Get a big Virgin Points bonus on flight bookings – alongside a new sale

Virgin Atlantic has launched a generous Virgin Points bonus offer for anyone who books a cash flight in the next 10 days.

We don’t often see promotions like this for Virgin Points so it’s worth jumping in if you can.

Interestingly, it doubles up with brand new flight sale.

How many bonus Virgin Points can you earn?

Here’s the points side of the deal:

You will earn:

• 5,000 bonus Virgin Points for a return Economy Classic or Economy Delight booking

• 10,000 bonus Virgin Points for a return Premium booking

• 20,000 bonus Virgin Points for a return Upper Class booking

In terms of dates:

• you must book between 24th August (yesterday) and 4th September
• you must travel between 1st September and 31st May 2024

There is no small print to catch you out, but I’d flag up:

• one way bookings receive half the bonus points
• Economy Light bookings do not receive a bonus
• your flight must be Virgin Atlantic operated and marketed (ie carry a VS flight number)
• ‘Points Plus Money’ bookings are OK (ie cash bookings where you reduce the cost with Virgin Points)
• cash flights which are upgraded with points or a credit card voucher will receive a bonus based on the cabin flown in

This bonus represents a generous return on the cheapest cash tickets. 20,000 points for an Upper Class booking is worth around £200 if redeemed for premium flights, based on our valuations.

It was always a mistake to book Economy Light (the extra miles you earn for Economy Classic offset the cost and you get other benefits on top) but this promotion just rubs it in, given the bonus could be worth £50 if used well.

Full details on the Virgin Atlantic website here.

This offer is on top of a brand new flight sale

This bonus points offer is running alongside a new Virgin Atlantic sale.

The sale runs until 15th September, but you need to book by 4th September if you want to earn the extra bonus points on top.

The sale appears to apply across the entire booking window – there are no stated ‘fly by’ dates.

The sale website claims:

• up to £50 off Economy and Premium flights to the US
• up to £2,000 (!) off Upper Class flights to the US
• up to £40 off Economy and Premium flights on other routes
• up to £100 off Upper Class flights on other routes

Unfortunately we haven’t been provided with any fare examples. It seems that US Upper Class returns are around £2,000 with the Caribbean routes at around £1,700, assuming you meet minimum stay requirements, but we’ll run a fresh article if we can get a proper list. You need to factor in the 20,000 bonus Virgin Points too.

You can find out more about the sale and the bonus Virgin Points offer on this page of the Virgin Atlantic website.

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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):

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.

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.

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.