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News: 30% off lounges, redeem Virgin Points for a gin advent calendar, new Virgin US discount

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News in brief:

Save 30% at No1 Lounges in November

No1 Lounges, which operates the Clubrooms and No1 brands, is offering a 30% discount on adult entry. The deal also includes Club Aspire lounges, including the one at Heathrow Terminal 5.

The deal is only valid for lounge visits in November. Children are not included in the offer, unfortunately.

To make use of the promotion you must enter the promo code ‘WINTER23’ during checkout.

You can book on the No1 Lounges website here. Full details are on this special page.

Thanks to Daniel for this.

Save 30% on No1 Lounges

Redeem Virgin Points for a gin advent calendar!

Last week we covered the wine advent calendars being offered by Virgin Wines and Virgin Red.

For 12,500 Virgin Points, which includes delivery, you can have 24 mini bottles and one full bottle of wine delivered to your door to enjoy in December.

Virgin Red has now added a gin advent calendar, also for purchase with points.

For 12,500 Virgin Points – or £108 including postage if you pay cash on the Virgin Wines website – you will receive 24 x 5cl gins in a special advent presentation box, pictured below. All 24 gins are different.

If you don’t already have a Virgin Red account, you need to download the app, register and link your Virgin Flying Club account. Your existing Virgin Points balance in Virgin Flying Club will be usable in the Virgin Red app.

Virgin Wines gin advent calendar

Extra savings on Virgin Atlantic flights to the US

Finally, Virgin Atlantic has released a discount code for additional savings on US routes.

The code – USOFA – is valid for flights from Heathrow to New York or Los Angeles only.

You save £20 on Economy seats and £50 on Premium seats. There is no discount on Upper Class.

You must book by 20th November.

You must travel by 20th March 2024.

You can check out pricing and availability on the Virgin Atlantic website here.

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How to earn Virgin Points from UK credit cards

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. 

Category

Virgin Atlantic and Flying Club

Comments (15)

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

  • Rizz says:
    9 Nov9 November 05:56

    Do they really think 20 quid is going to move the needle?

    • Rob says:
      9 Nov9 November 07:34

      It’s not meant to make you suddenly decide to book. It’s meant to get someone who is 90% committed to a trip to book. Or, if BA and Virgin are virtually price matching, to provide a reason to book Virgin.

    • planeconcorde says:
      9 Nov9 November 07:36

      Not necessarily. But it was enough for them to get a free mention on HfP.

  • Mario says:
    9 Nov9 November 08:00

    Tried to order the gin advent calendar. The order is accepted but it was auto-cancelled about a minute later. Glitch, they ran out or something else?

    • Jonathans says:
      9 Nov9 November 08:45

      The same happened to me last year ordering the wine one – it auto-cancelled and i tired again within 10 minutes and it too was auto-cancelled but the points were still deducted. Its not until i tried again a week later the order stuck and i got the wine advent calender. I then contacted customer services who returned the 25k points without a fuss. I ordered the Gin one last night without a problem.

  • Alan says:
    9 Nov9 November 09:12

    Same happened to me. Now not appearing in the search. HFP has driven them OOS. 😂🤦‍♂️

  • Andyf says:
    9 Nov9 November 09:36

    This morning I received post from Amex about the gold sign bonus. The offer is 30k points for the person receiving the card and an extra 5k in month 15. However the referral bonus has increased to 14k MR points from 9k. This is new however they are offering an Extra +2 points for every £1 spent for three months up to 6k of spend. So a potential 28k referral bonus! I haven’t seen this part before.
    The only issue I now have is that I have no one to refer due to the sign up rules. (Face palm) ha.

  • Danny says:
    9 Nov9 November 09:50

    I’d rather sit in the terminal and use the money in Costa than go in the No.1 Lounges. Food offering is pathetic.

    • Peter K says:
      9 Nov9 November 10:43

      But any food intolerance and Costa is pathetic. So it’s swings and roundabouts based on personal circumstances.

  • Spaghetti Town says:
    9 Nov9 November 10:36

    Is T5B still the leading T5 club lounge?

  • cin4 says:
    9 Nov9 November 14:21

    The wine advent calendar was bad value but this gin one is a whole other level.

    • Chris says:
      10 Nov10 November 18:29

      Can I ask why you think that and whether there’s better out there?
      I found one (boutiquey gin company) at £75 but that had 30ml mini bottles and this Virgin one is 50ml bottles.

      • Rob says:
        10 Nov10 November 19:14

        Yes, it makes no sense. The gin one contains 24 different craft gins. Whilst I’m sure you can find somewhere to sell you 24 different gin samplers, you certainly won’t be doing it down at Waitrose. Add in the ‘treat a day’ novelty value and I thought it was interesting.

        Console yourself that the ‘price of everything, value of nothing’ brigade will be missing out on some of the little quirks that make life interesting 🙂

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

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