Virgin Atlantic increasing the cost of some Delta redemptions from Thursday

Virgin Atlantic will be increasing the cost of some redemptions on Delta Air Lines from Thursday.

If you had been been thinking of booking a Delta flight using your Virgin Points it will, in some cases, be beneficial to jump in today.

These changes do NOT impact transatlantic flights on Delta Air Lines, whether to / from the UK or elsewhere in Europe.

The changes do impact all other Delta flights, eg:

• domestic US flights

• flights between the US and Alaska / Canada

• flights to / from the US from / to the Caribbean, Central America, Hawaii, South America, Africa, the Middle East, Asia and South West Pacific

• within Asia / Northern Asia

• from Northern Asia to Hawaii

• from South East Asia to Northern Asia

If I had to take a wild guess, I would assume that Delta wants to close the gap between its own very expensive redemption flights using Delta SkyMiles and cheaper Virgin Atlantic redemptions on the same flights using Virgin Points. Remember that Delta owns 49% of Virgin Atlantic and has considerable influence on these things ….

The new pricing is already showing on the Virgin Atlantic website here.

This is the current pricing chart for flights to the destinations listed above on Delta Air Lines (click to enlarge):

Note that for travel in the rest of 2023, the chart above will remain in place even if you don’t book today.

Here is the new chart for flights booked from noon on Thursday for travel from 1st January 2024:

Pricing is per leg, not per trip. If you need to connect to reach your destination, you need to add up the price of each individual flight. You don’t pay the cost based on the combined mileage flown.

What has changed?

It’s an odd set of changes, to be honest.

• for very short flights, Economy mileage is unchanged but Business Class flights are a little higher

• for the longest flights, Economy mileage is SUBSTANTIALLY higher (50% higher in some cases) but Business Class mileage is unchanged

• for everything inbetween, you are generally looking at increases

Virgin Atlantic said:

“We recognise how much our members value the extensive range of redemption partner options available through Flying Club, including flights with our joint venture partner, Delta Air Lines.  We routinely evaluate our pricing and from 7 December we will have updated pricing for redemption flights using Virgin Points on non-transatlantic Delta routes.  Changes will come into effect for flights taken from 1 January 2024.  Redemption prices for Delta transatlantic routes between the US and Europe remain unchanged, and the majority of redemptions will not see a price change.  Virgin Atlantic remains committed to offering our loyal members the most competitive pricing for redemption flights across our partner airline network.”

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

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 50,000 Membership Rewards points, which convert into 50,000 Virgin Points.

Small business owners should consider the two American Express Business cards. Points convert at 1:1 into Virgin Points.

SPECIAL OFFER: Until 22nd October 2024, the bonus on American Express Business Platinum is increased to up to 80,000 Membership Rewards points, worth 80,000 Virgin Points. You will receive 8 points per £1 spent for the first three months, on up to £10,000 of spending. Click here to read our full card review. Click here to apply.

SPECIAL OFFER: Until 22nd October 2024, the bonus on American Express Business Gold is increased to up to 40,000 Membership Rewards points, worth 40,000 Virgin Points. You will receive 4 points per £1 spent for the first three months, on up to £10,000 of spending. The card is FREE for your first year. Click here to read our full card review. Click here to apply.

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.)