Bits: seven new British Airways short haul routes, the best Virgin Atlantic redemption

News in brief:

New BA short haul routes

British Airways has added seven new short haul routes from London Heathrow to their Summer 2017 season.

Included is one of the most gorgeous cities I’ve been to: Tallinn in Estonia. (Here is my review of the Hilton Tallinn Park and a photo from my trip is below.)

In total there will be six new routes from Terminal 5 and one new route from Terminal 3.

Terminal 5:

• Brindisi (Tuesdays and Saturdays)
• Montpellier (Wednesdays and Saturdays)
• Murcia (Tuesdays and Saturdays)
• Nantes (Wednesdays and Saturdays)
• Tallinn (Tuesdays and Saturdays)
• Zakynthos (Wednesdays and Saturdays)

Terminal 3:

• Pula (Tuesdays and Saturdays)

Cash and Avios redemption seats are available for booking at ba.com.

The best Virgin Atlantic redemption

Head for Points dedicated a lot of time this week to analysing the changes to Virgin Flying Club.

What we didn’t point out at the time is that there is one ‘no brainer’ best redemption out there.

It is illegal to add any sort of fuel surcharge to flights which are booked from Hong Kong.  This does not apply to return tickets which start elsewhere, however.  Your ticket must start in Hong Kong.

After 16th January, a one-way redemption from Hong Kong to London will cost, off peak:

12,500 Flying Club miles + £35 in Economy

22,500 Flying Club miles + £35 in Premium Economy

57,500 Flying Club miles + £35 in Upper Class

You really can’t argue with that.  You obviously need to get to Hong Kong in the first place, as those are one way prices to get back to London, but this flight would be a great addition to a round the world itinerary.

PS.  It is also illegal to add fuel surcharges to flights departing Brazil, which makes one way Avios redemptions from Brazil to London (on BA) or Madrid (on Iberia) also a great deal.

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How to earn Virgin Points from UK credit cards (December 2023)

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):

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 9th January 2024, you will receive 30,000 Membership Rewards points (convertible to 30,000 Avios) with American Express Preferred Rewards Gold. You receive 25,000 points if you spend £3,000 in three months and a further 5,000 points if you hold the card for 15 months. You can apply here.

The Platinum Card from American Express comes with 30,000 Membership Rewards points, which convert into 30,000 Virgin Points.

SPECIAL OFFER: Until 9th January 2024, you will receive a huge 100,000 Membership Rewards points (convertible to 100,000 Avios) with The Platinum Card. You receive 75,000 points if you spend £10,000 in six months and a further 25,000 points if you hold the card for 15 months. You can apply here.

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

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.)