At TPG, we often praise Virgin Atlantic’s Flying Club program as one of the most underrated and highly-powered frequent flyer programs. Flying Club is a transfer partner of all major credit card programs, so Virgin Points are easy to earn.
However, just because points are easy to earn doesn’t mean they’re easy to use.
Virgin Atlantic joined the SkyTeam alliance in 2023 and has many other non-affiliated airline partners with whom you can earn and redeem Virgin Points. Unfortunately, Virgin’s website is not the most user-friendly and has many limitations.
Some Flying Club redemption partners can be booked online, while others require you to search for award space and call to book.
What are Flying Club airline partners?
You can earn and redeem Virgin Atlantic Points on the following member airlines SkyTeam Connection:
- Aerolinas Argentinas
- Aeromexico
- Air Europa
- Air France
- China Airlines
- China Eastern Airlines
- Czech Airlines
- Delta Air Lines
- Garuda Indonesia
- ITA Airways
- Kenya Airways
- KLM
- Korean Air
- Middle East Airlines
- Saudi Arabia
- Tarom
- Vietnam Airlines
- Virgin Atlantic
- Xiamen Airlines
In addition to these airlines, you can also book award flights with the following non-Skyteam airlines using Virgin Points:
You can also earn — but not redeem — Virgin points with partners Scandinavian Airlines, IndiGo and LATAM.
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Which Flying Club partner airlines can be booked online?
In addition to flights operated by Virgin Atlantic, Flying Club members can redeem their Virgin Points on the following partner airlines (for all other airlines, you must call 800-862-8621 to book).
Related: Is Virgin Atlantic premium economy worth it on the A330-900neo?
Air France-KLM
Booking flights operated by Air France-KLM can be an affordable way to use Virgin points for travel to Europe and beyond, to avoid the significant surcharges imposed by Flying Club on flights operated by Virgin Atlantic. While premium economy on these airlines is not usually available to book online or by phone, economy and business class can be booked online at the following rates:
- A one-way economy flight from the West Coast to Europe for 15,000 points
- One-way economy flight from East Coast to Middle East for 25,000 points
- A one-way business-class flight from the East Coast to Europe for 48,500 points
- A one-way business-class flight from the East Coast to North Africa for 66,500 points
Related: Private suites and high-tech touches: What it’s like to fly Air France’s new business class
Delta Air Lines
With Delta taking dynamic pricing to the extreme and charging 300,000-plus miles for one-way, international, business-class awards, it may be best to use Virgin Atlantic to get the cheapest awards.
Long-haul flights to Europe, Asia-Pacific, Africa and South America are fairly easy to find and can be booked online.
Related: Delta Air Lines Economy Review on Boeing 767 from London to New York
Unfortunately, Delta’s premium economy product is unavailable to book with Virgin points, and while Delta One business-class seats can technically be booked online, they’re scarce and now come with a hefty surcharge.
Short-haul flights operated by Delta are easy to book online. Prices start at a reasonable 7,500 Virgin Points in Economy Class or 21,000 points in First Class.
Korean Air
Based out of Seoul’s Incheon International Airport (ICN), Korean Air flights can be booked online with Virgin Points, although availability outside of Asia is difficult to find.
ITA Airways
Rising from the ashes of the now defunct Alitalia, ITA Airways has excellent award availability using Virgin Points and can be booked online. ITA’s long-haul business-class product is excellent, with solid lounges, extensive onboard dining and stylish Italian finishes at Rome Fiumicino Leonardo da Vinci Airport (FCO).
Related: ITA Airways Business Class Review on A330neo from Rome
Latum
South American carrier LATAM can be booked online with Virgin Points, and availability is generally good between North America and South America, with business-class flights from Florida to Brazil costing just 50,000 points plus minimal fees and taxes.
L al
Flying Club quietly added Israel’s flag carrier Al Al to its partner airline list in early 2024, and fortunately, these flights can be booked online, although the rates between the United States and Tel Aviv’s Ben Gurion Airport (TLV) are very high.
RELATED: Inside Al Al’s First Retrofitted – And Massively Upgraded – Boeing 777
Middle East Airlines
One of SkyTeam’s lesser-known airlines, Middle East Airlines (commonly known as MEA), is based at Beirut-Rafik Hariri International Airport (BEY) in Lebanon.
While MEA does not operate long-haul flights, it has a decent route network to Europe and can be booked online using Virgin Points.
China Airlines
While Flying Club insists that flights on Taiwanese carrier and SkyTeam member China Airlines (not to be confused with China-based Star Alliance member Air China) can be booked online with Virgin Points, TPG found no availability on China Airlines through Virgin’s website.
Xiamen Airlines
Based in Xiamen, China, SkyTeam member Xiamen Airlines operates numerous flights within Asia and a handful of routes to Australia and Europe. Its current North American locations include New York’s John F. Kennedy International Airport (JFK), Los Angeles International Airport (LAX) and Vancouver International Airport (YVR).
You can book Xiamen Airlines Redemption using Virgin Points online.
How to earn Virgin Points
It’s easy to top up your Virgin Points balance with the right credit card, as Flying Club is a transfer partner of every major program. Transferable currency, including:
Some of the programs above offer regular transfer bonuses to Flying Club, meaning you may need fewer points than you first thought.
Many of these programs offer cards that have great welcome bonuses. Here are some of our favorite travel rewards credit cards that earn transferable points that can be converted into Virgin points:
Bottom line
Virgin Atlantic’s Flying Club program boasts an impressive list of redemption partners within and outside the SkyTeam alliance. Unfortunately, the program’s website is less impressive, with most partner redemptions unavailable online, requiring some extra legwork and a phone call to 800-862-8621.
You may want to use an external resource to check award availability through other programs and then contact the Flying Club program to book the seats you know are available.
There are some great deals to be had, so it’s worth the effort.