Maximise your Avios, air miles and hotel points

Big Virgin Flying Club sale on US routes …. just 25,000 miles return

Links on Head for Points may support the site by paying a commission.  See here for all partner links.

Virgin Atlantic has continued to turn the screw on British Airways by announcing a redemption sale on Economy seats.

As I posted back in July, Virgin has recently lowered the taxes on Economy redemptions.  On many routes, eg New York, you will pay over £100 less in taxes per person on a return flight redemption compared to Avios.  You also need fewer miles on many routes – that New York seat will cost you 35,000 miles return, compared to 40,000 Avios with BA.

Virgin and Delta crew

For bookings to the US and Canada made between September 6th and September 20th (so you might – might – be able to transfer Tesco Clubcard points in time to book and get the 30% bonus currently available), the rates are:

Boston – 25,000 miles + £240 tax

Chicago – 25,000 miles + £240 tax

Los Angeles – 25,000 miles + £290 tax

Miami – 25,000 miles + £240 tax

New York – 25,000 miles + £240 tax

Orlando – 25,000 miles + £215 tax

San Francisco – 25,000 miles + £240 tax

Vancouver – 25,000 miles + £260 tax

Washington – 25,000 miles + £240 tax

These truly are good deals for return, economy tickets.  You can book as far out as you can find availability.  However, Upper Class is NOT available at discounted rates.  Upper Class redemptions, and Premium Economy, will require the usual miles.

Even better, Virgin has drastically changed its shocking cancellation policy.  See our other article ….


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.)

Comments (28)

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

  • jason says:

    You can upgrade the economy offers to premier economy if you have vouchers from spend on their credit card.

    • Rob says:

      Yes, that seems a decent perk for a couple (2 vouchers per year isn’t it?)

  • jason says:

    Yes, 1 voucher per 5k spend but of course extra tax and you need availability in both economy and premium.

    • oliuk says:

      In my experience you only need availability in Premium economy when using the voucher 🙂

  • Ian says:

    I think it’s worth noting too that one-way redemptions are 12,500 miles, which could be useful for those wishing to avoid Economy when flying Eastbound.

  • Virgin Atlantic Improves its Award Change Policy and Offers Discounted Coach Awards - View from the Wing - View from the Wing says:

    […] for Points has two big pieces of news about Virgin Atlantic’s frequent flyer program. Virgin is offering 25,000 mile roundtrip coach awards. Though the pricing works whether you start in the U.S. or the U.K., I could only get the page with […]

  • jb says:

    how often do virgin run these promotions of 25k of miles to the USA?

  • Awesome Economy Award Travel to Europe With Virgin Atlantic and More says:

    […] Hat tip: Headforpoints […]

  • boi says:

    can I buy a reward ticket for someone else on virgin? I want to fly my sister from orlando to manchester…..to see me. I want to transfer SPG or Hilton points for this. Do I have time?

    • Rob says:

      Yes, you can book for someone else.

      If you transfer Tesco vouchers, they will hit Virgin overnight so absolutely no problem booking before the Virgin sale ends. However, SPG transfers are VERY variable. The last Lufthansa one I did took 30 days! Emirates, on the other hand, transfers arrive every Saturday, so you wait 1-6 days depending on when you action it. No idea about Virgin, unfortunately.

      Amex Membership Rewards transfers CAN be quick if you’ve transferred to them before. The first one is always a few days slower, though, as they wait for Virgin to verify your account details before sending over the points.

      • Boi says:

        That’s great to know.
        I have never transferred club card vouchers before. To get the 30% bonus do I just follow the instructions on tesco.com or is there a special link?

        • Boi says:

          Another qyestion(sorry) does the bonus post at same time?

          • Rob says:

            Yes. I transferred £52.50-worth this week and the miles were there the next day, including the bonus.

            You need to do it via the Tesco website, search for the Virgin Flying Club page.

          • Boi says:

            thanks. done and waiting…

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

The UK's biggest frequent flyer website uses cookies, which you can block via your browser settings. Continuing implies your consent to this policy. Our privacy policy is here.