Last Updated: 21 Feb 2024
Virgin Atlantic has celebrated the reopening of flights between the UK and US, following the easing of coronavirus travel restrictions, by making some big improvements to the Virgin Atlantic Flying Club. The airline sees these improved perks as a reward for their loyal British customers, who have been unable to fly on Virgin Atlantic’s most popular routes for almost two years.
Certainly, the changes represent a compelling incentive to get the airline’s most frequent flyers airborne again. Since its first flight between London Gatwick and Newark airports in 1984, flights between Great Britain and the USA have formed the backbone of Virgin Atlantic flight schedules. This is why the travel restrictions in place between the two countries, during the pandemic, hit the airline so hard.
For Virgin’s UK based frequent flyers, US border coronavirus restrictions scuppered any plans for a Virgin Atlantic points redemption and drastically reduced the ability to earn new points to spend on Virgin Atlantic reward flights too.
Virgin Atlantic rewards are often more generous than those of competitors, however, they are frequently overlooked by reward flight aficionados since the airline has fewer destinations on its route map than its larger peers and is not a member of any of the major airline alliances.
For UK customers, Virgin Atlantic rewards were recently given broader appeal with the launch of the Virgin Red loyalty programme, which includes all Virgin brands operating in the United Kingdom as well as many retail and services partners. Virgin Atlantic has replaced their Virgin Miles loyalty currency with Virgin Points that can be earned and redeemed through both the Flying Club frequent flyer programme and the wider Virgin Red scheme.
Now, with travel reopening between the two countries, Virgin Atlantic has made their popular Flying Club programme more attractive than ever.
Easy Access to VIP Status
From April 2022, members can earn Virgin Atlantic Flying Club elite status more easily, with reductions announced in the tier point requirements to achieve each level:
- Silver status can now be achieved with just 300 tier points per rolling 12 months (reduced from the usual 400 points required)
- Gold status can be gained with only 800 tier points per rolling 12 months (reduced from the usual 800 points required)
Several airlines reduced their elite status requirements and have extended dates for loyalty perks during the pandemic. Now, Virgin Atlantic is reassuring its members that VIP passenger status is achievable in the post-pandemic world, a world in which business trips may be less frequent than before, at least for the foreseeable future.
One of the great things about these lower-status thresholds is that Silver and Gold members, of the Virgin Atlantic Flying Club programme, earn bonus points with each flight they take. With Silver, you earn 30% more points, every time you fly Virgin Atlantic and with Gold, it's a huge 60% bonus. That makes Virgin Atlantic reward flights easier to earn than ever and, unlike most other airlines, Virgin lets you earn more points on redemption flights too.
Of course, elite-level membership gives you access to perks such as early seat assignment, priority check-in, lounge access and priority boarding too. So a Virgin reward flight redemption can truly feel like champagne travel on a lemonade budget
Holiday Bonuses
Virgin Atlantic Flying Club awards two types of points: Tier points determine your status in the programme and Virgin Points is a loyalty currency that you can redeem for rewards.
As part of the new package of announcements, Virgin Atlantic Flying Club members will now earn additional Virgin Points for every pound spent on bookings the airline’s sister company, Virgin Atlantic Holidays, at the following rates:
- Red (entry-level) members will earn 2 points per £1 spent
- Silver members will earn 3 points per £1 spent
- Gold members will earn 4 points per £1 spent
They will also now earn more tier points when they book with Virgin Atlantic Holidays, at a rate of 20 tier points per £500 spent, up to a maximum of 400 tier points per booking. This means a new member of the frequent flyer programme could potentially earn silver status with just one Virgin Atlantic Holidays booking, depending on the cost of the vacation.
Silver Service
Virgin Atlantic is issuing one-time passes, exchangeable for entry to any of their Clubhouse lounges, for all existing Flying Club Silver members. This is positioned by the airline as a reward for their loyalty through the pandemic.
Plus, all Silver members will now be allowed to pool their Virgin Points with those of their friends and family, within a household account. This handy arrangement was previously only available for Flying Club Gold members. The change makes Flying Club more competitive with the British Airways Executive Club, which already allows all its eligible members to pool Avios within household accounts.
When it comes to Virgin Atlantic Points redemption, the reduction in travel restrictions from the UK means that there is now a great choice of destinations available. Virgin Atlantic operated flights from the UK currently go-to destinations in the US, the Caribbean, Nigeria, South Africa, Israel, India, Pakistan and China.
All in all the Virgin Atlantic Flying Club is a very underrated frequent flyer programme and, as UK-US travel opens up, is definitely worth a closer look.