Virgin Atlantic Flying Club Program Reinvention is now live. The biggest change in the program’s history is the new concept of dynamic price redemptions for Virgin Atlantic-operated flights.
Every seat on every Virgin Atlantic flight can now be booked with Virgin Points, a significant departure from the previous model of strictly limited and capacity-controlled award seats.
While some award seats are now much cheaper, others are significantly more expensive; Also, there are changes in pesky surcharges.
Here’s what you need to know about the Virgin Atlantic Flying Club program changes.
Related: Is Virgin Atlantic premium economy worth it on the A330-900neo?
Introducing Saver Seats with fewer points and reduced surcharges on off-peak dates
Look for new saver seats marked with a red tag when searching, with all seats bookable with Virgin Points. These are now the cheapest options, although they will do not Offered on every flight.
On low-demand dates such as transatlantic flights on certain days in the northern winter period, these flights now operate in economy at John F. Kennedy International Airport (JFK) to Heathrow Airport (LHR) will start at 6,000 Virgin Points, 10,500 Virgin Points in Premium Economy and just 29,000 Virgin Points in Business Class.
If you’re lucky enough to snag this redemption, you’ll book the lowest redemption rate for business-class flights to Europe of any major airline loyalty program.
While the Flying Club program previously discounted points required by its regulars during periods of low demand Network-wide redemption sales, fees, taxes and surcharges are not reduced.
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However, good news for Flying Club members: the carrier-imposed surcharge will be reduced for low-demand flights, starting at just $45 for flights from New York to London, $78 in economy and $227 in upper class. A nominal additional government tax and airport fee are also payable, which vary by route. Remember that taxes will be more expensive for flights departing from London due to the UK APD tax.
If you travel on dates or flights with the lowest demand, the new pricing system means you’ll need far fewer Virgin Points and Cash under the new system, an undeniable program improvement.
According to the carrier’s press release, Flying Club estimates that saver seats will be available on 75% of Virgin Atlantic-operated flights — and we saw plenty in our initial search.
Related: Virgin Atlantic to fly to Canada for first time in 10 years in massive 3-route expansion
While Flying Club previously guaranteed a minimum number of award seats per cabin on each flight at a fixed award chart rate (two in business class, two in premium economy and eight economy class seats), this guarantee will no longer be offered.
So, if you want to travel during peak periods like summer break, saver seats may not be available, even if you try to book an award flight as soon as the schedule loads 12 months in advance.
Higher award values, lower fees: Redeem Flying Club points during peak season
Loyalty program changes are not good news for Flying Club members.
The dynamic pricing model means that during peak periods, such as school holidays and festive periods, the Virgin Points required to book seats on Virgin Atlantic-operated flights will increase sharply. Every seat on every flight may be available to book with Virgin Points now, but you can expect to pay up to 700,000 Virgin Points round-trip in business class in the United Kingdom for the most in-demand flights during super-peak periods.
Since our initial searches with the new prices, the surcharge has been reduced from $2,000 to $908, which is good news.
Still, redeeming 700,000 Virgin points plus $1,349 in fees, taxes and surcharges will cost you more than $10,000 in points and cash per TPG October 2024. Virgin points are valued at 1.4 cents each. You can find cash fares on similar flights for a fraction of this price.
While some Flying Club members may consider this a devaluation of their Virgin points, these seats would not have been made available for fixed-price redemption under the previous model, so they are additional award seats, albeit at a much higher rate.
From our initial findings, the new dynamic pricing model has revealed some odd pricing, with us finding economy seats significantly more expensive than premium economy. So, it pays to play around with dates, routes and classes.
Related: How Much Will Your Vacation Really Cost? The scourge of dynamic prices is spreading like wildfire
Increase in change and cancellation fees for Virgin flights
Change and cancellation fees for flights booked with Virgin Points have now doubled from $50 to $100 per person (or local currency equivalent) on flights originating outside the United Kingdom. Routes, dates and flight times can be changed online using the red web chat icon in the Manage My Bookings section of the Virgin website.
If you cancel your redemption more than 24 hours in advance, all points, fees, taxes and surcharges will be refunded minus the cancellation fee. If you cancel your flight less than 24 hours before departure, only the government fee will be refunded (minus the cancellation fee).
Related: 10 Things to Know About Flying Virgin Atlantic’s Super Business Class, Retreat Suite
Upgrade any seat on Virgin-operated flights
With all Virgin-operated seats now available for redemption, you can upgrade any existing booking with Virgin Points, whether originally booked with points or cash.
To upgrade an existing redemption, you must pay Virgin Points plus any difference in fees, taxes and surcharges. As the seat you are upgrading dynamically changes in price regularly.
To upgrade a cash fare, you’ll need to pay the point price of the upgraded seat, less the maximum Saver Reward seat price for the cabin you’re upgrading from, plus any difference in fees and taxes. Virgin Atlantic has advised TPG that the maximum saver rate follows previous award chart prices, depending on whether the flight is operating on a standard season date or a peak season date. Here is the previous award chart:
There is no change in partner redemption rates
There are no changes to flights booked with Virgin Points operated by their 26 partner airlines, including Delta Air Lines, Air France-KLM and ITA Airways.
This will continue to be priced using a fixed award chart with limited availability on each flight.
Related: How to book Delta award flights with Virgin Atlantic Flying Club points
How to earn Virgin Points
Virgin Points are easy to earn with Flying Club being a transfer partner of every major program Transferable Currency:
It’s worth noting that Capital One miles transfer to Virgin Red, not directly to Virgin Atlantic Flying Club. However, you can easily use your Virgin Red account points with Flying Club.
Additionally, some of the above programs offer regular transfer bonuses to Flying Club, meaning you may need fewer points than you first thought.
That means you have plenty of card options to earn rewards for transferring to Flying Club, many of which have great welcome bonuses. Here’s just a sample of travel rewards credit cards that earn transferable points that can be converted into Virgin points:
The bottom line
The flying club’s changes have been mixed, benefiting some members while disadvantaging others. If you traditionally travel during off-peak periods, the changes are great news, with reduced points and surcharges across all classes. Paying just 6,000 points plus minimal fees, taxes and surcharges for a flight to Europe on a full-service airline is fantastic value.
With flights on popular dates loaded, the new program is likely to be less attractive to those who traditionally book a year in advance. There is no longer a guaranteed minimum number of Saver Rate seats, and flights across the Atlantic may require more Virgin Points than before. Fortunately, the hefty surcharges have been reduced even on the most in-demand dates.
For those gasping at 350,000+ point flight prices for travel next summer, remember that Virgin would not have offered these seats for redemptions above their previous guaranteed minimum that would have been released within days of being loaded. It’s worth checking the cash fares on these dates as they may be a better deal.
Virgin is now offering extra seats at a rather higher price, and more choice is always a good idea, especially if you’re sitting on a large balance on Virgin points you’ve struggled to redeem.