Virgin announced today that Virgin Atlantic Flying Club miles will be renamed “Virgin Points” as part of a Virgin-wide effort to consolidate into one Virgin rewards scheme.
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Virgin Points Never Expire
There is only one change as your miles become points. Virgin points will never expire. That’s great news, especially if you have a stash of miles from cancelled flights during COVID and don’t know when you’ll be rebooking…
For now, all the best ways to spend Virgin Flying Club miles are now just the best way to spend Virgin Points. Such as….
ANA First Class for 110,000 – 120,000 Points
You’ll need to find availability before calling Virgin Atlantic to put the flights on hold and I recommend the United website for that. Search the calendar view for premium availability and then look day by day for the ANA flights. Note you do have to book a round trip for this deal to work – so find flights both ways before calling.
Delta Business Class – For Less
Delta charges crazy amounts of miles on Delta operated routes. It used to be that if Delta was charging its lowest rate, that meant you could book on a partner, but lately I see less and less correlation. It can be the maximum price on Delta and show up on a partner – or if can be the lowest possible price on Delta and not be available to partners. The bottom line is always having options.
In this case, I could go from Amsterdam to NYC for 320,000 Delta miles (one way!)…. OR….
I can take the EXACT SAME seat on the same day for 50,000 Virgin miles instead of 320,000 Delta miles. And with this bonus, it’s just 39,000 Amex points!
(Note that to London, the price will vary with Virgin, from 47,500 to 57,500 miles, but they will also charge full surcharges where as Delta won’t charge them outbound to London)
To Asia, you can beat Delta’s “Standard” 85,000-95,000 rate each way (and up from there) and pay just 60,000 Virgin miles instead. That’s 47,000 Amex points.
Now that Virgin partners directly with Air France and KLM, you can also find some deals booking those flights as well.
Lastly, Virgin can book Delta One Transcons (LAX/SFO-NYC) for just 22,5000 miles (if you can find space!) where Delta will charge a minimum of 64,000 miles.
Double Points on Flights Booked By October 1st
If you book a new flight (which must be both marketed and operated by Virgin Atlantic) by October 1st, 2020, you’ll earn double points.
Terms and conditions are here. No registration is required.
The Future of Virgin Points
With a company wide point system, you will likely start to see offers and/or benefits that may sweeten the deal at a Virgin Hotel, for example, by using your Points or perhaps by having Virgin Atlantic status. This all remains to be seen, but it seems like a net positive.
Protection against Virgin Atlantic Insolvency?
As well, the Points are now held by a separate entity that is far more than just Virgin Atlantic. So, should Virgin Atlantic again run into funding issues, your points certainly seem safer than they did before. That’s excellent news.
Questions?
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You can find credit cards that best match your spending habits and bonus categories at Your Best Credit Cards.
New to all of this? My “introduction to miles and points” book, MilesTalk: Live Your Wildest Travel Dreams Using Miles and Points is available on Amazon and at major booksellers.
