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Virgin Atlantic launches a Tesco Clubcard conversion inducement

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Virgin Atlantic is NOT offering a transfer bonus this quarter to anyone who is thinking of converting their Tesco Clubcard points to Virgin Flying Club miles.

Instead, Virgin is running a competition.

Each time you convert Clubcard points to Virgin Flying Club before 30th September you will receive one entry in a prize draw.  There is one prize of 50,000 Flying Club miles.

You will receive 250 miles for every £1 of Tesco Clubcard vouchers you convert.

The rules are a bit odd.  You can have as many entries as you want and there is no minimum spend required for it to count as an entry.  This means that you should, to maximise your chance of winning, convert each Tesco Clubcard voucher separately as long as each is for the minimum conversion amount of £2.50.

There is also a bonus of 1,000 Virgin miles for anyone who sets their Tesco Clubcard account to auto-convert future vouchers directly into Flying Club.

I do not recommend this, because it makes more sense to keep control over your vouchers and only redeem them when you need to book a flight.  This means that you won’t miss a future conversion bonus or a good deal from another Clubcard partner.

However …. you can turn on auto-convert and then, as long as the 1,000 miles arrive in time, turn it off before the next Clubcard mailing.  There is also no risk in turning it on if you don’t expect to have a lot of Clubcard points this quarter.

Instructions on how to set up auto-convert, as well as full details on the competition, can be found on the Clubcard page of the Virgin Atlantic website here.

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How to earn Virgin Points from UK credit cards

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. 

Category

Tesco Clubcard, Virgin Atlantic and Flying Club

Comments (70)

This article is closed to new comments. Feel free to ask your question in the HfP forums.

  • Nigel the Pensioner says:
    16 Aug16 August 07:14

    Don’t forget that just £15 of Tesco club card vouchers will get you any £30 rail card – 2 together, friends and family, senior etc. This to me is getting it for free, simply by using Tesco for everyday groceries for about 2 quarters!

    • Genghis says:
      16 Aug16 August 07:45

      There is of course the opportunity cost.

    • bsuije says:
      16 Aug16 August 08:36

      Also remember that anyone in London with an annual Oyster ticket can buy any rail card for GBP 10. Doesn’t even have to be for your own personal use.

      • RussellH says:
        16 Aug16 August 10:35

        And if you have a Senior Railcard, you can link it to your Oyster Card off LU fares. You need to do this at a station, so try to find a time when things are quiet.

        • Alex Sm says:
          16 Aug16 August 19:04

          I always have to fight with LU staff to set up a Gold Card discounts on Oyster as they are simply not aware of how to do that.

      • Alex Sm says:
        16 Aug16 August 19:02

        You don’t even have to buy a separate card as Annual Gold Card automatically gives you and your companions 33% off rail fares and PAYG fares outside your travel card zones

    • D says:
      16 Aug16 August 08:45

      20% off Family & Friends Railcard for the next few days with code FAM20

    • alan young says:
      16 Aug16 August 09:47

      Buy a 3 year Family & Friends card and Kids up to 17 can get 60%. Ideal for away footy matches.

  • Den says:
    16 Aug16 August 07:14

    Re the Hilton / Lufthansa offer, I’ve registered but already had stays between 1 Aug and the date I registered. Can I retro-claim these?

  • Chris Cannon says:
    16 Aug16 August 07:17

    On Hilton / LH: I can confirm any pre booked even if changed on line prior to stay will revert to what the settings were at time of bookings. You’ll need to manually change at check in. Question: has anyone seen any miles actually credit to their M&M accounts yet? I’ve done 3 stays now and nothing has credited yet

    • Andreas says:
      16 Aug16 August 07:24

      Does it say anywhere in writing that reward stays don’t count? It didn’t seem to be mentioned in T&C’s when they launched the offer.

      • JayG says:
        16 Aug16 August 07:46

        I’ve got the points for a 2n stay on 3rd August. I booked the stay in Feb so was a surprise. They were in my hh acc few days after the stay. I didn’t have an M&M account until Rob posted the article.

      • Rob says:
        16 Aug16 August 10:24

        No

    • Pangolin says:
      16 Aug16 August 07:34

      You can also manually change/add the details online by selecting View/Edit on an individual reservation.

      I’m almost certain that reward stays didn’t give me miles for the previous M&M promo (others say it did) so I wouldn’t be surprised if this one only applied to cash stays.

    • Rob says:
      16 Aug16 August 10:24

      As long as Hilton shows them as due, don’t worry. It may take a month but they will arrive, possibly in a monthly sweep.

    • Alan says:
      16 Aug16 August 10:36

      I’m afraid that’s just poorly-informed desk agents – it is absolutely possible, I’ve done it many times (as FF programme is set at time of booking). Sometimes you need to get them to ask colleagues, other times contact Hilton for assistance but it does get tricky if points have already been sent to the wrong programme.

    • William says:
      16 Aug16 August 15:11

      Yes. Stayed Aug 6 – credited to M&M yesterday.

  • BJ says:
    16 Aug16 August 07:54

    By reward stay do we mean 100% points redemptions only or also points & money bookings?

    • RussellH says:
      16 Aug16 August 10:41

      Since I got a huge number of HH points at New Year for points+cash bookings I have stopped doing 100% points bookings at Hilton – I do 90% points and a a few £. Always got all the bonus points promised. Will see what happens this weekend as regards M+M points.

      • BJ says:
        16 Aug16 August 12:27

        I sm hoping this is how it works with the LH offer too but reluctant go try book before it’s confirned as I need to book 7 stays.

  • Tony says:
    16 Aug16 August 08:07

    I’ve got about £80 in Clubcard vouchers in my account. If I turn on auto-convert for VA, will it convert these or does it kick in on the next quarter?

    • Genghis says:
      16 Aug16 August 08:09

      Existing vouchers are safe. It’s only new points that would get converted. I turned on autoconvert a few weeks ago, diarising when I need to switch to Xmas saver and top up.

      • Tony says:
        16 Aug16 August 08:17

        Thanks for the speedy reply, Genghis. Much appreciated.

      • Nick M says:
        16 Aug16 August 09:26

        How much time is there usually between receiving the bonus miles and the autoconvert taking place?

      • Lumma says:
        16 Aug16 August 09:43

        This was exactly what I came to ask. The terms and conditions state that you can only receive the 1000 points once and I did a couple of years ago, but it might be worth turning it on just to see as it’s looking like another £1.50 voucher quarter for me 🙁

        • Mark2 says:
          16 Aug16 August 10:03

          I, and many others here, have received the bonus many times.
          I am just trying agin.

  • Mark2 says:
    16 Aug16 August 08:43

    OT
    Travelling to Boston in F in October. Can someone advise please whether the Elemis spa treatments are included or extra cost.

    • KevMc says:
      16 Aug16 August 09:11

      Included, but can’t be booked until 28 days out…and even then, chances are they won’t have everything available as they can’t be bothered to pay enough staff to cover all treatment types.

      • Alex Sm says:
        16 Aug16 August 19:10

        My partner and I flying on 2-4-1 to Sin on the 21st (next week). I emailed them on 24 July and they booked me for a massage and him for a facial without any probs. No need to telephone. But note that you are entitled to ONE treatment per person only

    • Genghis says:
      16 Aug16 August 09:22

      The Deep Clean Aviator Facial comes recommended.

    • Mark2 says:
      16 Aug16 August 11:13

      thanks both

    • CV3V says:
      16 Aug16 August 11:24

      Boston will leave from T5B, where there is another Elemis Spa which i found in the past to be easier to get into, even without a booking. As you are in F, prebook 28 days out, i seem to have had more success phoning than doing by email.

      • CV3V says:
        16 Aug16 August 11:25

        btw when i say T5B, what i mean is that its not usually from T5A! chance it is from T5C – either way you could get over to T5 spa.

        • Stu N says:
          16 Aug16 August 13:30

          Definitely book by phone – call YouFirst 28 days out, ideally in the morning and you should get something.

  • Nick M says:
    16 Aug16 August 09:23

    Semi OT – now that RedSpottedHanky are 3x value with Tesco clubcard, I’m considering using some – are there any obscure clauses or penalties for doing so that mean it isn’t a genuine saving?

    • Rob says:
      16 Aug16 August 10:15

      Only if the train company you normally use has exclusive deals on its own website.

    • Nick says:
      16 Aug16 August 11:04

      I used to use them for all my CC redemptions last time it was X3, but then RSH introduced pesky booking fees so I stopped (train companies aren’t allowed to charge these on their own websites), and of course the drop to X2 killed it completely.

      I’m planning to do a few more though now it’s back. It’s better value the more you can book in one go (because the transaction fees average out over a few journeys the effect is lower). Also worth noting that there is a delay in activation for this method, so you can’t convert and book immediately, it needs to be planned slightly ahead of time.

    • the_real_a says:
      16 Aug16 August 12:27

      Its a very good redemption. There are no exclusions, and the credit “remains” if you dont spend all of it. I have made redemption’s since the beginning. Even the £1 booking fee is redeemable via the credit. Just note that the RSH website originates from the 1990`s – its is truly awful. Their app is a case study on how not to build apps.

      • Nick M says:
        16 Aug16 August 12:53

        Excellent – thank you both… tickets are >£130 and don’t seem to be discounted anywhere so quite happy to pay the £1 booking fee – will be a much better use than our usual Pizza Express vouchers!

  • Lumma says:
    16 Aug16 August 09:41

    Was looking at booking Delta One through Virgin a couple of days ago. One thing I noticed was that it would only let me choose a Delta flight for the return, whereas booking Virgin on the outbound I could pick either Delta or Virgin for the return.

    It was asking for more miles for a mixed cabin booking with a Delta return than a Virgin only one, although the taxes were the same

    • DANIEL MACDONALD says:
      16 Aug16 August 11:10

      Delta one is not good. I’m just back this morning from Minneapolis having flown out to ATL.

      Outbound to ATL…T3 Clubhouse as expected..always a good thing. The seat is terrible with a shoe box sized hole for your feet. Staff pleasant enough.

      Return from MSP today…the delta lounge is appalling. Busy..and wanted 4$ for a bottle of beer..Michelob ultra was free. Poor wine, my friend paid for hsi half bottle of champagne. The food offering was poor…Mac and Cheese style food on paper plates, I kid you not.

      Seat was still poor…

      I wont be doing the Delta One thing ever again. Just avoid and book Virgin..makes you long for the Herrigbone seats !

      • Lumma says:
        16 Aug16 August 11:56

        Thanks for the report. Currently got 51k virgin miles and trying to work out what to use them on. I’ve always wanted to give the clubhouse a go but I’m tempted with the USA-europe but not UK one way option on Delta. 50k miles plus only $5.60 in taxes

        • Rob MC says:
          16 Aug16 August 18:02

          I have just done SEA – AMS and AMS- MCO I echo what was said by Daniel. The seat is ok, but I am not a fan of the cubby hole where your feet go. I’m 6 ft 1 and my feet felt squashed. For the day flight they turned off all the lights for 5 hours. The food was good and service excellent and for the price it was definitely worth it as it was so much cheaper in both miles and money. So YMMV

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