Get 50% extra Virgin Points – and tier points – on new flight bookings, including redemptions

Virgin Atlantic has launched a new promotion, offering 50% bonus Virgin Points AND tier points on new bookings.

Importantly, since Virgin Atlantic recently became the first airline to offer tier points on REWARD flights (story here), the bonus tier points will also apply to new flight redemptions you book with Virgin Points.

The good news is that this offer runs alongside the current Virgin Atlantic sale. You can see the sale deals on the website here.

How do I earn 50% bonus Points and tier points?

The promotion applies to NEW BOOKINGS only.

• the booking window is from yesterday to 2nd February 2021

• you can fly at any point up to 31st December 2021

How many tier points will I earn?

You can learn about tier points on this page of the Virgin Atlantic website.

On cash bookings, you will usually earn the following, depending on the ticket type booked:

• Economy: 25 – 50 tier points each way
• Premium: 50 – 100 tier points each way
• Upper Class: 100 – 200 tier points each way

On redemption flights, you will usually earn the following:

• Economy: 25 tier points each way
• Premium: 50 tier points each way
• Upper Class: 100 tier points each way

So, with a 50% boost from this promotion, you will earn:

• Economy: 37.5 – 75 tier points each way
• Premium: 75 -150 tier points each way
• Upper Class: 150 – 300 tier points each way

How many tier points do I need for Virgin Atlantic status?

There are two elite tiers in the Virgin Atlantic programme:

Silver requires 400 tier points in a rolling 12 month period. The key benefits are free seat selection in Economy Light, use of premium check-in and 30% bonus miles on cash flights. You do NOT get lounge access.

Gold requires 1,000 tier points in a rolling 12 month period. The key benefits are access to Clubhouses and the Heathrow Revivals lounge, use of Upper Class check-in, additional luggage allowance and 60% bonus miles on cash flights.

You can see full details of Silver status on the Virgin Atlantic website here.

You can see full details of Gold status here.

Under this promotion, booking a return CASH flight in Upper, in a flexible booking class, would get you Silver status immediately with 600 tier points. You would also be 60% of the way towards Gold.

Booking a return REDEMPTION flight in Upper Class, with the 50% bonus, will get you 300 tier points which is 75% of the way to Virgin Flying Club Silver status.

How do I earn tier points on redemption flights?

You will only earn tier points when you redeem on Virgin Atlantic flights. It does NOT apply to redemption flights on partner airlines, even when those flights are codeshares with Delta, Air France or KLM.

You will NOT earn tier points if you redeem miles from other programmes for Virgin Atlantic flights. You cannot book a Virgin ticket using Flying Blue or Delta SkyMiles and earn tier points.

As you can see from the table I summarised above, the tier points you earn are based on the lowest amount offered for that ticket class. For example, if you book a cash ticket in Economy on Virgin Atlantic, you would earn between 25 and 50 tier points each way depending on the flexibility of your ticket. On a redemption, you earn 25 tier points each way.

You will not earn redeemable miles when you fly on a reward ticket. You only earn tier points.

This promo makes a good deal even better

For anyone buying Virgin Atlantic cash tickets at the moment, especially in the current sale (details here), this is a good opportunity to push your way towards status too.

For anyone booking a redemption flight using Virgin Points, this is a great opportunity to earn Virgin Atlantic status. Just one Upper Class return will put you 75% of the way to Silver status, and you would have 12 months from the date you fly (Flying Club tiers work on a rolling 12 month basis) to pick up the extra points you need.

You can find out more on the Virgin Atlantic website here.

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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 18,000 Virgin Points and the free card has a bonus of 3,000 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.)