Virgin Atlantic launches good US Upper Class flight sale
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Virgin Atlantic has launched a good sale on many of its US routes.
This seems to be in response to the current British Airways sale, which is exceptionally cheap – see our article here – but which requires two people to travel.
The Virgin Atlantic deal does NOT require two people to travel. Solo travellers who were annoyed by the British Airways sale can jump in now. (If there ARE two of you travelling, you might find the British Airways prices to be better so check those too.)
Here are the rules:
you must book seven days in advance of travel – so the earliest you can book, given this was published on Saturday 17th, is on Saturday 24th
you must travel outbound by 30th September
you must return by 10th October
you must stay away for a Saturday night
How good are the prices?
Here are a sample of Upper Class deals:
Boston £1,486
Washington £1,486
New York £1,486 (this includes the new A350 service which launches on 10th September on the 13.30 Heathrow service, excluding Thursdays)
Las Vegas £1,503
Atlanta £1,798
Los Angeles £1,798 (limited availability)
Seattle £1,803 (limited availability)
Chicago £1,865
Miami £1,999
I couldn’t find anything to San Francisco or Orlando.
If you are considering booking the new A350 with the new Upper Class Suite, our review is here.
You can also book onto Delta services for the same price where available if you want to give them a try. Here is our review of Delta ONE on an A330-200.
Either way, you can get into the Virgin Atlantic Clubhouse in Terminal 3 which we reviewed here and which is definitely something you should try once.
As we said with the British Airways sale article, if you are travelling before the end of September you may want to think about cancelling any ticket booked using Avios or Virgin Flying Club miles and buying a cash ticket instead.
It is slightly less clear cut with these Virgin Atlantic deals – with the BA sale, it is virtually a no-brainer to cancel and rebook unless you need the flexibility to cancel – but you should do the maths. You may also be able to get a better timed flight by swapping to cash.
You can book on the Virgin Atlantic website here.
To maximise your miles when paying, 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.
How to earn Virgin Points from UK credit cards (March 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):
Virgin Atlantic Reward+ Mastercard
15,000 bonus points and 1.5 points for every £1 you spend Read our full review
Virgin Atlantic Reward Mastercard
A generous earning rate for a free card at 0.75 points per £1 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 – 20,000 points, FREE for a year & four airport lounge passes Read our full review
The Platinum Card from American Express comes with 40,000 Membership Rewards points, which convert into 40,000 Virgin Points.
The Platinum Card from American Express
40,000 bonus points and a huge range of valuable benefits – for a fee Read our full review
Small business owners should consider the two American Express Business cards. Points convert at 1:1 into Virgin Points.
SPECIAL OFFER: You receive a huge 120,000 Membership Rewards points if you apply for American Express Business Platinum by 9th April 2024. You receive 80,000 points for spending £12,000 within 90 days and a further 40,000 points if you retain the card for 14 months. Click here to apply.
SPECIAL OFFER: You receive 60,000 Membership Rewards points if you apply for American Express Business Gold by 9th April 2024. Remember that the card is FREE for the first year. You receive 40,000 points for spending £6,000 within 90 days and a further 20,000 points if you retain the card for 14 months. Click here to apply.
American Express Business Platinum
Crazy 120,000 points bonus (to 9th April) and an annual £200 Amex Travel credit Read our full review
American Express Business Gold
Huge 60,000 points sign-up bonus (until 9th April) 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.)
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