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Save 20% on Virgin East Coast and Virgin West Coast train tickets

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The Virgin Group has launched a new iOS app, Virgin Red.  You can download it for free from the App Store.  It is NOT available Android phones at the moment and no launch is expected until the end of the year.

If you want to read more about it first, there is also a dedicated website.

Virgin Red is basically a promotional vehicle for the various Virgin Group companies, albeit that Virgin Atlantic seems to be excluded.  To encourage you to visit and interact with it, you earn points for visiting certain pages and completing certain tasks.  These can be redeemed for various gifts, starting with a free Caffe Nero coffee.

The reason I mention Virgin Red here is that, hidden away, is a 20% discount offer for Virgin East Coast and Virgin West Coast.

The easiest way to find this deal is to click the ‘funnel’ icon in the top right hand corner and select Offer, Travel, Virgin Trains.

The terms of the discount are:

Valid only on ‘Advance’ tickets

Must be booked at least 7  days before travel

Deal ends on 16th August although that is the last day to book, not travel

If you are a regular user of Virgin Trains, it is worth downloading the app and generating a discount code.

How to earn Virgin Points from UK credit cards

How to earn Virgin Points from UK credit cards (April 2024)

As a reminder, there are various ways of earning Virgin Points from UK credit cards.  Many cards also have generous sign-up bonuses.

You can choose from two official Virgin Atlantic credit cards (apply here, the Reward+ card has a bonus of 15,000 Virgin Points):

Virgin Atlantic Reward+ Mastercard

15,000 bonus points and 1.5 points for every £1 you spend Read our full review

Virgin Atlantic Reward Mastercard

A generous earning rate for a free card at 0.75 points per £1 Read our full review

You can also earn Virgin Points from various American Express cards – and these have sign-up bonuses too.

American Express Preferred Rewards Gold is FREE for a year and comes with 20,000 Membership Rewards points, which convert into 20,000 Virgin Points.

American Express Preferred Rewards Gold

Your best beginner’s card – 20,000 points, FREE for a year & four airport lounge passes Read our full review

The Platinum Card from American Express comes with 40,000 Membership Rewards points, which convert into 40,000 Virgin Points.

The Platinum Card from American Express

40,000 bonus points and a huge range of valuable benefits – for a fee Read our full review

Small business owners should consider the two American Express Business cards. Points convert at 1:1 into Virgin Points.

American Express Business Platinum

40,000 points sign-up bonus and an annual £200 Amex Travel credit Read our full review

American Express Business Gold

20,000 points sign-up bonus and FREE for a year Read our full review

Click here to read our detailed summary of all UK credit cards which earn Virgin Points. 

(Want to earn more Virgin Points?  Click here to see our recent articles on Virgin Atlantic and Flying Club and click here for our home page with the latest news on earning and spending other airline and hotel points.)

Category

General

Comments (16)

This article is closed to new comments. Feel free to ask your question in the HfP forums.

  • Fenny says:
    2 Aug2 August 06:34

    As an Android user, I utterly dislike this Apple-centric world. I’m gonna complain about discrimination!

    • Alan says:
      2 Aug2 August 06:41

      It definitely gets quite frustrating, esp given the installed userbase of Android! I happened to find out yesterday from a friend that iOS doesn’t let you change the notification alert sounds for different apps, so definitely not going to be switching anytime soon!

      On the upside Hilton Diamond Desk kindly gave me the points for their latest promo given it was iOS only 😉

    • Worzel says:
      2 Aug2 August 07:44

      As an Apple user, I also dislike this Apple-centric world 🙂 .

    • James67 says:
      2 Aug2 August 13:43

      Particularly given there are more than 4x more android devices in use than iOS. Still, no fegrets as android is simply better. My partner switched from galaxy note to iphone 6 plus last year and suffers no end of frustration as a result.

      • blenz101 says:
        2 Aug2 August 18:05

        As I’m sure you know given your are aware of the installed user base stats developing for android is vastly more time consuming due to the fragmentation of devices and versions of the OS.

        Also whilst there are some high end handsets on andriod the vast majority cater to the lower end of the market. If you are aiming to target an ABC1 demographic then it makes sense to get the easily developed ios app out first.

  • Peter says:
    2 Aug2 August 09:41

    I wouldn’t bother trying for this, the Virgin web site states that the promotion has exceeded the maximum number of sales, therefore doesn’t let you advance unless you want to pay the full fare.

    • Chris says:
      2 Aug2 August 22:16

      They may have added more as I’ve managed to book an East and West ticket in the last hour no problem.

  • Geoggy says:
    2 Aug2 August 16:41

    Just booked my usual Liverpool trip with 20% off – many thanks

  • Tom says:
    2 Aug2 August 18:46

    OT – What is the best way to purchase an Apple product to gain Avios? Via BAEC account, Avios account, stacking 3v’s? Any help would be great. Thanks!

  • John G says:
    2 Aug2 August 19:08

    Grr no more West Coast offer available. East still available.

    • Helen says:
      2 Aug2 August 22:35

      I just booked a West Coast seat – first class Glasgow to Euston for £44

    • Robert W says:
      5 Aug5 August 06:47

      Booked a West Coast ticket this morning – saving £40

  • RIccati says:
    4 Aug4 August 22:56

    Offtopic but train related: the Tube strike has been announced.

    What are they doing? People who need Tube services will find who to pay (Uber/Heathrow Express/Train companies will gain). People who are not crucial in the office will work from home.

    All of this is over the attempt to drug the tube services into 21st century of the night life of a modern metropolis.

  • Joe says:
    5 Aug5 August 01:01

    App is quite good, just opened my first vault, and got a virgin pure sub free for 6 months,

    I drink a lot of water, so is a great option for me.

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