Maximise your Avios, air miles and hotel points

Need a new job? You can apply to run Virgin Flying Club

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Want to run Virgin Flying Club?  This is not an entirely facetious remark, since HfP is read by most people who work in UK travel loyalty.

Virgin Flying Club is looking for a new head.  The full job ad is here.

Oli Byers isn’t going anywhere, but his empire now extends across sales and loyalty as a Senior Vice President.  This role is for a VP whose sole responsibility will be running Virgin Flying Club.

It is an interesting role because of the launch of Virgin Group Loyalty Company.  VGLC is run out of Notting Hill and is totally separate to the airline, albeit that a lot of key Flying Club staff have moved across.  VGLC is now the owner of your miles, not Virgin Atlantic.  The airline buys miles from VGLC and sells it redemption seats.

This job is based at the Virgin Atlantic HQ in Crawley but you can’t have everything.  It is actually a funky new building very near to Gatwick.

From my discussions, VGLC seems to be leaving ‘the airline stuff’ with Virgin Atlantic so you will still be in charge of the Virgin Atlantic credit cards, airline partnerships and certain miles-earning deals aimed specifically at frequent flyers, as well as the day to day logistics of partnering with VGLC.

The closing date is 3rd June.  If you get the job, let them know you read about it here so I can send Oli a bill for a £25,000 recruitment fee.


How to earn Virgin Points from UK credit cards

How to earn Virgin Points from UK credit cards (November 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

30,000 bonus points (TO 18 NOVEMBER) 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.

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.

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.)

Comments (87)

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

  • Lee says:

    OT shop small is back on some of our cards with strange name NW6, SW6, SW19
    Once per card

    • PaulW says:

      Good spot! Sadly name is postcodes in London with new Amex acceptance 🙁 there is a list that works from one of the links.

    • Craig says:

      More London based bias to go with the Addison Lee credit!

      • EwanG says:

        Addison Lee have partnerships in other UK cities (Birmingham, Bristol, Cambridge, Cardiff, Edinburgh, Glasgow, Liverpool, Luton, Manchester according to their website) and billing is handled by them, so the credit could be used by those outside London!

    • ankomonkey says:

      I saw the postcodes and thought it was an HfP competition.

  • PaulW says:

    Talking of paint jobs. Anyone see that the retro painted 747s are flying domestic routes on 25 Aug? Was lucky enough to snag Avios on lhr-gla-lhr. Now sold out even £ ticket.

    • Rob says:

      This is a bit weird, must be more to it than what we have seen so far. These are old knackered planes for a start so if you’re in Y it is probably worse than an A320! Let’s see if an invite arrives, given that all the Upper Decks are blocked out.

      • Dave says:

        Although the intercontinental is a little dated, I like it. Especially the chandelier around the bar… Seats in the breakfast restaurant are a little uncomfortable though.

        • Dave says:

          This was meant as a response to the Viena Hotel recommendation that comes later in the thread!

      • BJ says:

        Speaking of Y and a320s, did you see that whilst BA are removing reclihe from these seats, LH is increasing it.

        • Rob says:

          Saw it, do not like the idea. I never, ever recline my seat.

      • PaulW says:

        100th BA birthday that day according to FT

      • Jon says:

        Are the internals not modernised (or as relatively modern as other plane types)? eg is a seat in First not pretty much the same as a seat on a 777 ?

  • BSI1978 says:

    Happy Saturday all!

    Massively OT, but can I have some hotel recommendations for a first time trip to Vienna?

    Somewhere ideally suited to seeing the city but also a little chilled and relaxed.

    TIA

    • Rob says:

      Park Hyatt is classy and very central. InterCon is near the airport railway station (as is a Hilton) and then 4-5 minutes walk into the centre. InterCon a bit dated though. Vienna is small so nothing will be too far away from anything.

      • Jovannna says:

        Hilton Vienna Plaza was one of their better offerings and the lounge was decent too.

      • Nick Burch says:

        I really like the Park Hyatt too, and my wife keeps insisting we return there despite the price! If you have some Hyatt points, it can be good value to use them there 🙂

        Moxy at the airport is pretty good, and a night there at the start/end of the trip can help bring the cost down when you’re in the Park Hyatt the rest of the time!

    • Mark says:

      I stayed at the Sofitel, which is now a SO/. Modern building and rooms, but my luxury room was the size of a Junior Suite in many other hotels. The restaurant overlooks the city, with a particularly good view of the cathedral (which I had from my room too) and has a Michelin star.

      Many recommend staying in the first district, which the Sofitel isn’t but it is literally just a two minute walk across a bridge away and there is an U-Bahn station (Schwedenplatz) the other side of the bridge too.

    • JAD says:

      My wife and I stayed 3 nights in the Sans Soucy in March. It’s right by the Museums Quartier and perfect for walking through the Royal Palace etc. Great spa and friendly staff. Food was very good. We will definitely use again. Also, Motto am Fluss on the canal was great for a bistro lunch. Hope that helps.

    • Jake M says:

      The Sofitel (so) is a great hotel. The view from the restaurant is fab and in walking distance to all key sites. I had a cathedral view room….. you can just about lie in the bath and look over the city which is decadent enough for me.

    • Chris P says:

      BSI1978
      Stayed at Das Opernring Hotel back in 2015. It’s very central being on the inner ring road so easy walking distance to all the sights plus literally walk out of the door and onto the pavement where there is a Metro station. Very friendly with lots of character, relaxed, nice rooms (especially at the front) and scrummy breakfast.

    • BSI1978 says:

      Thanks all for the recommendations – a tough choice to make soon!

  • Si says:

    OT – morning all,

    How long should it take for marriot points to hit my account after checking out? Checked out last friday and still nothing. The stay isn’t even recorded in the ‘previous stays’ section of my app.

    The stay is eligable for the double points promotion. Could that be what is holding it up?. It should be bit of a windfall

    This is my first go with Marriot, so don’t know usual timetable. My only frame of reference is IHG, who are usually relatively quick.

    • meta says:

      My last stay posted 24 hours after. This was in the UK. The one before took 2 days and that was abroad. So I would contact Marriott CS.

    • Sussex bantam says:

      2 or 3 days maximum. You need to contact CS – seems like something has gone wrong

  • Chris P says:

    BSI1978
    Stayed at Das Opernring Hotel back in 2015. It’s very central being on the inner ring road so easy walking distance to all the sights plus literally walk out of the door and onto the pavement where there is a Metro station. Very friendly with lots of character, relaxed, nice rooms (especially at the front) and scrummy breakfast.

  • rams1981 says:

    OT if I have booked a train ticket in Spain I no longer need can I claim via my Amex travel insurance? Do I need to cancel it or else how will they know I didn’t use it?

    • BJ says:

      No, otherwise folks would be claiming for half a cup of tea they didn’t feel like drinking 🙂

    • Marcw says:

      Well, good luck claiming it. You need to cancel first and seek whether you can get any refund. If not, you go to your travel insurance, but remember, the devil is in the detail. It’s I likely to get refunded just because you don’t need it anymore.

    • Mark2 says:

      suggest you check any excess on policy before any thought.

    • Lady London says:

      This is probably something you’ve covered but is there no way of getting the ticket refunded by Renfe or the seller?

      • rams1981 says:

        Thanks all. Non refundable ticket. I’ll try Amex and see what they say.

  • Shoestring says:

    Perfectly legal to sell them on Viagogo, you’d turn a decent profit as well.

    • Paul says:

      Horrible attitude encouraging someone to profit at the expense of genuine fans desperate to see their heroes who could not get tickets originally due to touts and their sophisticated software usually.

      • Shoestring says:

        you have the horrible attitude, my friend – one that denies decent working folk the chance of making an honest profit through their talents

        • Paul says:

          How is it an honest profit when ticket Ta&C’s forbid selling at a profit?! Sell on by all means but for face value – which is what the poster inferred as well.

  • Dan says:

    Hi Rob, how will the competition winners hear further details? I’m a Daniel F, and entered the comp, but sure it’s not an unusual first name and initial!

    • Rob says:

      It wasn’t you! Anika has already spoken with the winners. Sorry.

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

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