Buying points can reflect strategic value for those who do not have access to big international travel programmes via credit cards. Points can power luxury travel experiences without the big upfront spend. Virgin Atlantic is now offering an opportunity to purchase points at the Virgin Atlantic Flying Club programme with an up to 70% Bonus.
Virgin Atlantic is a great frequent flyer programme with some great redemption opportunities. You can redeem Virgin points for travel on Virgin Atlantic (including Upper Class), but other fantastic opportunities exist, such as those on Delta and All Nippon Airlines. Additionally, Virgin Atlantic is a part of the SkyTeam alliance as well.
Virgin Atlantic Business Class
Purchase Virgin Atlantic points with an (up to) 70% Bonus.
Through Monday, June 23, 2025, Virgin Atlantic’s Flying Club loyalty programme is offering a bonus on purchased points. The program is offering all VS members up to a 70% bonus. The up to 70% bonus is tiered as follows:
- On buying 5,000-24,000 points, you get a 20% bonus
- On buying 25,000-69,000 points, you get a 40% bonus
- On buying 70,000-124,000 points, you get a 60% bonus
- On buying 125,000-200,000 points, you get a 70% bonus
The cost to purchase Virgin Atlantic points is GBP 15 per 1,000 points, pre-tax, before any discounts or bonuses (There is a different price for US-registered accounts). The one thing to know is that all purchases of Virgin Atlantic points transactions are subject to a GBP 15 or USD 22 transaction fee. Assuming you are buying at the top end for a 70% bonus, you can purchase 340,000 Flying Club points for GBP 3,015, which is a rate of GBP 0.0088 per Flying Club point (USD 0.012/ INR 1.03)
Virgin Atlantic Flying Club used to let members purchase up to 100,000 points per account per calendar year before bonuses. However, from here on, the usual cap has been doubled to 200,000 points. The best part about buying Virgin Points is that they don’t expire.
Virgin Atlantic Premium Economy
Which credit card should you buy Virgin Points with?
Typically, these point purchases are processed through Points.com and not directly by the airline. However, you will almost always pay in USD/EUR/GBP, not INR. So, the best cards to earn a bonus are Axis Olympus, Axis Reserve or American Express Platinum Charge Card, as these cards offer an international spending bonus. Beyond these, look at any card that provides a reduced foreign exchange spend conversion or one where you want to meet minimum spend requirements.
Bottomline
Virgin Atlantic Flying Club is offering members a 70% bonus on purchased points, allowing them to buy points for under INR 1 each. These points can be redeemed on Virgin Atlantic, Delta, ANA, and other airlines, as well as with SkyTeam. The number of points you can purchase has been doubled to 200,000. Do run your numbers, though, before you buy.
Do you plan to purchase Virgin points with a 70% bonus?
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For 1st September:
if we buy max points as suggested above:
Delhi to London: 70,000 points + 72 euro (total 77,000 appx)
If we directly by the flight ticket:
Delhi to London : 507 euro (50,000 Appx)
Buying points should have been better, right ? What am I missing ?
@Ateesh I am not sure what cabin you are looking for but premium cabins come out ahead when booked with reward points
What MCC is used?
Does it use MCC: 3000-3350 or 4511 (Airlines) when buying points from a credit card?
Jeetendra, no
Been a fan of Virgin Club but seems it’s now headed in the wrong direction. I would have jumped and purchased if it was not moving dynamic. In fact stuck with a bunch of points that I speculatively transferred before Citi Prestige migration to Olympus
I have in the past bought virgin mumbai- london with only points, do they still do that
Dear Ajay,
At the top end we get 3,40,000 points instead of 3,20,000 since 70% of 2,00,0000 points is 3,40,000. Guess it was a type error.
Virgin can offer some pockets for good redemptions. I recently redeemed a BOM-LHR upper class tickets for 37k miles and ~INR35k in taxes. The tax amount was on higher side, but well compensated by much lower miles versus other programs (AI, Etihad etc.). The challenge comes while redeeming on partners. My 10 attempts to redeem online to book KLM failed. Called up the call cal centre and was told no seats available. Seemed like those were phantom seats but decided to try my luck with call again and voila! Managed to book 3 seats on BOM-MAD with 50% miles versus those shown on KLM website!
I’m unable to purchase Virgin Atlantic points. It says I need to do one earning or sending transaction before I can purchase miles. Any advise on how to get past this requirement? Kindly suggest a method to do this transaction.
@Ajay Thanks for the ever present heads up..
Is this a good buy and does it offer flight redemption across all Virgin flights?
@Saurav, it is a good deal, yes if you are able to find the flights. Most flights will have some inventory loaded up for redemption, of course. You can redeem on Virgin Atlantic, Delta, Air France amongst others.
Thanks a lot.