Virgin Atlantic Flying Club is one of the better frequent flyer programmes, with 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 now part of the SkyTeam alliance.
Virgin Atlantic is currently offering an excellent sale for reward flights on routes to and from the United States at a flat 50% discount when you book tickets using Virgin Atlantic Flying Club points. The 50% discount applies to Economy, Premium, and Upper-Class seats on Virgin-operated flights to the US, direct as well as connecting.
To use the promotional offer, you’ll need to book tickets by March 20, 2024, and travel between March 14 and June 30, 2024. As long as you use only Virgin Atlantic airlines redeemed with Virgin’s points, you get the discount even if it is a one-stop. The discount applies to all cabins and both peak and off-peak seasons. It will already be priced in when you search for award availability.
Virgin Atlantic flies to the following airports in the US: Atlanta, Austin, Boston, Los Angeles, Miami, New York, San Francisco, Seattle, Tampa, and Washington DC. If you are starting your journey in India, you can look at booking from Delhi / Mumbai and the flight from Bengaluru, which will launch at the end of March 2024.
Virgin Atlantic is known to charge a high amount for carrier-imposed surcharges and taxes. Unfortunately, the cash component won’t be reduced; only the number of points will be reduced to half. You can reduce the charges slightly by booking two one-way flights instead of a two-way flight.
Here are the prices of flights from India, one stop to the US East Coast. Delhi to New York JFK costs 15,000 points and just INR 26,800, or 61,250 points and INR 43,000 in the extremely nice Upper Class. For value seekers, Premium Economy, at 26,250 points and about INR 28,500, is not bad either.
If you are looking to get some points over to Virgin Atlantic from India, there are limited options:
- American Express Platinum Charge Card: 2 Membership Rewards: 1 VS Point
- American Express Gold Charge Card: 2 Membership Rewards: 1 VS Point
- American Express Platinum Travel Credit Card: 2 Membership Rewards: 1 VS Point
- American Express Membership Rewards Credit Card: 2 Membership Rewards: 1 VS Point
- American Express Platinum Reserve Credit Card: 2 Membership Rewards: 1 VS Point
- Citibank Prestige: 1 Point: 4 VS Points
- Citibank PremierMiles: 2 PremierMiles: 1 VS Point
Virgin Atlantic is also running a promotion on the sale of points, which could also be another way to earn points at a reasonable price.
Bottomline
Virgin Atlantic Flying Club has an excellent sale ongoing on award redemptions, as you can get a 50% discount on the number of points required for award tickets for travel to and from the United States. This is a good deal since you get 50% off when you book rather than a refund later. Also, Virgin Atlantic has excellent hard and soft products, and it could make it worthwhile to consider them for a booking if you plan to travel to or from the US over the next three months or so.
Do you plan on taking advantage of Virgin Atlantic’s redemption sale?
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Hi Ajay, thank you for the great article/tip as always.
Virgin Atlantic is also offering upto 70% bonus on purchasing points. Would you be able to share your expert guidance if that sounds like a good deal?
Thanks
Sagar
@Sagar, indeed it makes sense to buy quickly and then book your tickets. even more so if you are looking at Business Class.