Virgin Atlantic to increase services to South Africa
Links on Head for Points may support the site by paying a commission. See here for all partner links.
News in brief:
Virgin Atlantic to increase services to South Africa
With South Africa now off the UK ‘Red List’, in time for the peak Winter tourist season, Virgin Atlantic is stepping up its flight schedule.
There is now a date for the resumption of Cape Town flights – 17th December. There will be three flights per week.
Johannesburg will see an increase in frequency, with the current 3x weekly service increasing to daily from 8th November.
All services will be on a Boeing 787-9. You are getting a new aircraft but, in Upper Class, you are getting the old-style herringbone layout rather than the new Upper Class Suite.
Our review of Upper Class on a Virgin Atlantic Boeing 787-9 is here.
You can find out more, and book, on the Virgin Atlantic website here.
Get a 100% bonus when you buy Hilton Honors points
Hilton has brought back its offer of a 100% bonus when you purchase 15,000+ points.
The Hilton ‘buy points’ page is here.
What makes this offer different to the last one is that the annual purchase limit has been increased. You can now buy 160,000 points, which would double up to 320,000 points with the bonus.
320,000 points is what you need to book a 5-night stay at an 80,000 points per night luxury hotel, given the ‘5 for 4’ deal given to all elite Hilton Honors members.
This is the deal I used to book 5 nights at the Waldorf Astoria Palm Jumeirah Dubai over Christmas 2020, saving over 60% on the cash price. I wrote about how I did that in this article.
The page to buy points is here if you are interested. The offer runs to 7th December.
PS. If you are not a regular Head for Points visitor, why not sign up for our FREE weekly or daily newsletters? They are full of the latest Avios, airline, hotel and credit card points news and will help you travel better. To join our 65,000 free subscribers, click the button below or visit this page of the site to find out more. Thank you.
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.
Amid 
James 
Fly1A 
Lee 
Paul 
Memesweeper 
JM 
Lee 
Rob 
Dave Wood 
MD 
Andrew 
Sandgrounder 
mycity 
Gavin 
Tim1 
Graham C 
Peter Taysum 
Comments (44)