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Virgin Atlantic announces four new A350 routes and an extra daily flight to Delhi

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Virgin Atlantic has now confirmed its Summer 2020 schedule, which will begin on the 29th March.

Virgin has been slowly ramping up its UK-India routes, which suffered a loss when codeshare partner Jet Airways went into administration.

It clearly thinks there is extra flying to be had which hasn’t been mopped up by other airlines, and is introducing a second daily flight to Delhi.  This is in addition to the new Mumbai route which launched a couple of weeks ago.  The new Delhi flight goes on sale on 23rd November.

Virgin Atlantic announces new A350 routes

Next summer Virgin will also start putting its A350s on other routes. Up until now, all the A350s were going on the London-New York route but we will now see a bit of variety in the schedule.

This means that you will still find a variety of Virgin Atlantic aircraft flying to New York, since Virgin will not have enough A350 to run them on all seven daily flights as well as the new destinations.

This is where you will find the A350:

Johannesburg will see the A350 from March, on VS 449/450
Los Angeles gets a daily A350 in April, on VS 23/24
San Francisco gets a daily A350 in May, on VS19/20
Lagos will get a daily A350 in August, on VS 411/412

As a reminder, Virgin Atlantic’s A350 comes with a new Upper Class Suite reviewed here, as well as a redesigned social ‘Loft’ area for business class passengers.  It is a major improvement on the current Upper Class product.

As always, there may be last minute equipment changes or timetable alterations.  These new services will be using aircraft from the 2nd batch of A350 deliveries and the dates may slip.


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.

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

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

Comments (133)

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

  • Craig says:

    Not sure it would count for status/mattress run as it isn’t booked directly?

  • William Squires says:

    Is there any route to a free Amex Platinum now that Gold is a credit card which can’t be upgraded?

    Does Green to Gold work?

    • SimonW says:

      What do you mean by free ? I think Green to Plat still gives you a 20k bonus to upgrade

      • Genghis says:

        Used to be free plat for up to a year, special offer!

        • SimonW says:

          The good old days! Tho I still get my BAPP free, via the Plat.

        • William Squires says:

          I’m not sure it was ever advertised as such, but both times I upgraded from Gold (Charge) to Platinum I wasn’t charged a fee. Even better back then because no fee was paid at all on the Gold.

          Might give it a try with the green anyway.

        • Charlieface says:

          It wasn’t a special offer, it was an IT bug. It only charged you on your original Gold fee date

  • Benilyn says:

    OT: I asked people here so sharing my experience. My VA to Hilton points posted in ~9.5 days, and this was the first time I did it.

  • PJJ says:

    Rob, while talking with Gavin, any talk of an Ethiad Credit Card

  • Anna says:

    For readers in the NW I anticipate that the new Hampton just off the M65 in Blackburn might be a very cheap mattress run when it opens (and being brand new, presumably a fairly pleasant stay). It’s not the kind of place anyone visits for business or leisure so the rationale behind it is a bit mystifying.

    • RussellH says:

      Anna, have you never headed into the Forest of Bowland, not that far north of the M65? There are some nice walks, some great pubs and restaurants.
      True, the finest bits are between Lancaster and Clitheroe, but Blackburn would not be a bad base at all, especially if cheap.
      I suspect that the land might have been cheap to buy, too!

      • Anna says:

        Regularly, Russell, and I’m sure you’re aware as I am that it has numerous pleasant B & B’s plus the odd country house-type hotels! I can’t see many people wanting to base themselves on the side of a 4 lane roundabout 20 miles away!

  • Spaghetti Town says:

    How easy is it to get 2 J seats on an Etihad flight to Abu Dhabi as a redemption?

    • Rob says:

      Very easy. I got four back to London for the Saturday at the end of October half term, which is literally impossible on BA – those seats are like gold dust.

      • Spaghetti Town says:

        Interesting – the girlfriend keeps asking me to take her away somewhere in business class long haul and trying to do it while avoiding BA.

        • Lady London says:

          Could you book some of the Emirates flights that are on a QF code, pay cash or cash-with-avios and hoover up the avios from both of you into a household account?

          • Spaghetti Town says:

            Well i was hoping to do it on points, want to buy a house so plowing all my spare cash into that, so don’t want to splash out on J tickets

          • Rhys says:

            You could also use Avios on a oneworld partner

  • Rob says:

    Reader feedback is yes, cumulative.

  • Liam says:

    Good news on the Virgin front. I am due to fly in Upper Class on VS23 to LAX on May 4. Currently scheduled as a 787-9. I’ve never flown Upper Class at all but the new seat, if the rollout schedule doesn’t change, will be a great bonus.

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

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