Pardon the language before the holidays, but some sales do just make you go “holy $#!t”. When looking through the Virgin Atlantic Black Friday Sale, that was the only way to accurately sum up the offer.
This year, Virgin Atlantic is leaning into Black Friday, with deals including 50% off flights using points from everywhere Virgin flies, to round trip economy flights from £239, and just about every single Virgin destination in Upper Class for £999 round trip, all in.
The US now has Upper Class deals too, for $2000 round trip from New York, LA, Miami or San Francisco to London.
Oh, and premium deals start at £449 round trip. That’s pretty much unheard of pricing. There’s even additions like free name changes, waived fees and other perks…
Best Virgin Atlantic Black Friday Deals
Each Black Friday, Cyber Monday and Travel Tuesday bring many delights, but these are the lowest offers we’ve ever seen from Virgin Atlantic. Sub £1000 pricing to West Coast USA, Caribbean or Cape Town is the stuff of dreams, and you can actually book these insane offers, during this limited time window.
Here’s a few stand out – OMG – offers from London, Manchester, Glasgow and Belfast. All these offers are for travel up to August 31st, 2021. Later dates are worth checking too, since fares will differ from city to city. Update: some cities drop off at these prices after June, 2021. South Africa remains wide open from January at these prices.
Oh, and Hawaii is also included for £999! Sold out.
Looking for the US deals?, head here.
| From London Heathrow | Upper | Premium | Economy |
| New York JFK | £999 | £539 | £292 |
| Boston | £999 | £599 | £292 |
| Washington | £999 | £599 | £349 |
| Miami | £999 | £599 | £322 |
| Orlando | £999 | £599 | £329 |
| Las Vegas | £999 | £599 | £329 |
| Los Angeles | £999 | £599 | £329 |
| San Francisco | £999 | £599 | £329 |
| Seattle | £999 | £699 | £463 |
| St Vincent | £999 | £599 | £349 |
| Barbados | £999 | £599 | £349 |
| Grenada | £999 | £599 | £349 |
UK Offers To Caribbean, Asia, Africa…
| From London Heathrow | Upper | Premium | Economy |
| Tobago | £999 | £599 | £349 |
| Havana | £999 | £599 | £399 |
| Montego | £999 | £599 | £399 |
| Antigua | £999 | £599 | £349 |
| Shanghai | £1,499 | £599 | £339 |
| Hong Kong | £1,499 | £599 | £369 |
| Delhi | £999 | £599 | £339 |
| Mumbai | £999 | £599 | £359 |
| Lahore | £999 | £599 | £359 |
| Islamabad | £999 | £599 | £359 |
| Tel Aviv | £999 | £449 | £239 |
| Johannesburg | £999 | £599 | £399 |
| Cape Town | £999 | £599 | £399 |
| Lagos | £1,499 | £749 | £499 |
| From Manchester | |||
| Atlanta | £1,299 | £999 | £579 |
| New York JFK | £999 | £509 | £279 |
| Los Angeles | £999 | £599 | £329 |
| Orlando | £999 | £599 | £329 |
| Islamabad | £999 | £549 | £349 |
| Mumbai | £999 | £549 | £299 |
| Delhi | £999 | £549 | £299 |
| Barbados | £999 | £599 | £349 |
| From Glasgow | |||
| Orlando | £999 | £699 | £329 |
| From Belfast | |||
| Orlando | £999 | £599 | £319 |
So, what about booking flexibility? In previous years, the drawback with great fares was always massive change fees, if you needed to swap dates. Here’s what Virgin has to say for this year…
Customers booking with Virgin Atlantic can rest assured when buying flights this November with the airline’s flexible booking policy. Customers may change the dates of their travel up to two times as well as change names once, with the associated fees waived, though fare difference may apply.
Virgin Atlantic
Looking at the actual policy, it’s actually even better than it sounds. If you need to change travel dates, for travel up to August 31st, 2021, Virgin are not only waiving change fees, but covering some fare difference too.
If you find a new fare within £60 fo the original for Economy, £120 for Premium or £350 for Upper, they’ll not only waive change fees, but fare difference too.
If your £999 Upper Class deal needs to be changed and the new fare is £1500, you’d just pay £150, because Virgin is covering up to £350 in fare difference on top of all the change fees. If the new fare was £1349, you’d pay nothing more to change flights to new dates, as long as you travel by August 31st. You can book all offers here.
50% Off All Points Redemptions Too
You’ve got points, but perhaps not typically enough to move up to a better cabin? Today, that changes. Virgin is offering 50% off the standard number of points you’d need to use, in every cabin, to and from everywhere they fly. It’s that simple.
That means trips between New York and London would cost 43,000 points round trip in Upper Class, rather than 95,000. One ways are totally fine too. You must book these offers by November 30th, for travel up to October 20th, 2021.
Here’s a great example with Barbados…
| Cabin | Normal return price (Virgin Points) | 50% return price (Virgin Points) |
| Economy Classic | 20,000 | 10,000 |
| Premium | 35,000 | 17,500 |
| Upper | 115,000 | 57,500 |
As you might expect, sadly taxes and fees on these flights aren’t also discounted 50%, but with the mileage savings, they can represent extremely good value. Of course, it’s just really hard to pass up the cash fares above, but if you’ve got points to burn, this is as good as it gets.
Sale! It Doesn’t Get Much Better
Last week, Virgin announced quarantine free getaways for winter sun. This week, they’re offering the best pricing anyone can ever hope for, in every cabin, for travel well into 2021. By all accounts, travel should be much more normal by mid year, and hopefully before, as vaccines make their way into distribution and highest risk groups are taken care of.
One thing is for sure, Virgin Upper Class is always fun, and it’s stayed that way through covid-19 with the same glassware, full meals, full wine bottles and all that jazz. If you’ve wanted to try it, or want to enjoy it again, this sale is an incredible opportunity to do so.
Interestingly, I’ve just looked at all the calendar availability for both Orlando and Miami and there is nothing at all at that price in Upper. Not persuaded they could’ve sold that quickly…
They’re all there now. Some prices take a few hours to pop in.
Super!
Sadly Orlando ended in June (want to go in July!). Decided to go to Seattle for Easter — £900 return in Upper!
Thank you!
What are the chances Virgin doesn’t make it financially and the tickets can’t be refunded? I tried looking for ATOL protection but it doesn’t look like these deals are protected as they are flight only.
Virgin has completed their solvency needs.
The Upper Class L999 sale tab takes me to a page where I can only enter London in the “Flying From” dropdown box. Nothing on the West Coast available in the “Flying To” box. Think they pulled a fast one to get eyeballs.
You can simply click to the homepage and search any route. All these deals are still widely available on virtually any date.
And, of course, nowhere near that level ex US into LHR. As an expat now living on the West Coast the price of J fares is hard to take after years of good J deals from Europe.
Yep, I think sometimes makes sense to use miles or points as a one way just to pick up these deals, and then use return later.
None of the prices you quote exist, and if you use points the deal is even worse. LAX-London Upper class is 135k-155k PLUS 1700 bucks. Rip off! Premium is 55k-75k points PLUS 850 bucks. Not a deal at all. Where is the 999 pound upper class you rave about?
Um, yes they do? They are incredibly easy to find. Sometimes it’s best to read through before being rude. If you were polite, I wouldn’t now use the rest of this to give you an education on market pricing.
As very clearly noted in the prices these are FROM LONDON, MANCHESTER, GLASGOW. They are not £999 from Los Angeles. That wouldn’t make sense, becaues they would be in dollars, if so.
You can find £999 upper class from London on virtually any date you search. US surcharge pricing isn’t always favorable, but the 50% off is live across routes. I had lots of friends sharing with me things like Hong Kong-London for 29K Points in Upper Class, and from there, surcharges are not high.
One must learn manners, and perhaps ask for help if they’d like me to take time out of my day, away from helping millions of travelers find great deals, to help YOU find great deals.
Whyyy did I jump and buy a trip weeks ago? Still good deal, but…
Then again, maybe I need more than one thing to look forward to!
Some of the DL codeshares are pricing even cheaper! Just booked LHR-SEA for 811 GBP RT in VS J
Thanks for the heads up, get to go home for my birthday in style!
I can’t seem to be able to book Cape Town using points in February. Only allowing cash tickets. Am I missing something here?
Unsure! But given the 999 fares, it actually works out more advantageously (given the surcharges when using points) to book the cash fares, and perhaps use some Virgin points to cover part of the price. If you do this, you earn points back, which is nice. Just an idea!
Hi Gilbert,
Interesting point but looking at LHR to TLV the advantage is clearly to an all points redemption
cash plus point – GBP 1001 – GBP 148.5 (for 27,000 points) = GBP 852
vs
points only – GBP 326 + 28,000 points
Oh, absolutely this varies by destination. For US fares, etc, where you have over £500 in taxes, typically significantly better to just pay the fare right now than use points, given the cash rate is so low. For lower tax places, like TLV or HKG, it can go the other way.
Great tip! Got on the search right away and booked Upper Class LHR-LAX for Aug/Sept 2021 for half the miles than usual (+T&F). Same flight priced up at £5,930. So glad to have something in the distance to look forward to. Thanks Gilbert! ;)))
Pleasure! Thanks for reading, as always!
Another good article Gilbert. Always enjoy your blogs and website. Although ive no idea why you even respond to rude idiots who like to challenge you. Ignore them completley. Keep up the good work. Regards Nik
Wise advice, Nik! Thanks, wise advice. Sometimes I enjoy reminding people that manners are free, and if you use them bloggers tend to be ready to be helpful : )
Some good deals for sure. Been wanting to go to Cape Town, but the fares drop off in August. Sigh.
Note that anyone using an upgrade voucher, the 50% points discount does not apply.
More reason to use the voucher as a 2 for 1, and just pay taxes on the second cash fare, and earn points back!
Hmm, not sure I’m following. I didn’t see any value in using the voucher, so just used raw points which has depleted my and my wife’s account. The pain of having to wait 3 hours on the phone meant I wasn’t going to call back, and just booked online.
If there’s a smarter way, I booked 14 hours ago so there’s a window of opportunity to change for free in the first 24hrs? Or did I just make that up! Thanks, Gilbert
I used 2 upgrade vouchers just fine, I’m assuming you’re talking about the virgin credit card vouchers?
Called Virgin to book 2 UC returns from LHR-LAX September/October 2021. Would have been 134,800 total. Found flights with premium and UC availability, booked the premium seats and immediately upgraded – 54,800 points for 2 returns! Ridiculous.
Gilbert,
Am I missing something – not flown virgin in years so don’t know my way around their site – but, planning a trip to Barbados in Jan so thought I’d check it out but all the £999 flights have very specific and limited dates e.g. Barbados 7-14 April and quote £3,700 to fly Jan 30 for 12 days… BA is currently £2,400 LHR in club before any Black Friday offer
Some destinations definitely went faster than others. Still lots around today for some spots, but Barbados is typically super expensive so it was snapped up for months like January entirely yesterday. A good sale indeed. Hope they add more availability later in the week.
Thank you, because I saw this I’ve managed to book Upper to Barbados for my family at Easter, excellent prices and something to look forward to!
Wonderful! Have a great trip. I’ve found my few trips this year to be more meaningful than ever.
Hi Gilbert,
Thank you so much for this article!! I am having trouble finding the flights to Hawaii, planning to go with the family and I am excited to book
Holy $#!T is the correct term… just booked 3 people LHR-Barbados Aug/Sep for 89k points (yes upper return for 3 people) points and £1594.02 – using 2 x vouchers (1 voucher used 2 for 1, 1 voucher used as a prem 2 upper upgrade). Thanks Gilbert!
Great info. Sorry if I missed it but is there any specification for if COVID means you then can’t travel there (your country or the destination one disallow) and so your travel can’t even then occur before end of August even with moving the flights? If it’s not in the travel corridor right now while booking travel insurance wouldn’t cover it, unfortunately.
Thanks for the help
Hey Chantell, not sure I fully follow, but in general…
1) there are SOME insurance providers who will cover destinations against UK travel advice.
2) Uk seems to be adding many onto the corridor lists now, faster than they are removing, as was the case before.
3) For destinations that are permitted for foreign travel, Virgin offers £500k of complimentary cover.
I think the Hawai deal is over…can’t find any availability in 2021.
But thx for the tip!
Hi Gilbert
Do you know if Virgin price match with prices found via Skyscanner etc? OTA’s are running around £100 cheaper to Johannesburg at £895 but I booked with Virgin directly. I’m very happy with what I paid but if there is a price match to be had I’d still take advantage of it.
Thanks
In reply to my earlier question. Virgin advised they no longer do price matching. Either way it’s a fantastic fair and I’m very happy. Thanks for the tip.
I’ve clicked through on ‘looking at the actual policy’ to see T&C’s fro the offer but I can only find general conditions. I’ve also searched Virgin site but can’t locate offer T&C’s. Can you provide a link please.
Looking for 7 of us to head from
Uk to Orlando next year – what’s better – Black Friday deals or jan sales given your experience?
Depends on the cabin. In Business Class, doesn’t get lower than this, ever.
I couldn’t resist this. LHR-SFO in upper class x 2 = £1,991 plus earning 43k miles back between us and another 6k on VA credit card. Booked at 23.53. Price at 00.15 £3,789!
Haha love it. The miles back are so sweet. As Gold my rebate is insane on these fares, and for West Coast the pricing is just superb. Well done getting it over the line in time!
I’m BA gold (soon silver) any way or point in status matching for this trip?
I have New York CW booked using BA 241 50% off from Inverness in *April* which was an insane value per point and no APD so couldn’t resist the west coast at those cash prices!
Indeed, yes! With an UC booking, they’ll match you to Gold instantly, which is handy for Europe flying on KLM/AF as well.
https://staging.godsavethepoints.com/10-travel-elite-status-match-airline-hotel-fast-track/
Glad I asked! Now or closer to the travel date do you reckon?
Takes a while, so no point in waiting too long.
Sent yesterday and replied today – success to Gold! They said takes effect after my next flight with them so does that mean my requalification clock starts from then, rather than now, and gold bonus points won’t apply to that first flight?
I’d be interested to know if you get the gold bonus points on your first flight following a status match too?
Just trying to decide if it’s worth applying for a status match now or not.
I can find out this week.
Hi Gilbert, did you happen to find out if you get the gold bonus points on your first flight following a status match. Thanks