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Virgin Atlantic announces a codeshare flight deal with WestJet

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Virgin Atlantic has launched a codeshare deal with Canadian airline WestJet.

From today, you can book WestJet flights from London Gatwick via the Virgin Atlantic website.

WestJet flies year-round from Gatwick to Calgary and Toronto.  During the Summer it also flies to Halifax and Vancouver.  The Virgin Atlantic codeshare also covers 28 connecting destinations such as Montreal, Quebec, Edmonton and Deer Lake.

WestJet Virgin Atlantic codeshare

The press release I was sent made absolutely no mention of frequent flyer benefits.  I don’t know:

whether you earn Virgin Flying Club miles when flying WestJet under a Virgin Atlantic flight number

whether you earn Virgin Flying Club tier points when flying WestJet under a Virgin Atlantic flight number

whether it will be possible to redeem Virgin Flying Club miles for seats on WestJet

The latter would be a very welcome option, as WestJet is not in any major airline alliance.  However, you can credit flights to Delta SkyMiles, Flying Blue (Air France / KLM) and Qantas, as well as WestJet Rewards.  I have asked Flying Club for clarification and will let you know when they respond.

WestJet Boeing 787 flat bed business class London Gatwick Calgary

WestJet is surprisingly impressive to fly.  Earlier this year it launched a new fully flat Business Class service on its London Gatwick to Calgary and Toronto routes.  This uses new Boeing 787-9 aircraft which WestJet is currently receiving.

If the seat looks familiar, it is because it is the same one that Qatar Airways uses on its Boeing 787 and A380 fleets in Business Class.  It certainly isn’t the sort of seat you’d expect a budget airline to be using.  See the photos above.

The one thing that differentiates WestJet from a legacy airline is the size of the Business Class cabin.  There will be just 16 seats on each aircraft.

British Airways has stopped flying to Calgary in the Winter so this new WestJet deal offers a good incentive to try them instead of Air Canada on your next trip.

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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

Virgin Atlantic and Flying Club

Comments (183)

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

  • GRIMZ says:
    19 Nov19 November 09:47

    OT, I have booked my outbound booked to LAX 355days out with BA. When my return opens up in a few weeks can I get this added as one booking to lower my taxes?
    I know this can be done with a 2 4 1 voucher but wasn’t sure about a single booking.

  • Tfinch says:
    19 Nov19 November 10:19

    OT – Currently hold an AMEX Preferred Rewards Gold card and looking to get the BAPP as I’m nearly at the 15k spend with a few months to go.

    Is self referral still an option (I can get the link etc), merely wondering if people have experienced any fightback regarding it?

    Cheers.

    • Sanya says:
      19 Nov19 November 10:38

      I did one last week and havent got the points for it so far. It has been 4 days since the card arrived so Im thinking I wont be getting it.

    • Spaghetti Town says:
      19 Nov19 November 11:39

      US accounts have been closed for self referrals. I wouldn’t risk it moving forward

    • Roy says:
      19 Nov19 November 11:41

      In the US they are currently closing accounts of people who have self-referred in the past.

  • Russ says:
    19 Nov19 November 10:24

    Hyatt’s a nice offer and I’ve been lobbying them for quite a while now to release a UK card, but the news that they are dumping single us toiletries is quite a blow. Those pump action things just shout council. Should have switched to glass at high end properties.

  • EC says:
    19 Nov19 November 10:24

    Would purchasing Avios in the current sale count?

  • Chris says:
    19 Nov19 November 10:54

    Any ideas where to credit a O ticket code air france flight – JNB to CDG.

    Wheretocredit.com suggest i can only get Flying blue points for this (and possible some delta)

    I only really have stakes in Aeromexico, VS and BA but it seems this is not possible for this leg of a return.

    Is there anything i can do with a couple of thousand flying blue miles? can i transfer to Marriott/Hilton?

    • The Original David says:
      19 Nov19 November 10:58

      There’s some tie-up between Flying Blue and Accor – I think crediting to FB will also generate a few Accor points. Might be helpful if you collect those instead?

    • Lady London says:
      19 Nov19 November 16:31

      Is Alaskan no longer available?

  • Roy says:
    19 Nov19 November 11:34

    O/T: What’s Plaza Premium T2 likely to like at 07:30 on a Monday morning? Am I likely to get in with Plat (or PP)?

  • TedL says:
    19 Nov19 November 11:53

    I have a Preferred Rewards Gold and a BAPP card in the same online account. The Gold card is no longer used but I dont want to cancel it until next month after I have used the lounge passes. However, I will shortly receive a £1500 credit to the Gold card from a cancelled booking, potentially -1500 MR points. What will happen if it arrives before I cancel and there are no or few MR points on the card?

    • Anna says:
      19 Nov19 November 13:19

      You can still get a refund on a cancelled card, you would have to contact Amex and ask them to transfer the funds to your bank. I don’t know what happens with minus MR points.

  • Christian says:
    19 Nov19 November 11:56

    This “saving it to the card” malarky aggravates me.
    Why can’t it be automatic? And if they want to cap it to X thousand people, then fine – the first X thousand people making that transaction get the benefit.
    I invariably save this to card and forget all about it, or pay with another card anyway. Stupid way of doing it.

    • Rhys says:
      19 Nov19 November 12:01

      Because if it was limited to X thousand people, you would still have to check to make sure you are eligible before making every purchase!

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

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