Bits: Virgin Atlantic cooling off period for buying miles, €29 Vueling sale, Cathay sale

News in brief:

Virgin Atlantic introduces a cooling off period when buying miles

Virgin Flying Club is currently offering a targeted 30% bonus when you buy miles.  You should have received an email about this if you are included, but you can try speculatively logging in here if you are not sure or are opted out of receiving marketing emails.

Virgin has quietly brought in a ‘cooling off’ period when you buy miles.  I’m not sure if this is a brand new feature but I had never seen it mentioned before, either by the airline or by readers.

According to the terms and conditions:

Members will have the right to cancel any purchase of miles for up to 7 days after the date of purchase, provided that none of the purchased miles have been redeemed. If any of the purchased miles have been redeemed then members will not be entitled to a refund for any of the purchased miles including those that have not been redeemed. Once the 7 day cooling off period has expired, any miles purchased and received by members are non-refundable and non-transferable, except as expressly permitted by the terms and conditions of Flying Club.

This is likely to be a positive move for Virgin.  If you see a reward seat available but don’t have the miles, you now have no risk if you choose to purchase the rest.  If the reward seat has gone by the time the miles turn up, you can simply ask for a refund.

The Virgin ‘buy miles’ page is here if you want to double-check if you are targeted.

€29.99 Vueling sale launched

Vueling, BA’s sister airline, has launched a €29.99 sale (including booking fees and card charges) which runs until 10th July.

It is valid for departures between 17th July and 22nd December.

Details can be found on the Vueling site here.

Vueling currently flies from Birmingham, Cardiff, Edinburgh, Manchester and London Luton / Gatwick / Heathrow.  Routes vary but there is usually a predominance towards Spain, especially their Barcelona hub, and Italy.

Vueling is due to be launching its own Avios programme any month soon.  Until then, you cannot earn Avios points unless you book via the Iberia or British Airways websites onto a codeshare flight – and those will always cost more than booking directly with Vueling.

Cathay Pacific launches a business class sale

Whilst Vueling won’t give you any Avios, Cathay Pacific will, as it is a member of the oneworld alliance.  You will also earn British Airways tier points when you fly with them.

Cathay has just launched a new sale.  You can find details of economy offers on their website.

For business class, there are deals from both Manchester and London.  Cathay Pacific has a very high quality business class product – see the business class seat pictured above – and at these prices it becomes decent value.

Offers include (all flights are via Hong Kong):

• London / Manchester to Bangkok / Phuket – £1,999
• London / Manchester to Singapore – £2,399
• London / Manchester to Seoul – £2,429
• London / Manchester to Tokyo – £2,409

You need to book by 31st July for travel between:

• 1st October 2017 to 31st December 2017
• 16th February 2018 to 28th March 2018
• 9th April 2018 to 31st May 2018

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How to maximise your miles when paying for flights (April 2025)

Some UK credit cards offer special bonuses when used for buying flights. If you spend a lot on airline tickets, using one of these cards could sharply increase the credit card points you earn.

Booking flights on any airline?

American Express Preferred Rewards Gold earns double points (2 Membership Rewards points per £1) when used to buy flights directly from an airline website.

The card comes with a sign-up bonus of 20,000 Membership Rewards points. These would convert to 20,000 Avios or various other airline or hotel programmes. The standard earning rate is 1 point per £1.

You can apply here.

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

Buying flights on British Airways?

The British Airways Premium Plus American Express card earns double Avios (3 Avios per £1) when used at ba.com.

The card comes with a sign-up bonus of 30,000 Avios. The standard earning rate is 1.5 Avios per £1.

You do not earn bonus Avios if you pay for BA flights on the free British Airways American Express card or either of the Barclaycard Avios Mastercards.

You can apply here.

British Airways American Express Premium Plus

30,000 Avios and the famous annual 2-4-1 voucher Read our full review

Buying flights on Virgin Atlantic?

Both the free Virgin Atlantic Reward Mastercard and the annual fee Virgin Atlantic Reward+ Mastercard earn double Virgin Points when used at fly.virgin.com.

This means 1.5 Virgin Points per £1 on the free card and 3 Virgin Points per £1 on the paid card.

There is a sign-up bonus of 3,000 Virgin Points on the free card and 18,000 Virgin Points on the paid card.

You can apply for either of the cards here.

Virgin Atlantic Reward Mastercard

3,000 bonus points, no fee and 1 point for every £1 you spend Read our full review

Virgin Atlantic Reward+ Mastercard

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