Bits: Lufthansa Asia sale, 1000 Heathrow Rewards from Rocketmiles, Virgin sale extended

News in brief:

Good Lufthansa sale to Asia from the UK

Whilst the current Qatar Airways sale is a weak, as I will run through tomorrow, Lufthansa has launched some surprisingly decent deals to Asia.  You can also travel on SWISS on some routes.

Based on travel from the UK via Germany or Switzerland:

• Beijing £1,420 – I found this price easily, despite a promised sale fare of £1,799
• Hong Kong £1,899
• Shanghai £1,699
• Singapore £1,799 (although the cheapest I saw was £2,118)

Nanjing and Qingdao are also available.   There are also good economy and premium economy deals, with Beijing at low as £399 return down the back.

You need to book by 5th October for travel between 1st November and 30th June 2018.

Lufthansa is not a member of oneworld so you cannot earn Avios or British Airways tier points from these flights.  It is a member of Star Alliance so you can redeem the miles you will earn across their 29 member airlines.

You can top up your Lufthansa miles (assuming you choose to credit to Miles & More) by getting their UK credit card, converting Heathrow Rewards points or moving Amex Membership Rewards points to Starwood Preferred Guest (2:1) and then sending those to Miles & More (1:1 or better).

The sale website is here but, impressively, you can’t book business class seats – only economy and premium economy.  Business class should be booked via the standard booking page here.

Get 1,000 Heathrow Rewards points with Rocketmiles

As I wrote earlier in the summer, Heathrow Rewards has teamed up with hotel booking site Rocketmiles to allow you to earn HR points on your hotel bookings.  My original article is here.

There are two interesting benefits here:

Rocketmiles has good ‘first time user’ deals.  If you have booked with them before and already used up your ‘first time bonus’ for earning in Avios or Virgin Flying Club, you could open a new account and get another bonus by crediting a stay to Heathrow Rewards and then sending the points onwards to BA or Virgin (or Emirates or Etihad or Miles & More).

Rocketmiles is not a partner with Lufthansa Miles & More, so this offers a backdoor route to picking up those miles via Rocketmiles

Via this page you will earn 1,000 bonus Heathrow Rewards points if you make your first Rocketmiles hotel booking by 31st October.

Remember that any booking via Rocketmiles is a third party booking.  You will NOT earn hotel loyalty points if you stay at a chain hotel, and it is also likely – except for Marriott – that your status benefits will not be honoured.

Virgin Atlantic sale extended

Virgin Atlantic is currently running a sale with decent deals in all classes.  It was meant to end on 20th September but has now been extended to the 26th.

Full details are on this special website.

Looking at the Upper Class deals, there are some interesting prices available.  The standout deal is Delhi at £1588 for travel between 3rd and 31st January 2018 as well as between 13th April and 30th June 2018.

There are also several US routes included in the sale if you can travel over Thanksgiving, Christmas and New Year or next Easter.

Upper Class prices out of London are:

• Boston £1499
• New York £1505
• San Francisco £1889
• Washington £1545
• Miami £1539
• Seattle £1709
• Los Angeles £1655
• Orlando £1695
• Las Vegas £1655

These prices are for travel between 21st – 28th November 2017 – you pay a little more on other dates.  It’s worth mentioning that Boston and San Francisco are cheaper when flying from Manchester.  Boston is £1459 and San Francisco costs £1869.

There are also some decent Premium Economy deals out there, which will be especially interesting for anyone chasing Virgin Flying Club tier points.   Prices start at £664 to New York and Boston.

Economy deals are also available, starting at £399 for New York and Boston from London. Some destinations are a lot cheaper from Manchester and may justify a train trip. San Francisco for example costs £529 from London and £429 from Manchester.

Travel dates and full details of what is available can be found on the Virgin Atlantic sale website here.

How to earn Virgin Points from UK credit cards (December 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 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 14th January 2025, the sign-up bonus on ‘free for a year’ American Express Preferred Rewards Gold is increased to 30,000 Membership Rewards points. This converts into 30,000 Virgin Points. 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 14th January 2025, the sign-up bonus on The Platinum Card from American Express is increased to 80,000 Membership Rewards points. This converts into 80,000 Virgin Points! The spend requirement is changed to £10,000 in six months for this offer. Click here to apply.

The Platinum Card from American Express

Huge 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. 

(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.)