After my trip to Necker Island, I learned that Virgin Atlantic was considering increasing the 1.2 million mile award price. I published the news here: Necker Island award price probably going up. Last call for 1.2 million miles. Well, I finally got official notice about the change and it’s not what I expected…
The good news, for my 3 or 4 readers who were hoping to do this, is that the award price is not going up. It is still 1.2 million miles:
The bad news is that Virgin Atlantic threw in a new requirement. They made sure this new requirement was visible to all by listing it last on the terms & conditions (which you have to click to view):
See number 7? You now must have Virgin Atlantic Silver or Gold status to book the Necker Island award.
How to get Virgin Atlantic Silver status
Fortunately, getting Silver status isn’t too hard. You just need to earn 400 tier points in a 12 month period (actually it is a 12 to 13 month rolling period, but that’s confusing so let’s just say 12 months)
You can get those tier points by flying Virgin Atlantic:
Or by flying Virgin Atlantic partners, such as Delta:
Personally, though, I would do it through Virgin Atlantic Black Card credit card spend:
If you sign up for the 90K offer which is really a 70K or 75K offer (see: An analysis of the Virgin Atlantic 90K offer), then you’ll have to spend $12,000 within 6 months to get the full signup bonus. The key is to spread out that spend so that you spend no more than $5,000 per month. Here’s an example:
- Month 1: Spend $5,000 (earn 50 tier points + 20K miles from signup offer)
- Month 2: Spend $5,000 (earn 50 tier points)
- Month 3: Spend $5,000 (earn 50 tier points + 50K miles from signup offer + qualify for year-end 7,500 point bonus)
- Month 4: Spend $5,000 (earn 50 tier points)
- Month 5: Spend $5,000 (earn 50 tier points + qualify for an additional year-end 7,500 point bonus)
- Month 6: Spend $5,000 (earn 50 tier points)
- Month 7: Spend $5,000 (earn 50 tier points)
- Month 8: Spend $5,000 (earn 50 tier points + Silver status)
A more rewarding option is to sign up for the same Virgin Atlantic 90K-ish offer twice within an 8 month period:
Repeat the following with each card:
- Month 1: Spend $5,000 (earn 50 tier points + 20K miles from signup offer)
- Month 2: Spend $5,000 (earn 50 tier points)
- Month 3: Spend $5,000 (earn 50 tier points + 50K miles from signup offer + qualify for year-end 7,500 point bonus)
- Month 4: Spend $5,000 (earn 50 tier points)
An even better option is to get the same Virgin Atlantic 90K-ish offer three times within a 9 month period:
Repeat the following with each card:
- Month 1: Spend $5,000 (earn 50 tier points + 20K miles from signup offer)
- Month 2: Spend $5,000 (earn 50 tier points)
- Month 3: Spend $2,500 (earn 25 tier points + 50K miles from signup offer)
With one of the 3 cards, you’ll have to spend $2,500 more either in Month 3 or later to get the final 25 tier points required for Silver status. Unless, of course, you earn a few tier points by flying…