New Virgin Points redemptions – Virgin Hotels Edinburgh and cinema tickets

It is finally possible to redeem Virgin Points at the new Virgin Hotels Edinburgh property. It is in the India Buildings on Victoria Street.

This is a temporary offer. The rules are:

• you must book via the Virgin Red app or website
• you must book by 28th February 2023
• you must stay between 2nd January and 30th April 2023
• you are redeeming into a ‘room only’ Chambers King for two people
• you must book at least three days in advance

The cost is 35,000 Virgin Points per night.

The T&C say that you can upgrade your room at the time of booking if you wish. It isn’t clear if this is at a fixed rate or based on the difference in cash cost between a Chambers King and whatever room type you want.

It is not clear if this offer combines with the benefits offered to Flying Club members on cash stays:

• Flying Club Gold and Silver members receive a complimentary upgrade, subject to availability

• Flying Club Gold members also receive a complimentary breakfast

(EDIT: No, you won’t get the Flying Club benefits above, because bizarrely Virgin Hotels Edinburgh – in the country with the most Flying Club elite members – has an exemption from offering them!)

This is a good value redemption in some cases. Cash rates vary from £187 to £312 during the promotional period. However, promo code BOOK-DIRECT knocks off 10% so the range is really £170 to £280.

This means that your ‘pence per point’ rate varies between 0.5p (no better than other Virgin Red redemptions) to 0.8p (not bad).

We are hoping to take a look at Virgin Hotels Edinburgh and the ‘opening soon’ Virgin Hotels Glasgow. (EDIT: our review of Virgin Hotels Edinburgh is here.)

Virgin Red adds cinema redemptions

If Virgin Hotels isn’t your thing, Virgin Red has added three options for cinema redemptions.

You can use your Virgin Points at 140 participating Cineworld, Picturehouse and Showcase cinemas.

Pricing varies by chain:

• 1,900 Virgin Points at Cineworld (Leicester Square excluded)

• 1,800 Virgin Points at Showcase (Bluewater excluded)

• 2,250 Virgin Points at Picturehouse (Fulham Road and Piccadilly Circus excluded)

Virgin Red already has a partnership with Vue:

• 1,350 Virgin Points at Vue (Leicester Square excluded)

Voucher codes can be redeemed online or in person once claimed. Each chain has different rules over voucher expiry (minimum 28 days). Cineworld charges 75p for online bookings whilst Picturehouse charges £1.50. 3D and other special screenings are excluded.

The value you get will obviously depend on the cost at your local cinema. Virgin Red redemptions are typically worth 0.5p per Virgin Point, which is well below our target for premium cabin flight redemptions of 1p.

If you want to earn more Virgin Points, our review of the Virgin Atlantic Reward+ Mastercard credit card is here (15,000 bonus points) and our review of the free Virgin Atlantic Reward Mastercard credit card is 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 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.)