You can now earn Virgin Flying Club miles via hotel booking site PointsHound

Last August, I wrote about Rocketmiles and PointsHound.  These are both online hotel booking services, but with a difference – when you book, you earn a large pile of frequent flyer miles in return!

At the time, both of the sites were US-focussed.  However, PointsHound has recently been acquired by Canadian group points.com and is rapidly expanding its partnerships.

For European and Middle Eastern airlines, you can now earn with:

Virgin Atlantic Flying Club

Etihad Guest

Turkish Airlines Miles & Smiles

Icelandair

Flying Blue

When it originally launched, PointsHound offered ‘double up’ rates.  These rates WOULD count as ‘qualifying stays’ with the hotel in terms of giving you loyalty points and elite benefits in IHG Rewards Club, Marriott Rewards etc.  These rates are not currently available.

If you use PointsHound, you need to be aware of the following limitations:

You will NOT earn stay credit or loyalty points in the hotel scheme of the property you book except for points on additional spending.

You may or may not – depending on the generosity of the individual hotel – get your elite benefits recognised.  Hilton generally does still give elite benefits such as free breakfast and internet to Gold members. Other chains are less generous.

You should compare PointsHound pricing with other ‘third party’ websites such as Expedia or hotels.com.

The site is also buggy.  If you search by US$ pricing, you are presented with several special deals.  On July 29th, for example, I would get 4,350 Virgin miles for booking the Park Plaza Westminster Bridge for $380.  Switch to £, though, and I would be paying £212 and earning just 925 miles.  All very odd.

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How to earn Virgin Points from UK credit cards (April 2025)

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 18,000 Virgin Points and the free card has a bonus of 3,000 Virgin Points):

Virgin Atlantic Reward+ Mastercard

18,000 bonus points and 1.5 points for every £1 you spend Read our full review

Virgin Atlantic Reward Mastercard

3,000 bonus points, no fee and 1 point for every £1 you spend 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.

SPECIAL OFFER: Until 27th May 2025, the sign-up bonus on the ‘free for a year’ American Express Preferred Rewards Gold card is increased from 20,000 Membership Rewards points to 30,000 points. Points convert 1:1 into Avios (30,000 Avios!) and many other programmes. Some people may see even higher personalised offers. Click here to apply.

American Express Preferred Rewards Gold

Your best beginner’s card – 30,000 points, FREE for a year & four airport lounge passes Read our full review

The Platinum Card from American Express comes with 50,000 Membership Rewards points, which convert into 50,000 Virgin Points.

SPECIAL OFFER: Until 27th May 2025, the sign-up bonus on American Express Platinum is increased from 50,000 Membership Rewards points to a huge 80,000 points. Points convert 1:1 into Avios (80,000 Avios!) and many other programmes. Some people may see even higher personalised offers. Click here to apply.

The Platinum Card from American Express

80,000 bonus points and great travel benefits – for a large 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

50,000 points when you sign-up 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.