Last day for miles from Virgin East Coast – and should you take miles or points from West Coast?

Today, 21st June, is the last day to earn Virgin Flying Club miles for booking Virgin East Coast trains.  On 24th June the franchise bites the dust and services will be operated by LNER, a Government-owned entity.

From a loyalty point of view, there is one key impact.   From the time today when the Virgin East Coast website switches to LNER, you will no longer be able to earn Virgin Flying Club miles on train tickets booked on the East Coast route.  Bookings for future travel made before the switchover later today WILL earn miles.

It seems that Nectar points WILL continue to be offered by LNER although this is not 100% clear.

Should you take Nectar points or Virgin Flying Club miles from Virgin West Coast?

Whilst East Coast will be no more, Virgin West Coast will continue to operate.

Both Nectar points and Virgin Flying Club miles will continue to be offered.

Nectar:

You receive 2 Nectar points (so 1% cashback effectively) when you book train tickets at the Virgin Trains West Coast website.

Full terms and conditions are on the Virgin Trains website here.  Importantly, your trip MUST include a Virgin Trains component in order to earn points.  Booking a trip which is entirely on another train operator will not earn you anything.

Virgin Flying Club:

As per the Virgin Atlantic website here, you earn 1 Flying Club mile for every £1 spent at Virgin Trains.

Full terms and conditions are on the Virgin Trains website here.  Your ENTIRE trip must take place on the Virgin West Coast network – if your journey involves two operators, take Nectar points.  The only way to earn miles if your trip involves a connection is to make a separate booking for the other part of your journey, although this may end up being more expensive.

In terms of value, these options are roughly equal:

Two Nectar points are worth exactly 1p in 99% of redemption scenarios.

One Virgin Flying Club mile should get you 1p of value and potentially more – but of course this only makes sense if you already collect Virgin miles from other sources, as you will never earn enough just from train tickets for a flight.  As Virgin Atlantic has no short haul redemptions, you need to have at least 50,000 miles to hand before you can say they have real value.

As I said initially, however, you no longer have a choice on the East Coast route which will be back under state control by the end of the week.

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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.