriott Bonvoy (Transfer ratio – 60K to 25K)
In recent years, there have been transfer bonuses from various credit cards to the Virgin Atlantic Flying Club, often around 30%. This means that when you transfer 1,000 reward points from a participating credit card, you receive 1,300 Virgin Points. These transfer bonuses allow you to maximize your points for even greater value.
🔥🔥 LATEST OFFERS: Chase and Amex are offering 30% Virgin Atlantic transfer at the moment 🔥🔥
- Amex: Through May 31, 2024 Friday
- Chase: Through June 15, 2024 Saturday
Earning through buying points
Virgin Atlantic runs 3 ~ 4 “points sale” events every year. You can buy points directly from them, and prices can go as low as 1.48 cents per mile (USD) or 0.89 pence per mile (GBP). Check out the TripPlus storefront page, where they share real-time and historical data so you can decide when it’s the best time to transfer or buy points.
Virgin Atlantic Flying Club Award Chart
The Flying Club program doesn’t follow a single award chart across all airlines. Instead, it has different award pricing for various airlines, sometimes with multiple award charts for the same airline. For instance:
- Flying Club has a zone-based award chart for Virgin Atlantic, with peak and off-peak pricing.
- Different zone-based award charts for individual non-SkyTeam partner airlines.
- Both zone and distance-based award charts for Delta, with peak and off-peak pricing for some awards.
- Both zone and distance-based award charts for Air France-KLM, with peak and off-peak pricing for some awards.
- Distance-based award chart for SkyTeam partners such as China Airlines, Vietnam Airlines, and Korean Airlines (excluding Virgin Atlantic, Delta, and Air France-KLM).
There are some fundamentals when using virgin points:
- Book awards online for Air France-KLM, Delta, Korean Air, Vietnam Airlines, and ITA Airways.
- All other partner awards must be booked by phone (e.g., ANA, Air New Zealand, China Airlines).
- Changes or cancellations cost £30 in the UK or $50 in the US, and must be done at least 24 hours before departure.
- Book awards at least 48 hours before departure.
- Virgin points don’t expire.
Sweet Deals with Virgin Points in Your Travels
Example 1: Redeeming from East Coast to Europe on Air France and KLM
Air France and KLM offer many options for redeeming points. For example, you can get a one-way business class ticket from the East Coast to Europe with Air France or KLM for 48,500 Virgin Points (plus taxes and fees). But the fun doesn’t stop in Paris or Amsterdam! Use your points to visit most European cities for the same redemption rate. Some further down may need 66,500 Virgin Points.
Example 2: U.S. West Coast to Europe on Air France and KLM
For West Coast travelers, expect higher redemption rates due to longer flights – 77,500 Virgin Points for Paris, Amsterdam, and most other European destinations, potentially going up to 107,500 Virgin Points for some routes. The good news? Taxes are around $100 cheaper on West Coast routes compared to the East Coast.
Sharing two examples between the States and Europe using Virgin Points for the SkyTeam partners, i.e., Air France and KLM, it is obvious they offer lots of award availability. So, if you need 97,000 Virgin Points for a round-trip (48,500 each way) and about $700 in taxes and fuel surcharges, you can book business class flights that would normally cost $3,500 in cash shown below. That works out to a value of 2.88 cents per mile, making it a really solid way to use your points.
Example 3: Redeeming points for ITA Airways flights between the U.S. and Europe
ITA Airways, formerly known as Alitalia, operates out of Rome and serves eight North American destinations. Redeeming Virgin Points for a trip from North America to Europe offers business class rates that vary depending on the total flight distance, ranging from 75,000 to 100,000 Virgin Points one way. Though higher than what Air France and KLM offer, ITA Airways does not have fuel surcharges! A round-trip business class ticket from North America to Europe will cost you 150,000 to 200,000 Virgin Points with around $60 in taxes and fees.
For example, a round-trip business class ticket from New York to Rome costs around $3,500 in cash. Using Virgin Points will maximize at least 2.3 cents per point. That’s a solid deal! Plus, ITA Airways often has plenty of award seats available.
More Redemption With SkyTeam partners
There are great redemption options to help you plan different itineraries. The key is there are reward seats available!
✅ With 4,000 Virgin Points, you can fly from Manchester / London to Paris on Air France.
- If you use other mileage plans, it will mean
- Alaska Airlines: 7,500 + 60.00
- British Airways: 18,500 + $2.00
- Pro-Tips: Check the award availability on Virgin Atlantic website. Redeem online.
✅ With just 5,500 miles, fly directly from Taipei to Naha, Japan (Okinawa) on China Airlines.
- If you use other mileage plans, it will mean
- American Airlines: 20,000 + $42.00
- Air Canada: 8,000 + 59.00 CAD (economy)
- Availability: 2+
- Pro-Tips: Check on Flying Blue website. Call Virgin Atlantic to issue tickets with the points.
✅ With just 7,500 miles (economy) / 25,000 miles (business), fly from Singapore to Bali, Indonesia on KLM.
- Availability: 2 ~ 4. Some days are > 4.
- If you use other mileage plans, it will mean:
- Air Canada: 12,500 + 105 CAD (economy) / 30,000 (business)
- Flying Blue: 22,000 + $48 (economy) / 55,000 (business)
- Pro-Tips: Check the award availability on Virgin Atlantic website. Redeem online.
✅ With just 10,000 miles (economy) / 21,500 miles (business), fly from Seoul to Hong Kong on Korean Air.
- If you use other mileage plans, it will mean
- Air Canada: 12,500 + 86 CAD (economy) / 30,000 (business)
- Flying Blue: 19,500 + $34 (economy) / 48,500 (business)
- Availability: 2
- Pro-Tips: Check the award availability on Virgin Atlantic website. Redeem online.
✅ With just 25,000 (economy) / 75,000 Virgin Points, travel from Ho Chi Minh City to Sydney on Vietnam Airlines
- If you use other mileage plans, it will mean
- British Airways: 34,750 + $61.20 (economy only on Malaysia Airlines)
- Flying Blue: 35,000 + $97 (economy) / 69,500 (business)
- Availability: 1 ~ 2
- Pro-Tips: Check the award availability on Virgin Atlantic website. Redeem online.
✅With 100,000 miles, travel from the US West Coast to Taipei on China Airlines Business class.
- If you use other mileage plans, it will mean
- Flying Blue: varies from 84,000 to 110,000 + $216 (business).
- Availability: 2 ~ 4
- Pro-Tips:
- Check on Flying Blue website. Call Virgin Atlantic to issue tickets with the points.
- As Virgin Points is distanced based, the miles needed for the reward ticket stay static all the times
Take Advantage of Points Diversity
Virgin Atlantic sometimes runs different bonus transfer promotions. It’s essential to “gather as many different flexible credit card points as possible” to capitalize on future bonus transfer deals.
🔥🔥 LATEST OFFERS: Chase and Amex are offering 30% Virgin Atlantic transfer at the moment 🔥🔥
- Amex: Through May 31, 2024 Friday
- Chase: Through June 15, 2024 Saturday
Here are some great sign-up bonuses you can take advantage of:
- Chase Ink Business Preferred: Earn 100,000 points when you spend $8,000 in three months with just a $95 annual fee.
- Amex Gold Card: With a welcome offer of 60,000 MR points (converting to 78,000 Virgin Points during the promotion), you can snag enough for one one-way business class ticket from North America to Europe!
- Amex Business Platinum: With a welcome offer of 150,000 MR points (translating to 195,000 Virgin Points), you can earn enough to redeem 2-3 one-way business class tickets from North America to Europe!
Final Thoughts
Virgin Atlantic Flying Club and Virgin Points are super versatile. They’ve got great reward ticket options with SkyTeam and other partners, and their points requirements are pretty low compared to other programs. Plus, they often offer cool transfer bonuses and run points sale promotions at great prices. That makes Virgin Points a fantastic choice for snagging a variety of routes around the world, whether you’re traveling solo or with family.
