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Virgin Atlantic Flying Club is offering a tiered bonus on purchases of their awkardly renamed “Virgin Points.” Until March 11th, all Flying Club members can get up to a 60% bonus, while Silver and Gold members can receive up to a 70% bonus. The cost per point changes depending on which country the account is registered in. If your account is registered in the US, the maximum bonus brings the cost down to 1.7 cents per point. Those with accounts registered in the UK get a much better deal a with a low price of 1.27 cents per point, just below our reasonable redemption value of 1.3.
These award sales have been offered fairly frequently over the last year and Virgin Atlantic does have some very compelling high-value sweet spots. That said, points can be fairly easy to generate as VA partners with Citi, Chase, Bilt and Amex, so it’s usually not a good idea to buy speculatively. If you do have an eye on a specific high-value redemption and are low on transferrable points, this bonus could be worth looking at (especially for UK-registered accounts).
Past Virgin Points Bonuses
- 60% bonus on Virgin Points purchases. Valid through December 1-21, 2021.
- 70% bonus on Virgin Points purchases. Valid through July 14 – August 14, 2021.
- 50% bonus on Virgin Points purchases. Valid through March 30 – April 30, 2021.
The Deal
60% tiered bonus on Virgin Points purchases
- Buy 5,000-24,000 points, get a 15% bonus
- Buy 25,000-69,000 points, get a 20% bonus
- Buy 70,000-119,000 points, get a 40% bonus
- Buy 120,000-200,000 points, get a 60% bonus
Key Terms
- Offer valid until March 11
- Points should be credited to your account within 24 hours, though this may be longer in some cases.
- All Buy Points transactions are subject to a £15/$25 transaction fee.
- Members will have the right to cancel any purchase of points for up to 14 days after the date of purchase, provided that none of the purchased points have been redeemed.
- ANA First Class from the US for 72.5K (West Coast) - 85K (East Coast). For a long time, the sweetest of Virgin Points sweet spots was for First Class awards from the US to Japan on ANA. Unfortunately, Virgin devalued those awards in March 2023, but even with substantial increases these awards are still a solid value if not the amazing value they used to be. ANA has one of the best first class products around, often selling for over $20,000. This is an incredible points value...especially now that you can now book one-way awards for half the price shown above. It's worth noting that ANA flights can't be booked on the VA website, so you have to call or message via Twitter (see below).
- US to UK Economy for 10K (East Coast) - 15K (West Coast). Virgin Points can be used to fly to London at great value. Virgin Atlantic offers the same pricing whether flying Delta or Virgin Atlantic, but fees are higher when flying Delta. Flying from the US to London for 10K to 15K during standard season is a bargain even after accounting for moderate award fees ($150-225). Note that flights originating in the UK have considerably higher fees.
- Delta Business from US to Europe for 50K. Virgin Points can be used to book Delta business class from the US to Europe for only 50,000 points one way, with minimal surcharges when flying from the US. Flights to/from the UK and originating in Europe include extremely high award fees. Mixed Partner Awards can be an excellent value as well.
- Air France or KLM flights within Europe. Virgin Atlantic has great rates for nonstop flights within Europe on Air France or KLM. They charge between 4K and 8.5K for nonstop economy flights under 1250 miles in distance (which is most within Europe), and between 8K and 9K for business class flights under 600 miles in distance. Details here: Air France & KLM across Europe for less.
Things to know
- Virgin Points purchases are processed by points.com and DO NOT qualify as airfare.
- Virgin Points do not expire.
- Many itineraries can be booked online at virginatlantic.com. This includes some partner flights such as Delta, Air France, and KLM.
- For partner flights that cannot be booked online, it is sometimes possible book via Twitter by sending a direct message on Twitter to @VirginAtlantic. If they respond that they cannot sell any flights which do not fly via the UK, tell them that you are not looking to purchase a flight but rather to redeem points to book an award ticket.
- Virgin Atlantic charges separately for every leg of the trip. When multiple legs are required, it is often cheaper to book the same flights with Air France Flying Blue miles or (sometimes) Delta SkyMiles.
- Point transfers from Amex, Chase, or Citi to Virgin Atlantic are usually instantaneous. It's best to find available award space before transferring points and then transfer and book the award.
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Delta domestics are also cheaper than using Skymiles directly. What is the cancellation policy for award tickets on Delta metal? We are looking for a DTW-SAN non stop flight, but plans are not fixed. Are there any limitations to cancelling the flight and are there any redeposit fees etc?
Den to CDG 8/7 costs 87,500 plus $160; NYC to Lon 8/7 costs 57,500 plus $726. LAX to CDG 8/7 costs 87,500 plus $120. ATL to Lon in Aug on a few days is 85,000 plus $726. Chi to Lon is 58,500 plus $315.
I accumulated 247,000 VA points and was able to book first class on ANA round trip to Tokyo for September of 2020. Of course that went kaput. So now that Covid has calmed down I thought I would try to book this great 50,000 DL flight to Europe for this September/October using these point to book DL flights. I spent all one afternoon the other day and just now only to find there is no such animal. I keep getting this “sorry, no award flights available” I tried out of ORD, DTW, JFK, BOS to various cities in Europe, AMS, CDG, MAD, you name it same result. On 9-29-22 i was able to find JFK to CDG for 60,000 points and $11.20 main cabin. On 9-20-22 I found EWR to AMS for 135,000 points and $11,20 Strange because this flight leaves EWR to BOS to AMS but no flight from BOS to AMS. On top of this, the VA website is almost a non functional and maddening website. Of course, I can book JFK-LON on 9-20 for $47,500 and $726 per person. No thanks.