Virgin Atlantic Flying Club miles aren’t just about Virgin Atlantic. The miles are valid on many great airlines and can unlock some of the best experiences found in the air. all around the world. After collecting a nice fat stack of miles, the big question is how to spend them? Here you’ll find the five best ways to maximize your Virgin Atlantic Flying Club Miles, in ways you’ll never regret!
Collecting Virgin Atlantic Flying Club Miles is easy. You can collect them from actual flying on Virgin, Delta and many more airline partners, such as Singapore, Virgin Australia, ANA, Air New Zealand and more. Simply enter your Virgin Atlantic frequent flyer number when booking flights on any of these airlines. You can also instantly create points without flying, using American Express Membership Rewards, Chase Ultimate Rewards, Citi ThankYou Points or SPG Points.
Second Step, Redeeming.
Redeeming Virgin Atlantic Flying Club miles requires no snake oil at all. For Virgin Atlantic or Delta flights, simply tick “pay with miles” when performing a search for flights anywhere they fly. For other airlines you can redeem your Virgin Atlantic Flying Club Miles on, you’ll need to call Virgin Atlantic after finding the seats you’d like using points. Just don’t say “revenue management”.
Airline: Delta
Surcharges: None.
Where: Between US and Europe or Asia.
What: Delta business class between the US and Asia is just 60,000 points with no surcharges. US and Europe (in either direction) is just 50,000 points. This is far fewer points than Delta themselves would charge for these flights! So even if you’re a “Delta person”, consider using Virgin miles for Delta flights. This also works for flights in the US.
How: Search on Virgin Atlantic by typing in the cities (no airport abbreviations). If availability is there, it’ll show up on the Virgin Atlantic site and you can book Delta flights from there. Hot tip: even if you’re flying to London, book one of these flights from the US to a nearby European city to shave hundreds in surcharges.
Airline: All Nippon Airways
Surcharges: Minimal.
Where: Between US or UK and Tokyo.
What: ANA First or Business Class using points is never better than when booked through Virgin Atlantic. First Class Suites between the US or UK and Tokyo runs just 120,000 points round trip. Business Class just 90,000. ANA offers a fantastic experience and certainly one not to miss at these rates.
How: This sounds complicated but it’s really not. Search for seats using miles on United.com. The site will show availability for ANA in either first or business. If you find “saver” availability in First or Business on flights you’d like, simply call Virgin Atlantic to book. Ignore the rates found on United, they are irrelevant. Virgin Atlantic will charge roughly half!
Airline: Virgin
Surcharges: Reasonable.
Where: Between US and UK.
What: Virgin Atlantic offers excellent rates on Premium Economy from the US to Europe. Occasionally, when there are flash sales on economy seats, these can also be great value. The values are never as good going from the UK to the US, but if you need a one way to the UK, just 17,000 points for one way Premium or 10,000 for economy, with less than $200 surcharge can be great – especially last minute.
How: Easy! Simply search on Virgin Atlantic’s website and press “pay with miles”. Search any US route Virgin Atlantic offers to the UK and lock it in. Availability, especially within a few weeks of travel or well in advance is often fantastic. Premium economy is a great way to travel and at 17,000 points one way, reasonable for many.
Airline: Air New Zealand
Surcharges: Reasonable.
Where: Between Australia and New Zealand, Intra New Zealand, New Zealand to US.
What: Air New Zealand and Virgin have put together some fabulous rates to spend your Flying Club miles. US to New Zealand or vice versa is just 125,000 points round trip in business, or half one way. Australia to New Zealand in business, or vice versa – is just 15,000 points one way. Some of those flights can be pretty lengthy, which makes a bed a real steal.
How: The United Airlines website is again the best place to search availability for seats on Air New Zealand using Flying Club miles. If you find a flight using points at the “saver” level on the United site, you can ignore the cost in points they quote, and call Virgin to get a better deal. 15,000 points for up to 8 hours in business class is a true steal.
Airline: Hawaiian
Surcharges: Reasonable.
Where: Intra Hawaii, Mainland US to Hawaii.
What: Hawaiian is a partner of Virgin Atlantic and offers some excellent rates, which can help avoid expensive intra island Hawaiian flights. Flights require just 7,500 points one way for intra Hawaiian, or 20,000 points one way for Mainland US to Hawaii. Not a bad deal! This is a great way to island hop around Hawaii without breaking the bank.
How: You’ll need to make a free account with Hawaiian Airlines. Once you do, you can search for seats using miles on their site. If you find one available at the lowest price in miles on their site, you can ring Virgin Atlantic to book it, at the separate Virgin Atlantic rates.
Since both transfer from AmEx MR, often with big bonuses, which is better Virgin or British Airways redemptions?
I like the New Zealand 125K biz RT on Air New Zealand but hear it’s impossible to get. Sort of like Saver redemptions on Delta.
BA is good for American ( 🙁 ), Alaska, Iberia, LatTam, BA intraeurope, and some other airlines.
Like many others I accumulate a lot of MR points and transfer them to BA when there’s 40% bonuses.
Gilbert – Are you sure about that 60K DL to Asia? It doesn’t appear on the VS site as a Delta reward, only US – UK.
Does anyone know how many miles are needed between ATH and EWR on Delta in Economy and Business?
Why does nobody sort redemptions according to taxes. I could pay just 10,000 miles for a round the world trip but I don’t care if I have to pay the same amount of cash as a normal flight. Apart from ANA, what are the sweet spot redemptions PRICE-WISE for Virgin miles?