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Virgin Atlantic launches a new reward seat sale – save 25% on flights in all cabins, on all routes

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Virgin Atlantic and Virgin Red have teamed up to offer a 25% discount on ALL Virgin Atlantic destinations when you travel between October and December.

Premium and Upper Class flights are included.

Flight upgrades are included.

‘2 for 1’ bookings made using a Virgin Atlantic credit card voucher are included.

Get 30% off Virgin Atlantic redemptions in ALL CLASSES

Taxes and fees are unchanged and remain high, with an Upper Class redemption to New York pricing at 71,200 Virgin points + £1,000. The 25% reduction in points does, at least, take the edge off.

You need to book by 3rd October for flights departing between 1st October and 31st December. If your return flight is after 31st December, the discount will only apply to your outbound flight.

The offer does not apply to the ‘we will open up any seat, any flight for double points for Gold members’ benefit.

Where can you go?

To give Virgin Atlantic credit, this sale includes all routes, even those which are currently in their peak season.

The list of current routes (we think) is in the pricing chart below. These are all from Heathrow.

From Manchester you have:

  • New York
  • Atlanta
  • Orlando
  • Barbados (seasonal)

The Edinburgh to Orlando service is Summer-only. Manchester to Las Vegas does not launch until next year.

Virgin Atlantic now guarantees that 12 seats are opened to redemption on every flight – two in Upper Class, two in Premium and eight in Economy Classic. Obviously some of these may already have gone, as these flights have been on sale for almost a year.

Get 30% off Virgin Atlantic redemptions in ALL CLASSES

What do Virgin Atlantic redemptions cost?

Here is the current pricing chart, EXCLUDING the 25% discount:

Return pricesStandard economyStandard PremiumStandard Upper ClassPeak economyPeak PremiumPeak Upper Class
Antigua20,00035,000115,00040,00055,000135,000
Atlanta25,00045,00095,00045,00065,000115,000
Austin30,00055,000135,00050,00075,000155,000
Barbados20,00035,000115,00040,00055,000135,000
Bengaluru20,00035,00075,00040,00055,00095,000
Boston20,00035,00095,00040,00055,000115,000
Cape Town25,00050,000115,00045,00085,000135,000
Delhi20,00035,00075,00040,00055,00095,000
Dubai20,00035,00075,00040,00055,00095,000
Grenada20,00035,000115,00040,00055,000135,000
Jamaica20,00035,000115,00040,00055,000135,000
Johannesburg25,00050,000115,00045,00085,000135,000
Lagos25,00045,000115,00045,00065,000135,000
Las Vegas30,00055,000135,00050,00075,000155,000
Los Angeles30,00055,000135,00050,00075,000155,000
Maldives (Male)25,00050,000115,00045,00085,000135,000
Miami25,00045,00095,00045,00065,000115,000
Mumbai20,00035,00075,00040,00055,00095,000
New York20,00035,00095,00040,00055,000115,000
Orlando25,00045,00095,00045,00065,000115,000
San Francisco30,00055,000135,00050,00075,000155,000
Seattle30,00055,000135,00050,00075,000155,000
Shanghai25,00045,000115,00045,00065,000135,000
St Lucia20,00035,000115,00040,00055,000135,000
St Vincent20,00035,000115,00040,00055,000135,000
Tampa25,00045,00095,00045,00065,000115,000
Tel Aviv18,00032,00056,00022,00040,00066,000
The Bahamas20,00035,000115,00040,00055,000135,000
Tobago20,00035,000115,00040,00055,000135,000
Turks & Caicos20,00035,000115,00040,00055,000135,000
Washington DC20,00035,00095,00040,00055,000115,000

Sao Paulo is not on this list as it doesn’t launch until 2024, outside the promotional period.

Here are the peak and off-peak dates. For non-Caribbean routes for the rest of 2023:

Virgin Atlantic peak calendar 2023

…. and for the Caribbean for the rest of 2023:

Virgin Atlantic peak calendar 2023 caribbean

Virgin Atlantic redemptions now earn tier points

Don’t forget that, unlike almost any other airline, redemptions on Virgin Atlantic earn you tier points.

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

You don’t earn Virgin Points on reward tickets, for obvious reasons!

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

Get 30% off Virgin Atlantic redemptions in ALL CLASSES

What can you expect flying Virgin Atlantic?

Virgin Atlantic now flies three different Upper Class seats. We have reviewed them all:

In addition to the usual amenities you’d expect form a business class flight, Virgin Atlantic aircraft also feature a bar or social space for Upper Class passengers – a unique feature that only the Middle Eastern airlines such as Emirates and Qatar Airways usually offer.

You’ll also get access to the impressive Virgin Clubhouse at Heathrow, which we’ve reviewed here.

You can read our review of Premium on Virgin Atlantic here.

Get 30% off Virgin Atlantic redemptions in ALL CLASSES

Conclusion

Virgin Atlantic has launched a major reward flight sale. What’s important is that ALL routes are included, even those such as Dubai and the Caribbean which have their peak season between October and December.

Premium and economy flights are also included, with economy redemptions ticketing into Economy Classic with 23kg checked baggage allowance.

Whilst you can’t get a 25% refund on an existing booking, if you called up and paid the £30 change fee to move your outbound or inbound flight the whole trip should reprice at the lower rate. You could also cancel completely and rebook if seats are available. Be wary of doing this if you booked a long time ago when taxes are lower, as you would be liable for the current rate.

You need to book by 3rd October, for flights departing before the end of December.

The savings are now live on the Virgin Atlantic website here. Just enter your destination and dates. To find reward flights, simply click ‘Advanced’ and select ‘Points’.


How to earn Virgin Points from UK credit cards

How to earn Virgin Points from UK credit cards (November 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):

Virgin Atlantic Reward+ Mastercard

30,000 bonus points (TO 18 NOVEMBER) 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.

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.

The Platinum Card from American Express

Huge 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

(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.)

Comments (34)

This article is closed to new comments. Feel free to ask your question in the HfP forums.

  • Dave Hughes says:

    still cant bring myself to book for the miles and taxes they want, im going to let my virgin CC voucher expire and top up my 135k points if the virgin voyages deal comes back!

    • Pino says:

      I can’t see the Voyages offer making a comeback this year. Because they cancelled the launch of the Brilliant Lady, they’ve cancelled a lot of sailings with free re-booking onto any voyage. Which should mean that a lot of sailings travelling at higher capacity compared to the last 2 years.

      I hope I’m wrong though, as I would love a points cruise too.

  • Kipto says:

    At £1 getting you $1.21 and America being very expensive generally over the past year or so I think I’ll give it a miss

  • Martin says:

    If this was BA then this website would go crazy?

  • Charlie says:

    Only just noticed the disparity in points required for some destinations – eg Miami is 115,000 Peak in UC whereas Mumbai is only 95,000 despite being slightly further away.

  • Paul says:

    The taxes and fees are still way too high to make this appealing

    • Rob says:

      Good luck buying cash flight tickets then, especially if you don’t include a Saturday night. You’re still living in a pre covid bubble I think.

      Virgin wants £8,500 in Upper for the Tue-Thu I am in New York next month.

      If we take BA’s Low Fare Finder (as a proxy for VS) the cheapest New York business return in the next year, with a Sat night stay, is £1762 non-refundable.

      As mentioned in the comment above, Economy fares are very good value in this sale.

    • His Holyness says:

      Because it’s discretionary spend. That means people won’t lose sleep if it’s too expensive in terms of cash or miles. They just won’t go.

  • Che says:

    Anyone happen to.know why some pre 31/12 dates (e.g. 19/12) for SHA to LHR in Upper Class is not pricing.

  • SydneySwan says:

    Still no availability Hong Kong to Sydney.

This article is closed to new comments. Feel free to ask your question in the HfP forums.

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