What’s in a name?

For years, if you were a Virgin Atlantic Flying Club member you collected Virgin Atlantic Flying Club Miles. This five-word name was hardly catchy, so many people simply referred to the points as Virgin air miles. Virgin then addressed the tongue twister and renamed its miles as Virgin Points. 

What Are Virgin Reward Seats?

Reward seats are seats booked using Virgin Points. Both one-way and return tickets are eligible for redemption using Virgin Points, but reward seats offer particularly great value on longer flights, especially when you book Premium and Upper Class. 

Reward seats also offer greater flexibility than tickets bought with money, for example, changes can be made for just £30 per person plus members still receive a full points refund so long as the booking is cancelled more than 24 hours before the flight.

In standard (or off-peak) season, you'll need as little as 18,000 points for an Economy Classic return flight, and in peak season you'll need at least 22,000 points. To figure out how many Virgin Points you need for your dream reward trip, use this online Point Calculator tool available on the VA website.

The good news is that Virgin now guarantees at least twelve reward seats on all long-haul flights; eight in Economy Classic, two in Premium and two in Upper Class. If you’re not able to snap a reward seat for the flight you want, you can still use your points as part-payment on a normal seat with Points Plus Money from as little as 3000 points, but more on that later.

When you book a reward seat, you’ll cover the airfare balance with your points. That said, you will still have to pay with money to cover for taxes, fees and carrier-imposed surcharges. These additional charges will vary according to destination, date(s) of travel, and cabin.

Do Reward Flights Affect My Virgin Tier Status?

You can earn Tier Points on reward flights. Your Virgin reward flights can help you maintain your Flying Club Tier status, or even advance your Tier status by helping you reach Silver or Gold status quicker, bringing treats like lounge access within easier reach.

As of time of writing, you’ll need to earn at least 400 Tier Points a year to maintain Silver Tier status, and to remain Gold you’ll need to earn at least 1,000 Tier Points a year. Silver gets you perks like premium check-in and bonus points on the flights you pay for in cash, while Gold gets you coveted Clubhouse access.

However, note that your Tier Status is only affected when your reward flights are made with Virgin itself, rather than its partner airlines like Air France and KLM. You can, however, still earn Virgin points when you fly with any Virgin partner airline. A complete list of Virgin partner airlines is available here.

How To Earn More Virgin Points?

Not a big Virgin flyer? Don’t worry, even if you have never flown Virgin, you can still collect Virgin Points and redeem them for a free Virgin reward fight. In the past, being a member of the VA Flying Club was the only way of collecting Virgin Points. But ever since the launch of Virgin Red in 2021 – all Virgin companies in the UK, including Virgin Atlantic, Virgin Hotels, Virgin Active, Virgin Voyages, Virgin Wines, Virgin Money and Virgin Media, share one single loyalty currency - Virgin Points.

Virgin Red allows you to rack up Virgin Points in over 150 ways. From online shopping with selected UK retailers such as Tesco and eBay to entering weekly competitions and even playing games – Virgin Red makes it easier than ever to increase your point balance than ever before.

All you need to do is sign up on the Virgin Red app or website to start earning and redeeming Virgin Points from today. The Virgin Red programme is free to join for anyone residing in the UK, and over 18 years of age.

Points Plus Money

Don’t have enough points to pay for the full flight price? Points Plus Money is a great alternative way to use whatever Virgin Points you have to slash the cost of the particular flight or holiday you want to book. This means even if you don’t have enough points to book a reward flight, you can use points from as little as 3,000 to get yourself a discount, reducing the amount you have to pay overall. 

Luckily, the Points Plus Money option is applicable for any seats, hotels or holidays booked on virginatlantic.com or virginholidays.co.uk.

Where Can I Fly To?

Not quite sure where you want to go? Reward seats are an affordable way of travelling to some of the most sought-after destinations in the world, such as Orlando and the Caribbean.

As the UK’s second-largest long-haul airline, Virgin’s network now spans over 35 domestic and international destinations across Australia, Asia, and the Pacific. Virgin also has direct flights to eight sun-kissed islands in the Caribbean, including Antigua, Barbados and Jamaica.

But if you are looking for something close to home, Tel Aviv is another coveted Virgin destination that offers year-round sun. In addition, Virgin also offers routes to three cities in Africa, two each in India and Pakistan, plus Shanghai and Hong Kong in China.

When planning your next Virgin travel from the UK, note that you can only board a Virgin flight from London Heathrow, Manchester, Edinburgh and (seasonally) Belfast.

How to Book a Virgin Reward Flight?

Ready to book your Virgin Atlantic Reward flight? Start by using the Virgin Reward Seat finder to see how many Reward Seats are available for when you'd like to travel.

Once you have bagged enough Virgin Points to redeem for this reward seat, you can directly book online via this page of the VA website. Select the option for 'show price in points'  under "Advanced search.”  ​You will now be able to see your flight price in points, plus the taxes and charges in money. 

Simply select your seats in the usual way and use your Virgin points to pay for your next great Virgin adventure!

What’s in a name?

For years, if you were a Virgin Atlantic Flying Club member you collected Virgin Atlantic Flying Club Miles. This five-word name was hardly catchy, so many people simply referred to the points as Virgin air miles. Virgin then addressed the tongue twister and renamed its miles as Virgin Points. 

What Are Virgin Reward Seats?

Reward seats are seats booked using Virgin Points. Both one-way and return tickets are eligible for redemption using Virgin Points, but reward seats offer particularly great value on longer flights, especially when you book Premium and Upper Class. 

Reward seats also offer greater flexibility than tickets bought with money, for example, changes can be made for just £30 per person plus members still receive a full points refund so long as the booking is cancelled more than 24 hours before the flight.

In standard (or off-peak) season, you'll need as little as 18,000 points for an Economy Classic return flight, and in peak season you'll need at least 22,000 points. To figure out how many Virgin Points you need for your dream reward trip, use this online Point Calculator tool available on the VA website.

The good news is that Virgin now guarantees at least twelve reward seats on all long-haul flights; eight in Economy Classic, two in Premium and two in Upper Class. If you’re not able to snap a reward seat for the flight you want, you can still use your points as part-payment on a normal seat with Points Plus Money from as little as 3000 points, but more on that later.

When you book a reward seat, you’ll cover the airfare balance with your points. That said, you will still have to pay with money to cover for taxes, fees and carrier-imposed surcharges. These additional charges will vary according to destination, date(s) of travel, and cabin.

Do Reward Flights Affect My Virgin Tier Status?

You can earn Tier Points on reward flights. Your Virgin reward flights can help you maintain your Flying Club Tier status, or even advance your Tier status by helping you reach Silver or Gold status quicker, bringing treats like lounge access within easier reach.

As of time of writing, you’ll need to earn at least 400 Tier Points a year to maintain Silver Tier status, and to remain Gold you’ll need to earn at least 1,000 Tier Points a year. Silver gets you perks like premium check-in and bonus points on the flights you pay for in cash, while Gold gets you coveted Clubhouse access.

However, note that your Tier Status is only affected when your reward flights are made with Virgin itself, rather than its partner airlines like Air France and KLM. You can, however, still earn Virgin points when you fly with any Virgin partner airline. A complete list of Virgin partner airlines is available here.

How To Earn More Virgin Points?

Not a big Virgin flyer? Don’t worry, even if you have never flown Virgin, you can still collect Virgin Points and redeem them for a free Virgin reward fight. In the past, being a member of the VA Flying Club was the only way of collecting Virgin Points. But ever since the launch of Virgin Red in 2021 – all Virgin companies in the UK, including Virgin Atlantic, Virgin Hotels, Virgin Active, Virgin Voyages, Virgin Wines, Virgin Money and Virgin Media, share one single loyalty currency - Virgin Points.

Virgin Red allows you to rack up Virgin Points in over 150 ways. From online shopping with selected UK retailers such as Tesco and eBay to entering weekly competitions and even playing games – Virgin Red makes it easier than ever to increase your point balance than ever before.

All you need to do is sign up on the Virgin Red app or website to start earning and redeeming Virgin Points from today. The Virgin Red programme is free to join for anyone residing in the UK, and over 18 years of age.

Points Plus Money

Don’t have enough points to pay for the full flight price? Points Plus Money is a great alternative way to use whatever Virgin Points you have to slash the cost of the particular flight or holiday you want to book. This means even if you don’t have enough points to book a reward flight, you can use points from as little as 3,000 to get yourself a discount, reducing the amount you have to pay overall. 

Luckily, the Points Plus Money option is applicable for any seats, hotels or holidays booked on virginatlantic.com or virginholidays.co.uk.

Where Can I Fly To?

Not quite sure where you want to go? Reward seats are an affordable way of travelling to some of the most sought-after destinations in the world, such as Orlando and the Caribbean.

As the UK’s second-largest long-haul airline, Virgin’s network now spans over 35 domestic and international destinations across Australia, Asia, and the Pacific. Virgin also has direct flights to eight sun-kissed islands in the Caribbean, including Antigua, Barbados and Jamaica.

But if you are looking for something close to home, Tel Aviv is another coveted Virgin destination that offers year-round sun. In addition, Virgin also offers routes to three cities in Africa, two each in India and Pakistan, plus Shanghai and Hong Kong in China.

When planning your next Virgin travel from the UK, note that you can only board a Virgin flight from London Heathrow, Manchester, Edinburgh and (seasonally) Belfast.

How to Book a Virgin Reward Flight?

Ready to book your Virgin Atlantic Reward flight? Start by using the Virgin Reward Seat finder to see how many Reward Seats are available for when you'd like to travel.

Once you have bagged enough Virgin Points to redeem for this reward seat, you can directly book online via this page of the VA website. Select the option for 'show price in points'  under "Advanced search.”  ​You will now be able to see your flight price in points, plus the taxes and charges in money. 

Simply select your seats in the usual way and use your Virgin points to pay for your next great Virgin adventure!