Virgin news: extra Havana flight added, Flybe now fully bookable on the Virgin Atlantic site

There are three pieces of Virgin Atlantic news today:

Virgin Atlantic adds a third weekly Havana service

Havana appears to be playing an increasingly important part in the Virgin Atlantic route network.

The service was moved from Gatwick to Heathrow in 2019.  The airline has now decided to increase the frequency of Havana from two to three flights per week.

The extra flight will be added from the start of the Winter timetable on 25th October.  It will operate on a Sunday, using a Boeing 787-9.

The existing Saturday service will now operate on a Friday, with flights now on Tuesday, Friday and Sunday.

You book on virginatlantic.com here.

Flybe appears to be fully bookable on the Virgin Atlantic site

A few weeks ago we reported that certain Flybe routes were available to book on the Virgin Atlantic website. This was limited to flights to and from Heathrow or Manchester.

It now looks like the entire Flybe route network has been loaded into the system.  A reader got in contact to say his commute from Southampton was now showing.  A few quick searches from a variety of Flybe destinations suggest that the Virgin website now mirrors what is available on flybe.com.

Crucially, the price variations between the Flybe and Virgin Atlantic websites appear to have disappeared.  Whilst Flybe flights were slightly cheaper in some cases via the Virgin website last month, pricing now appears to be identical regardless of where you book.

Your Flybe flight will have a VS flight number if you book via Virgin.  This may make a difference when it comes to earning Flying Club miles or tier points, but we have no idea because the ‘earn and burn’ rates on Flybe are yet to be published.

If anyone books a Flybe flight via Virgin Atlantic with a VS flight number and receives tier points and miles, please let us know.

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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):

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.

The Platinum Card from American Express comes with 40,000 Membership Rewards points, which convert into 40,000 Virgin Points.

Small business owners should consider the two American Express Business cards. Points convert at 1:1 into Virgin Points.

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.)