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Reward Flights

Spend your points on reward flights^.

Thinking about your next adventure? Use the points from your last one to pay for it. It's easy.

Our reward tickets are split into a standard and peak season, so take a look at the tables to check how many points you’ll need for your chosen dates and destination. And don’t forget, as of 1st September 2020 you can now earn tier points on all reward flights you book too. Click here for more information.

Alternatively, use our fast caculator below to find out if you've enough points to get there, or just to see how many pointsyou'll earn on your next trip.

Your points. Your adventures. So, where to next? 

Reward flight deals

We have selected some of our most popular destinations from just 18,000 Virgin Points return. Explore our Reward flight deals and choose somewhere spectacular to spend those points. 

Got points?

See if you've enough for your dream trip.

Want points?

See the points you'll earn with your next flight.

Where do you want to fly?

• London Heathrow (LHR), GB
• Manchester (MAN), GB
• New York (JFK), US
• Atlanta (ATL), US
• Boston (BOS), US
• LAS VEGAS(LAS), US
• Los Angles (LAX), US
• Dubai (DXB), UAE

Peak dates  

Flying with us is the fastest way to earn miles, but it’s far from the only way.

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Spend your points on a reward seat

This table shows the number of points you’ll need for a Virgin Atlantic Reward Flight, which are available in Economy Classic, Premium and Upper Class.

• Standard season Reward Flights  start from as little as 18, 000 points for an Economy Classic return flight.
• Peak season Reward Flights  start from 22,000 points for an Economy Classic return flight.

Our Caribbean destinations have a slightly different seasonality, so we've listed them seperately.

Standard season travel dates

• 20 April to 18 June 2021
• 6 September to 14 October 2021
• 27 October to 10 December 2021
• 6 January – 31 March 2022
• 26 April 2022 – 29 May 2022
• 6 June 2022 - 17 June 2022
• 5 September 2022 - 30 September 2022

Caribbean standard season travel dates

• 20 April to 13 July 2021
• 7 March to 6 April 2022
• 27 April 2022 to 29 May 2022
• 6 June to 15 July 2022
• 5 September to 30 September 2022

^ Reward flights are subject to availability and taxes, fees and carrier-imposed surcharges apply.  Upgrades are not available from Economy Light. Companion tickets in Economy will be booked into Economy Classic.

Standard season Reward Flights (round trip)

Peak season travel dates.

• 19 June to 5 September 2021
• 15 October to 26 October 2021
• 11 December to 31 December 2021
• 1 January to 5 January 2022
• 1 April  to 25 April 2022
• 30 May to 5 June 2022
• 18 June to 4 September 2022

Caribbean peak season travel dates

• 14 July to 5 September 2021
• 1 January to 6 March 2022
• 7 April – 26 April 2022
• 30 May - 5 June 2022
• 16 June - 4 September 2022

Peak season Reward Flights (round trip)

If you're booking a Reward ticket for an infant under two (at the time of travel) who will be travelling on your lap, you'll  need the following points (one way):

• 1,000 points in Economy
• 2,000 points in Premium
• 5,000 points in Upper Class

How to book

You can book Reward Flights online. Just remember to select ‘pay with points’ when you’re searching for your flight. If your travel dates are fairly flexible, take a look at the 5 week calendar. Enter your dates, select ‘within 5 weeks’ and you’ll find lots more Reward Seat availability.

You might also be interested in...

Booking tips

Here's a few tips on how to get the best out of your reward booking.

Points Plus Money

Use your points to spend less for your next Virgin Atlantic ticket, with as little as 3,000 points in your account.

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Beta: Be one of the first to try out our new reward seat checker. It's still a work in progress, but we hope you like it.

Reward seat checker

Hello you. Ready to fly away with your Virgin Points? See at a glance how many reward seats are available for when you'd like to travel.

For now, you can look at direct flights (with us or Delta) from the UK, and the return trip, but stay tuned as we continue to make improvements.

So, where to?

Virgin Atlantic Flying Club: How to earn and redeem points for maximum value

Years after diving into the points and miles world, you may not realize that a loyalty program you had overlooked could have been one of your most powerful tools.

I didn't look closely at Virgin Atlantic 's loyalty program for a long time because I didn't immediately see it playing into my travel rewards strategy , but Virgin Atlantic offers something enticing: attractive partner award charts, a rarity among other airline programs nowadays.

Despite changes to Virgin Atlantic's partner award charts , Virgin points currently stand out for offering incredible value with many uses.

Let's go over the basics of Virgin Atlantic Flying Club and show you the sweet spots that make Virgin points so valuable.

How to earn Virgin points

There are four primary ways to earn Virgin points directly.

You can certainly still earn points the old-fashioned way by flying.

If you're flying on Virgin Atlantic, you can use the airline's earning calculator to determine how many points you'll earn for your flight. If you're flying one of the carrier's partners , such as Delta Air Lines, Air France or Hawaiian Airlines, you can opt to earn Virgin points by adding your Flying Club membership number to your reservation. Virgin Atlantic is now a member of the SkyTeam alliance .

You can check your operating carrier and fare class on Where to Credit for the best option for your flight.

Credit card rewards

You can earn Virgin Points directly through the Virgin Atlantic World Elite Mastercard® .

The information for the Virgin Atlantic Mastercard has been collected independently by The Points Guy. The card details on this page have not been reviewed or provided by the card issuer.

However, it's easy to boost your Virgin points balance with the right credit card, as Flying Club is a transfer partner of every major transferable point currency , including:

• American Express Membership Rewards (1:1)
• Bilt Rewards (1:1)
• Capital One (1:1)
• Chase Ultimate Rewards (1:1)
• Citi ThankYou Rewards (1:1)
• Marriott Bonvoy (3:1 with a 5,000-point bonus for transferring 60,000 points and a 48-hour transfer time )

Some of the above programs offer regular transfer bonuses to Flying Club , meaning you might need even fewer points than you first thought.

Many of these programs offer cards that feature terrific welcome bonuses . Here's just a sample of the travel rewards credit cards that earn these transferable points that can be converted to Virgin points:

• The Business Platinum Card® from American Express
• The Platinum Card® from American Express
• American Express® Gold Card
• Capital One Venture Rewards Credit Card
• Capital One Venture X Rewards Credit Card
• Ink Business Preferred® Credit Card
• Chase Sapphire Preferred Card

Points Booster

If you've flown a Virgin Atlantic-operated flight — whether you paid cash or points for it — you can use Flying Club's Points Booster to score extra points for cheap. You can usually pay 0.01 British pounds (or $0.013) per point, but the program periodically offers bonus promotions.

You can even use the Points Booster for flights you have already taken up to six months back.

Other earning partners

There are several partners through which you can earn Virgin points by shopping or traveling:

• Car rental partners : Virgin Atlantic partners with Avis, Alamo, Enterprise, Hertz, National and Sixt to let members earn Virgin points.
• Heathrow Rewards : You can earn points for shopping or parking at London's Heathrow Airport (LHR) and transfer them to Flying Club.
• Rocketmiles : You can earn between 500 and 10,000 Virgin points per night for booking hotels through Rocketmiles.
• Shops Away : Earn Virgin points by making purchases at over 1,000 retailers through Virgin Atlantic's shopping portal.
• The Virgin Group : From Virgin Hotels to luxury Virgin properties, you can earn Virgin points through several Virgin Group partners.

Related: The beginners guide to airline shopping portals

Virgin Atlantic award chart

The award prices Virgin Atlantic charges are reasonable. Here are the round-trip prices you can expect during the standard (i.e., off-peak) season.

If you want to stretch your points further, consider booking travel during the following (off-peak) standard season dates:

Round-trip prices increase during the peak season.

Here's the complete list of peak travel dates to be aware of:

The value you may save by spending relatively few points (i.e., 20,000 round-trip itineraries between the East Coast and the United Kingdom) you will lose on the outrageous carrier surcharges Virgin Atlantic tacks onto award flights. Round-trip flights between the U.S. and the U.K. usually cost $450 for economy flights. Meanwhile, Upper Class seats (Virgin Atlantic's business class) could have well over $2,000 in fees round trip.

Related: How to avoid fuel surcharges on award travel

Virgin regularly discounts the number of points required for Virgin-operated flights by 20% to 50% during its Promo Awards offers , though, unfortunately, the fees, taxes and carrier surcharges are not discounted.

There are plenty of occasions where you may find paid tickets for less than these fuel surcharges, especially if you aren't fussy about the operating carrier. Your points won't save you money in these scenarios. Even nonstop cash fares in Virgin Atlantic Upper Class are readily available for under $3,000 round trip, so always check tickets before committing to those high surcharges.

Booking one-way award flights instead of round trips will often reduce the taxes and fees on award flights, potentially by hundreds of dollars. You may also benefit from booking Virgin Atlantic flights to London but not from London. Fees tend to be higher for flights departing London thanks to government-imposed surcharges, so if you've got another award currency you can use for your return flight, go with that.

Related: Save money on Virgin Atlantic award tickets by booking one-way flights

Flying Club airline partners

The real magic of Virgin points lies in partner award charts thanks to nearly two dozen additional airlines to book with your rewards.

Virgin Atlantic joined the SkyTeam alliance earlier this year. With the current exceptions of China Eastern (coming later in 2024, according to Virgin Atlantic), you can now redeem Virgin points on all SkyTeam airlines, including recently added ITA Airways .

Redemptions on SkyTeam airlines are distance-based. Excluding flights operated by Air France-KLM and Delta Air Lines, you will need the following Virgin points each way per person on all dates (no peak/off-peak pricing):

You can only redeem Air France-KLM, Delta Air Lines, China Airlines, Korean Air, Middle East Airlines, ITA Airways and Xiamen Air online.

Virgin uses three different Delta award charts on its website:

• U.S. to U.K. nonstop flights (note availability in premium cabins is very rare)
• U.S. to Europe (excluding the U.K.) nonstop flights (note availability in premium cabins is very rare)
• All other Delta award flights

While there are some sharp increases for redemption prices in 2024, Flying Club will still charge fewer points than Delta's SkyMiles program may charge for the same flights thanks to SkyMiles' dynamic pricing. Therefore, it is worth checking the prices of both programs where you have transferable credit card points, as there is still value to be had.

Partner redemption charts do not include first class. This means you can't redeem your Virgin points for SkyTeam airlines that offer first class, including Garuda Indonesia, Korean Air, Saudia and Xiamen.

Air France also offers first class but restricts redemptions to elite members of its own Flying Blue program .

In addition to the 16 SkyTeam airlines you can redeem your Virgin points with, you can also book award flights with the following airlines using Virgin points:

• Air New Zealand (Star Alliance)
• All Nippon Airways (Star Alliance)
• Hawaiian Airlines
• Singapore Airlines (Star Alliance)
• South African Airways (Star Alliance)

Virgin Australia

You can also earn Virgin points — but not redeem them — with partners Scandinavian Airlines, IndiGo and LATAM.

Each non-SkyTeam partner has a different award chart. Some are distance-based, and others are zone-based, so each airline can have different terms and conditions. You must call Virgin Atlantic at 800-365-9500 to book award tickets for carriers that do not appear online.

However, you can still search for availability on other websites. For example, the United Airlines website is excellent for finding available seats on Star Alliance carriers. Once you find what you want, note the travel dates and flight numbers. Then, call Virgin Atlantic and feed that information to the customer service representative.

Related: How to book Delta award flights with Virgin Atlantic Flying Club points

Best uses of Virgin points

With 23 different airline partners, these are the best ways to use your Virgin points.

SkyTeam airlines

If you want to fly from North America to Europe, try finding Air France-KLM availability. This is because you will need fewer Virgin points than other SkyTeam airlines require.

SkyTeam is strong in Asia, with members like Korean Air, China Airlines, Vietnam Airlines and Xiamen Air flying nonstop between the U.S. and Asia. You can fly from the West Coast to Korea with Korean Air in business class for 85,000 Virgin points each way, plus fees, taxes and surcharges. This is a decent redemption, though see below for the fantastic ANA sweet spot to Japan.

Remember, Virgin charges per segment, not per journey, so if you are connecting on, say, China Airlines from New York's John F. Kennedy International Airport (JFK) through to Suvarnabhumi Airport (BKK) in Bangkok via Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport (TPE) in Taipei, you would be charged a whopping 160,000 points each way in business class, which is not a great redemption.

So, when redeeming on SkyTeam airlines, aim for direct flights and minimize connections to save points.

All Nippon Airways

Virgin Atlantic's incredible redemption rates for ANA-operated flights should always be considered if you want to get between the U.S. and Japan. This route is one of the best award travel sweet spots and likely the single best use of Virgin points — even with this year's devaluation of first-class pricing .

Related: The new gold standard: Review of The Room, ANA's new business class on the Boeing 777-300ER

Take a look at Virgin Atlantic's award chart for ANA flights. These prices are for round-trip travel. Open-jaw bookings are allowed, so you can check award availability on other routes if your preferred route isn't available. It's also worth noting that you can book one-way awards for half the round-trip ticket cost.

If you were to book a round-trip, first-class seat to Japan in one of ANA's fancy suite seats, you'd spend just 170,000 points for a seat costing $20,000 or more. Business class is also an excellent deal at just 95,000 points.

It's also worth noting that round-trip award flights are incredibly cheap for infants under 2 years old who don't need a seat of their own:

• Economy seats cost 2,000 points.
• Business-class seats cost 10,000 points.
• First-class seats cost 14,000 points.

Air France-KLM

Virgin Atlantic has several award charts for both KLM and Air France. You can visit this page to see them all. It divides the world into 10 zones and calculates your award price based on your origin and destination zones. Here are some highlights from the U.S.:

• One-way economy flight to Europe from the West Coast for 15,000 points
• One-way economy flight to the Middle East from the East Coast for 25,000 points
• One-way business-class flight to Europe from the East Coast for 48,500 points
• One-way business-class flight from the East Coast to North Africa for 66,500 points

You'll often incur fuel surcharges for your flights, but they're not nearly as high as for Virgin Atlantic awards. In my experience, surcharges are just under $300 for a one-way business-class ticket from the U.S. to Europe, making Air France-KLM a cheaper option for business-class redemptions to Europe.

The Virgin Atlantic award chart for Virgin Australia flights is mostly distance-based, meaning it could be a good value for short and expensive intra-Australia flights, as flights start from just 8,000 Virgin points each way.

This current award chart indicates that you can now only book economy seats. However, it does price infant rewards at 2,000 points in economy and 10,000 points in business class. You may have to reach out to Virgin Atlantic when booking your flight to learn the business-class price of your route.

Less valuable Flying Club partners

While having a long list of earning and redemption partners is great, some key partners don't provide much redemption value for Flying Club members.

• Air New Zealand : Releases virtually no award space to partners like Virgin Atlantic.
• Delta Air Lines : Typically only releases economy-class space to Virgin Atlantic.
• Singapore Airlines : Only allows a limited number of routes to redeem Virgin points on, and you can only redeem in economy.
• Hawaiian Airlines : Requires rates similar to Hawaiian Airlines and JetBlue, so there's little reason to book with Virgin points.

Unique Virgin points redemptions

If you find yourself with hundreds of thousands (or millions) of Virgin points, you can trade them in for an extraordinary level of luxury — or altitude:

• Virgin Voyages : Watch for occasional discounted cruises where you can sail up to 12 nights for as little as 80,000 Virgin points.
• Necker Island : Stay at Richard Branson's private island home for four nights for 540,000 Virgin points, plus $5,400.
• Mont Rochelle : Stay at Branson's Cape Town winery for three nights for between 120,000 and 200,000 Virgin points.
• Kasbah Tamadot : Spend three nights in Branson's Atlas Mountain retreat in Morocco for between 240,000 and 280,000 Virgin points.
• The Lodge : Stay three nights in one bedroom of Branson's nine-bedroom Swiss Alpine resort for 380,000 Virgin points.
• Mahali Mzuri : Spend three nights in a luxury tent at a Kenyan safari camp for 600,000 Virgin points or five nights for 950,000 Virgin points.
• Ulusaba Private Game Reserve : Use 600,000 Virgin points for a three-night stay for two people in a Safari Lodge room or 950,000 Virgin points for a five-night stay for two people in a Safari Lodge room.

Or, you can enter a raffle for a chance to fly in space on Virgin Galactic for a cool 2,000,000 Virgin points — but all of those points must have been earned from Virgin Atlantic flights.

How to redeem Virgin points

Now that you know why you should care about Virgin points, let's show you how to redeem them for award flights. You can easily search for seats on Virgin Atlantic's homepage . Just click "Advanced Search" and select the "Points" option.

You'll then be shown availability on the date you selected and three days on either side.

Where there is more than one flight available on your selected day, you can choose the schedule and carrier that suits your needs and then proceed to book online, paying fees, taxes and surcharges simultaneously.

There is also a handy Reward seat availability checker by month for Virgin Atlantic- and Delta-operated flights.

Regarding partner award searches, the Virgin Atlantic website can fall short. Virgin Atlantic only allows you to search award flights to or from airports loaded into its system — and many of its partners aren't bookable online.

If you can't find what you're looking for, head to another website that does show availability for that airline. For example, the United Airlines site shows Singapore Airlines and ANA flights. Once you find what you're after, copy the flight information and travel date and call Virgin Atlantic to book.

The small print

Travelers can change their travel date, routing and/or class of service before travel for a service fee of just $50 (plus mileage difference, if applicable) for flights originating in the U.S.

You can cancel your ticket and receive all your points back for a cancellation fee of $50 for flights originating in the U.S. as long as you cancel at least 24 hours before departure. Once you're within 24 hours, points become nonrefundable.

Flying Club prices one-way awards at half of the award chart price for most partners. This includes ANA flights , which used to require round-trip bookings.

If you can't find award availability both ways on the route you want, you can book an open-jaw award — which means you're flying into or out of a different airport on your return leg. There's no penalty for doing this, and the mileage prices out as half of the round-trip cost for each of the two legs booked.

Bottom line

Virgin Atlantic is intricate — and some of its luster has disappeared after devaluations and diminishing availability from its partners. However, the program is still highly valuable for international travel, particularly for flying ANA, Air France or KLM in premium cabins when you can find availability.

The addition of SkyTeam partners also gives attractive redemption opportunities. Additionally, because the program has so many transfer partners, its points are easy to earn. Therefore, this loyalty program should not be overlooked.

Reward seat deals

Explore premium with your points.

Where little extras make a huge difference...

Find out more about Premium

Discover Upper Class with your Points

Experience the next level of luxurious travel...

Find out more about Upper Class

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Flying Club

Soar towards more rewards with Flying Club and Virgin Red.

Join Flying Club for free to unlock even more rewards and benefits than ever before

Earn and spend points

on flights and holidays with Flying Club

Unlock 100s of rewards

with Virgin Red, Virgin's reward club

Virgin Points never expire

so you can save as long as you need for your next adventure

Reward your adventures with Flying Club

Earn Virgin Points every time you travel

Earn whenever you fly with us or any of our airline partners, and watch your points balance grow

Exclusive tier benefits

Enjoy exclusive benefits as you move up tiers, such as Premium check-in or lounge access

Spend on the travel you love

From little treats to Upper Class suites - use your points for flights, upgrades and more!

Earn and spend more with Virgin Red

Boost your balance every day

Earn Virgin Points when you spend with hundreds of your favourite brands so you can book your next flight faster

All your points in one place

Every Virgin Point you earn through Flying Club and Virgin Red combines into a single balance

More ways to spend your points

Starting at just 200 Virgin Points choose from little treats, Virgin exclusives and VIP concerts.

Show me more about Virgin Red

Start saving in three simple steps

Join Flying Club 

It's free! And you can start earning from your very first flight with us or any of our airline partners.

Activate Virgin Red 

You're auto-enrolled so check your emails to activate your Virgin Red account

Watch your points soar

Earn and spend across both programmes and you'll be on your dream adventure in no time!

Earn with Virgin Atlantic

Earn Virgin Points every time your fly

Points never expire

Earn 2 Virgin Points per £1

for the lead passenger when you book a package holiday with Virgin Atlantic Holidays

Earn Virgin Points

When you spend on your Virgin Atlantic Credit Card. Representative 26.9% APR (variable) . Terms and limits apply. Credit subject to status. UK residents, 18+ Credit Card provided by Virgin Money, a trading name of Clydesdale Bank Plc.

Spend with Virgin Atlantic

Take a trip

Explore Antigua's 365 beaches from 20,000 points^

Upgrade to Upper Class

You're a VIP and deserve the best. Why not upgrade?

Boost your points with Virgin Red

Virgin Trains Ticketing

Book train tickets and earn points on any train, on any route, across the whole of Great Britain when you book with Virgin Trains Ticketing

From make-up and toiletries to medicine, earn points whenever you shop on Boots.com

Ticketmaster

Whether you're into music, sports, comedy... earn points when you book events online at Ticketmaster

A card that really takes you places

When you spend on your Virgin Atlantic Credit Card*, you’ll earn Virgin Points to put towards your next adventure.

Representative 26.9% APR (variable)  Terms and limits apply. Credit subject to status. UK residents, 18+. Credit Card provided by Virgin Money, a trading name of Clydesdale Bank Plc. *Points cap applies based on credit limit

Already in Flying Club?

Membership tiers

The big picture on our tiers and the benefits you'll get in each one. Start seeing the world in Red, Silver and Gold.

Reward flight deals

The dream. Select your destination to find out the number of points you'll need. 

Flying Club News

Keep up to date with everything going on in the Flying Club world right now.

Flying Club help

We've got all the answers to your frequently asked Flying Club questions.            

Introducing Virgin Red

Virgin Red is a new rewards club at the start of its journey. Here to turn your everyday spending into something more rewarding. Whenever you spend with us, other Virgin companies, or our partners, we’ll reward you with Virgin Points. So whether you’re saving up for something extraordinary or looking for the ultimate gift, it’s all possible.

Sign up today and join the rewards club that makes your everyday extraordinary.

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The Guide to Virgin Atlantic Partners

Many or all of the products featured here are from our partners who compensate us. This influences which products we write about and where and how the product appears on a page. However, this does not influence our evaluations. Our opinions are our own. Here is a list of our partners and here's how we make money .

Table of Contents

Who are Virgin Atlantic's airline partners?

How to use virgin atlantic flying club points on partner airlines, virgin atlantic elite members get automatic skyteam status, earn virgin atlantic points with airline partners, virgin atlantic airline partners recapped.

Many American travelers are familiar with Virgin Atlantic because of its well-known founder, Richard Branson. But they may not know how strong the airline's points are when booking international travel.

When redeeming points through Virgin Atlantic partners, you can find tremendous value — and possibly lower prices — than if you booked directly using that airline's miles.

Learn who the Virgin Atlantic transfer partners are, how to use points to book flights and how your elite status can earn you benefits on other airlines.

Virgin Atlantic Flying Club partners with the SkyTeam alliance and has relationships directly with other airlines. Members can earn or redeem Virgin points for flights, hotel stays and more.

The airline joined the SkyTeam alliance in March 2023. As a SkyTeam member, you can earn and redeem points with any of the other 18 members of the alliance.

Flying Club Silver and Gold members also receive extra benefits when flying with SkyTeam partners, like priority check-in and boarding and an extra baggage allowance.

These airlines make up the SkyTeam alliance:

Aerolineas Argentinas.

AeroMexico.

Air Europa.

Air France.

China Airlines.

China Eastern.

Czech Airlines.

Delta Air Lines.

Garuda Indonesia.

ITA Airways.

Kenya AIrways.

Korean Air.

MEA (Middle East Airlines).

Vietnam Airlines.

Virgin Atlantic.

Xiamen Air.

The airline also has direct relationships with nine other airlines:

Air New Zealand.

All Nippon Airways (ANA).

Hawaiian Airlines.

Latam Airlines.

Scandinavian Airlines (SAS).

Singapore Airlines.

South African Airways.

Virgin Australia.

Flying Club Gold members get lounge access, priority check-in and extra baggage allowances when flying Air New Zealand, Singapore Airlines and Virgin Australia.

» Learn more: Best uses of Virgin Atlantic Flying Club points

The process is relatively simple to redeem points for flights on Virgin Atlantic Flying Club partners.

Log in to your Virgin Atlantic loyalty account . Go to VirginAtlantic.com to enter your username and password.

Search for flights . Select departure and arrival cities, round-trip or one-way flights, travel dates and number of passengers. Then select "points" or "points plus money" to use your points to pay for the trip.

Review flight options . In the search results, you'll receive flight options from Virgin Atlantic and any partner airlines that fly that route.

Choose your preferred flights . Select the flights with the price and itinerary you like best.

Pay for your flight . Finalize your flight by paying the taxes and fees with your preferred credit card. The points are then deducted from your Flying Club account.

Another option is the Virgin Atlantic reward seat checker , which searches for award space on direct flights from the United Kingdom. However, its search capabilities are limited to Virgin Atlantic and Delta, so you won't be able to find flights on other partner airlines.

This example shows award availability for August 2023 on Delta flights from Edinburgh to Boston:

» Learn more: What's the value of Virgin Atlantic Flying Club points?

As a member of the SkyTeam alliance, Virgin Atlantic elite members receive SkyTeam status benefits as well. Flying Club Silver members receive SkyTeam Elite status, while Gold members receive Elite Plus.

SkyTeam Elite status benefits include the following:

Additional checked bag.

Priority check-in.

Priority boarding.

Priority seating.

Priority airport standby.

Flying Club members with Elite Plus recognition also receive:

Airport lounge access.

Priority baggage handling.

When flying with one of Virgin Atlantic's partners, you can earn Flying Club points instead of miles from that airline.

This minimizes the number of orphan miles and points with random loyalty programs and accelerates your ability to redeem points for free flights.

Credit your flight to your Virgin Atlantic Flying Club account

You can credit your flight with one of the Virgin Atlantic Flying Club partners by adding your Flying Club number to your reservation online, over the phone or when checking in at the airport.

Most airlines allow you to modify your reservation online to choose a partner airline and provide your loyalty number.

Take advantage of bonus points in premium cabins

When booking premium cabins, you may be eligible to earn bonus points on your flights. For example, booking Air France Premiere class long-haul flights will earn you 400% Flying Club points and 200 tier points.

Be aware of varying earning rates from airline partners

Earning power varies by airline, so keep that in mind when choosing which partners to fly with. While you can earn up to 400% points and 200 tier points with Air France, AeroMexico caps out at 200% points and 75 tier points on long-haul flights.

These differences add up if you're flying with partners regularly.

Earn Virgin Atlantic points with hotels, car rentals and shopping

Members earn Flying Club points from flights, but Virgin Atlantic has other options. Start online shopping at Virgin Atlantic Retail Therapy to earn points at participating retailers.

Plus, link your accounts to earn Flying Club points with partner hotels, rental car agencies and other travel partners.

Get points from transfer partners

In addition to partner airlines, Virgin Atlantic is a transfer partner of American Express, Bilt, Capital One, Chase and Citi.

These partners transfer points at a 1:1 ratio with a minimum of 1,000 points at a time. Marriott Bonvoy points also transfer but at a less desirable 3:1 ratio. However, you get a 5,000 bonus for every 60,000 Bonvoy points you transfer. Terms apply.

» Learn more: The pros and cons of SkyTeam alliance

Virgin Atlantic partners with 18 other airlines from the SkyTeam alliance, plus nine airlines with which it has direct relationships. Flying Club members can earn or redeem points on these partner airlines.

Additionally, you may receive additional perks on those flights based on your elite status.

Yes. You can book flights on other airlines with your Virgin Atlantic Flying Club points. The number of points required to book a flight varies based on which airline you're redeeming with, where and when you want to fly and the class of flight you select.

Yes. You can earn Virgin Atlantic Flying Club points when booking cash fares on partner airlines. However, each airline has its rules, and the number of points earned varies by airline, ticket class and distance flown.

No, while both airlines are based in the United Kingdom, they are not partners. Virgin Atlantic is part of the SkyTeam alliance, while British Airways is part of the Oneworld alliance .

Yes. When Virgin Atlantic joined the SkyTeam alliance in March 2023, it joined Delta Air Lines as a SkyTeam member. This means you can earn Delta SkyMiles instead of Flying Club points when flying Virgin Atlantic, and vice versa. The miles earned depend on the purchased fare class and your elite status.

No, while both airlines are based in the United Kingdom, they are not partners. Virgin Atlantic is part of the SkyTeam alliance, while British Airways is part of the

Oneworld alliance

Yes. When Virgin Atlantic joined the SkyTeam alliance in March 2023, it joined Delta Air Lines as a SkyTeam member. This means you can earn

Delta SkyMiles

instead of Flying Club points when flying Virgin Atlantic, and vice versa. The miles earned depend on the purchased fare class and your elite status.

As a Virgin Atlantic Flying Club member, you can earn and redeem points with any Virgin Atlantic partner. The airline is part of the SkyTeam alliance with 18 other airlines and has direct relationships with nine other airlines.

Additionally, Virgin Atlantic is a transfer partner of most credit card points programs, so cardholders can transfer points to Flying Club to book flights. If you have elite status, you also qualify for reciprocal benefits with Virgin Atlantic Flying Club partners to save time and money on your trip.

How to maximize your rewards

You want a travel credit card that prioritizes what’s important to you. Here are our picks for the best travel credit cards of 2024 , including those best for:

Flexibility, point transfers and a large bonus: Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card

No annual fee: Bank of America® Travel Rewards credit card

Flat-rate travel rewards: Capital One Venture Rewards Credit Card

Bonus travel rewards and high-end perks: Chase Sapphire Reserve®

Luxury perks: The Platinum Card® from American Express

Business travelers: Ink Business Preferred® Credit Card

On a similar note...

Virgin Red vs Virgin Atlantic: What’s Changed?

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Longtime Virgin flyers are understandably a bit confused about the new two tier Virgin Atlantic rewards paths. Does Virgin really have two separate rewards programs now?

In this article I’ll dive into the specifics of the new Virgin Red rewards club AND if you should keep, cancel, or double up with the legacy Virgin Atlantic rewards scheme.

Let’s dive in…

Main Differences Between Virgin Red vs Virgin Flying Club

These are the main differences I see between the new Virgin Red and the legacy Virgin Atlantic rewards program:

• Virgin Points Accumulation : Both Virgin Red and Virgin Atlantic Flying Club programs allow members to accumulate Virgin Points, which can be transferred 1 to 1 from major transferable points programs. However, transfer bonuses may sometimes exceed 1 to 1 in the new Virgin Red program.
• Access to Rewards : The two programs can be accessed together with equal points through linking accounts . This allows members to enjoy benefits from both programs.
• Reward Variability : Virgin Red may offer more varied rewards and bonuses. For example, some sweet-spot awards include flying ANA first class, Air New Zealand business class from New Zealand to North/South America, and Delta One business class from the US to Europe.
• Fees : The fees associated with each program vary depending on flight origin and destination. These fees may differ between the Virgin Red and Virgin Atlantic Flying Club programs.
• Tier Benefits : The Virgin Atlantic Flying Club program also offers additional benefits for Silver and Gold members. Silver members earn 30% more Virgin Points than the standard Red tier, while Gold members earn 60% Virgin Points over and above the Red tier.

What is Virgin Red?

Virgin Red is a loyalty rewards club that was launched by the Virgin Group in the UK in February 2021, before making its way to the U.S. in late 2021.

Contrary to initial speculation, Virgin Red isn’t replacing Virgin Atlantic’s frequent flyer program, Flying Club . Instead, both programs coexist, offering you the ability to link them together and pool your points.  This makes it a bit confusing for the average Virgin traveler. 

The unique aspect of Virgin Red is that it provides opportunities to earn and spend Virgin Points beyond travel, incorporating various lifestyle experiences and retail partnerships into its rewards landscape.

How to Earn Virgin Red Points

There is a multitude of ways to earn Virgin Red points. These include credit card rewards, transfer partners, hotel stays, flights, and purchases made through retail partners. The number of points you can earn varies depending on the specific offer or transaction.

The main differences between earning with the traditional Virgin program is the wider availability of retail partners

Earning Points Through Online Shopping

Virgin Red offers the opportunity to earn points by shopping through selected retail partners. This means that even your regular shopping spree could contribute to your next travel adventure.

Earning Points Through Travel

If you’re booking stays at Virgin Hotels or flying with Virgin Atlantic, you can earn Virgin Points. Additionally, points can be earned by booking travel through partners like Booking.com and Delta, among others. Virgin also offers unique travel experiences that can earn you a hefty sum of Virgin Points.

Earning Points Through Transfer Partners

Both Virgin Red and Flying Club are transfer partners for several popular rewards programs, including Chase Ultimate Rewards, American Express Membership Rewards, and Citi ThankYou Rewards. All these programs allow you to transfer points to your Flying Club account at a 1:1 ratio, providing a convenient way to accumulate Virgin Points.

Earning Points Through Credit Cards

The Virgin Atlantic World Elite Mastercard® is a co-branded airline credit card that allows you to earn Virgin Points on your purchases. The card offers 3X points per dollar on Virgin Atlantic purchases and 1.5 points per dollar on all other purchases.

However, considering the various bank transfer partners that Virgin Atlantic has, you might find more value in earning flexible points through cards like the Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card or the American Express® Gold Card and then transferring them to Virgin Atlantic when you’re ready to book a flight.

Options for Redeeming Virgin Red Points

Virgin Red presents a plethora of options for redeeming your points. Point values can vary depending on the specific redemption. It’s also worth noting that Virgin Points don’t expire, so you can accumulate points for as long as you want if you have a larger redemption in mind.

Redeeming Points for Flights

You can redeem Virgin Points for award flights through Virgin Atlantic. Redemptions start at 18,000 for Economy Classic reward seats and increase based on the timing and destination of your travel. You’ll only need to pay for any applicable taxes and fees.

Virgin Atlantic is a part of the SkyTeam Airline Alliance, so you can also redeem points for flights on SkyTeam partner airlines.

Redeeming Points for Hotel Stays and Other Rewards

Outside flights, there are plenty of other redemption options available through both Virgin rewards programs. These include Virgin Atlantic Holidays, Virgin hotel stays, stays at Virgin partner hotels, and even unique experiences and live events. With the Virgin Red program, your points can take you much further than just the airport.

Linking Your Virgin Red and Flying Club Accounts

One of the standout features of Virgin Red is its compatibility with Virgin Atlantic’s Flying Club program. By navigating to the “Link accounts” section of your Virgin Red account and entering your Flying Club account number, you can link your accounts.

Once linked, you can view and redeem your Virgin Points through either platform, giving you more flexibility in managing and using your rewards.

Capitalizing on Capital One’s Partnership with Virgin Red

Capital One cardholders have something extra to cheer about. Virgin Red has been added as the 17th transfer partner for Capital One, potentially boosting the value of Capital One miles.

As Virgin Points can be used similarly to Virgin Atlantic Flying Club miles , you can leverage these points for excellent partner redemptions. Capital One has also announced temporary transfer bonuses to partners like Aeromexico Club Premier, Avianca LifeMiles, and Wyndham Rewards, providing even more ways to maximize your points.

Capital One’s New Transfer Bonuses

Continuing the good news for Capital One cardholders, the company has introduced three transfer bonuses, which will be available for a limited time.

When transferring Capital One miles to Aeromexico Club Premier, Avianca LifeMiles, and Wyndham Rewards during this promotion, you’ll earn a 20% bonus. This means that your points will be transferred at a 1:1.2 ratio instead of the standard 1:1 point ratio, giving your points a significant boost.

Earning Capital One Miles

There are several credit cards that allow you to earn Capital One miles. Some of the popular choices include the Capital One Venture X Rewards Credit Card, Capital One Venture Rewards Credit Card, and the Capital One Spark Miles for Business.

Each of these cards has varying benefits and annual fees, so it’s essential to choose a card that aligns best with your spending habits and financial goals.

The Bottom Line on Virgin Red vs Virgin Flying Club

The introduction of Virgin Red as a transfer partner for Capital One is fantastic news for cardholders. It unlocks a plethora of excellent redemptions, including premium flights on ANA and Delta, along with various non-flight redemption options.

However, as with any rewards program, always do the math to ensure your desired redemption offers good value, especially when transferring Capital One miles.

In the realm of travel rewards, Virgin Red presents an enticing proposition. By allowing members to earn points across a variety of channels and redeem them for a wide array of rewards, the program broadens the horizon of possibilities.

Whether you’re a frequent flyer with Virgin Atlantic or simply a savvy shopper, Virgin Red can help turn your everyday activities into unforgettable travel experiences.

So, sign up, link your Flying Club and Virgin Red accounts, and start earning your way towards your next travel adventure.

Further Information on the Virgin Points Programs

Here’s some additional reference material on the Virgin points ecosystem:

• Can Virgin Points be used to Buy Wine?
• How to Get a Free Upgrade on Virgin Flights
• How Many Virgin Points do you Need to Upgrade to Upper Class?
• How Many Virgin Points Does it Take to Fly to NY
• Transferring Virgin Points to Someone Else
• Can you Transfer Avios Points to Virgin Flying Club?
• Virgin Flying Club Miles vs British Airways Avios Compared

About The Author

The Points Insider Team

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