How Much Are Virgin Atlantic Flying Club Points Worth?

The value of Virgin Atlantic Flying Club points may vary significantly based on how you choose to redeem them. Booking an Economy ticket with Virgin might give you a value of 0.5 cents per point, for example, but you may get up to 2 cents per point on an Upper Class ticket.

You can earn Flying Club points several ways: each time you fly with Virgin Atlantic or any of its airline partners, through Virgin Atlantic’s online duty-free shop, through the program’s travel partners, when you book Virgin Atlantic Holidays and by using a co-branded Virgin Atlantic credit card.

If you’re wondering how to redeem Virgin Atlantic Flying Club points, know that you may redeem them to book flight tickets with Virgin and its airline partners, upgrade your seat and book Virgin Atlantic Holidays. You can also use them with the program’s travel partners and to shop online, among other options.

While the actual value of your points will vary, it's good to keep in mind that you might get the best value for your points when you use them with an airline partner.

• How Much Are Virgin Atlantic Flying Club Points Worth?
• How to Earn and Maximize Points From Virgin Atlantic
• How to Redeem Virgin Atlantic Flying Club Points
• How to Get the Virgin Atlantic Gold Status
• How We Determined the Value of Virgin Atlantic Flying Club Points
• Other Questions You May Have About Virgin Atlantic Flying Club Points

How much Virgin Atlantic Flying Club Points are worth depends on the redemption method. While not always the case, you’ll often get better value if you use your points with an airline partner instead of using them for flights with Virgin Atlantic. When flying with Virgin Atlantic, you stand to get better value for your points with Premium and Upper Class tickets than Economy tickets. The Virgin Atlantic Flying Club redemption chart gives you an idea of how many points you need to fly across different routes and classes.

To find out each Virgin Atlantic Flying Club point’s value, you need to divide the ticket’s actual fare by the number of points needed to get the award ticket. For example, let’s say you want to book a one-way Upper Class ticket from Boston to London that costs $2,480. If you choose to use points, you’ll need to part with 57,500 points and pay $875 in cash. Your points will, therefore, cover $1,605 of the fare. In this case, each point is worth $0.028 or 2.8 cents.

For those trying to maximize their points-earning opportunities, it may be worth moving up Virgin Atlantic’s membership tiers. Depending on which tier you’re at, you may be eligible to receive bonus points every time you fly with this airline. You need to earn tier points to move from one level to the next. The type of ticket you book affects the number of tier points you earn. You may also earn tier points through a Virgin Atlantic co-branded credit card.

The average value you stand to receive for your points through the Virgin Atlantic Flying Club program is better than several other frequent flyer programs, although it’s probably not the best.

The Virgin Atlantic membership program gives you a variety of ways to earn points. You earn points each time you take a Virgin Atlantic flight or fly with any of its airline partners. Making online purchases through Virgin Atlantic’s duty-free store lets you earn points, and you stand to earn bonus points through partner merchants on the Shops Away platform. Using a Virgin Atlantic co-branded rewards credit card will also help you accumulate points more quickly. You also earn points through Virgin Atlantic Holidays, Virgin Trains Ticketing, Virgin Red and the program’s travel partners.

Residents of the U.S. may earn Flying Club points by getting the Virgin Atlantic World Elite Mastercard. If you reside in the U.K., you may choose from the Virgin Atlantic Reward Credit Card and the Virgin Atlantic Reward+ Credit Card. All of these cards give you the ability to earn Flying Club points. Only the Virgin Atlantic Reward Credit Card for U.K. residents comes with no annual fee.

The Virgin Atlantic World Elite Mastercard comes with a $90 annual fee. Spending $1,000 on purchases within the first 90 days earns you a welcome bonus of 30,000 points. Spending on Virgin Atlantic purchases comes with 3X points per dollar. You earn 1.5X points per dollar on all other purchases. Each time you spend $2,500 on purchases, you receive 25 tier points (up to 50 per month). This card comes with no foreign transaction fees.

The Virgin Atlantic Reward Credit Card comes with no annual fee, but it does not offer a welcome bonus. Spending on Virgin Atlantic and Virgin Holidays earns 1.5X points per pound sterling, although this is subject to restrictions. You get 0.75X points per pound sterling on all other purchases. Once you spend £20,000 in a year, you gain access to various benefits such as upgrades and companion fares.

The Virgin Atlantic Reward+ Credit Card charges an annual fee of £160. If you make a purchase within the first 90 days, you receive a bonus of 15,000 points. Purchases made through Virgin Atlantic and Virgin Holidays come with 3X points per pound sterling. All other purchases earn 1.5X points per pound sterling. Once you spend £10,000 in a year, you will be eligible to enjoy benefits like upgrades and companion fares.

Virgin Atlantic runs the Flying Club program for its frequent flyers. Members get different ways to earn and redeem points. If you cannot find an award seat on a Virgin Atlantic flight, you can use Points Plus Money to bring down the cost of the ticket.

You need to join the Virgin Atlantic Flying Club program to start earning Flying Club points. Joining the program is relatively simple, and you may do so online. The information you need to provide includes your name, date of birth, gender, email address, home/work address and phone number.

The Virgin Atlantic rewards program has three membership tiers. You need to earn tier points to move up from one level to the next. You may earn tier points when you fly with Virgin Atlantic, spend on Virgin Atlantic Holidays or meet your Virgin Atlantic credit card’s spend-based requirement.

Tier-specific benefits include bonus points on Virgin Atlantic flights, preferred seat selection, extra hand/hold baggage, Premium check-in and Clubhouse access.

You earn Flying Club points every time you book a ticket with Virgin Atlantic or its partner airlines. The number of points you earn for a Virgin Atlantic flight depends on the flight distance, the type of ticket and cabin you select and your membership tier. For example, you get 25% of the base miles flown if you book an Economy Light (T) ticket. It changes to 400% for an Upper Class (flexible J, C or D) ticket. In addition, Silver and Gold members can earn 30% and 60% bonus points on every flight, respectively.

When booking flight tickets with the program’s partner airlines, the points you earn depend on the airline you select and a few other factors. For example, if you book a short-haul flight with Air France and get a Business class (J or D) ticket, you earn 2,400 points. If, on the other hand, you book a Business class (J or D) ticket on a long-haul flight, you get 400% points based on the distance the flight covers.

You stand to earn even more points if you use a co-branded Virgin Atlantic credit card to pay for your flight ticket.

You can also earn Virgin Atlantic points when you shop via its online duty-free shopping platform, book a Virgin Atlantic Holiday and spend with various travel and shopping partners.

Buying points from Virgin Atlantic is possible, and you need to buy them in increments of 1,000. If you have a U.S.-based Flying Club account, you will need to pay $25 per 1,000 points, not including taxes. That means you pay more than 2.5 cents per point, which is less than the average value you may expect to receive when redeeming your points.

You might benefit by purchasing points during promotional offers that come with bonus points. Taking advantage of these promotions means you can receive up to 70% more in bonus points, depending on how many points you purchase and your membership tier.

You may also want to consider buying Virgin Atlantic points if you wish to use them for an award flight that offers better value for your points than how much you’ll spend on the purchase.

With at least 12 seats allocated as award seats on every long-haul Virgin Atlantic flight, you should be able to redeem your points for a flight ticket relatively easily. The number of points you need to make a booking depends on the route and the type of cabin and ticket you select. And it's worth noting that the required points differ during standard and peak seasons.

If you find a flight with no award seats, you may use the Points Plus Money option to reduce the cost of your ticket. In this case, you'll need to redeem points in increments of 3,000.

There are no Virgin Atlantic Flying Club transfer partners to transfer your points to, but you can use your points to book flights with Virgin Atlantic's airline partners. These include Delta Air Lines, Air France, KLM, Scandinavian Airlines, Singapore Airlines, Air New Zealand, Virgin Australia, South African Airways, Hawaiian Airlines, All Nippon Airways and IndiGo.

You may also redeem your Flying Club points through Virgin Atlantic Holidays. You can use this platform to book vacations, hotel stays, tours and car rentals.

There are also a few other ways to use Virgin Atlantic Flying Club points.

You need considerably fewer points to fly with Virgin Atlantic during its standard season than its peak season. For example, buying an Economy Classic ticket from the West Coast to the U.K. would require 30,000 points from September 5 to October 19 in 2023. The same ticket on October 20, 2023, would set you back by 50,000 points. Also keep in mind that the airline spreads its standard and peak season dates throughout the year.

Standard and peak seasons might also play a role in redeeming your points for flight tickets through Virgin Atlantic’s partner airlines. For example, a main cabin Delta flight from the West Coast to the U.K. during the standard season would need 20,000 points. This increases to 30,000 points during peak season. These, as you may notice, require fewer points than you’d need for a Virgin Atlantic flight across the same route.

Using Air France to travel within Europe might be worth your while during peak and off-peak seasons alike. A flight that covers less than 600 miles requires just 4,000 points for an Economy ticket during off-peak season. If you fly during peak season, you’ll need 4,500 points. An Economy ticket for a flight that covers 601 to 1,249 miles during the off-peak season would need 7,500 points.

If you wish to redeem your points for business class travel, you may benefit by looking at what Virgin Atlantic, All Nippon Airways (ANA), Air New Zealand, Air France, KLM and Delta have to offer based on the route you wish to fly.

MoneyGeek experts have taken a close look at how the value of Virgin Atlantic Flying Club Points changes based on different redemption methods. They have also carried out in-depth market research to determine the worth of your points.

Looking at answers to other questions about how much Virgin Atlantic Flying Club points are worth and the best ways to redeem them may give you an indication of which path to follow.