Key takeaways
- Virgin Atlantic’s loyalty program, Virgin Atlantic Flying Club, allows members to earn and redeem points for flying with Virgin Atlantic and its partners, among other options.
- Virgin Points are among the most valuable airline rewards at 2.6 cents per point, according to Bankrate’s points and miles valuations.
- Virgin Atlantic Flying Club is also a transfer partner of several top credit card rewards programs, including American Express Membership Rewards, Chase Ultimate Rewards and Citi ThankYou Rewards.
Virgin Atlantic has long been known for its innovative approach to travel. The airline, based out of London Heathrow Airport, has developed a reputation for its top service, high-end Clubhouse lounges and unique personality. Virgin Atlantic’s spunky heritage stems directly from its founder, Richard Branson. Branson’s philosophy of “screw it, let’s do it” has served the airline well throughout its growth, and it still shows up today in its loyalty program, Virgin Atlantic Flying Club. Find out how you can earn Virgin Points and other travel perks with Virgin’s loyalty program and if it would suit your travel needs.
Virgin Atlantic Flying Club basics
Virgin Atlantic Flying Club is the airline’s official loyalty program. Joining the club is easy and free and can be done by filling out a short enrollment form. As a member of the Flying Club, you can earn Virgin Points and redeem them for flights, travel with partners and more. Frequent flyers can also earn elite status, which comes with more perks. In addition, joining Flying Club automatically enrolls you in Virgin Red, a program that can help you earn Virgin Points in 150+ additional ways.
Who is Virgin Atlantic Flying Club best for?
If you live in or near a destination in Virgin Atlantic’s route network, it could be worth joining the loyalty program. The airline flies to numerous major cities including New York City, Lagos and Mumbai, but it is more limited than many full-service national airlines.
For booking rewards flights on Virgin Atlantic, the airline offers one of the most generous commitments to rewards space in the industry. Flying Club members can use Virgin Points to pay for any seat on the plane on any date.
If you do not live in a city currently served by Virgin Atlantic, it could still make sense to join the program. The airline has multiple partner airlines, many of which allow you to transfer points to the program and redeem for those flights.
How to earn Virgin Points
It’s easy to earn Virgin Points through the Virgin Atlantic Flying Club.
Flying with Virgin Atlantic
You can earn Virgin Points by flying with Virgin Atlantic. Instead of publishing a table requiring you to look up fare classes and determine your own earnings, Virgin Atlantic publishes a handy earnings calculator. Using the earnings calculator, you can find out how many Virgin Atlantic points you will earn based on your routing, status level in the Virgin Atlantic Flying Club program and type of airfare you purchase.
Flying with airline partners
In addition to earning points for flying with Virgin Atlantic, you can also earn points by flying with any of its airline partners. These partners include SkyTeam partners like Delta Air Lines, Air France, KLM and Aeromexico, along with Virgin Atlantic’s non-alliance partners, like Air New Zealand, Virgin Australia, South African Airways and LATAM Airlines.
Booking with hotel, car rental and other partners
You can earn Virgin Points by booking qualifying stays at one of Virgin Atlantic’s hotel partners or by renting cars with one of the program’s car rental partners. In most cases, you can earn a fixed number of points per stay or rental.
In addition to hotel and car rental partners, Virgin Atlantic partners with a handful of other travel providers offering services such as travel add-ons, airport parking and airport lounge access.
Shop through Virgin Red
Through Virgin Red, you can earn Virgin Points that can be used for Virgin Atlantic’s frequent flyer program. You’ll be automatically enrolled in Virgin Red when you join the Flying Club. Once your account is activated, you can start earning points on purchases like beauty products, travel purchases, special experiences and more.
Book travel with Virgin Atlantic Holidays
Booking travel through Virgin Atlantic Holidays can also earn you extra points. The amount of Virgin Atlantic points you earn will depend upon your status level in the Flying Club program. You will also earn tier points to help you get to the next membership level faster.
Purchase points through Points Booster
If you need extra Virgin Points to book your next flight, consider using Points Booster. Points Booster can be used on past, future and rewards flights. To use this feature, simply log in to your Flying Club account, find a booking and look for the “Points Booster” option to purchase additional points.
Purchase Virgin Points
You can buy Virgin Points either by logging in to your account online and buying points directly or by purchasing points through Points Booster. You can purchase points in increments of 1,000 points. However, you must pay a transaction fee when you buy points.
How to redeem Virgin Points
Virgin Atlantic Flying Club offers members the ability to spend points on a variety of travel needs and services. If you are looking to maximize value, booking a rewards flight or upgrading your ticket will be two of the best ways to redeem points.
Flying with Virgin Atlantic
Using your Virgin Points is as easy as selecting “Show Price In Points” when you search for flights on VirginAtlantic.com. If flights are available, you will see flight prices in points, plus additional taxes and fees that must be paid in cash. You can also use Points Plus Money to purchase flights with Virgin Points and cash, but you must have at least 3,000 points to use this feature.
You can book any seat using your Virgin Points and use the reward seat checker to look up Saver rewards seats, Virgin’s lowest-priced rewards seat. Virgin recently switched to dynamic pricing, so the points needed for a flight are not fixed and may fluctuate.
Bankrate senior credit cards editor Brooklyn Lowery shares that the process for looking up rewards trips is fairly easy.
Searching for rewards flights with Virgin Atlantic is straightforward and simple. Once you’re logged in, you can easily see a variety of dates and the minimum number of rewards needed for a given day. The site also shows you the total number of points needed if you’re booking for several people, which I found helpful as I was booking for my family.
— Brooklyn Lowery, senior credit cards editor
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Since you can use Virgin Points to book any seat, you have a good chance of finding a seat available on the exact flight you want.
Flying with airline partners
You can also redeem Virgin Points with any of its airline partners. Your first step in finding these awards is to search on the Virgin Atlantic website; some results will be shown alongside the other flight results if they are available. Some partners, like Hawaiian Airlines, cannot be booked online.
Take note
Virgin Atlantic will be ending its frequent flyer loyalty program with Hawaiian Airlines on June 30, 2025, so you will no longer be able to earn Virgin or Tier Points with Hawaiian Airlines bookings after this date.
Upgrading a Virgin Atlantic flight with points
If you have already booked a flight and want to upgrade it, look into upgrading with points. Virgin Atlantic offers upgrades to Premium or Upper Class. Point prices will vary based on demand, and you’ll have to pay the taxes and fees that come with the upgrade. To upgrade your flight with points, you must call the Flying Club team or contact them via online chat.
Using points for Virgin Atlantic Holidays
If you already have a vacation booked, you can use your points to pay off any outstanding balance. Otherwise, you can use your points to book a new vacation with Points Plus Money.
Redeeming points with hotel and other partners
You can redeem your Virgin Atlantic points with select hotel partners, including Marriott Bonvoy, IHG One Rewards, Hilton Honors and Kaligo. You can also redeem points with Eurostar.
Transferring points to a friend or family member
You can transfer Virgin Points to other Flying Club members. This can be a useful way to pool points among friends and family toward an award booking. Keep in mind, points must be transferred in increments of 1,000 and there is a flat fee of $15 for each transfer.
Donating points to charity partners
You can also donate your points to select charity partners as part of the airline’s Passport to Change program. To get started, simply log in to your account and follow the prompts.
How much are Virgin Points worth?
Virgin Points are worth about 2.6 cents per point, according to Bankrate’s points and miles valuations. Of course, the value you’ll get will vary depending on how you use them.
How do Virgin Points compare to other loyalty programs?
Here’s how Virgin Points compare to rewards values from other popular airline loyalty programs:
| Airline loyalty program | Bankrate value |
|---|---|
| Virgin Atlantic Flying Club | 2.6 cents |
| Alaska Mileage Plan | 1.1 cents |
| American AAdvantage | 1.0 cents |
| Delta SkyMiles | 1.2 cents |
| Frontier Miles | 1.3 cents |
| HawaiianMiles | 0.7 cents |
| JetBlue TrueBlue | 1.3 cents |
| Southwest Rapid Rewards | 1.5 cents |
| Spirit Airlines Free Spirit | 1.0 cents |
| United MileagePlus | 0.9 cents |
Virgin Atlantic Flying Club elite status levels
When you fly with Virgin Atlantic or its airline partners, you will earn Tier Points in addition to your Virgin Points. Members who earn a certain number of Tier Points qualify for elevated status in the Flying Club program. The membership tiers are Red, Silver and Gold.
Virgin Atlantic Flying Club transfer partners
Virgin Atlantic Flying Club is a transfer partner of many airlines, hotels and major credit card loyalty programs. In particular, Flying Club members may be able to find valuable redemptions with some of the airline’s partners, such as premium cabins for a particularly low price. These are subject to change at any time, but it can be a worthy endeavor to check the pricing with points for a partner flight.
Top credit cards that earn Virgin Points
While Virgin Atlantic does not offer a credit card, its sibling loyalty program Virgin Red does. Virgin Red has released a new credit card — the Virgin Red Rewards Mastercard®* — that offers you a rewards card option for padding your Virgin Flying Club balance with everyday purchases.
Additionally, since the Virgin Atlantic Flying Club is a transfer partner of multiple major credit card rewards programs, there are plenty of top travel credit cards that you can use to indirectly earn Virgin Points. Pay special attention to cards that earn American Express Membership Rewards, Chase Ultimate Rewards and Citi ThankYou points, all of which can be transferred to the Virgin Atlantic Flying Club.
The bottom line
Virgin Atlantic’s Flying Club offers a great way for frequent flyers to earn valuable points they can use toward Virgin Atlantic flights and services, stays with hotel partners and more. Earning Virgin Atlantic points is also a breeze. With a Flying Club account, you can earn Virgin Points by flying with partners, shopping online and on every Virgin Atlantic purchase. Plus, points from several top credit cards — like American Express Membership Rewards, Chase Ultimate Rewards and Citi ThankYou Rewards — also transfer to Virgin Atlantic Flying Club. So, if you’re a frequent traveler with Virgin Atlantic or its partner airlines, the Virgin Atlantic Flying Club is worth your consideration.
Frequently asked questions
*Information about the Virgin Red Rewards Mastercard® has been collected independently by Bankrate and has not been reviewed or approved by the issuer.
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