Virgin Flying Club launches a redemption seat sale on selected US economy routes

Virgin Atlantic has launched a reward seat sale on selected routes.

Full details are on their website here.

You can book until 31st October for flights before 12th December.

These deals run until 31st October.  All dates during this period are priced at the lower standard level under the Virgin Flying Club redemption chart so you really are getting the lowest possible mileage price.

Economy redemptions are booked as ‘Economy Classic’ tickets.  You can pre-select seats and checked baggage is free.  You can see the difference between Economy Light, Economy Classic and Economy Delight in this HFP article.

Check the cash price before you book a mileage ticket because, even with 25% off the miles required, these may still not be good deals on cheaper days.  Taxes and charges are still payable although they are a notch lower than what British Airways asks for World Traveller Avios redemptions.

These are the routes which are reduced by 25%:

• London Heathrow to New York (Newark and JFK)
• London Heathrow to Miami
• London Gatwick to Orlando
• Manchester to Orlando
• Manchester to New York JFK
• Glasgow to Orlando

Here are some example return prices in Economy:

Miami (from Heathrow) – 18,600 miles + £267

Orlando (from Gatwick) – 18,600 miles + £236

New York (from Manchester) – 15,000 + £241

Remember that you must complete your travel by 12th December.

How can you top up your Virgin Flying Club balance quickly?

If you are short of miles, remember that Virgin Flying Club miles transfer INSTANTLY at 1:1 from American Express Membership Rewards as long as your accounts are already linked.  It may take a couple of days if you have not previously linked your accounts.

Transfers from Tesco Clubcard are also very fast, usually overnight – the ‘Clubcard to Virgin’ page is here.  250 Clubcard points are worth 625 Virgin Flying Club miles.

You cannot do a ‘miles plus money’ redemption for these deals.  It has to be a 100% miles booking.

To maximise your miles when paying the taxes, your best bet is one of the two Virgin Atlantic Reward credit cards.  These earn double miles (3 per £1 on the paid card or 1.5 per £1 on the free card) when you book at virginatlantic.com or via Virgin Holidays.  Another option is American Express Preferred Rewards Gold which offers double points – 2 per £1 – when you book flight tickets directly with an airline.

Full details of the reward flight sale are here.

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How to earn Virgin Points from UK credit cards (April 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 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.

The Platinum Card from American Express comes with 40,000 Membership Rewards points, which convert into 40,000 Virgin Points.

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.)