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Vitality adds Virgin Atlantic flight discounts from 2020

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On Tuesday we told you about the new American Express credit card being launched in conjunction with life and health insurer Vitality.

It is a fascinating product.  The cashback element paid by Amex is identical to what is offered on its existing cashback cards BUT it is topped up by additional cashback from Vitality.  The more exercise you do, the higher the cashback percentage you receive.  Our full article on the Vitality American Express credit card is here.

Vitality is also adding Virgin Atlantic flight discounts from 2020.  This replaces the existing British Airways Vitality partnership which ends next month – see here.

Vitality Health adds Virgin Atlantic flight discounts

We don’t have full details yet of how it will work.  To quote:

“A new airline partnership with Virgin Atlantic will offer Vitality members 15% off all Virgin Atlantic flights, in any flight class. Members can enjoy up to four discounted bookings in a plan year, with the discount available linked to on their Vitality status. The benefit is due to start in early 2020 and will be available to all Vitality plan holders with rewards.”

There is also a new partnership with Expedia, offering 10% to 20% off four hotels per year.  The discount is based on your plan, Vitality status and engagement with the Vitality programme.   I would be more sceptical about this until we see the exact discounts, because if it is anything like Hotels.com (same parent company) it will not be valid on any chain hotels.

How to earn Virgin Points from UK credit cards

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):

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.

American Express Business Platinum

40,000 points sign-up bonus 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.)

Category

Virgin Atlantic and Flying Club

Comments (96)

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

  • John says:
    22 Nov22 November 06:17

    Are Emyr’s rates the same as booking directly?

    • Jonathan says:
      22 Nov22 November 07:05

      Not in my experience, I’ve found the few hotels he quoted me more expensive. Granted the extras he throws in made it hard to do a like for like comparison but if you take the core Elements you require for your stay and compare them like for like you have to made a judgement call about the extras

      • BJ says:
        22 Nov22 November 07:50

        Are they not the same as BFR?

        • Rob says:
          22 Nov22 November 10:00

          Varies by chain but Emyr will never be more than Best Flex. This is a key difference with Amex FHR where the rates are often higher than Best Flex. Emyr just did a Four Seasons for me and it was at the lowest possible price showing online (far lower than Best Flex) with all the benefits included.

    • Emyr Thomas says:
      22 Nov22 November 08:10

      Hi John,

      Rates will always be the same as best available rates if booking directly with the hotel unless there are advance purchase rates available as these don’t Always come with the benefits. There are often 3rd and 4th night free offers only available to Fan Club agents as well so it can be cheaper through us.

      Emyr

  • Nick says:
    22 Nov22 November 07:03

    OT but someone here will know for sure! Planning a short trip to Cape Town this winter, flying via JNB as I like the A380. Thinking 3 nights in CT itself – does anyone recommend a particular hotel/area? Likely one of the Proteas but open to ideas. Then 2 nights in either Stellenbosch or Franzshoek, but struggling to decide which is better. Thoughts? I’ve been advised to pre-plan wine tours – any recommendations? I won’t be driving so accessibility is good, but some element of relaxation and not having to worry is on the cards. Thanks in advance 🙂

    • Genghis says:
      22 Nov22 November 07:12

      15 on Orange.
      Franschhoek is much smaller and more pleasant. There are different “wine tram” routes (an actual tram on one leg but mainly buses) which leave from Franschhoek centre and go to the different vineyards. In advance perhaps see which ones you’d like to visit and then book the best trip. No need to book seriously in advance but I would for ease. Book your picnic / restaurant in advance, however.

    • C says:
      22 Nov22 November 08:18

      Franshhoek is my favourite. If you don’t have a car then it is possible to walk to some of the closer vineyards but the wine train which departs from town also makes it more convenient than Stellenbosch. Of the ones I went to last time Grand Provence was great and did walk there. I’m going again in February and have a reward stay booked at the Protea but haven’t stayed there before – got a night booked in at 15k points when the cash price that night was about £290 and now full so we’ll see. Also have reward stay at Protea Mowbray in CT – again not stayed there before but the Friday night was 5k points off peak and the reviews are good so for what we want to visit this time for 2 days (Kirstenbosch gardens, cape peninsula) the location looks good. Camps Bay is also a nice place to stay for a first time CT visit (but no big brand hotels)

      • C says:
        22 Nov22 November 08:26

        Oh just remembered you said no car so maybe somewhere more central in CT around the waterfront would be better but never stayed in that area myself!

    • Yorkieflyer says:
      22 Nov22 November 08:39

      Agree with others re Franschoek charming small town, very touristy but nice for a couple of nights. The Wine team tour, mainly bus, works very well with a little planning and pace yourself with the tasting! Needs pre booking. We stayed at the .protea on points a bargain given cash price, not fancy but good three star though we got an upgrade to pool view room with Marriott status.
      Cape Town, V&A waterfront is a tourist trap shopping mall. We stayed at an Airbnb in Camps Bay

    • MD says:
      22 Nov22 November 09:01

      @Nick – Cape Town, depends on budget. Not many great big chain/points redemption opportunities if that’s what you want. Genghis’s 15 on Orange looks interesting (Marriott). Strongly recommend you avoid the central Hilton, read the reviews. Stayed there one night for convenience and can confirm, it’s a bit rubbish.

      V&A Waterfront is a great area. If points collecting not an issue, Cape Grace is superb. We did v well there through Amex FHR. There’s also a One and Only in the same area, looked nice. More centrally (near 15 and Orange) Belmond Mount Nelson is fantastic, also on FHR if you have an Amex.

      If you fancy the idea of staying on the coast (less convenient frankly, but spectacular), check out Camps Bay and Bantry Bay. Ellerman House Hotel is nice 🙂

      Franschoek, not especially cheap but Akademie Street guest house was great: https://aka.co.za/

    • Pierre says:
      22 Nov22 November 10:26

      In Franschhoek we stayed at the 21 Roux Street – a superb little luxury B&B.
      Re the Wine Tram, I’d recommend the line which includes the Babylonstoren wine farm, it’s a must-visit!

    • Mikeact says:
      22 Nov22 November 10:39

      The Mount ‘Nelly’ hotel for an amazing afternoon tea before heading home to the airport…..must book.

    • Relaxo says:
      22 Nov22 November 12:18

      I stayed a week at 15 on orange using my Marriott travel package voucher. Very modern; quiet area; The rooms are great & have a fantastic view of table mountain/lion head. It’s a 15minute walk to CBD & bo kaap areas. Although uber is super economical there so getting anywhere is not an issue. Look up vine hopper if you want to do 5/6 stop winery tour in Stbosch.

      • Nick says:
        22 Nov22 November 20:28

        Massive thanks to everyone who gave tips, really appreciate it very much. I knew you’d be a good team to ask!

  • Peter K says:
    22 Nov22 November 07:31

    Hi Rob. The mobile website on Android (Chrome) on my phone is doing the ‘displaying the desktop version of the site rather than mobile’ trick again.

    • BJ says:
      22 Nov22 November 07:55

      Mobile version displayed fine on mine right now Peter. However, I’ve noticed that on larest version of android the desktop toggle does not always work as it should. I put that down to something about specific sites such as hotmail, as opposed to android itself.

      • Rob says:
        22 Nov22 November 09:59

        Thanks, will check. We had an issue yesterday because the mobile software got updated without our authorisation due to a security hole being found. This meant we couldn’t do the necessary customisations first.

    • Benilyn says:
      22 Nov22 November 10:22

      same here for me, didnt the first time, but it did so second time i went to the homepage

  • The Man says:
    22 Nov22 November 08:21

    Thanks Rob, tickets in the box for Sheff Utd sorted for Jan. Hope they don’t mind northerners supporting the opposition in there!

    • Sussex Bantam says:
      22 Nov22 November 09:08

      I’ve been in a box at Arsenal with away fans. Its fine – just don’t go cavorting around when Lundstrom scores…

      No colours allowed obviously..

      • Shoestring says:
        22 Nov22 November 09:13

        shouldn’t ever be an issue 🙂

        • Sussex Bantam says:
          22 Nov22 November 09:37

          He is very nicely propping up my Fantasy Football team at the moment !

      • Rob says:
        22 Nov22 November 09:53

        There are always some away fans. The ‘no colours’ rule is actually not imposed if you are an attractive woman under 25, in my experience. Or a kid, obviously. Still not massively sensible if the colours are not Arsenal ones though!

    • Alan says:
      22 Nov22 November 22:20

      I’ve been twice for the Wolves game and twice the number of away supporters has outnumbered the Arsenal fans in the box. Suited me… 😉

      It wasn’t as good this year unfortunately – no Emirates staff as such to be seen until way later in the game and the basic catering/hospitality staff assigned to the box didn’t really understand what they were doing. They couldn’t compute that none of us were in charge of the box and that we were all independent guests, so were asking questions about food timings etc.

      Finally they stopped serving alcohol about 30 minutes after the game, pretty openly because they wanted to finish up. One ‘waiter’ was particularly vocal about it. As far as I recall, you can stay n the box for up to a couple of hours afterwards.

      Would I do it again. Probably. Although the number of points went up this season too.

  • Cal says:
    22 Nov22 November 08:23

    OT Staying at the Hilton Brussels Grand Place tomorrow, does the triple points always trigger if you have the Barclaycard Hilton credit card on the account?

    I booked it by emailing the hotel, as I used Hilton’s price match, so I need to pay when I check out.

    I currently have the Barclaycard, Curve, Clarity and Amex PRG but haven’t figured out the best one to pay with.

    • RakishDriver says:
      22 Nov22 November 08:27

      Maybe curve linked to Barclaycard – will save on FX fees. Or maybe you’ve saved an amex Hilton offer, so could stomach the FX hit ?

    • BJ says:
      22 Nov22 November 09:02

      An amex card if it has the £50/£250 offer loaded on it. I put my two bookings on amex for this reason, hoping like you that the Hilton card on account is sufficient in itself to trigger triple points. There were comments confirming that it was in the early days of the promotion but I’ve seen nothing recently.

    • John says:
      22 Nov22 November 11:59

      If any visa is on file it usually triggers though safest is to have the barclaycard.

      You need to be proactive in telling them to let you pay with another card, while not changing the card on file, in case they decide to be helpful and just charge that card. (If you do get the extra points, the fx fee is mostly covered by the triple points though.)

      Best is Amex if offer saved and you won’t use the offer for GBP hotels, otherwise curve if you don’t need the fx allowance elsewhere, then clarity

      • BJ says:
        22 Nov22 November 13:30

        Thanks John, what I’m doing and if it comes together my next 2 stays should not me around 17000 Homors points, 900 avios and 40% towards completing my amex offer. On the other hand I it doesn’t come together I’ll have to settle for about 4000 points and 102 avios.

    • Relaxo says:
      22 Nov22 November 12:20

      automatic 3x points irrespective of the card used for payment

    • fivebobbill says:
      22 Nov22 November 14:07

      Cal, I’m back from a stay at DoubleTree Sunrise Florida 2 weeks ago, pre paid online with Hilton Barclaycard Visa. However despite having been bombarded with emails from Hilton every week telling me I’d get triple points in the Power Up promotion… I was only awarded double!
      I contacted them via their online form yesterday to chase up the missing points.
      No word back yet of course…

  • RakishDriver says:
    22 Nov22 November 08:24

    OT tried paying Brighton with curved linked to va yesterday, payment declined – anyone else experiencing these declines? Ihg is still ok, subject to the usual staggered approach.

    • Yorkieflyer says:
      22 Nov22 November 09:09

      Done same yesterday with no problem

    • Rob says:
      22 Nov22 November 09:55

      You’re paying IHG /Creation with Curve? That’s not necessary.

      • Pangolin says:
        22 Nov22 November 11:34

        Paying Amex via Curve by the look of it. For me, I can do Revolut topups and IHG payments direct, but for Amex I have to do it via Curve.

        • Grant says:
          22 Nov22 November 11:47

          You pay IHG / Creation with your VA card with no cash fees?

        • AlexT says:
          22 Nov22 November 13:05

          Friends have mentioned they are able to pay Creation / IHG direct with other cards (sans Curve) without incurring a charge. I woudn’t use any of the cards known to incur charges easily (M&M MC, Tesco, RBS).

  • dom says:
    22 Nov22 November 09:02

    Do you still pick up the arsenal box tickets in the usual place meaning the named person can pick them up and hand them over to anyone they like?

    • Rob says:
      22 Nov22 November 09:54

      Yes, that would work, but not hugely practical for most people!

      • dom says:
        8 Dec8 December 09:58

        thanks. just had to register myself and a guest for the man city game. seems a lot more security than last season

    • Alan says:
      22 Nov22 November 22:24

      I had no issue last month booking the tickets in my partners name and picking them up myself.

      I emailed them in advance and they’d acknowledged it, but on the day it hadn’t got through…

      No matter, I took her passport with me as ID and they were very happy to hand them over. Went as far as to say ‘finally someone who is organised’.

  • Craig says:
    22 Nov22 November 09:53

    O/T IHG credit card,
    I paid interest on my card this month which surprised me. Although I always carry a large balance on it, no transaction is ever old than 50 days, does my payments to IHG pay off your earliest balance before oldest balance or something I’m missing ?

    • Genghis says:
      22 Nov22 November 10:37

      My Nov 19 statement just generated needs to be paid by 11 Dec. So assuming the latest transaction of 20 Nov, posting by today, that only gives 20 days of credit for free (need 1 day to settle I believe).

      • EwanG says:
        22 Nov22 November 12:25

        @Genghis – you have not included the days from when you made that purchase – that could be a month ago if the transaction posted just after the old statement.
        @Craig – you need to pay off your billed statement in full. If you did that and are still paying interest, there is most likely something else which has triggered the interest, such as cash from an ATM (directly) for which there is no interest fee period, unless there is an error!

        • Genghis says:
          22 Nov22 November 14:02

          @EvanG. Point being that OP’s “no transaction is ever old (sic) than 50 days” is irrelevant as on some transactions you only get 20 days’ credit (hence my comment). As you note, you need to pay off billed statement amount in full.

    • the_real_a says:
      22 Nov22 November 14:15

      FYI – Cash like transactions may not attract the fixed fee but do trigger interest payments from day of payment.

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